regard for man, in their hearts! "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah [the North and the South] is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness; for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not." 1

The Liberator, Vol. 14, p. 86.

QUESTIONS

What did Garrison say was the position of the Constitution with respect to slavery? How did he dispose of the quibbles that the word “slave” was not used in the Constitution? that in swearing to support it, one did not swear to support the slavery clauses because, being morally wrong, they were null and void? Did he think it possible to interpret it as anti-slavery because the preamble stated the purpose of the document to be the establishment of justice, etc? What did he say the words meant?

C

He should now proceed to perform an action which would be the testimony of his own soul, to all present, of the estimation in which he held the pro-slavery laws and deeds of the nation. Producing a copy of the Fugitive Slave Law, he set fire to it, and it burnt to ashes. Using an old and well-known phrase, he said, “And let all the people say, Amen"; and a unanimous cheer and shout of "Amen burst from the vast audience. In like manner Mr. Garrison burned the decision of Edward G. Loring in the case of Anthony Burns, and the late charge of Judge Benjamin R. Curtis to the United States Grand Jury in reference to the "treasonable” assault upon the Court House for the rescue of the fugitive- the multitude ratifying the fiery immolation with shouts of applause. Then, holding up the U.[nited] S. [tates] Constitution, he branded it as the source and parent of all the other atrocities,—“ a covenant with death and an agreement with hell," and consumed it to ashes on the spot, exclaiming, "So perish all com

1 Ezekiel 9:9.

66

promises with tyranny! And let all the people say, Amen!" A tremendous shout of Amen! went up to heaven in ratification of the deed, mingled with a few hisses and wrathful exclamations from some who were evidently in a rowdyish state of mind, but who were at once cowed by the popular feeling.

The Liberator, Vol. 24, p. 106. July 4, 1854.

QUESTION

What fact did Garrison wish to impress on his audience by burning the Constitution?

XXXIV

SLAVERY A POSITIVE GOOD

This speech was delivered by Calhoun in the Senate, February 6, 1837. It was prefaced by the reading at Calhoun's request of two of the numerous anti-slavery petitions on the table of the Senate.

Note that Calhoun nowhere takes up the question as to whether slavery in itself and in the abstract is right or wrong. He argues only for its being expedient, and for its making life more comfortable physically for both whites and blacks. He contends chiefly that when two races are together one must rule and the other be ruled, and the situation in the South was a practical fact; but he defends the condition as preeminently making for peace and happiness. It is very doubtful if his statement that African slavery had not retarded the whites of the South intellectually is correct. Note Calhoun's assumptions that in any civilized society a few persons will acquire leisure and luxury by living on the labor of the great masses of the people; and that in any such society there is bound to be a conflict between capital and labor; these are the assumptions on which the Socialists at present base their argument for the doing away with the present industrial system. Calhoun's argument for slavery based on the South's success in avoiding this conflict is hardly conclusive; the settlement that slavery afforded was in effect to leave the laborer helplessly dependent on

Even if it - and by Is

the employer with no chance for opposing his will. could be shown that the whites or the slave owners no means all whites owned slaves - what of the laborer? the ultimate in human society the ownership of laborer by capitalist?

I do not belong, said Mr. C., to the school which holds that aggression is to be met by concession. Mine is the opposite creed, which teaches that encroachments must be met at the beginning, and that those who act on the opposite principle are prepared to become slaves. In this case, in particular. I hold concession or compromise to be fatal. If we concede an inch, concession would follow concession compromise would follow compromise, until our ranks would be so broken that effectual resistance would be impossible. We must meet the enemy on the frontier, with a fixed determination of maintaining our position at every hazard. Consent to receive these insulting petitions, and the next demand will be that they be referred to a committee in order that they may be deliberated and acted upon. At the last session we were modestly asked to receive them, simply to lay them on the table, without any view to ulterior action. . . I then said, that the next step would be to refer the petition to a committee, and I already see indications that such is now the intention. If we yield, that will be followed by another, and we will thus proceed, step by step, to the final consummation of the object of these petitions. We are now told that the most effectual mode of arresting the progress of abolition is, to reason it down; and with this view it is urged that the petitions ought to be referred to a committee. That is the very ground which was taken at the last session in the other House, but instead of arresting its progress it has since advanced more rapidly than ever. The most unquestionable right may be rendered doubtful, if once admitted to be a subject of controversy, and that would be the case in the present instance. The subject is beyond the jurisdiction of Congress - they have no right to touch it in

any shape or form, or to make it the subject of deliberation or discussion.

...

As widely as this incendiary spirit has spread, it has not yet infected this body, or the great mass of the intelligent and business portion of the North; but unless it be speedily stopped, it will spread and work upwards till it brings the two great sections of the Union into deadly conflict. This is not a new impression with me. Several years since, in a discussion with one of the Senators from Massachusetts (Mr. Webster), before this fell spirit had showed itself, I then predicted that the doctrine of the proclamation and the Force Bill-that this Government had a right, in the last resort, to determine the extent of its own powers, and enforce its decision at the point of the bayonet, which was so warmly maintained by that Senator, would at no distant day arouse the dormant spirit of abolitionism. I told him that the doctrine was tantamount to the assumption of unlimited power on the part of the Government, and that such would be the impression on the public mind in a large portion of the Union. The consequence would be inevitable. A large portion of the Northern States believed slavery to be a sin, and would consider it as an obligation of conscience to abolish it if they should feel themselves in any degree responsible for its continuance, and that this doctrine would necessarily lead to the belief of such responsibility. I then predicted that it would commence as it has with this fanatical portion of society, and that they would begin their operations on the ignorant, the weak, the young, and the thoughtless, and gradually extend upwards till they would become strong enough tc obtain political control, when he and others holding the highest stations in society, would, however reluctant, be compelled to yield to their doctrines, or be driven into obscurity. But four years have since elapsed, and all this is already in a course of regular fulfilment.

Standing at the point of time at which we have now arrived, it will not be more difficult to trace the course of fu

They who imagine that

ture events now than it was then. the spirit now abroad in the North, will die away of itself without a shock or convulsion, have formed a very inadequate conception of its real character; it will continue to rise and spread, unless prompt and efficient measures to stay its progress be adopted. Already it has taken possession of the pulpit, of the schools, and, to a considerable extent, of the press; those great instruments by which the mind of the rising generation will be formed.

However sound the great body of the non-slaveholding States are at present, in the course of a few years they will be succeeded by those who will have been taught to hate the people and institutions of nearly one-half of this Union, with a hatred more deadly than one hostile nation ever entertained towards another. It is easy to see the end. By the necessary course of events, if left to themselves, we must become, finally, two people. It is impossible under the deadly hatred which must spring up between the two great nations, if the present causes are permitted to operate unchecked, that we should continue under the same political system. The conflicting elements would burst the Union asunder, powerful as are the links which hold it together. Abolition and the Union cannot coexist. As the friend of the Union I openly proclaim it,and the sooner it is known the better. The former may now be controlled, but in a short time it will be beyond the power of man to arrest the course of events. We of the South will not, cannot, surrender our institutions. maintain the existing relations between the two races, inhabiting that section of the Union, is indispensable to the peace and happiness of both. It cannot be subverted without drenching the country in blood, and extirpating one or the other of the races. . . . But let me not be understood as admitting, even by implication, that the existing relations between the two races in the slaveholding States is an evil:- far otherwise; I hold it to be a good, as it has thus far proved itself to be to both, and will continue to

To