THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. Each soldier's eye shall brightly turn Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall, Flag of the seas! on ocean's wave Flag of the free heart's hope and home, Where breathes the foe but falls before us, And Freedom's banner floating o'er us? 199 Ex. CXXVI.-THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE.* Speech in Congress, February, 1819. JAMES TALLMADGE. MR. SPEAKER: My hold on life is probably as frail as that of any man who now hears me, but while that hold lasts, *We often hear of the "Missouri Compromise," but all do not fully under stand what it was. The following is a brief explanation of it: my life shall be devoted to the freedom of man. If blood is necessary to extinguish any fire which I have assisted to kindle, while I regret the necessity, I shall not hesitate to contribute my own. The violence which gentlemen have resorted to on this subject will not move my purpose, nor drive me from my ground. I have the fortune and honor to stand here as the representative of freemen who possess intelligence to know their rights, and who have the spirit. to maintain them. I know the will of my constituents, and, regardless of consequences, I will avow it. As their representative, I will proclaim their hatred to slavery in every shape. As their representative here will I hold my stand, till this floor, with the National Constitution which supports it, shall sink beneath me. If I am doomed to fall, I shall at least have the painful consolation of falling as a fragment of the ruins of my country. Missouri applied to Congress for admission as a State in March, 1818; nothing material was done at that session; at the next session, (1819), the bill for the admission of Missouri was taken up for consideration, and an amendment in the following words was proposed: "And provided, that the introduction of slavery or involuntary servitude be prohibited, except for the punishment of crime whereof the party has been duly convicted; and that all children, born within the said State after the admission thereof into the Union, shall be declared free at the age of twenty-five." After much excited discussion, the bill with that proviso failed to pass at that session; at the next session, (1820), the bill being again before Congress, the following section was by way of compromise proposed in lieu of the above-mentioned "proviso," namely: "Be it further enacted that, in all the territory ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, except only such part thereof as is included within the limits of the State contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited. But any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any State or Territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid." After long and animated debate, the bill passed at that session with the section just mentioned as a part of it. This is what has since been known as "the Missouri Compromise." The "repeal" of the Missouri Compromise is also frequently mentioned. A few words will explain this expression: At the session of Congress in 1854, a bill for the organization of the Territory of Kansas was introduced, and after protracted and most earnest discussion, in that bill a section was inserted declaring "inoperative" (in other words repealing) the section just quoted from the Missouri Bill; and thus the "Missouri Compromise" was "repealed." The students of American history will find, in the debates in Congress on the bills above mentioned, a vast fund of interesting and valuable informa THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 201 If it is not safe now to discuss slavery on this floor, if it can not now come before us as a proper subject for general legislation, what will be the result when it is spread through your widely-extended domain? Its present threatening aspect and the violence of its supporters, so far from inducing me to yield to its progress, prompt me to resist its march. Now is the time! The extension of the evil must now be prevented, or the opportunity will be lost forever! Look down the long vista of futurity! See your empire, in extent unequalled, in advantageous situation without a parallel, occupying all the valuable part of our continent. Behold this extended empire inhabited by the hardy sons of America, freemen knowing their rights and inheriting the will to maintain them; owners of the soil on which they live, and interested in the institutions which they labor to uphold; with two oceans laving your shores and tributary to your purposes, bearing on their bosoms the commerce of your people, compared to yours, the governments of Europe dwindle into insignificance, and the world has no parallel. But reverse the scene. People this fair domain with the slaves of your planters. Spread slavery, that bane of man, that abomination of heaven, over your extended empire! You prepare its dissolution; you turn its accumulated strength into positive weakness; you cherish a cancer in your breast; you put a viper in your bosom; you place a vulture on your heart. Your enemies will learn the source and the cause of your weakness. As often as external dangers shall threaten, or internal commotions await you, you will realize that by your own procurement you have placed amid your families and in the bosom of your country, a population at once the greatest cause of individual danger and of national weakness. With this defect, your government must crumble to pieces, and your people become the scoff of the world. But we are told that any attempt to legislate upon this subject is a violation of that faith and mutual confidence upon which our Union was formed and our Constitution adopted. If the restriction were attempted to be enforced against any of the slave-holding States, parties in the adoption of the Constitution, this argument might seem plausible. But it can have no application to a new district of country recently acquired, never contemplated in the formation of the government, and not embraced in the mutual concessions and declared faith upon which the Constitution was agreed to. my life shall be devoted to the freedom of man. If blood is necessary to extinguish any fire which I have assisted to kindle, while I regret the necessity, I shall not hesitate to contribute my own. The violence which gentlemen have resorted to on this subject will not move my purpose, nor drive me from my ground. I have the fortune and honor to stand here as the representative of freemen who possess intelligence to know their rights, and who have the spirit. to maintain them. I know the will of my constituents, and, regardless of consequences, I will avow it. As their representative, I will proclaim their hatred to slavery in every shape. As their representative here will I hold my stand, till this floor, with the National Constitution which supports it, shall sink beneath me. If I am doomed to fall, I shall at least have the painful consolation of falling as a fragment of the ruins of my country. Missouri applied to Congress for admission as a State in March, 1818; nothing material was done at that session; at the next session, (1819), the bill for the admission of Missouri was taken up for consideration, and an amendment in the following words was proposed: "And provided, that the introduction of slavery or involuntary servitude be prohibited, except for the punishment of crime whereof the party has been duly convicted; and that all children, born within the said State after the admission thereof into the Union, shall be declared free at the age of twenty-five." After much excited discussion, the bill with that proviso failed to pass at that session; at the next session, (1820), the bill being again before Congress, the following section was by way of compromise proposed in lieu of the above-mentioned "proviso,” namely: "Be it further enacted that, in all the territory ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, except only such part thereof as is included within the limits of the State contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited. But any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any State or Territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid." After long and animated debate, the bill passed at that session with the section just mentioned as a part of it. This is what has since been known as "the Missouri Compromise." The "repeal" of the Missouri Compromise is also frequently mentioned. A few words will explain this expression: At the session of Congress in 1854, a bill for the organization of the Territory of Kansas was introduced, and after protracted and most earnest discussion, in that bill a section was inserted declaring "inoperative" (in other words repealing) the section just quoted from the Missouri Bill; and thus the "Missouri Compromise" was "repealed." The students of American history will find, in the debates in Congress on the bills above mentioned, a vast fund of interesting and valuable informa THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 201 If it is not safe now to discuss slavery on this floor, if it can not now come before us as a proper subject for general legislation, what will be the result when it is spread through your widely-extended domain? Its present threatening aspect and the violence of its supporters, so far from inducing me to yield to its progress, prompt me to resist its march. Now is the time! The extension of the evil must now be prevented, or the opportunity will be lost forever! Look down the long vista of futurity! See your empire, in extent unequalled, in advantageous situation without a parallel, occupying all the valuable part of our continent. Behold this extended empire inhabited by the hardy sons of America, freemen knowing their rights and inheriting the will to maintain them; owners of the soil on which they live, and interested in the institutions which they labor to uphold; with two oceans laving your shores and tributary to your purposes, bearing on their bosoms the commerce of your people, compared to yours, the governments of Europe dwindle into insignificance, and the world has no parallel. But reverse the scene. People this fair domain with the slaves of your planters. Spread slavery, that bane of man, that abomination of heaven, over your extended empire! You prepare its dissolution; you turn its accumulated strength into positive weakness; you cherish a cancer in your breast; you put a viper in your bosom; you place a vulture on your heart. Your enemies will learn the source and the cause of your weakness. As often as external dangers shall threaten, or internal commotions await you, you will realize that by your own procurement you have placed amid your families and in the bosom of your country, a population at once the greatest cause of individual danger and of national weakness. With this defect, your government must crumble to pieces, and your people become the scoff of the world. But we are told that any attempt to legislate upon this subject is a violation of that faith and mutual confidence upon which our Union was formed and our Constitution adopted. If the restriction were attempted to be enforced against any of the slave-holding States, parties in the adoption of the Constitution, this argument might seem plausible. But it can have no application to a new district of country recently acquired, never contemplated in the formation of the government, and not embraced in the mutual concessions and declared faith upon which the Constitution was agreed to. |