~,/;,.   ii -, -,
SLAVERY: WV-HAT IT WVAS, WHAT IT'HAS DONE, WHAT
~~ ~4'     I~Tr ITlET1sS Tn    DO kl 7  
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S-P E E C H
- HON. C-YDNOR B. TOMIPKINS, OF 0HI0.
Delivered in the- House of Representatives, April 24, 1860.
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that have characterized many speeches made
-this session by pro-slhvery members.   I shall
endeavor to   sh ow  th at the fttheris  of this   Republic, bo th o f the  Nor th and  South, we re m ore
thoroughly anti-slavery than any political panrty
now in te countryi; and th gat, for more tha n fort
years afte r i ts organization,  a lar ge  majo rity -t
our prominent me n          w ere strongly opposed to the
extension of that "paeicart achal institution.'o
The  debates  in the Federal  Convent io n sho w
that the  Constitution was fram ed, adopted,  and
ratified, b y  anti-slavery me n; bth at  th ey regarded
it as an evil, yet were ashamed  to acknowledge
hits existence in wor ds-th us virtually refusing te
recognise           propert y          in man.   Resolutions  adadress e s, and speeche s, n ow to be found,  establish this very important fact, as  I will show by
quotations from them.
At a general meeting in Prince George county, Virginia, it was
"Resolved, That the African slave trade is in' jurious to this colony, obstructs the population
'of it by free men, and prevents manufacturers
' from Burope from settling among us.'}
At a meeting in Culpeper county, Virginia, it
was
" Reeolved, That the importation of slaves ob' striicts the population with free white men and
' useful manufacturers."
At a meeting in Nansemond county, Virginia,
it was
" Re.olved, That the African slave trade is in' jurious to this colony, obstructs the population
' by free men, and prevents manufacturers from
' settling amongst us."
Resolutions to the same -effect were adopted
in Surrey county, Caroline county; and at a
meeting in Fairfax coiunty, over which George
Washington presided, resolutions of like import
were adopted.
At a very full meeting of delegates from the
different counties of the Colony and Dominion
of Virginia, at Williamsbtirg, on the 1st day of
August, 1774, it was
"l Resolved, that the abolition of domestic sla'very is the greatest object of desire in these
'colonies, where it was improperly introduced
' in their infant state."
This is the language of the goodiand wise men
Mr. TOMPKINS said:
~ Mr. CAnMAmNA: The charge is frequently made,
that nothing but slavery ocenpies the attention
of the National Legislature. That this charge is
true to a great extent, that this subject is cons;antly kept before the country, and that there
is constant excitement about it, ii not the fault
of the Republican party. In the first hour of the
present session of Congress, it was thrust upon 
the House by a member of the slavery party; for
two amonths a discussion was continued upon
that sabject, and almost exclusively by that
party-a discussion unparalleled in point of vio- 
lence and virulence in the history of Parliament- 
ary debate.  Charges the most aggravated were
unscrupulously and shamelessly made against
the best and purest men of the country, and honorable members on this floor.   Calumny and
vituperation held high carnival in the legislative
halls of this great nation.  The columns of the
J)aily Gloi teemed with fierce and fiery denunciations of all who would not bow to the behests
of pro-slavery power.  Depraved, corrupt, and
polluted presses exerted themselves to the utmost
in the weork of slander and detraction; hireling
scribblers for worse than hireling presses glutted
themselves and tiade their meqls on good men's
,na,mes. These spacious galleries were filled with
disloyal men, ready to applaud to the echo every
threat uttered against the Government, and every
disloyal sentiment heard from this floor.
If the Republicans here shalt feel it to be their
,,duty to discuss this subject now; to lay bare its
weakness and its wickedness; to expose the
.nadness and the folly of those who sustain, support, and- cherish it; if the great interests of the
country havo to be neglected for a timee; if ordinary legislation must be put aside, no complaint
.an be made against tie Republican party. That
party, its principles, its men, and its measures,
have been misrepresented, and most unjustly assailed. It is our privilege, it is our duty, to repel
those assaults, that the world may know that
when the advanced giard of freedom is attacked,
l'      our fee t  shall be  away s          in the arena, asad our
shields shall hang always in the'lists."
I intend to review this question for the time
allowed ma I hope to do so with fairness and
candor, aEd not with the passion A1:gx,itement
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I cannot quote at greater length from the proceedings of this committee.  Their philanthropy
was without regard to compl exion; t hey a bhorred
slavery, as based on injustice and cruelty; and
more, as dangerous to our liberties. If it were
founded in   injustice and cruelty in 17v5, i t isthe
same in  1860.  It was  dang ero us to  libert y then;
no  ma n  now apprehends any danger to liberty,
unless from the  sa me source.   It is daily threatened by me n who are interes ted i n slavery.  Lib.
erty cannot be  very  secure where four million
human  beings  are held in hopeless bo ndage     -
where  human   blood, bone,  muscle  a n, and,   I might
almost say, immortal souls, are a rticles    of    merchandise.
The historical quotation s  I ha ve made  brin g me
to the Revolution.   I will  cite the eio   b  it  th   o pinions of
some  of the  great actors  in that  great drama.
George  Washington           s aid, in his  will:
"Upon  the decease of  my wife, it is my  desire
'that the slave s who m I hol  d in mny own right
' should receive their fri eedom."           
Again, he said:
"I never  me an, unless some particular cir cum
'stance  should co mpel me, to  possess another
' s lave by purchase, it being my first wish to see
' some  plan  adapted  by which slaver y i n th is
' country may be abolished by law."
Lai Fayette, while in the prison of Magdeburg.
said:
" I know not what disposition has been made
' of my plantation at Ca) ennex; but I hope Mod'ame de La Fayette will take   care that the
'negroes who cultivat  e i t sha ll preserve their
' liberties."
Washington wrote to Robert Morris:
" It will not be conceived, from these observa' tions, that it is. my wish to hold these unhappy
'people (negroes) in slavery. I can only say
' that there is not a man living who wishes more
' sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted foi
' the abolition of it."
Again, he writes to La Fayette.:
"The benevolence of your heart, my dear Mar' quis, is so conspicuous on all occasions, that I
never wonder at any fresh proof of it; but your
late purchase of an estate in the colony of Cay' enne, with a view of emancipating the slaves
'on it, is a generous and noble proof of your
' humanity.   Woixld to God a like  spirit might
'diffuse itself generally into the people of this
' country I
Washington hoped for some plan by which
slavery might be legally abolished. Washington
lauded the humanity of La Fayette in purchasing
an estate for the purpose of emancipating the
negroes. I will leave it to gentlemenon the otber
side to draw the comparison between the chiv alry of the South then and now; between the
licentious assumption of thought and utterance
permitted then, and the course of conviction and
conversion esteemed necessary and equitable
now, towards hapless offenders in the footsteps
of predecessors so illustrious'
Patrick Henry said:
" Slavery is detested; wre feel its fatal effects;
we deplore it with all the pity of humanity. hI
c  repeat again, that it would rejoice my very Rout
of the Old Dominion in 1774; " the abolition of
domestic slavery was the greatest object of their
desire."  Not merely to limit it, to prevent its
extension, but wholly to overthrow it.  What
would be said if a body of men, equally wise,
good, and patriotic, should now meet in the Old
Dominion, and attempt to pass such resolutions?
They would be scourged, driven by violence from
the State, and might be considered fortunate
should they escape with their lives.  At a meeting in Newbern, North Carolina, August, 1774,
numerously attended by the most distinguished
men of that region, it was resolved that they
would not import any slave or slaves, or purchase any slave or slaves imported or brought
into that province by others from any part of
the   world. Such was the sentiment of North
Carolina in 1774, as to the evil and great wrong
of slavery.
The  Continental Congress, in October, 1774,
resolved that they would neither import, nor
purchase any slave imported, after December of
the same year; they agreed and resolved that
they would have no trade, commerce, dealings,
or intercourse whatsoever, with any colony or
province in North America which should not
accede to, or should violate, this resolve, but
would hold them as unworthy the rights of freemen and inimical to the liberties of this country.
But what is now the attitude of slaveholders?
They will hold no intercourse, they will have no
dealings, with any person or State that does not
approve of slavery, and yield to its intolerant
and despotic demands; if any man, not thus approving and yielding, chances to travel thro-ugh
the slav     e States,  an d     there to express his sentiments, he  is subjected to the degra dation and
cruelty of the lash, and is driven trom the State.
October  21, 17 74, t    he Contin ent al Cong ress, in
an          address to the peopl e     of Gr e at Britain,  said:
"When a nation, led to greatness by the hand
of liberty, and possessed of all the glory that
heroism, munificence, and humanity, can be  stow, descends to the ungrateful task of foorging
t chains for her friends and children, and, instead
of giving support to freedom, turns advocate
for slavery and oppression, there is reason to
suspect that she has either ceased to be virtu  ous, or is extremely negligent in the appoint' ment of her rulers."
Is not this the situation and condition of this
country now-? Is not a great party now engaged
in the ungrateful task of forging chains for a large
portion of the people of this country? Instead
of supporting freedom, does it not advocate sla very *nd oppression? Ilave we not reason to
suspect that too many of our countrymen have
ceased to be virtuous?
By the Darien committee, Georgia, January,
1775, it was declared:
"To show,he world that we are not influenced
' by any contracted and interested motives, but
'a general philanthropy for all mankind, of what'ever lan~guage or complexion, we hereby declare
'our disapprobation and abhorrence of the un' natural practice of slavery in America —a prac'tice founded in injustice and cruelty~ and highly
' dangerous to our liberties."
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' that every one of my fellow beings were eman-'he would have done right; but it was to cow
' cipated. We ought to lament and deplore the'sign them to inevitable death from small-pox
' necessity of holding our fellow men in bond-' and putrid fever then raging. in his camp."
' age."'                      I conclude here my citations from the united
Charles Pinckney, Governor of South Carolina,  voices of some of the best men of the country,
said:                                             before and after the Revolution, against slavery
" I must say that I lament the decision of your  as an evil, and a great national sin, not that I
Legislature upon the question of the importa- have exhausted their utterances, but that my
tion of slaves after March, 1793.  I was in time admits of no more.
' hopes that motives of policy, as well as other    The Republican party proclaims no doctrine
' good reasons, supported by the direful effects so ultra as theirs, uses no language so strong as
of slavery which at this moment are presented,  that of those Southern statesmen from whom it
'would have operated to produce a total prohi- gains so much information, and whose viewg, to
' bition of the importation of slaves, whenever 1 a great extent, it conscientiously accepts. We
' the question came to be agitated in any State  desire only to confine it within its present limits;
'that might be interested in the measure."        we  sk that it shall not pollute territory now
Such were the sentiments of the most enlight-  free; we know the utter folly of appealing to
ened, the most virtuous men of our country in its  the morality or humanity of a pro-slavery party,
heroic age.  George Mason, of Virginia, stigma-  where the rights of a black man are involved;
tized the slave trade as an "infernal traffic I" but when you insist on taking slaves into a free
He said that "slavery discouraged manufactures;  Territory, and smiting the land with this blightthat it produced the most pernicious effect on ing, withering curse. we plant ourselves on our
manners."   Without intending to be personal  constitutional rights, and say, thus far shall you
or offensive, I think I can pause here and prop- go, and no further.
erly remark, that if the effects of slavery are    The learned gentleman from Alabama, [Mr.
changed in every other respect, the effect on CURRY,] in alluding to the opinion of the fathers
manners is the same now that it was in the last of the Republic, said:
century.   The epithets used by men  on this    "These,  however, were but  mere  speculafloor, their arrogant bearing towards their peers,' tions."
is abundant proof that there is no change in that    Was it a mere speculation when Madison said,
respect.  We  have frequently heard members,  " we have seen a mere distinction of color made
this session, speak of a great party in this coun- the ground of the most oppressive dominion of
try as the Black Republican party.  Legislative  man over man?"  Was it as a mere speculation
bodies in the slave States have so far forgotten I that Jefferson wrote, that Cornwallis would have
what should be due to the standing and dignity of been right, had he carried away his (Jefferson's)
a Legislature, as to call a certain party, in their of- slaves to free them? Was it a mere speculation,
ficial proceedings, the " Black Republican party."  a wild fancy, that the framers of the ConstituWhy are men betrayed into such violations of tion would not admit that there could be such
the proprieties of life?  There can be no other  a thing as property in man? A mere speculation,
reason than the one given by George Mason  was it, of Patrick Henry, when he said "that
eighty years ago: slavery produces a most per-  slavery is detested; we feel its fatal effects; we
nicious effect upon  manners.   I know it is deplore it?" when he declared it would "reclaimed, by men in the slave States, that slavery joice his very soul, were all his fellow beings
is necessary to the highestdevelopment of hu- emancipated? "  Was  it a mere speculation
man society; but I think the experience of mem-  when Jefferson wrote, and his colleagues signed,
bers of Congress is, that slavery does not always  "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
produce this beneficial result.                   menare created equal?"  No one then -doubted
I revert to my Southern authorities upon the  the truth of this declaration.  More than a genpeculiar institution.  Mr. Iredell, of North Caro-  eration passed away before any man dared raise
lina, thus expresses himself:                     his voice against it.  No, sir; this was  no mere
"When the entire abolition of slavery takes  speculation, but the acknowledgment of a great
place, it will be an event which must be most  "humanitarian fact." True then, it is true now;
' pleasing to every generous mind, and to every  and must remain indisputable and eternal-a
' friend of human nature."                       pillar of fire by night, a cloud by day, to guide
Thomas Jefferson whites:                       and guard nations yet unborn in the path of
"The'spirit of the master is abating': that of honor, of safety, of moral and political grandeur.
' the slave rising from the dust; his, condition    But the learned gentleman does not pause
mollifying; the way, I hope, preparing, under  upon these "speculations."  He proceeds to tell
' the auspices of Heaven, for a total emancipa- us that circumstances are changed; that there
' tion."                                         was then little more than half a million slaves,
He continues, in his plan for a Constitution for and scarce a pound of cotton exported.  Does
Virginia:                                         the gentleman believe, or does he but attempt
"Nothing is more certainly written in the book  to lead us to believe, that the ethics of those
'of fate, than that these people are to be free."   men "without fear and without reproach" had
In a letter to Dr. Gordon, on Lord Cornwallis's no sounder foundation than this: that while
invasion of Virginia, Mr. Jefferson says:         slaves were few and cotton scarce, slavery might
"He carried off also about thirty slaves, (Jef-  be a wrong, but with  four million slaves and
' ferson's.) Had this been to give them freedom,  four million two hundred thousand bales of cot
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rid of these  bonds."  But, slave la bor has beLome profitable  in some  parts of the South; the
mania for  wealth  has se ized   the slaveholder's
avarice, has dried up the fountain of humanity.
The lust of powe r and dominion deadens t heir
consciences; a million bales of cotton can blind
their eyes alike to the fl ames of perdition and
the  glories of Paradise. They make to themselves friends of the  Ma mmo n    of tunrighteousness; they  become full, a nd deny  thei r Maker,
an d say,  who is the Lord I Concerning oppression, they speak lof tily.  But they are set in slippery places; they  wil l be   cast  down unto destruction.
The gentleman   from Mississippi [Mr.  LAMAR]
said, a  few days since:
"I t ell you,  Mr. Chairman, that  God's  sun
' do es not shine upon  a  nobler, proude r, more
' pr erosperous,  and elevated class  of people, than
' the  non-slaveh olde rs of       the South."
This, I think, will be news to many non-slaveholders in the gentleman's district. Thomas Jefferson tells us that man is an imitative animal;
therefore, if the assertion of the gentleman from
Mississippi be correct, we must wonder why
slaveholders do not relie ve thesev    them selves of their
negroes, that the y  may become  equally noble,
proud, prosperous, and elevated, with the nonslaveholder. Who can compare with them on
this side of Paradise? With them, the millen nium can be no object of desire, since
" Not a wave of trouble rolls
Across their peaceful breasts."
Still there must be some malice in their heartsh
for the honorable gentleman states that they
(the non-slaveholders) hold slavery in the hol low of their hands; surely, were they benevo lent, they would close their hands and crush oat
the " institution," that their slaveholding fellow citizens might become as prosperous and as
happy as themselves.
The assertion is fiequently made, that white
men'cannot work in the hot latitudes of the
South, and this is offered as a reason why there
should be black slaves there. The gentleman
knocks one of the strongest props from under the
institution. He tells us white men work, and
raise not only cotton, but corn and potatoes. He
also informs us that after the cotton, corn, and
potatoes, are raised, the strong, brave man
drives the plow through the fallow ground.
It will be seen that work during the summer
has not produced the lassitude and enervation
that it has been claimed is produced in/white
men by labor. We are still further informed,
that the fallow ground turned up by the
strong, brave man, discloses something more
valuable than the gold of California-"'Tis the
sparkles of libertyI" W~e have beard of the
sparkles of liberty that are made manifest to the
nonl-slaveholders of the South. The poor labor ing man at Columbia, South Carolinas when
streams of blobd issued from the furrows plowed
in his naked back bar a cow-hide in the hands of
a negro, saw some of the sparkles of liberty,
when, bleeding, exhausted, besmeared with tar,
and covered with feathers, he was thrust into
the cars, and left to perish in the cold. Hie had,
ion, it becomes just, humane,  moral? -that
while negroes and cotton fill one side of the
scales, Christian truth must kick the beam on
the other, and slavery thus becomes a great
*hilmanitarian fact?"T
The right and wrong of the thing, about which
there has been so much discussion, is now easily
solved.  The gentleman has found an infallible
rule; it is simply to make a chemical analysis
of your soil; if it will produce cotton, you can
purchase slaves and work them without violating
the laws of God or man.
We may also infer, or be induced to believe,
from the honorable gentleman's speech, that if
nothing is raised but indigo and rice, the propriety and morality of holding men in bondage is
doubtful.  Not such, sir, were the "speculations"
bf the fathers of the Republic.
Lucid as is the gentleman's speech in general,
there is a want of clearness in the last point I
have cited; but this is owing entirely to the
materials used in the demonstration-rice and
indigo will not do; nothing will serve but cotton; cotton ever, cotton only.
If slave labor, then, is profitable, slaveholding
is equitable.  Thus it is decided, that whatever
is profitable is also equitable: justice and injustice are mere matters of profit and loss; the
morality or immorality of slavery a mere question of soil and climate.
The great authorities cited as to the evil effects
of slavery on the white race, should satisfy the
most incredulous.  But, says the learned gen tleman from Alabama, there were few slaves at
that time, and scarce a pound of cotton for ex portation.  Let us, then, pass from that period,
to one when the few slaves had become millions,
and the bales of cotton exported were estimated
in like manner.  In 1832, Thomas  Marshall, of
Virginia, said of slavery:
"It is ruinous to the whites; retards  im' provement;.roots out an industrious popula  tion; banishes the yeomanry of the covntry;
deprives the spinner, the weaver, the smith, the
'shoemaker, the carpenter, of employment and
' support.  Labor of every species is disreputa * ble, because performed mostly by slaves; the
* general aspect of the country marks the curse
of a wasteful, idle, reckless population, who
have no interest in the soil, and care not how
'much it is impoverished."
Mr. Berry, of Virginia, spoke thus:
"I believe that no cancer on the physical body
i was ever more certain, steady, and fatal, in its
t progress, than is the cancer of slavery on the
political body of the State of Virginia.  It is
eating into her very vitals."
The records of Southern statesmanship, sir,
abound in such and stronger expressions. Sla  very had then existed in this country more than
two hundred years, yet scarce a man could be
then found so bold and 80 reckless as to pro  claim it just and righteous, a humane, a Chris:tian institution. Nearly the whole civilized world
united in its condemnation;* the ministers of our
holy religion in the slave States declaimed
:ainlst it; their solemn petitions ascended to
~iie throne of God,~that the country might be
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is at once presented to the mind, how elevated
in  the  scale o f e xis tence ca n a man be  who can
neither read nor write?
I have  shown that  slavery was r egarded as  a
political, moral,  and social evil, by the  f o und ers
of  th is Republic,   and  by  able Southern  statesmen within   thirty years; that their  a  nxious
query has  been,  " what is tt be done with  it?"
We a re now asked to dis cr edi t those m en, and
give ear  to a  modern creed, that  s lavery is not
only nec essary, but beneficent-a  divine ordi,-ance-and that       Southern non-slaveholders,
even, are  prosperous  a nd e levated just  in proportion: to the nu mber   of slaves owne d  by their
neighbors.
Not such, sir, were the "speculations " of the
fathers of the Republic; nor is the world to be
deceived by such assumptions. Decree and carry
out what non-intercourse you will; surround
yourselves with barriers as impassable as the Chinese wall, or the great gulf between Dives and
Lazarus, still the evidences of your condition will
exist on the imperishable pages of history, in the
records left by the mighty and venerated dead;
and the attempt to establish the belief that slavery is a universal blessing will be received but
as an aggression upon the credulity of mankind.
Forty years ago, a slave Territory applied for
admission to the Union as a State. The friends
of freedom objected that its reception would be
contrary to the policy of our Government. " Admit it," it was urged, a1 with its present Constitution, and we will consent to a line of demarkation, north of which slavery shall never pass."
This was solemnly agreed to before the whole
world; and this compact, forced upon the country by the slave power, was claimed by it as a
great triumph of slavery. Men at the North felt
that this was a great aggression, a great outrage
upon freedom; yet, to give quiet and restore
harmony, they submitted, consoled by the na tional pledge that slavery should be extended no
further, and believing that the nation might joy ously look forward to long years of happiness
and repose. But despotism is ever restless and
grasping; but twenty-five years rolled by-a very
short period in the life of a nation-ere Texas
was admitted to the Union, that slavery propa gandists could have a wider field for their op erations. As everybody foresaw, war ensued;
and the best blood of the nation fattened the
soil of Mexico. More than two hundred millions
of treasure were expended, and many thousand
valuable lives sacrificed. All over this land, "the
sky was hung with blackness; " " mourning was
spread over the mountain tops." Territory enough
was obtained to make four large States, well
adapted to the productive labor of human chat tels, and this territorv was blackened over with
slavery. Such a triumph ought to have satisfied
the most grasping of the friends of this " pecu liar instituti~on;" but the world should have
known that nothing short of universal dominion
would satisfy the slave owne~r and slave breeder.
Less than ten years after the annexation of Texas,
it was discovered by Southern men that there
was a Territory west of Missouri, wherein the
peculiar institution of the South could be
no doubt, a vivid idea of the liberty that is enjoyed by non-slaveholders in the South, when
he remembered that these cruelties and barbarities were inflicted on him for expressing a rational and honest opinion relative to this " peculiar institution."
The statements, and doubtless convictions, of
the honorable member from Mississippi, differ
singularly from those of Senator CLAY, of Alabama, who tells us that, in his State, "we may
'behold numerous fine houses, once the abode
' of intelligent freemen, now occupied by slaves,
'or else tenantless and dilapidated; that we
' may see fields, once fertile, covered with fox'tail and broom-sedge-moss growing on the
' walls of once thrifty villages, and may find that
''one only master grasps the whole domain' 
'which once furnished homes for a dozen white
' families."
Hear, also, Senator HAMMO'.ID, of South Carolina, who says of the non-slaveholders of his
State:
" They obta in                   a precarious subsist ence by oc casionil jobs, by hunting, by fishing, by plun dering fields or folds, or, too often, by what is
'far worse in its effects, trading with slaves, and
'leading them to plunder for their benefit."
The opinions already quoted from many of the
wise men of the South go far to' demonstrate
that the gentleman from Mississippi is entirely,
mistaken.  v'fhere is, however, another test by
which we can try the accuracy of what the gentleman has said about the non-slaveholders of
the South.  The census report of 1850 shows
this important fact: that of the white men in
the slave States over twenty-one years of age,
there is about one in every twelve that cannot
read and write; while in the free States there is
only one out of every forty-five.  It must also be
remembered, that a very large number of those
in the free States who cannot read, came originally from the slave States.  Take, for instance,
MIassavhusetts, where there are but very few persons from the slave States, if any, and there is
only one in seven hundred and seventy-eight
that cannot read and write.  Take Indiana and
Illinois-States that have large populations from
the slave States-Indiana, one in every fourteen
cannot read; in Illinois, one in every twentyone and a half; and if any one will take the
trouble to examine, it will no doubt be found
that this ignorance exists almost entirely where
the population from the slave States largely predominates.  I will venture the assertion, that
there can scarcely be a mail found in the State
of Ohio, that was born there, who possesses intellect capable of cultivation, that cannot read;
while a very large portion of those ignorant men
in the slave States were "to the manor born."
It must also be borne in mind that, in making
the estimate of the free States, the men that per form all the labor are included.  In the slave
States, ile      I do no   neat                         ld  ats the men  work  a re
not included. I do not know that any great
good can come of making these comparisons.
But when the gentleman tells us that the non slaveholders in his State are the most prosperous
and the most elevated of mankind, the inquiry
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made profitable; but by a solemn league and
covenant this l       and h  ad     been, for m ore   than a
third of a century, consecrated to freedom. This
bond of national faith, th.is pledge of national
honor, stood in the road of their ambition.
But men whose live       s       ar e bu t a series of violations of the               dearest  rights that God has bestow ed
on  m    an c    annot be expe ct ed to b     e  bound  by
pledges of national faith and national honor.
This time-honored compact was annulled, the
barrier between freedom and slavery broken
down. The whole country was astounded at
the perfidy of the act.
But the climax was not reached. The Territory was overrun with desperadoes; ruffians
from adjoining States usurped the rights of actual settlers, ctulfed ballot-boxes with illegal
votes, and elected nmembers of their own lawless
bands to the Legislature, to enact laws by which
every friend of freedom might be driven from the
country.
Innocent and unoffending men were murdered
in cold blood, houses were consumed with fire,
hamlets laid in smoking ruins, homeless and
houseless innocents, women and tender children,
were driven forth, exirosed to the winds and
storms of heaven.
All these wrongs, all these outrages, all these
crimes of blood and deeds of horror, were comnmitted to plant the accursed institution on the
soil that had been, by a great national act, dedicated to treedom. But violence and arson, bloodshed and murder, faited.  The black banner of
slavery is trailing in the dust. The stars and
stripes wave triumphantly over a free and joyous
people. The heretofore invincible is conquered.
1 have borrowed the word " aggression " to express the conduct of the South toward the
iNorth.  I do not intend to make  the charge
without the specifications.
1. I charge upon slavery, that the enforcement
of " he 4issouri compromise was an aggression
upon the North.
2. I charge the annexation of Texas, whereby
the Mexican war was brought upon the country,
more than two hundred millions of money were
spent, and many thousand lives sacrificed, as an
aggression.
3. i charge that the adoption of the fugitive
slave law, with many of its odious and obnoxious
provisions, was an aggression upon the people of
the North.
4. I charge that the decision of the Supreme
Court in the Dred Scot case was an aggression
upon the North. It was a decision made for the
benefit of slavery, and to deprive the people of
the free States of their equal rights in the Territories.
5. I charge that the repeal of the Missouri compromise line was an outrageous aggression upon
the rights of the North; disreputable to the nation, and dishonorable to the party engaged in
it; one that has brought ill its train innumerable woes, and created an excitement that will
not be allayed during the present generation.
6. I charge that the murders, robberies, and
arsons, in Kansas, were aggressions of' slavery.
All these things I have charged as aggressions
of slavery are national a.ggressions, for which
the slavery party, having control of the admin istration of this Government, are responsible.   I
charge them as direct, positive aggressions, on
the rights of the free people of the North.  In
addition to  these great national aggressions,
there are numerous similar infringements upon
the rights of individuals of the North-of tarring
and feathering, of whipping-acts of such bar barity and cruelty, that it would chill a man's
bloodito hear them recited.
Recently, a whole community of moral, peace able citizens wpre driven from their homes, com pelled to abandon their property, and seek refuge
in a free State, from the violence of slavehold ers.  There are, no doubt, many good and  hu mane men in slave States, who deprecate these
wrongs; but they dare not utter a word-every
mouth must be sto)pped, every lip must be sealed,
every voice must be hushed, all must be silent
as the grave-the most inexorable  despotism
reigns supreme.
Having endeavored to show what slavery was,
and what it has done, I now propose to show what
it intends to do.  Its advocates claim that the
territory now  belonging to the  Government is
the common property of all the States, having
been acquired by the common blood and treasure
of all; that, therefore, the inhabitants of  the
slave States have a right to emigrate to the Ter ritories, and take with them their slaves.  I am
willing to admit that the inhabitants of one sec tion otf the country have just the same rights in
the Territories that the inhabitants of another
section have.  I say it would be an act of injils tice to deny one man any right in the Territory
that another man has, and would belust cause
of complaint.  But I am not w.illing to give to a
man from a slave State any greater rights than
to a man from a free State.  And when I have
admitted that all have the same constitutional
rights in the Territories, I have by no means adnitted that men from the South have a right to
hold slaves in the Territories.  You may go, and
take your slaves with you, if you have a mind
to run the risk; I say you shattll not take your
slave laws with you.
I say that slavery is but the creation of some
local enactment, and that no property can exist
in a human being, unless it is made so by some
law. This opinion was entertained by the founders of this Republic, and by nearly every states man in this country, until very recently.  We
hear much said about the constitutional rights
of the South; it is thundered in our ears from
the beginning to the end of the session of Congress.  What is meant by this stereotyped expression, I do not exactly comprehend; and, I
presume, many who make use of the phrase do not
understand it. If you mean by this that the Constitution of the United States gives you the right
to go into the Territories belonging to the people
of this country, and take with you not only your
human chattels, but also your bloody slave laws,
I say, you have no such constitutional rights.
The Constitution of the United States nowhere
recognises slaves as property.   The Supreme
(Court of the United States has decided that slaves
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are not property under the Constitution.  The
Constitution gives you the right to reclaim your
slaves, if they escape into any other State; this
is all the right it gives you, and all there is in
the Constitution that can by any possibility be
construed to apply to slaves.  To contend that
there is any power  given in the Constitution
which enables the slaveholder to take his slaves
with him into a Territory, and not only his slaves,
but his slave laws, and the -lave laws of all the
slave States, is an assumption of power that I
am not willing to concede to him.  It is claimed
that if persons from the slave States are not permitted to go into the Territories, and take with
them their slaves and slave laws, the rights otf
the slave States are violated.  This cannot be.
If you claim to take into the Territories the laws
of the slave States, anid not only the laws, but
the Constitution of a slave State, I claim, also,
that I will take the Constitution of my State,
which says there shall be neiher slavery nor involuntary servitude; and if you do not permit
this, the rights of my State are violated, if your
doctrine be true.
The emigrants from every State in the Union,
under the power claimed by the slavery propagandists, would have a right to take with them
all the constitutions and all the laws of all the
States. The confusion which would follow would
be worse than at the Tower of Babel. If a citizen of any slave State leaves it, and goes into a
free State or Territory to reside, he takes with
him none of the rights or powers with which his
State clothed him while he remained therein.
He can take with him such articles ats, by the
universal consent ot mankind, are considered
property, and exercise ownership over them.
When-at home, I am a legal voter; I can vote
for any State or county officer, or President of
the United States. But if I cross the river, a
distance of eighty rods, or go out of my election
district, or "n any other direction, I have no such
privilege.  The  right  ot sluffrage, which  is the
highest right t ha t ever cit n be  exerci sed by a
citi,zen, is controlled by the laws and Constitution of each particular State. In the State of
Ohio, a man need not be a property holder to
entitle him to the right of suffrage; it he remove
into a State where he must have a property
qualification before he can vote, are the rights of
the State he left violated? I presume no one
will contend that they are. A man may have
some power in the State of Virginia, given by its
Legislature-the right to issue paper money, for
instance; but if he remove to Ohio, he has not
this right. No man would pretend to claim that
any of the rigbts of Virginia are infringed.
Yet the man who would make this claim, would
be just as reasonable as he who should claim
that the rigbts of Virginia are invaded because
her slaveholders are not permitted to take slaves
into Kansas or Nebraska.
I-understand those Southern men, who talk so
much about Southern rights, claim not only the
right to take slaves into the Territories, but theyr
claim the right to take slave laws and the habits
and customs which arc practiced ill the slave
States. T5hey claim to take laws by. which tbur
million negroes are  redined t o  the, condition o f
brutes.   Six million white men, women, and
c hi ldren, who have to obtain their living     by labor, are condemned to perpetual degradation and
ignorance, by whi ch t  hree  hundred an  d  lifty
thousand slaveholders can govern and control
th e  destinies of the millions of people in the
slave States; and no t only of those people, bai t of
this great country of ours.  They not only claim
keit  t  te  the right to take their  negroes into the Territories, but they claim t o  t ake la ws there that Will
deny  to every man t he  freedom of s pe ech  and
the liberty of the press. The y cl aim the r ight to
seal every man's lips, and stop every  man's
mouth, or  question s of great   national interest.
Theygclaim to take wi th t h       them the Piglt to condemn as a felon  the Yuan   who  may utter  and
maintain the  Declaration o f Inde pende nce, or the
opinions of the  conscript fathers of the  Republic.
They    claint  to  tak e  w ith them  the right. to condemnu as a felon the  man who dare s procl aim th e
precepts of our h oly re ligion. The y claim to  take
with them the right to  strip naked and cut int o
gashes the  back of t he  man  who utters  opinions
that do no t  e xactly "sSqu are and corner" with
the  interests of the  aristocrattic slaveholders.
A negro populati o n  is one by nlo means  denrbble, but a  fre e  whi te  man  could live where
the"  are  negroes,   and    mai ntain h is freedom; but
no white  non-slaveholder can live w he r e slave
laws, customs, and habits, pertain, and retain  the
rights tha t    belong to tre e men in ftiee States.
A man may live in the swamps of the torrid
zone, and escape the crocodiles, alligators, anai
o ther  slimy and creeping things, but he cannot
escape the miasma and poison of the  atmosphere.
if the slaveholder is permitted to go into the
Territories, and take  his slave laws, habitss, and
customs, the p eople oif the  free  States are  to  a
great extent  excluded t h erefr o m, a nd deprived
of all rights therein.
But slaveholders say they will go; they will
take their slaves, and their slave code; they will
establish there such a despotism as reigns ii
some of the slave States; they will poison the
air that surrounds the fbrtile plains of the West,
until freedom shall sicken and die; and we are
constantly told, that if we do not yield to their
unreasonable demands, this Union shall be dissolved!
But these threats do not move or alarm me, and
for the best of all possible reasons; I go not be.
lieve that the gentlemtn who make these threats
intend to leave their places on this floor-nor, if
they should, would the country suffer any loss.
The section they represent would still remain
under the Constitution and laws of the United
States, and our glorious flag would still wave
over its fertile plains and lofty mountains, its
woody dells and shelving rocks, its gurgling
fountains and rippling rills. Good, loyal, and
patriotic men would come here to {ill the vacant
places, ready and able to discharge their duty to
the countryr, and to the whole country.
Notwithstanding these threats of disunion from
the Democratic party, we hear much holy horror
expressed in regard to a: sectional party} and
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n uch laudation of a natignal, conservative party.
Tile nationality or' the Dimocratic party consists
in devoting all the energies and power of the
Federal Government to advancing the interests,
aims, and ends, of about one hundred thousand
men.  Its conservatism consists in its avowed
determination to dissolve the Union, should a
majority of our people, in the exercise of their
legal and constitutional rights, elect a President
not acceptable to that party.
There are, I presume, not more than one hundred thousand men in this country who feel any
desire to extend the boundaries of slavery, or
who would, had they the power, add one other
slave State to the Union.  Yet the whole power
of this Government is devoted to that one object; its entire strength concentrated in one spasmodic effort to extend slavery.  The agricultural,
the  ma       nufact uring,              the grea t commerc ial intere sts                  of this country, are entirely ignored, neglected, and forgotten, that the interests of one
hundred thou sand slaveholders ma y b e adv    anced.
The great pu rsuits          by which  twenty-five million
p     eople live, are  not  considered worthy the attention of this Democratic  party; while  one hundred thousand aristocrats) require its entire services. Yet        this is     the g  reat national party I
While  so d         etermi ned        upon rule is it, that if                            a
majority    o         f the people should decide against it,
and disc           harge its members  from places of trust
and honor, they          threaten to destr                 oy this Govern
ment.  Such  is  the         con s          ervati        ve party commended to our most favorable consideration.
The slavery party   is consta nt ly complaining
that t      he free St   ate s             enact personal-liberty laws,
andv that they do         not fulfi l their constitutional
obligations.   Whatever acts may b        e  p assed by
our Legislatures, so that they do not interfere
wi     th           the donstitutio  of the United States, you
hav       e no right to        complain.. But if you      think that
Constitution violated, you have your remedy.
Send your    att    orneys       int o      the free States; com mence your s uits    in   the F ede ral c ou rts, and try
the validity of our statutes. We pledge o urselves
that your agents      s    hall be k indly treated, and shall
have       a       fair   he a    ring. We will not follow your
exatmple; wle w         ill      n          ot pass laws in plain  and pal pabl         e violation of your rights,  and  in palpable
violation of           the Constit        ution, and   the      n drive out,
by threats or tiolence, any man who may come
into the State to test the validity of such enact ments. I
Before you complain of us, go home and seize
and hang the pirates who are hovering around
your shores, e          ngaged in      the slave trade. You
may say a jurywill not convict them. Wh  not?
Because the community sustains them in their
unholy traffic and in their VioItion of the laws.
But if you really desired to punish those men,
you could easily devise the ways and means-a
whipping on the bare back with a raw-hide, a
coat of tar and feathers, or some other corrective
that you are in the habit of using. I would not
advise these punishments; in a free State they
would not be practicable; but in States where
such things are in constant use, it is rather surprising that some person has not thought of thus
applying them.  Men who commit acts declared
by the wh ole civilized world to be piracy, you
permit to escape,  while you say  you will hang
the man who circulate s  Helper's book. Before
y complain of the free States, arrest  and  punish the scoundrels who  so c ruelly tr eated the
Irishman at Columbia, South Carolina, fbr no
offene  buat  sayi ng that slavery w as d etr imental
to free labor.
Take  from place  and power  the  men whose
hands and faces are reeking and smoking with
the blood of our people in Kansas, and put them
to death. Punish the thousands of others who
have  committed acts of violence against freeState men, and are yet unwhipped of justice.These thin gs you  must do,    before you complain
of us.  I t a ke no  pleasure i n   these   criminations
and recriminations. I know that  a ll the  States
are a part of my country; but when I hear of the
wrongs and outrages perpetrated on men merely
because they will not subscribe to the doctrines
you hold, and hear you complain of us for not
doing our duty as citizens, I will let you know
that you, too, " are made of penetrable stuff." I
have
I do not mean to interfere with any man's legal or constitutional rights. The people of the
slave States have tlite right to continue slaverythere if the y  desire so to  do.  I h ave no  right tc
interfere with it.  But I     inten d  to maintain my
own rights.
To draw an impassable line around slavery, anconfine it within its present limits; an absolut::
abolition of the African slave trade; the Terri
tories to be kept free for homes for free menthese measures I regard as tbsolutely  essentin
to the perpetuation of this Government, and tc,
the highest development of the Anglo-Saxo.
race. I have endeavored to show what slaver=is, what it has done. and what it intends to do
I have also endeavored to show what are th aims and objects of the Republican party; an:
if they cannot be tolerated-if such principle —
cannot be sustained by the people ofany seetio.
of this country-it is the misfortune of that pee
ple. They are the principles that ought to b —:
sustained by all people that are fitted for -civ:.
liberty; they are the principles on which th-'
Government was founded; they were baptize in the best blood of this nation; they were cher
ished by the greatest names that adorn th
brightest pages of the history of our count, during its patriotic and virtuous and heroic a,
They were emblazoned on every banner th waved over our army in every battle-field,-:
the Revolution; during the storm and darknes they were the bright " signet on the bosom. the cloud," the rainbow of promise and of hop
Publishkd by the Republican Congressional Committee.  Price 50 cents per hundred. 
I
'I lparned to, deride your fierce decree,
Alid break, you on the wheel you meant for me."