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Page 8
Mr. President, three great eras have marked the history of this country
in respect to slavery. The first may be characterized as the Era of
ENFRANCHISEMENT. It commenced with the earliest struggles for national
independence. The spirit which inspired it animated the hearts and
prompted the efforts of Washington, of Jefferson, of Patrick Henry, of
Wythe, of Adams, of Jay, of Hamilton, of Morris--in short, of all the
great men of our early history. All these hoped for, all these labored
for, all these believed in, the final deliverance of the country
from the curse of slavery. That spirit burned in the Declaration of
Independence, and inspired the provisions of the Constitution, and the
Ordinance of 1787. Under its influence, when in full vigor, State after
State provided for the emancipation of the slaves within their limits,
prior to the adoption of the Constitution. Under its feebler influence
at a later period, and during the administration of Mr. Jefferson, the
importation of slaves was prohibited into Mississippi and Louisiana, in
the faint hope that those Territories might finally become free States.
Gradually that spirit ceased to influence our public councils, and lost
its control over the American heart and the American policy. Another
era succeeded, but by such imperceptible gradations that the lines which
separate the two cannot be traced with absolute precision. The facts of
the two eras meet and mingle as the currents of confluent streams mix
so imperceptibly that the observer cannot fix the spot where the meeting
waters blend.
This second era was the Era of CONSERVATISM. Its great maxim was to
preserve the existing condition. Men said: Let things remain as they
are; let slavery stand where it is; exclude it where it is not; refrain
from disturbing the public quiet by agitation; adjust all difficulties
that arise, not by the application of principles, but by compromises.
It was during this period that the Senator tells us that slavery was
maintained in Illinois, both while a Territory and after it became a
State, in despite of the provisions of the ordinance. It is true, sir,
that the slaves held in the Illinois country, under the French law,
were not regarded as absolutely emancipated by the provisions of the
ordinance. But full effect was given to the ordinance in excluding
the introduction of slaves, and thus the Territory was preserved
from eventually becoming a slave State. The few slave-holders in
the Territory of Indiana, which then included Illinois, succeeded in
obtaining such an ascendency in its affairs, that repeated applications
were made not merely by conventions of delegates, but by the Territorial
Legislature itself, for a suspension of the clause in the ordinance
prohibiting slavery. These applications were reported upon by John
Randolph, of Virginia, in the House, and by Mr. Franklin in the Senate.
Both the reports were against suspension. The grounds stated by Randolph
are specially worthy of being considered now. They are thus stated in
the report:
"That the committee deem it highly dangerous and inexpedient to impair
a provision wisely calculated to promote the happiness and prosperity
of the Northwestern country, and to give strength and security to that
extensive frontier. In the salutary operation of this sagacious and
benevolent restraint, it is believed that the inhabitants of Indiana
will, at no very distant day, find ample remuneration for a temporary
privation of labor and of emigration."
Sir, these reports, made in 1803 and 1807, and the action of Congress
upon them, in conformity with their recommendation, saved Illinois, and
perhaps Indiana, from becoming slave States. When the people of Illinois
formed their State constitution, they incorporated into it a section
providing that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall hereafter
be introduced into this State. The constitution made provision for the
continued service of the few persons who were originally held as slaves,
and then bound to service under the Territorial laws, and for the
freedom of their children, and thus secured the final extinction of
slavery. The Senator thinks that this result is not attributable to the
ordinance. I differ from him. But for the ordinance, I have no doubt
slavery would have been introduced into Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio.
It is something to the credit of the Era of Conservatism, uniting its
influences with those of the expiring Era of Enfranchisement, that it
maintained the ordinance of 1787 in the Northwest.
The Era of CONSERVATISM passed, also by imperceptible gradations, into
the Era of SLAVERY PROPAGANDISM. Under the influences of this new spirit
we opened the whole territory acquired from Mexico, except California,
to the ingress of slavery. Every foot of it was covered by a Mexican
prohibition; and yet, by the legislation of 1850, we consented to expose
it to the introduction of slaves. Some, I believe, have actually been
carried into Utah and New Mexico. They may be few, perhaps, but a few
are enough to affect materially the probable character of their future
governments. Under the evil influences of the same spirit, we are now
called upon to reverse the original policy of the Republic; to support
even a solemn compact of the conservative period, and open Nebraska to
slavery.
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