LINCOLN PROPOSES AID TO EMANCIPATION.

This bill having reached the House, Mr. Stevens, of Pa., in Committee of the Whole, moved" the laying aside successively of each bill preceding it on the calendar, and thus reached this one; which was taken up and debated by Judge Thomas, of Mass., and Mr. Crittenden, of Ky., in opposition. Mr. Stevens tried to close the debate next day, but failed; and the bill was advocated by Messrs. F. P. Blair, of Mo.. Bingham, Blake, Riddle, Ashley, and Hutchins, of Ohio, Rollins, of N. H., and Van Horn, of N. Y. Mr. Stevens at length induced the Committee to rise and report the bill; when the measure was further opposed by Messrs. H. B. Wright, of Pa., Wads worth, Harding, Menzies, and Wickliffe, of Ky., and supported by Messrs. Hickman, of Pa., Train, of Mass., Lovejoy, of Ill., Dunn, of Ind., Cox and Vallandigham, of Ohio; and passed under the Previous Question: Yeas 92; Nays 39. [Messrs. G. H. Browne, of R. I., English, of Conn., Haight and Odell, of N. Y., Sheffield, of R. I., and B. F. Thomas, of Mass., voted Yea with the Republicans; while Messrs. J. B. Blair and Wm. G. Brown, of Va., James S. Rollins, of Mo., and Francis Thomas, of Md., voted Nay with the Democrats and Kentuckians.] The bill, thus passed on the 11th, was signed by the President on the 16th of April, 1862."

259

against Slavery as the main cause of our subsisting troubles in a Special Message," which proposed that the Houses of Congress should unite in adopting this joint resolution :

Resolved, That the United States, in oradopt gradual abolition of Slavery, give to der to cooperate with any State which may such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State, in its discretion, to compensate it for the inconvenience, public and private, produced by such change of system."

This proposition he commended in these guarded and deferential terms:

"If the proposition contained in the reso

lution does not meet the approval of Congress and the country, there is an end of it. But, if it does command such approval, I deem it of importance that the States and people immediately interested should be at

once distinctly notified of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to accept or reject it.

"The Federal Government would find

its highest interest in such a measure, as
one of the most important means of self-
Rebellion entertain the hope that this Gov-
preservation. The leaders of the existing
ernment will ultimately be forced to ac-
knowledge the independence of some part
of the disaffected region, and that all the
Slave States north of such part will then
say, The Union for which we have strug-
gled being already gone, we now choose to
go with the Southern section.' To deprive
them of this hope substantially ends the
Rebellion; and the initiation of Emancipa-
initiating it.
tion deprives them of it, and of all the States

"The point is not that all the States tolinitiate Emancipation; but, while the offer erating Slavery would very soon, if at all, is equally made to all, the more Northern shall, by such initiation, make it certain to

former ever join the latter in their proposed
Confederacy. * **While it is true that
the adoption of the proposed resolution
would be merely initiatory, and not within
itself a practical measure, it is recommended
in the hope that it would soon lead to im-
portant practical results. In full view of
my great responsibility to my God and to
part of Blacks; but U. S. Treasurer Spinner
was waited on by a District negro (free), who
had bought and paid for his (slave) wife, and
who required payment not only for her but for
their half-dozen children—all his legal and sala-
ble chattels and the claim could not be disal-
lowed.
20 March 6, 1862.

the more Southern that in no event will the

my country, I earnestly beg the attention | Sherman, of Ohio, Doolittle, of of Congress and the people to the sub

ject."

Wisc., Browning, of Ill., and Morrill, of Maine, also advocated the measure; and it passed "Yeas 32 (including Davis, of Ky., Henderson, of Mo., Thomson [Dem.], of N. J., and Willey, of Pa.); Nays-Messrз. Bayard and Saulsbury, of Del., Kennedy, of Md., Carlile, of Va., Powell, of Ky., Wilson, of Mo., Wright, of N. J., Latham, of Cal., Nesmith and Stark, of Oregon. It is noteworthy that a majority of these Nays were the votes of Senators from Border States, to which it proffered compen

Mr. Stevens, of Pa., having moved and carried a reference of this Message by the House to a Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union, and Mr. R. Conkling, of N. Y., having moved" the resolve above recommended, a debate sprung up thereon; which is notable only as developing | the repugnance of the Unionists of the Border Slave States, with that of the Democrats of all the States, to compensated or any other Emancipation. Messrs. Wadsworth, Mallory, Wick-sation for their slaves, all whom have liffe, and Crittenden, of Ky., and Crisfield, of Md., spoke for the former; Messrs. Richardson, of Ill., Voorhees, of Ind., Biddle, of Pa., for the latter. All the Republicans who spoke supported, the proposition; though Messrs. Stevens and Hickman, of Pa., characterized it as timid, temporizing, and of small account. It passed the House" by 89 Yeas (Republicans, West Virginians, and a few others not strictly partisans) to 31 Nays (including Crisfield, Leary, and Francis Thomas, of Md., with Crittenden, Dunlap, Harding, Wadsworth, and Wickliffe, of Ky.-the rest Democrats).

The resolve having reached the Senate and been duly referred, Mr. Trumbull, of Ill., reported" it favorably from the Judiciary Committee; when, on its coming up," it was fiercely assailed by Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, and more temperately opposed by Messrs. Willey, of Va., McDougall and Latham, of Cal., and Powell, of Ky. Mr. Henderson, of Mo., supported it, and thenceforward acted as an emancipationist. Messrs. 21 Mar. 10. 21 Mar. 11. 23 Mar. 20. 24 Mar. 24. 25

since been freed without compensation. The President of course approved" the measure; but no single Slave State ever claimed its benefits; and its only use inhered in its demonstration of the willingness of the Unionists to increase their already heavy burdens to pay for the slaves of the Border States-a willingness which the infatuation of the ruling class in those States rendered abortive, save in its inevitable tendency to soften prejudice and reconcile the minds of loyal slaveholders to a social revolution fast becoming inevitable.

Mr. Wilson, of Mass., having giv en notice" of a joint resolve granting aid to the States of Delaware and Maryland to emancipate their slaves, Mr. Saulsbury, of Del., objected to its consideration; and it lay over. When called up," he declared his inflexible hostility to it, and his purpose to interpose every available obstacle to its passage. It was introduced, however, and had its first reading; but was not again taken up. Soon, however, Mr. White, of Ind., Apr. 2. Apr. 10. 27 Mar. 7, 1862. 29 Mar. 10.

SLAVERY EXCLUDED FROM THE TERRITORIES.

26

261

proposed" a more comprehensive ferred-Yeas 81; Nays 51-to the measure; contemplating the gradual Select Committee aforesaid; which extinguishment, at the National cost, was only enabled to perfect it on the of Slavery in all the Border Slave last day of the session; when the States, and moved its reference to a House refused-Yeas 63; Nays 57Select Committee of nine. Mr. Mal- to suspend the rules in favor of its lory, of Ky., moved that this propo- immediate consideration, which resition do lie on the table; which quired a vote of two thirds. So perfailed: Yeas 51; Nays 68; and it then ished the last effort to compensate the prevailed: Yeas 67; Nays 52. loyal States for the Emancipation of their Slaves-the Democrats and all the Border-State members who were not friends of the Administration unanimously resisting it in every shape and to the extent of their power.

37

We have seen that the XXXVIth Congress, after it had become Republican through the withdrawal of the representatives of the Gulf States, organized the new Territories of Colorado, Nevada, and Dakotah, by actз3 which maintained a profound silence with regard to Slavery. The hope of thus winning a portion of the

The Committee having been appointed," Mr. White reported" therefrom a bill offering $300 per head from the Treasury for the legal emancipation of the slaves of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri, or either of them. The bill was committed, but not acted on; having been reported too near the close of the Session. Next winter, Mr. Henderson," in the Senate, and Mr. Noell, in the IIouse, submitted bills of similar tenor, providing for compensated emancipation in Missouri alone. Each encountered a bitter opposition from the Demo-slaveholding interest to active loyalty cratic and most of the Border-State in the approaching struggle having Members; but Mr. Noell's finally been disappointed, Mr. Arnold, of passed the House-Yeas 73; Nays Ill., submitted" to the next IIouse a 46. The Senate acted on Mr. Hen- bill abolishing and prohibiting Slavderson's bill, which provided only for ery in every Territory of the Union; very Gradual Emancipation-he de- which Mr. Lovejoy, of Ill., duly reclaring that if Congress should offer ported" and pressed to a vote; ultihis State $10,000,000 for an act of mately modifying the bill so as to Immediate Abolition, he would op- read as follows: pose its acceptance. The Senate debated hotly and tediously the rival advantages of Immediate and Grad. ual Emancipation: the Democrats opposing both, but inclining the scale in favor of the latter; which prevailed-26 to 11—and in this shape the bill passed: "Yeas 23; Nays 18.

24

An Act to secure freedom to all persons within the
Territories of the United States;

"To the end that freedom may be and

remain forever the fundamental law of the land in all places whatsoever, so far as it lies within the power or depends upon the action of the Government of the United

States to make it so, therefore

"Be it enacted, &c., That Slavery or in

voluntary servitude, in all cases whatsoever (other than in the punishment of crime,

On reaching the House, it was re-victed), shall henceforth cease, and be pro

whereof the party shall have been duly con

2 April 7.

Dec. 19.

Feb. 12, 1863. 36 March 3. * Vol. I., p. 388.
March 24, 1862.
39 May 1.

hibited forever, in all the Territories of the | Menzies, Wadsworth, and Wickliffe, of United States now existing, or hereafter to be formed or acquired in any way."

No measure of the session was more

vehemently opposed, not only by the
Democrats wit out exception, but by
the Border-State Unionists with equal
zeal and unanimity; even Mr. Fish-
er, of Del., denouncing it, though he
did not vote on the final passage.
Mr. Cox, of Ohio, stigmatized it in
debate as 66 a bill for the benefit of
Secession and Jeff. Davis." Mr.
Crisfield, of Md., characterized it as
"a palpable violation of the rights of
the States, and an unwarrantable in-
terference with private property-a
fraud upon the States which have
made cessions of land to this Govern-
ment, a violation of the Constitution,
and a breach of the pledges which
brought the dominant [Republican]
party into power "-" a usurpation"
"destructive of the good of the
country," &c., &c. Judge Thomas,
of Mass., held that Congress could
not warrantably pass this act without
providing compensation for slave-
holders in the Territories. Messrs.
Bingham, of Ohio, Stevens and Kel-
ley, of Pa., R. Conkling and Diven,
of N. Y., Arnold and Lovejoy, of Ill.,
and others, defended the bill, and it
passed," under the Previous Question:
Yeas,85 (all Republicans but Sheffield,
of R. I., and Judge Thomas, of Mass.
-to meet whose objections the origi-
nal bill had been modified): Nays, 50:|
composed of all the Democrats and
Border-State Unionists who voted,
including Messrs. Calvert, Crisfield,
Leary, Francis Thomas, and Webster,
of Md., J. B. Blair, Wm. G. Brown,
and Segar, of Va., Casey, Crittenden,
Dunlap, Grider, Harding, Mallory,
May 15.
44 June 19.

40

May 12.

43 June 17.

41

42 June 9.

Ky.,Clements and Maynard, of Tenn., Hall, Noell, and J. S. Phelps, of Mo.— 22 of the 50 from Border Slave States. The bill having reached the Senate, it was reported" by Mr. Browning, of Illinois, substituting for the terms above cited the following:

act, there shall be neither Slavery nor in"That, from and after the passage of this voluntary servitude in any of the Territories of the United States now existing, or which nay at any time hereafter be formed or acquired by the United States, otherwise than in punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."

In this shape it passed:" Yeas 28 (all Republicans); Nays 10 (all Opposition); and the House concurred " in the Senate's amendment-Yeas 72; Nays 38—and the bill, being approved" by the President, became henceforth and evermore the law of the land.

The policy of confiscating or emancipating the slaves of those engaged in the Rebellion was very cautiously and timidly approached at the first" or extra session of this Congress. Very early in the ensuing session, it was again suggested in the Senate by Mr. Trumbull,“ of Illinois, and in the House by Mr. Eliot," of Mass.

At the former session, Congress had ventured only to direct the confiscation of the right or property of masters in such slaves as those masters permitted or directed to labor on fortifications or other works designed to aid the Rebellion; but now, a bolder and more sweeping measure was deemed requisite. Mr. Eliot's joint resolve-after disclaiming all right to interfere with the internal affairs and institutions of loyal States in peace-affirmed that the ex

4 See Vol. I., chap. XXXIV., particularly page 569-70. 16 Dec. 5, 1861. 47 Dec. 2, 1861.

ON FREEING THE SLAVES OF REBELS.

isting war must be prosecuted according to the laws of war, and

263

In the same spirit, but more temperately, the bill was opposed by Messrs. Browning, of Ill., Willey, of Va., Henderson, of Mo., and Collamer, of Vt. (the first and last Republicans; the others very decided Unionists), as well as more unsparingly by Messrs. Garret Davis and

"That, therefore, we do hereby declare that the President, as the Commander-inchief of our army, and the officers in command under him, have the right to emancipate all persons held as slaves in any military district in a state of insurrection against the National Government; and that we respectfully advise that such order of Emancipation be issued, whenever the same will avail to weaken the power of the Reb-Powell, of Ky., Saulsbury, of Del., els in arms, or to strengthen the military power of the loyal forces."

Mr. Trumbull proposed to enact that the slaves of all persons who shall take up arms against the United States, or in any manner aid or abct the existing Rebellion, shall thereupon be discharged from service or labor, and become thenceforth forever free; any existing law to the contrary notwithstanding.

These propositions, with various modifications, were vehemently discussed in either House, not continuously, but alternately with other measures, nearly to the end of that long and excited session. By friend and foe, they were debated as though their success or failure would decide the issue of Union or Disunion. By all the anti-Republicans, and by some of the more conservative Republicans, they were denounced as utterly, glaringly, in antagonism to the Federal Constitution, and as calculated to extinguish the last vestige of Unionism in the Slave States, but especially in those that had seceded. Said Senator Cowan," of Pennsylvania:

"Pass this bill, and the same messenger who carries it to the South will come back to us with the news of their complete consolidation as one man. We shall then have

done that which treason could not do: we

ourselves shall then have dissolved the Union; we shall have rent its sacred charter, and extinguished the last vestige of affection for it in the Slave States by our blind and passionate folly."

Carlile, of Va., and others of the Opposition; while it was supported by Messrs. Trumbull, of Ill., Wilson and Sumner, of Mass., Howard, of Mich., Wade and Sherman, of Ohio, Morrill and Fessenden, of Maine, Clark and IIale, of N. H., and nearly all the more decided Republicans. So intense and formidable was the resistance that the Senate at length referred the bill to a Select Committee of seven-Mr. Clark, of N. II., chairman-who duly reported therefrom "A bill to suppress Insurrection, and punish Treason and Rebellion;" which merely authorized the President, at his discretion, to proclaim free all slaves of persons who shall be found in arms against the United States thirty days after the issue of such proclamation. On this bill being taken up," Mr. Davis, of Ky., tried to have it so amended that the said slaves, instead of being freed, should be sold and the proceeds put into the Treasury; but only seven Senators were found sufficiently Democratic to sustain that proposition. He next proposed that no slave should be emancipated under this act, until he should be on his way to be colonized at some point outside of the United States: which proposition received but six votes. Here the Senate bill was dropped, in deference to the action 19 May 6, 1962.

60

May 16.