American Eloquence, Volume II. (of 4) by Various

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Does not the event show they judged rightly? Absorbed in a thousand
trifles, how has the nation all at once come to a stand? Men begin, as
in 1776 and 1640, to discuss principles, to weigh characters, to find
out where they are. Haply we may awake before we are borne over the
precipice.

I am glad, sir, to see this crowded house, It is good for us to be here.
When Liberty is in danger Faneuil Hall has the right, it is her duty, to
strike the key-note for these United States. I am glad, for one reason,
that remarks such as those to which I have alluded have been uttered
here. The passage of these resolutions, in spite of this opposition,
led by the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, will show more clearly,
more decisively, the deep indignation with which Boston regards this
outrage.

[Illustration: John Q. Adams]

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,

OF MASSACHUSETTS. (BORN 1767, DIED 1848.)

ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL WAR POWER OVER SLAVERY

--HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MAY 25, 1836.

There are, then, Mr. Chairman, in the authority of Congress and of the
Executive, two classes of powers, altogether different in their nature,
and often incompatible with each other--the war power and the peace
power. The peace power is limited by regulations and restricted by
provisions, prescribed within the constitution itself. The war power is
limited only by the laws and usages of nations. The power is tremendous;
it is strictly constitutional, but it breaks down every barrier so
anxiously erected for the protection of liberty, of property, and
of life. This, sir, is the power which authorizes you to pass the
resolution now before you, and, in my opinion, there is no other.

And this, sir, is the reason which I was not permitted to give this
morning for voting with only eight associates against the first
resolution reported by the committee on the abolition petitions; not one
word of discussion had been permitted on either of those resolutions.
When called to vote upon the first of them, I asked only five minutes of
the time of the House to prove that it was utterly unfounded, It was not
the pleasure of the House to grant me those five minutes. Sir, I must
say that, in all the proceedings of the House upon that report, from the
previous question, moved and inflexibly persisted in by a member of
the committee itself which reported the resolutions, (Mr. Owens, of
Georgia,) to the refusal of the Speaker, sustained by the majority of
the House, to permit the other gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Glascock) to
record upon the journal his reasons for asking to be excused from voting
on that same resolution, the freedom of debate has been stifled in this
House to a degree far beyond any thing that ever happened since
the existence of the Constitution of the United States; nor is it a
consolatory reflection to me how intensely we have been made to feel,
in the process of that operation, that the Speaker of this House is a
slaveholder. And, sir, as I was not then permitted to assign my reasons
for voting against that resolution before I gave the vote, I rejoice
that the reason for which I shall vote for the resolution now before the
committee is identically the same with that for which I voted against
that.

[Mr. Adams at this, and at many other passages of this speech, was
interrupted by calls to order. The Chairman of the Committee (Mr. A. H.
Shepperd, of North Carolina,) in every instance, decided that he was not
out of order, but at this passage intimated that he was approaching
very close upon its borders; upon which Mr. Adams said, "Then I am to
under-stand, sir, that I am yet within the bounds of order, but that I
may transcend them hereafter."]

* * * * *

And, now, sir, am I to be disconcerted and silenced, or admonished by
the Chair that I am approaching to irrelevant matter, which may warrant
him to arrest me in my argument, because I say that the reason for which
I shall vote for the resolution now before the committee, levying a
heavy contribution upon the property of my constituents, is identically
the same with the reason for which I voted against the resolution
reported by the slavery committee, that Congress have no authority to
interfere, in any way, with slavery in any of the States of this Union.
Sir, I was not allowed to give my reasons for that vote, and a majority
of my constituents, perhaps proportionately as large as that of this
House in favor of that resolution, may and probably will disapprove my
vote against, unless my reasons for so voting should be explained to
them. I asked but five minutes of the House to give those reasons, and
was refused. I shall, therefore, take the liberty to give them now, as
they are strictly applicable to the measure now before the Committee,
and are my only justification for voting in favor of this resolution.

I return, then, to my first position, that there are two classes of
powers vested by the Constitution of the United States in their Congress
and Executive Government: the powers to be exercised in the time of
peace, and the powers incidental to war. That the powers of peace are
limited by provisions within the body of the Constitution itself, but
that the powers of war are limited and regulated only by the laws and
usages of nations. There are, indeed, powers of peace conferred upon
Congress, which also come within the scope and jurisdiction of the laws
of nations, such as the negotiation of treaties of amity and commerce,
the interchange of public ministers and consuls, and all the personal
and social intercourse between the individual inhabitants of the United
States and foreign nations, and the Indian tribes, which require the
interposition of any law. But the powers of war are all regulated by the
laws of nations, and are subject to no other limitation. It is by this
power that I am justified in voting the money of my constituents for
the immediate relief of their fellow-citizens suffering with extreme
necessity even for subsistence, by the direct consequence of an
Indian war. Upon the same principle, your consuls in foreign ports are
authorized to provide for the subsistence of seamen in distress, and
even for their passage to their own country.

And it was upon that same principle that I voted against the
resolution reported by the slavery committee, "That Congress possess no
constitutional authority to interfere, in any way, with the institution
of slavery in any of the States of this confederacy," to which
resolution most of those with whom I usually concur, and even my own
colleagues in this House, gave their assent. I do not admit that there
is even among the peace powers of Congress no such authority; but in war
there are many ways by which Congress not only have the authority, but
are bound to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States.
The existing law prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United
States from foreign countries, is itself an interference with the
institution of slavery in the States. It was so considered by the
founders of the Constitution of the United States, in which it was
stipulated that Congress should not interfere, in that way, with the
institution, prior to the year 1808.

During the late war with Great Britain the military and naval commanders
of that nation issued proclamations inviting the slaves to repair to
their standards, with promises of freedom and of settlement in some of
the British colonial establishments. This, surely, was an interference
with the institution of slavery in the States. By the treaty of peace,
Great Britain stipulated to evacuate all the forts and places in the
United States, without carrying away any slaves. If the Government of
the United States had no authority to interfere, in any way, with
the institution of slavery in the States, they would not have had
the authority to require this stipulation. It is well known that
this engagement was not fulfilled by the British naval and military
commanders; that, on the contrary, they did carry away all the slaves
whom they had induced to join them, and that the British Government
inflexibly refused to restore any of them to their masters; that a claim
of indemnity was consequently instituted in behalf of the owners of the
slaves, and was successfully maintained. All that series of transactions
was an interference by Congress with the institution of slavery in the
States in one way--in the way of protection and support. It was by the
institution of slavery alone that the restitution of slaves enticed by
proclamations into the British service could be claimed as property.
But for the institution of slavery, the British commanders could neither
have allured them to their standard, nor restored them otherwise than
as liberated prisoners of war. But for the institution of slavery, there
could have been no stipulation that they should not be carried away
as property, nor any claim of indemnity for the violation of that
engagement.

But the war power of Congress over the institution of slavery in the
States is yet far more extensive. Suppose the case of a servile war,
complicated, as to some extent it is even now, with an Indian war;
suppose Congress were called to raise armies, to supply money from the
whole Union, to suppress a servile insurrection: would they have no
authority to interfere with the institution of slavery? The issue of a
servile war may be disastrous. By war the slave may emancipate himself;
it may become necessary for the master to recognize his emancipation by
a treaty of peace; can it for an instant be pretended that Congress,
in such a contingency, would have no authority to interfere with the
institution of slavery, in any way, in the States? Why, it would be
equivalent to saying that Congress have no constitutional authority to
make peace.

[Illustration: John C. Calhoun]

JOHN C. CALHOUN,

OF SOUTh CAROLINA (BORN 1782, DIED 1850.)

ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION,

SENATE, MARCH 4, 1850

I have, Senators, believed from the first that the agitation of the
subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective
measure, end in disunion. Entertaining this opinion, I have, on all
proper occasions, endeavored to call the attention of both the two great
parties which divide the country to adopt some measure to prevent so
great a disaster, but without success. The agitation has been permitted
to proceed, with almost no attempt to resist it, until it has reached a
point when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in
danger. You have thus had forced upon you the greatest and the gravest
question that can ever come under your consideration: How can the Union
be preserved?

To give a satisfactory answer to this mighty question, it is
indispensable to have an accurate and thorough knowledge of the nature
and the character of the cause by which the Union is endangered. Without
such knowledge it is impossible to pronounce, with any certainty, by
what measure it can be saved; just as it would be impossible for a
physician to pronounce, in the case of some dangerous disease, with any
certainty, by what remedy the patient could be saved, without similar
knowledge of the nature and character of the cause which produced
it. The first question, then, presented for consideration, in the
investigation I propose to make, in order to obtain such knowledge, is:
What is it that has endangered the Union?

To this question there can be but one answer: That the immediate
cause is the almost universal discontent which pervades all the States
composing the southern section of the Union. This widely-extended
discontent is not of recent origin. It commenced with the agitation
of the slavery question, and has been increasing ever since. The
next question, going one step further back, is: What has caused this
widely-diffused and almost universal discontent?

It is a great mistake to suppose, as is by some, that it originated
with demagogues, who excited the discontent with the intention of aiding
their personal advancement, or with the disappointed ambition of certain
politicians, who resorted to it as a means of retrieving their fortunes.
On the contrary, all the great political influences of the section were
arrayed against excitement, and exerted to the utmost to keep the people
quiet. The great mass of the people of the South were divided, as in the
other section, into Whigs and Democrats. The leaders and the presses of
both parties in the South were very solicitous to prevent excitement and
to preserve quiet; because it was seen that the effects of the former
would necessarily tend to weaken, if not destroy, the political ties
which united them with their respective parties in the other section.
Those who know the strength of the party ties will readily appreciate
the immense force which this cause exerted against agitation, and in
favor of preserving quiet. But, great as it was, it was not sufficient
to prevent the wide-spread discontent which now pervades the section.
No; some cause, far deeper and more powerful than the one supposed, must
exist, to account for discontent so wide and deep. The question then
recurs: What is the cause of this discontent? It will be found in
the belief of the people of the Southern States, as prevalent as
the discontent itself, that they cannot remain, as things now are,
consistently with honor and safety, in the Union. The next question to
be considered is: What has caused this belief?

One of the causes is, undoubtedly, to be traced to the long-continued
agitation of the slavery question on the part of the North, and the many
aggressions which they have made on the rights of the South during the
time. I will not enumerate them at present, as it will be done hereafter
in its proper place.

There is another lying back of it--with which this is intimately
connected--that may be regarded as the great and primary cause. This is
to be found in the fact, that the equilibrium between the two sections,
in the Government as it stood when the Constitution was ratified and
the Government put in action, has been destroyed. At that time there was
nearly a perfect equilibrium between the two, which afforded ample means
to each to protect itself against the aggression of the other; but, as
it now stands, one section has the exclusive power of controlling
the Government, which leaves the other without any adequate means of
protecting itself against its encroachment and oppression. To place
this subject distinctly before you, I have, Senators, prepared a brief
statistical statement, showing the relative weight of the two sections
in the Government under the first census of 1790, and the last census of
1840.

According to the former, the population of the United States, including
Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, which then were in their incipient
condition of becoming States, but were not actually admitted, amounted
to 3,929,827. Of this number the Northern States had 1,997,899, and the
Southern 1,952,072, making a difference of only 45,827 in favor of the
former States.

The number of States, including Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, were
sixteen; of which eight, including Vermont, belonged to the northern
section, and eight, including Kentucky and Tennessee, to the
southern,--making an equal division of the States between the two
sections, under the first census. There was a small preponderance in the
House of Representatives, and in the Electoral College, in favor of the
northern, owing to the fact that, according to the provisions of the
Constitution, in estimating federal numbers five slaves count but three;
but it was too small to affect sensibly the perfect equilibrium which,
with that exception, existed at the time. Such was the equality of
the two sections when the States composing them agreed to enter into a
Federal Union. Since then the equilibrium between them has been greatly
disturbed.

According to the last census the aggregate population of the United
States amounted to 17,063,357, of which the northern section contained
9,728,920, and the southern 7,334,437, making a difference in round
numbers, of 2,400,000. The number of States had increased from sixteen
to twenty-six, making an addition of ten States. In the meantime
the position of Delaware had become doubtful as to which section she
properly belonged. Considering her as neutral, the Northern States will
have thirteen and the Southern States twelve, making a difference in
the Senate of two senators in favor of the former. According to the
apportionment under the census of 1840, there were two hundred and
twenty-three members of the House of Representatives, of which the
North-ern States had one hundred and thirty-five, and the Southern
States (considering Delaware as neutral) eighty-seven, making a
difference in favor of the former in the House of Representatives of
forty-eight. The difference in the Senate of two members, added to this,
gives to the North in the Electoral College, a majority of fifty. Since
the census of 1840, four States have been added to the Union--Iowa,
Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas. They leave the difference in the Senate
as it was when the census was taken; but add two to the side of the
North in the House, making the present majority in the House in its
favor fifty, and in the Electoral College fifty-two.

The result of the whole is to give the northern section a predominance
in every department of the Government, and thereby concentrate in it
the two elements which constitute the Federal Government,--majority
of States, and a majority of their population, estimated in federal
numbers. Whatever section concentrates the two in itself possesses the
control of the entire Government.

But we are just at the close of the sixth decade, and the commencement
of the seventh. The census is to be taken this year, which must add
greatly to the decided preponderance of the North in the House of
Representatives and in the Electoral College. The prospect is, also,
that a great increase will be added to its present preponderance in the
Senate, during the period of the decade, by the addition of new States.
Two territories, Oregon and Minnesota, are already in progress, and
strenuous efforts are making to bring in three additional States' from
the territory recently conquered from Mexico; which, if successful, will
add three other States in a short time to the northern section, making
five States; and increasing the present number of its States from
fifteen to twenty, and of its senators from thirty to forty. On the
contrary, there is not a single territory in progress in the southern
section, and no certainty that any additional State will be added to it
during the decade. The prospect then is, that the two sections in the
senate, should the effort now made to exclude the South from the newly
acquired territories succeed, will stand before the end of the decade,
twenty Northern States to fourteen Southern (considering Delaware as
neutral), and forty Northern senators to twenty-eight Southern. This
great increase of senators, added to the great increase of members of
the House of Representatives and the Electoral College on the part of
the North, which must take place under the next decade, will effectually
and irretrievably destroy the equilibrium which existed when the
Government commenced.

Had this destruction been the operation of time, without the
interference of Government, the South would have had no reason to
complain; but such was not the fact. It was caused by the legislation
of this Government, which was appointed as the common agent of all, and
charged with the protection of the interests and security of all. The
legislation by which it has been effected may be classed under three
heads. The first is, that series of acts by which the South has been
excluded from the common territory belonging to all the States as
members of the Federal Union--which have had the effect of extending
vastly the portion allotted to the northern section, and restricting
within narrow limits the portion left the South. the next consists
in adopting a system of revenue and disbursements, by which an undue
proportion of the burden of taxation has been imposed upon the South,
and an undue proportion of its proceeds appropriated to the North;
and the last is a system of political measures, by which the original
character of the Government has been radically changed. I propose to
bestow upon each of these, in the order they stand, a few remarks, with
the view of showing that it is owing to the action of this Government
that the equilibrium between the two sections has been destroyed, and
the whole powers of the system centered in a sectional majority.

The first of the series of Acts by which the South was deprived of its
due share of the territories, originated with the confederacy which
preceded the existence of this Government. It is to be found in the
provision of the ordinance of 1787. Its effect was to exclude the South
entirely from that vast and fertile region which lies between the Ohio
and the Mississippi rivers, now embracing five States and one Territory.
The next of the series is the Missouri compromise, which excluded the
South from that large portion of Louisiana which lies north of 36 deg. 30',
excepting what is included in the State of Missouri. The last of the
series excluded the South from the whole of Oregon Territory. All these,
in the slang of the day, were what are called slave territories,' and
not free soil; that is, territories belonging to slaveholding powers and
open to the emigration of masters with their slaves. By these
several Acts the South was excluded from one million two hundred and
thirty-eight thousand and twenty-five square miles--an extent of country
considerably exceeding the entire valley of the Mississippi. To the
South was left the portion of the Territory of Louisiana lying south of
36 deg. 30', and the portion north of it included in the State of Missouri,
with the portion lying south of 36 deg. 30' including the States of
Louisiana and Arkansas, and the territory lying west of the latter, and
south of 36 deg. 30', called the Indian country. These, with the Territory
of Florida, now the State, make, in the whole, two hundred and
eighty-three thousand five hundred and three square miles. To this must
be added the territory acquired with Texas. If the whole should be added
to the southern section it would make an increase of three hundred and
twenty-five thousand five hundred and twenty, which would make the whole
left to the South six hundred and nine thousand and twenty-three. But a
large part of Texas is still in contest between the two sections, which
leaves it uncertain what will be the real extent of the proportion of
territory that may be left to the South.

I have not included the territory recently acquired by the treaty with
Mexico. The North is making the most strenuous efforts to appropriate
the whole to herself, by excluding the South from every foot of it. If
she should succeed, it will add to that from which the South has already
been excluded, 526,078 square miles, and would increase the whole which
the North has appropriated to herself, to 1,764,023, not including the
portion that she may succeed in excluding us from in Texas. To sum up
the whole, the United States, since they declared their independence,
have acquired 2,373,046 square miles of territory, from which the North
will have excluded the South, if she should succeed in monopolizing the
newly acquired territories, about three fourths of the whole, leaving to
the South but about one fourth.

Such is the first and great cause that has destroyed the equilibrium
between the two sections in the Government.

The next is the system of revenue and disbursements which has been
adopted by the Government. It is well known that the Government has
derived its revenue mainly from duties on imports. I shall not undertake
to show that such duties must necessarily fall mainly on the exporting
States, and that the South, as the great exporting portion of the Union,
has in reality paid vastly more than her due proportion of the revenue;
because I deem it unnecessary, as the subject has on so many occasions
been fully discussed. Nor shall I, for the same reason, undertake to
show that a far greater portion of the revenue has been disbursed at the
North, than its due share; and that the joint effect of these causes
has been, to transfer a vast amount from South to North, which, under an
equal system of revenue and disbursements, would not have been lost to
her. If to this be added, that many of the duties were imposed, not for
revenue, but for protection,--that is, intended to put money, not in
the treasury, but directly into the pockets of the manufacturers,--some
conception may be formed of the immense amount which, in the long course
of sixty years, has been transferred from South to North. There are no
data by which it can be estimated with any certainty; but it is safe to
say that it amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars. Under the most
moderate estimate, it would be sufficient to add greatly to the wealth
of the North, and thus greatly increase her population by attracting
emigration from all quarters to that section.

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