that slavery should, be prohibited north of the Mis-
souri compromise line of 36° and 30', and tolerated
south of it, if a majority of the people in any new
State should authorize it by their constitution. This
motion was also rejected, by a vote of 81 to 1.04.
On the proposition to incorporate the Wilmot pro-
viso into the three million bill, the vote was 115
yeas, and 106 nays* All who voted in the affirma-
tive were from the free States, except John W.
Houston, of Delaware, and all who voted in the
negative were from the slave States, with the excep-
tion of Messrs. Charles J. Ingersoll, Mc Clean, Erd-
man, of Pennsylvania; Douglas, Ficklin, and Mc-
Clernard, of Illinois ; Owen and Wick, of Indiana ;
Sawyer, St. John, Morris, Parish, Cunningham, and
Morris, of Ohio ; and Strong, of New- York. On the
passage of the bill as amended, the vote was 115 to
105. The three million bill passed the Senate on
the 1st of March, 1847, without the proviso, by a
vote of 29 to 24. The two Houses upon this ques-
tion, then, were at issue, and one had to yield, or
the bill would fail. On the 3d of March, 1847, the
Senate bill was taken up for consideration in the
House of Representatives, and Mr. Wilmot moved
to amend it by inserting his proviso : the motion was
rejected by a vote of 97 in the affirmative, to 102 in
the negative. The bill then passed the House by a
majority of 34.

* Congressional Globe, 2d session 29th Congress, p. 425.



448 HISTORY OF THE

Thus the proviso was temporarily defeated hi
both branches of the national legislature. The ques-
tion, however, was not decided, but only postponed,
and the excitement which resulted from it rages
with a violence that threatens the most disastrous
consequences.

The President attempted to pour oil upon the
troubled waters which the storm had driven against
the pillars of the Constitution, and threatened to
undermine that glorious fabric, and involve it in ir-
retrievable ruin. In his message to the House of
Representatives, approving the Oregon territorial
bill, he laid down a chart by which the American
people might be governed in the admission of new
States, while he solemnly appealed to the patriotism
and good sense of all to allay the excitement.*

* " Tin' Missouri compromise contains a prohibition of slavery through-
out all the vast regions, extending twelve and a half degrees along the
Pacific, from the parallel of thirty-six decrees thirty minutes, to that of for-
ty-nine degrees ; and east from that ocean to and beyond the summit of
the Rocky Mountains. Why, then, should our institutions be endangered
because il is proposed to submit to the people of the remainder of our
newly acquired territory lying south of thirty-six degrees, thirty minutes,
embracing less than four degrees of latitude, the question whether, in the
language of the Texas compromise, they 'shall be admitted (as a State)
into the Union with or without slavery ?* Is this a question to be pushed
to such extremities by excited partisans on the one side or on the other, in
regard to our newly acquired distant possessions on the Pacific, as toen-
danger the union of thirty glorious States which constitute our confede-
racy? I have an abiding confidence that the sober reflection and sound
patriotism of all the States, will bring them to the conclusion that the dic-
tate of wisdom is to follow the example of those who have gone before us,
and settle this dangerous question on the Missouri Compromise, or some
other equitable compromise, which would respect the rights of all, and
prove satisfactory to the different portions of the Union.

"Holding as a sacred trust the Executive authority for the whole
Union, and bound to guard the rights of all, 1 should be constrained, by a



POLK ADMINISTRATION. 449

111 the Convention which framed the Constitu-
tion, the question of slavery was the subject of earn-
est discussion. The views of the delegates differed
widely,* and only harmonized when they were con-
sense of duty, to withhold my official sanction from any measure which
would conflict with these important objects." — Message of Mr. Polk to
the House of Representatives, August 14, 1848.

* " Mr. King thought the subject should be considered in a political
light only. If two States will not agree to the Constitution, as stated on
one side, he would affirm with equal belief, on the other, that great and
equal opposition would be experienced from the other States. lie re-
marked on the exemption of slaves from duty, whilst every other impost
was subjected to it, as an inequality that could not fail to strike the com-
mercial sagacity of the Northern and Middle States.

" Mr. Langdon was strenuous for giving the power to the General
Government. He could not, with a good conscience, leave it with the
States, who could then go on with the traffic, without being restrained
by the opinions here given, that they will themselves cease to import
slaves.

" General Pinckney thought himself bound to declare candidly, that he
did not think South Carolina would stop her importations of slaves in any
short time ; but only stop them occasionally, as she now does. He moved
to commit the clause, that slaves might be made liable to an equal tax
with other imposts, which he thought right, and which would remove one
difficulty that had been started.

" Mr. Rutledge. If the Convention thinks that North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Georgia, will ever agree to the plan, unless their right to im-
port slaves be untouched, the expectation is vain. The people of these
States will never be such fools as to give up so important an interest. He
was strenuous against striking out the section, and seconded the motion of
General Pinckney for a commitment.

" Mr. Gouverneur Morris wished the whole subject to be committed,
including the clauses relating to taxes on imports, and to a naviga-
tion act. These things may form a bargain among the Northern and
Southern States.

" Mr. Butler declared that he never would agree to the power of tax-
ing exports.

" Mr. Sherman said it was better to let the Southern States import
slaves, than to part with them, if they made that a sine qua non. He was
opposed to a tax on slaves imported, as making the matter worse, be-
cause it implied they were property. He acknowledged that, if the power
29



450 HISTORY OF THE

trolled by a spirit of concession and compromise.
If they had adhered to their personal opinions with
the same dogmatical purpose which governs the po-
liticians of the present age, the draft of a Constitu-
tion would not have been submitted to the people
for ratification. And if one *f the extremes had
yielded every thing to the other, the instrument,
instead of being sanctioned, would have been sum-
marily and indignantly rejected.

Mr. King, a member of the Convention from
Massachusetts, remarked, that the exemption of
slaves from a duty, while upon every other article
of import the tariff was levied, would produce an
inequality which could not fail to strike the com-
mercial sagacity of the North. It was evident that
he not only contemplated the existence of slavery
within the borders of the Union, but that he counted
upon raising revenue upon all negroes who might
thereafter be imported. Mr. Rutledge declared that
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, would
never agree to the Constitution, unless their right
to import slaves was unimpaired, while Gouverneur
Morris declared the subject should be referred to a
Committee, and made the subject of a bargain, be-
tween the Northern and Southern States. Colonel
Mason, from Virginia, denounced the traffic as in-
fernal, originating in the avarice of British mer-
chants;* while Roger Sherman declared that it was

of prohibiting tlio importation should be given to the General Government,
it would be exercised. He thought it, would he its duty to exercise the
power." — The Madison Papers, containing Debates in the Convention,
p. 460-1.

* " Colonel Mason. This infernal traffic originated in the avarice of



POLK ADMINISTRATION. 451

better to let the Southern States import slaves,
than to part with them, although he refused to tax
them, because it implied they were property.

The question was compromised by allowing the
States to import slaves until the year 1808, by pay-
ing a duty of ten dollars upon each person.*

The l'ight of the. South to slave representation in
Congress, was also a delicate matter to adjust.f

British merchants. The British Government constantly checked the at-
tempts of Virginia to put a stop to it. The present question concerns not
the importing States alone, but the whole Union. The evil of having
slaves was experienced during the late war. Had slaves been treated as
they might have been by the enemy, they would have proved dangerous
instruments in their hands. But their folly dealt by the slaves as it did
by the tories. He mentioned the dangerous insurrections of the slaves in
Greece and Sicily ; and the instructions given by Cromwell to the Com-
missioners sent to Virginia, to arm the servants and slaves, in case other
means of obtaining its submission should fail. Maryland and Virginia, he
said, had already prohibited the importation of slaves, expressly. North
Carolina had done the same in substance. All this would be in vain, if
South Carolina and Georgia be at liberty to import. The western people
are already calling out for slaves for their new lands, and will rill that
country with slaves, if they can be got through South Carolina and
Georgia. Slavery discourages arts and manufactures. The poor despise
labor when performed by slaves. They prevent the emigration of whites,
who really enrich and strengthen a country. They produce the most per-
nicious effect on manners. Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant.
They bring the judgment of Heaven on a country. As nations cannot be
rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in this. By an in-
evitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by
national calamities. He lamented that some of our eastern brethren had,
from a lust of gain, embarked in this nefarious traffic. As to the States
being in possession of the right to import, this was the case with many
other rights, now to be properly given up. He held it essential, in every
point of view, that the General Government should have power to prevent
the increase of slavery." — Madison Papers, containing Debates in the
Convention, p. 458.

* Constitution of the United States, Article 1, Section 9.

f Constitution of the United States, Article 5, Section 2, Madison
Papers, p. 181.



452 HISTOEY OF THE

That too was compromised by giving to the slave
States three votes in the enumeration for every five
slaves, in making out the ratio of representation. It
has been erroneously asserted, that this right of the
South to slave representation gave that portion of
the Union greatly the advantage over the North.
That this is not true, is evident from the fact, that
three-fifths only of the slaves are counted in enu-
merating the population, while if they were free,
five-fifths, or all, would be taken into the calcula-
tion. The proposition to include three-fifths of the
slaves in the ratio of representation, was made
by Mr. Wilson, of Pennsylvania.* Mr. Gerry ex-
pressed the opinion that as property should not be
the rule of representation, that the blacks, who were
property in the South, could not come within the
rule of representation, more than the cattle and
horses of the North.f

* Madison Papers, containing Debates in the Convention, p. 181.

f Mr. Gerry, of Massachusetts, " thought property not the rule of re-
presentation. Why, then, should the blacks, who were property in the
South, be in the rule of representation more than the cattle and horses of
the North."

• Mr. King wished to know what influence the vote just passed was
meant to have on the succeeding part of the report, concerning the admis-
sion of slavery into the rule of representation. He could not reconcile his
mind to the article, if it was to prevent objections to the latter part. The
admission of slaves was a most grating circumstance to his mind, and he
believed would be so to a great part of the people of America. He had
not made a strenuous opposition to it heretofore, because he had hoped
that (his concession had produced a readiness, which had not been mani-
fested, to strengthen the General Government, and to mark a full confi-
dence in it. The report under consideration had, by the tenor of it, put an
end to all these hopes. In two great points, the hands of the Legislature
were absolutely tied. The importation of slaves could not be prohibited.
Exports could not be taxed. Is this reasonable ? What are the great



POLK ADMINISTRATION. 453

The question of domestic slavery, which was a
fruitful source of dissension and anarchy, was com-
promised by the frainers of the Constitution. In
settling so delicate a subject their course was char-
acterized by great candor and fairness, and had a
great effect in procuring the adoption of that instru-
ment by the people.

The arrest and delivery of fugitive slaves also
claimed the attention of the Convention. It was
proposed that they should be delivered up like cri-
minals by the Executives of each State whither they
might flee ; in the same way that persons charged
with treason, felony, or other crime, are surrender-
ed.* This was opposed, and the clause as it now
stands was substituted.f

objects of the general system ? First, defence against foreign invasion ;
secondly, against internal sedition. Shall all these States, then, be bound to
defend each other, and shall each be at liberty to introduce a weakness which
will render defence more difficult ? Shall one part of the United States be
bound to defend another part, and that other part be at liberty, not only to
increase its own danger, but to withhold the compensation for the burden ?
If slaves are to be imported, shall not the exports produced by their labor,
supply a revenue the better to enable the General Government to defend
their masters ?" — Madison Papers, containing the Debates in the Conveii'
tion, p. 391.

* " Mr. Butler and Mr. Pinckney moved to require ' fugitive slaves
and servants to be delivered up like criminals.' "

" Mr. Wilson. This would oblige the Executive of the State to do it
at the public expense."

" Mr. Sherman saw no more propriety in the public seizing and sur-
rendering a slave or servant than a horse."

" Mr. Butler withdrew his proposition, in order that some particular
provision might be made, apart from this article." — Mac/ism; Papers, 487.

f ; ' No person held to service or labor in one Slate under the laws
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered
up, on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." —
Constitution of the United Slates.



4">4 HISTORY OF THE

These provisions of the Constitution received the
sanction of every section of the Union, until the
whole question was re-opened when Missouri applied
for admission into the Union, in 1819. The high
degree of excitement which prevailed at that period,
indicated the dee]) feeling with which the question
was regarded. When patriots had almost despair-
ed, and the hopes which were entertained for the
stability of the Union began to grow faint, the dan-
ger was averted by the Missouri Compromise bill,
which passed Congress on the 6th of March, 1820.*
The rock upon which the ship of state had been near-
ly w recked was passed. The watchful and vigilant
pilots steered her in safety along the very border
of the breakers, but so near, that her timbers trem-
bled in every joint as the angry waves dashed rude-
ly upon her deck.

The Constitution of the United States author-
izes the admission of new States into the Union, and
the only condition which governs the subject is the
clause making it necessary for the United States to
guarantee to every State a republican form of gov-
ernment. The citizens of each State have the right

* " That, in all that territory coded by France to the United States,
under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and
thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the State
contemplated by this act. slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than
for the punishment of crimes, whereof the parties shall be duly convicted,
shall be, and is hereby, for ever prohibited : Provided, always, That any
person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully

claii 1 in any State or Territory of the United States, such fugitive may be

lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor
or services aforesaid." — Section xth of act of Congress, passed March
6th, 1820.



POLK ADMINISTRATION. 455

to manage their domestic institutions, and possess
the constitutional power to establish or abolish slave-
ry after being admitted into the Union.* If this
position is conceded, what authority does Congress
possess, incidentally, to control the constitutional
rights of the States to establish or prohibit slavery,
at the time they apply for admission into the
Union. Suppose the General Government should
pass a law establishing slavery in New Mexico, it
would probably have the effect of making that a
a slave State. If, on the contrary, Congress should
pass a bill containing the Wilmot proviso, it might
have the effect of creating a free State in New Mex-
ico. The question then arises, does the General
Government possess the power thus incidental! >/ to
affect the rights of the States. The inhabitants of
the territories have more interest in properly set-
tling the slave question than members of Congress.
They understand much better their necessities, and
their responsibilities, than persons who do not re-
side within their borders ; and they will appreci-
ate to a far greater degree the blessings of the



* " Should Congress, when California shall present herself for an in-
corporation into the Union, annex a condition to her admisson as a State,
affecting her domestic institutions, contrary to the wishes of her people,
and even compel her temporarily to comply with it, yet the State could
change her constitution at any time after her admission, when to her it
should seem expedient. It is to be expected that any attempt to deny the
people of the State the rights of self-government, in a matter which pecu-
liarly affects themselves, will infallibly he regarded by them as an invasion
of their rights, and upon the principles laid down in our Declaration of In-
dependence, they will certainly be sustained in their resistance against it
by the great mass of the American people." — Message of President Tay-
lor to the House of Representatives, January 21st, 1850.



456 HISTOKY OF THE

Union, if permitted to adjust their domestic policy,
untrammelled and uncontrolled by the General Gov-
ernment.* It is to be hoped that sufficient patriot-

* " It is to be expected that in the residue of the territory ceded to us
by Mexico, the people residing there will, at the time of their incorporation
into the Union as a State, settle all questions of domestic policy to suit
themselves." — Message of President Taylor to the House of Representatives,
January 21 st, 1850.

This policy was* sustained by the democratic party during the presiden-
tial contest of 1848, in their support of General Cass for the presidency. The
whig party from the north, as well as a majority of the democracy from
tli.it section of the Union, during the administration of Mr. Polk, strenu-
ously insisted upon the application of the Wilmot proviso to the territories
ing to the United States. The author, on the 1st of August, 1848,
introduced the following preamble as an amendment to a territorial bill :
•• I'm, hid, That nothing herein contained shall be considered as an
assumption of the power, upon the part of the Congress of the United
States, to interfere with the establishment of slavery in said territory ; or
as authorizing the inhabitants thereof, having the right to vote by the pro-
of this bill, to establish or prohibit slavery previous to an application
for the admission of said territory into the Union as a sovereign State."

Tin' preamble was rejected, although it embraces the principles con-
tained in Taylor's message of the 21st of January, 1850. It remains to
n whether the whig party of the North will abandon the ground
which they have hitherto maintained for the purpose of sustaining General
Taylor in the positions which have been already quoted. The New-York
ie, in an article written before the message of General Taylor to
the House <>( Representatives, January 21st, 1850, had been received in
New-York, having surmised with great accuracy what it would contain,
proceeds to say :

"On these and similar grounds he will urge Congress to leave the
settlement of this exciting question to the territories themselves, encour-
aging them to form State Constitutions at an earlv day and apply for ad-
i into the Union, which Congress is exhorted to accord promptly
and cordially. Such, we infer will be the drift of the President's message.
•• This is as much, we presume, as a Louisiana planter could be ex-
pected to concede, but it by no means follows that it should satisfy
northern freemen or their representatives. We are utterly indisposed to
hazard the Union on a punctilio, or to exasperate the public sentiment of
on, or even State, on any question of form or etiquette. We are
'1 to see the Wilmot Proviso, or any other Proviso, again and again



\



POLK ADMINISTRATION. 457

ism still remains in our land to preserve with un-
changeable fidelity tliat Constitution, which the
fraternal affection of our fathers established. It is
painful to contemplate the ruin and desolation which
must follow its destruction. The blood which our
ancestors so freely shed, flowed in vain if the Union
is dissolved; and all good men should rally for its
protection, with the same unalterable purpose which
won our liberty in the days of the revolution. If
the Union was invaded by a foreign foe, a million
of bayonets would present a glittering wall for its
defence, and a nation in arms would attest its de-
votion to the country's honor. Why, then, should
domestic feuds induce us to destroy that ourselves
which is impregnable against the assaults of the
world combined. There are breakers ahead which
warn us that shoals lie within the bosom of the
trackless deep, and if those who control the desti-
nies of the gallant ship, which has on board the
hopes of freedom and the rights of man, are forget-
ful of their obligations to the past, and their respon-
sibilities to the future, she will yet be lost, and
storms and tempests will sweep unresistingly over
the spot where despotism riots in the destruction of
liberty and equality.

rejected by Congress, provided the territories are nevertheless preserved
from the pollution of slavery. It is the substance we care for, and not the
shadow. If General Taylor throws the influence of his name and station
in favor of the admission of the State of California with her present Con-
stitution, and the protection of New Mexico against the efforts of Texas
to subject and enslave her. he is practically on the right side, no matter
what he may feel constrained to say in favor of non-intervention, and
against the Proviso. We shall thank him for his deeds, and let those who
choose place emphasis on his words." — New-York Tribune, Jan. 22, 1850-



458 IIISTOEY OF THE

The President of the United States, in his first
mi— age to Congress, recommended the establish-
ment of a territorial government for the protection
of our citizens in Oregon. His views were reitera-
ted in still more pointed language in his message of
the 5th of August, 1846, and in his second and third
annual communications to that body, and on the
29th of May, 1848, he made it the subject of a spe-
cial message.* Although these recommendations
had repeatedly been pressed upon the attention of
Congress by the Executive, it was not until the 14th
of August, 1848, that a territorial bill, containing
the Wilmot Proviso, passed Congress, for the gov-
ernment of the citizens of Oregon. This was ow-
ing, in part, to the other questions of great interest
which occupied the attention of Congress, but
mainly to the question of slavery, which was con-