ALL OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.

“Had the treaty been ratified in its original shape, the sufferers by the spoliations of the French might, perhaps, before now, have obtained that indemnity from the French Government which they have ever since been asking of their own, but which has hitherto been unjustly withheld.”[247]

There is no statute of limitations between nations; so that these claims would have been as valid against France in 1831 as they unquestionably were in 1800. A nation like the United States has only “to bide its time,” and the day of justice will come. Indeed, President Jackson, when dwelling on the negotiations with France in 1831, bore testimony to the vitality of American claims on foreign powers, when he said that the new Convention would be“an encouragement for perseverance in the demands of justice, by this new proof, that, if steadily pursued, they will be listened to, and admonition will be offered to those powers, if any, which may be inclined to evade them,that they will never be abandoned.”[248]These words of Andrew Jackson are a sufficient answer to the present objection.

Such are the objections to the responsibility of the United States. The Committee believe that they have all been answered, so that the claims stand above impeachment or question, as a debt to be liquidated and paid. It only remains to consider what sum should be appropriated for this purpose.

The “just compensation” to be paid by the United States may be regarded, according to the classical report of Mr. Livingston, in two lights:first, the value of the advantages to the United States at the expense of these claimants; and,secondly, the actual losses sustained by these claimants. Neither is proposed as an absolute measure. A glance at each will enable us to arrive, by approximation, at a proper result.

It is impossible to estimate in money the advantages to the United States. Beyond the great boon of assured peace, under which our commerce, no longer exposed to spoliation, put forth at once more than its original life, two specific objects were gained:first, exemption from all outstanding engagements and liabilities of every nature under the early treaties withFrance; and,secondly, the establishment of a new Convention, which, while rejecting much-debated claims and counter-claims, provided positive advantages to the United States, among which was that payment of “debts” subsequently assured by the Louisiana Convention.

If the United States could be held responsible to France for the treasure lavished on national independence, in pursuance of these original treaties, there would be an item of fourteen hundred and forty millions of francs, or about two hundred and eighty millions of dollars.[249]The brave lives sacrificed for us cannot be estimated in any account; but France did not forget them. Even amidst the congratulations at Morfontaine in honor of the Convention, the First Consul reminded the joyous company of the sacrifice. Beyond the toast he proposed in honor of those who fell in battle for the independence of the New World, there is no record of what was said by the successful general of France; but old Homer, in one of his most touching passages, had already spoken for him:—

“Life is not to be bought with heaps of gold;Not all Apollo’s Pythian treasures hold,Or Troy once held in peace and pride of sway,Can bribe the poor possession of a day.Lost herds and treasures we by arms regain,And steeds unrivalled on the dusty plain;But from our lips the vital spirit fledReturns no more to wake the silent dead.”[250]

“Life is not to be bought with heaps of gold;

Not all Apollo’s Pythian treasures hold,

Or Troy once held in peace and pride of sway,

Can bribe the poor possession of a day.

Lost herds and treasures we by arms regain,

And steeds unrivalled on the dusty plain;

But from our lips the vital spirit fled

Returns no more to wake the silent dead.”[250]

Under the sod of America, and under the waves of the Atlantic, Frenchmen were sleeping whose lives had been given to the support of our cause. If France did not forget them, let it be spoken in her honor; but we cannot forget them, as we try to state the great account between our two countries. Their swords, if flung into the scales, whatever “heaps of gold” we might bring, would forever turn the balance against us.

But how estimate the value of release from the “guaranty” retrospectively and prospectively, as well for past failures as future liabilities? It was often urged that the guaranty bound the United States to the support of France only in the event of a defensive war, and that the war in which she had been engaged was not of this character. But it is more than doubtful if either proposition can be maintained. The guaranty on its face has no limitation. And even if it had such limitation, who will venture to say that the war in which France drove back her multitudinous assailants, reinforced by the navies of England, was not defensive? If France did not at once require the execution of the guaranty, it was none the less a vital obligation.

That our Government appreciated the embarrassments, if not the obligations, which the guaranty entailed, has already been shown by the Committee. But there are certain words that may be fitly quoted again. In the instructions of our Secretary of State to the first triumvirate of plenipotentiaries at Paris, under date of July 15, 1797, it is admitted that“our guaranty of the possessions of France in America will perpetually expose us to the risk and expense of war, or to disputes and questions concerning our national faith.” On this account the plenipotentiaries were instructed to obtain its release, and “on the part of the United States, instead of troops or ships of war, to stipulate for a moderate sum of money or quantity of provisions, at the option of France, … not to exceed two hundred thousand dollars a year.”[251]This was moderate; but it was a recognition of the guaranty, and of its practical value. The next triumvirate, at the negotiation of 1800, offered more. They proposed to buy out the guaranty by a payment of five millions of francs, or one million of dollars.[252]It is needless to say that both these offers were rejected.

It would be as difficult to measure in money the value of that guaranty, retrospectively and prospectively, as to measure in money our obligations to France in the assurance of national independence. The liabilities for failure prior to 1800, if pressed, would not have been inconsiderable. But had the guaranty continued so as to constrain the United States throughout the long war that followed, ending at Waterloo, what arithmetic can calculate the damage? Nay, more,—if, at the present moment, any such guaranty bound us to France, who would not feel that it was an obligation from which we must be released at any price?

Besides the obligations of “guaranty,” were other engagements with regard to French armed ships in our ports which had proved most onerous. Here, also, was alleged failure on our part; and there was the prospect of infinite embarrassment, if not of open war, unless these obligations were cancelled. To keep them would cause collision with England; not to keep themwould cause collision with France. Our plenipotentiaries offered, in the negotiation of 1800, three millions of francs for release from these obligations.[253]This moderate offer was rejected also.

France continued stubborn, insisting upon the ancient treaties, with all consequent indemnities. At last, by the propositions of the 4th of September, 1800, already exhibited by your Committee, a measure of value was affixed to our engagements and liabilities. France undertook to release us from all these on condition that we would pay the indemnities due to our citizens, thus treating claims and counter-claims as equivalent in value. It was required positively that “the indemnities which shall be due by France to the citizens of the United Statesshall be paid for by the United States.”[254]In consideration of release from the treaties, the United States were to assume the obligations of France to American claimants. How this proposition, rejected at first, eventually prevailed in the Convention and its successive amendments has been already explained. It is mentioned now only to show the value of these engagements and liabilities.

The practical question remains, as to the actual losses of the claimants. Here the evidence is precise and full.

Our own Government, when pressing these claims upon France, gave an official estimate of their value.On one occasion it put them above fifteen million dollars.[255]Afterward it put them at twenty million dollars. The latter estimate is found in a report from the Secretary of State to Congress, under date of January 18, 1799, where it speaks of “unjust and cruel depredations on American commerce, which have brought distress on multitudes and ruin on many of our citizens, and occasioneda total loss of property to the United States of probably more than twenty millions of dollars.”[256]Inquiry into the losses confirms this statement. From evidence presented to committees in former years, and now belonging to history, it has been estimated that there wereeight hundred and ninety-eight vesselsincluded in the claims released to France.[257]

The American vessels despoiled by France between 1792, the outbreak of the European war, and July 31, 1801, when the Convention of 1800, with its proviso, was ratified by Napoleon Bonaparte, have been reckoned at two thousand two hundred and ninety, embracing as follows: first, vessels captured by the French; secondly, vessels captured by the French and Spaniards conjointly; thirdly, vessels detained by embargo at Bordeaux. The following list shows how the account stands.

List of Vessels in different Classes despoiled by France.[258]

Thus we are brought to the number ofeight hundred and ninety-eight vesselsbartered to France.

To arrive at the value of these vessels, the Committee have been led to look at the estimate of vessels under conventions with other powers for the payment of similar claims. Here is a list allowed by different powers, with the average of each vessel:—

From this list it appears that Mexico has paid as high an average as $31,000 for each vessel; Naples, $37,000; and Great Britain, $47,000. The general average of the whole list is $19,000.

If the vessels despoiled by France were estimated according to the highest average, namely, that of vessels despoiled by Great Britain, the sum-total would swell to no less than $42,206,000; estimated according to the general average, the amount is $17,062,000.

But the valuation which has been deemed most satisfactory is that presented in the indemnity paid by Spain for the French spoliations on our commerce in her ports during this period, amounting, for 173 vessels, to $2,845,619, being an average of $16,500 for each vessel. Adopting this average, we have as the aggregate value of the 898 vessels yielded to France under the Convention of 1800, and lost to our merchants, the sum of $14,817,000,—nearlyfifteen million dollars.

This estimate, tested by the official statements, fixing the spoliations in October, 1797, at fifteen millions, and in January, 1799, at twenty millions, will appear at least not excessive,—adding for the continued spoliationsduring the succeeding two years and a half to July, 1801, only the very moderate allowance of two and one half millions, (being in the ratio of but one fourth the increase for the fifteen months between the two former dates,) and deducting payments. Here are the figures:—

If to this estimate interest be added, even at the smallest rate, the losses of these sufferers will assume vastly larger proportions. More than sixty years have run their course since the United States, by a public act and for a valuable consideration, became their debtor. From the beginning the country has enjoyed without price all the “national” benefits originally secured at their expense, as part of the national capital with its bountiful income, while these claimants have been shut out from their property, and all its just profits. If interest be due on any national debt, it is difficult to see why it is not due here.

Never was a case stronger. Nor is there any doubt with regard to the rule. According to the best authorities, whether publicists or courts, interest is justly due.Though swelling the national liability, it is none the less an item in the case.

It will be borne in mind that these claims are under the Law of Nations. As such, the rule of damages is under that law, and not Municipal Law. Therefore the Committee resort to the Law of Nations. Among all the authorities, none has spoken more fully and clearly than Rutherforth; nor is there any one whose words on this point are oftener cited. Here is the rule:—

“In estimating the damages which any one has sustained, where such things as he has a perfect right to are unjustly taken from him, or withholden, or intercepted, we are to consider not only the value of the thing itself, but the value likewise of the fruits or profits that might have arisen from it. He who is the owner of the thing is likewise the owner of such fruits or profits. So that it is as properly a damage to be deprived of them as it is to be deprived of the thing itself.”[259]

Grotius says substantially the same.[260]So does Vattel, who declares that claimants may obtain “what is due,together with interest and damages.”[261]And Wheaton copies Vattel.[262]The Supreme Court of the United States gives the same rule with nearly equal simplicity:—

“The prime cost, or value of the property lost at the time of the loss, and, in case of injury, the diminution in value by reason of the injury,with interest upon such valuation, affords the true measure for assessing damages.”[263]

Such is the law of interest, and the Committee refer to it as illustrating the accumulated losses which await satisfaction at the hands of Congress.

The Committee, impressed by the original justice of these claims and the present obligation of the United States, do not hesitate to recommend their liquidation and payment at an early day, as they would recommend the discharge of a national debt. While setting forth the unanswerable evidence of their value, they content themselves with the recommendation made many years ago, and repeated by successive committees of both Houses of Congress, limiting the appropriation to a sum not exceeding five million dollars, without interest, to be distributed by a board of commissionerspro rataamong the claimants, according to the provisions of the bill reported herewith. The limitation is a departure from strict justice, but it is part of the additional sacrifice which seems to be expected by Congress from these long-suffering claimants.

In deference to the Secretary of the Treasury,[264]who, when consulted thereupon, objected to the creation of a stock for this special purpose, as provided in former bills, it is proposed that the money be paid whenever Congress shall make an appropriation therefor.

By positive description the bill is made to cover claims for illegal captures and condemnations prior to July 31, 1801, the date of the final ratification of the Convention. But, by positive words of exclusion, it is provided that the bill shall not cover claims originally embraced in the Louisiana Convention of 1803, in the treaty with Spain of 22d February, 1819, or in the Convention with France of July 4, 1831; so that, in pointof fact, the bill is carefully limited to those original claims which, after postponement by the second article of the Convention of 1800, were, at its final ratification, definitely renounced by the United States, in consideration of equivalent renunciations from France.

The Committee have now finished the review which, in the discharge of public service, they were called to make. Approaching a much vexed question without prejudice, they have striven to consider it with candor, in the hope of ascertaining and exhibiting the requirements of duty. The conclusion they have adopted, in harmony with so many previous committees of both houses, and also with Congress itself, which has twice enacted a law for the satisfaction of these claims, is now submitted to the judgment of the Senate.

How the Committee have reached this conclusion is seen by a final glance at the field that has been traversed. Putting aside the three preliminary objections to these claims,—(1.) that they are ancient and stale, (2.) that they have passed into the hands of speculators, and (3.) that they should be postponed on account of the present condition of public affairs,—the Committee have considered in order four principal topics:First, the claims of American citizens on France, as they appear in the history of the times;secondly, the counter-claims of France, as they, too, appear in the history of the times;thirdly, how the “individual” claims of American citizens were sacrificed to procure release of the “national” claims of France by a proceeding in the nature of set-off and mutual release;and,fourthly, how the United States, for a valuable consideration, assumed the obligations of France, so as to become completely responsible therefor. Not content with showing affirmatively the merits of the claimants, the Committee next examined all known objections to the asserted responsibility of the United States, establishing negatively: (1.) that the relations between France and the United States were at no time such as to constitute a state of war, invalidating the claims; (2.) that they were not embraced in the Convention for the purchase of Louisiana; (3.) that they were not embraced in the later Convention of 1831; (4.) that the alleged annulling of the French treaties by Act of Congress did not affect them; (5.) that the early efforts of our Government with France, for their satisfaction, furnish no ground of exemption from present liability; and (6.) that the claims, at the time of their abandonment, were not desperate, so as to be without value.

With the removal of all known objections, the way was open to consider the extent of “just compensation” under three different heads: (1.) the advantages secured to the United States by the sacrifice of these claimants; (2.) the actual losses of these claimants; and (3.) the final recommendations of the Committee.

Such is the whole case in its divisions and subdivisions. There is one reflection which belongs naturally to the close. These claims have survived several generations, entwining themselves each year with the national history. Meanwhile the Republic, for whose advantage they were sacrificed, has outgrown the puny condition of that early day, when its commerce was the prey of France, and even the sacred debt for independence was left unpaid. These claimants have beencalled to remark the glorious transformation by which the weak has become strong and the poor has become rich; with glistening eye they have followed the flag of the country, as it was carried successfully in every sea; with sympathetic heart they have heard the name of the country sounded with honor in every land; and now they joyfully witness the unexampled resources with which it upholds the national cause against an unexampled rebellion;—but these claimants have been called to observe, especially, how, for many years, unchecked by hindrances, the National Government labored successfully with foreign powers to secure justice for despoiled citizens, until all nations—Great Britain, Spain, Denmark, Naples, Holland, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile—have yielded to persistent negotiation, and even France has paid indemnities to our citizens for spoliations subsequent to these very claims. All this history these claimants have observed with pride; but how can they forbear to exclaim at the sacrifice required of them,—that they alone, the pioneers of our commercial flag, are compelled “in suing long to bide,” while part of the debt for national independence is cast upon their shoulders, and the whole country enjoys priceless benefits at their expense? Well may these disappointed suitors, hurt by unfeeling indifference to their extensive losses, and worn with endless delay, cry out in bitterness of heart, “Give us back our ships!” But this cannot be done. It only remains that Congress should pay for them.

LIST OF REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

Speech in the Senate, on the Constitutional Amendment abolishing Slavery throughout the United States, April 8, 1864.

The property in horses was the gift of God to man at the creation of the world; the property in slaves is property held and acquired by crime, differing in no moral aspect from the pillage of a freebooter, and to which no lapse of time can give a prescriptive right—John Quincy Adams,Speech at Bridgewater, November 6, 1844.Swift with her Pand she issued and unclosedThe loathsome sties wherein the swine reposed.…They men became, but younger than before,More beauteous far, and far majestic more.Odyssey, tr.Sotheby, Book X. 398-407.The Christian religion is equal in its operation, and is accommodated to every nation on the globe. It robs no one of his freedom, violates none of his inherent rights, on the ground that he is a slave by nature, as pretended; and it well becomes your Majesty to banish so monstrous an oppression from your kingdoms in the beginning of your reign, that the Almighty may make it long and glorious.—Las Casas,Address before Charles V.: Prescott’s History of the Conquest of Mexico, Vol. I. p. 379, Note.In a clause of his will Cortés expresses a doubt whether it is right to exact personal service from the natives, and commands that a strict inquiry shall be made into the nature and value of such services as he had received, and that in all cases a fair compensation shall be allowed for them. Lastly, he makes this remarkable declaration: “It has long been a question, whether one can conscientiously hold property in Indian slaves. Since this point has not yet been determined, I enjoin it on my son Martin and his heirs that they spare no pains to come to an exact knowledge of the truth, as a matter which deeply concerns the conscience of each of them, no less than mine.”—Cortés,his Testament: Ibid., Vol. III. p. 345.Mais certes, s’il y a rien de clair et d’apparent en la nature, et en quoy il ne soit pas permis de faire l’aveugle, c’est cela que nature, le ministre de Dieu et la gouvernante des hommes, nous a tous faits de mesme forme, et, comme il semble, à mesme moule, afin de nous entrecognoistre tous pour compaignons, ou plus tost frères.—La Boëtie,De la Servitude Volontaire: Œuvres, ed. Feugère, (Paris, 1846,) p. 26.Quand est-ce donc un homme de Dieu goûtera le plaisir de la liberté dans toute son étendue? Quand il ne la goûtera que dans ses frères affranchis.—Bossuet,Panégyrique de Saint Pierre Nolasque, Point II.Et qu’on ne dise pas, qu’en supprimant l’esclavage, le Gouvernement violeroit la propriété des colons. Comment l’usage, ou même une loi positive, pourroit-elle jamais donner à un homme un véritable droit de propriété sur le travail, sur la liberté, sur l’être entier d’un autre homme innocent, et qui n’y a point consenti? En déclarant les nègres libres,on n’ôteroit pas au colon sa propriété; on l’empêcheroit de faire un crime, et l’argent qu’on a payé pour un crime n’a jamais donné le droit de le commettre.—Condorcet,Note 109 sur les Pensées de Pascal.Allegiance to that Power that gives us theformsof men commands us to maintain therightsof men; and never yet was this truth dismissed from the human heart,—never in any time, in any age,—never in any climewhere rude man ever had any social feeling, or where corrupt refinement had subdued all feelings; never was this one unextinguishable truth destroyed from the heart of man, placed as it is in the core and centre of it by his Maker, that man was not made the property of man.—Richard Brinsley Sheridan,Speech on the Trial of Warren Hastings, June 6, 1788:Moore’s Memoirs of Sheridan(London, 1825), Vol. I. p. 505.In each of these cases [the United States and Russia] the slaves and the serfs are not ripe for freedom; no enslaved people ever are; and to wait, before you bestow liberty or political rights, till the recipients are fit to employ them aright, is to resolve not to go into the water till you can swim. You must make up your mind to encounter many very considerable evils at first, and for some time, while men are learning to use the advantages conferred on them.—Archbishop Whately,Annotations to Bacon’s Essays: Essay XXI.,Of Delays.Non-seulement ma liberté est à moi, par la seule grâce de Dieu, comme ma vie, et personne n’en peut disposer à ma place, mais je ne suis pas maître d’en disposer moi-même. Ce n’est pas assez de dire, que la liberté est un droit: la liberté est un devoir.—Jules Simon,La Liberté, Tom. I. p. 26.

Swift with her Pand she issued and unclosedThe loathsome sties wherein the swine reposed.…They men became, but younger than before,More beauteous far, and far majestic more.Odyssey, tr.Sotheby, Book X. 398-407.

Swift with her Pand she issued and unclosed

The loathsome sties wherein the swine reposed.

…

They men became, but younger than before,

More beauteous far, and far majestic more.

Odyssey, tr.Sotheby, Book X. 398-407.

The Christian religion is equal in its operation, and is accommodated to every nation on the globe. It robs no one of his freedom, violates none of his inherent rights, on the ground that he is a slave by nature, as pretended; and it well becomes your Majesty to banish so monstrous an oppression from your kingdoms in the beginning of your reign, that the Almighty may make it long and glorious.—Las Casas,Address before Charles V.: Prescott’s History of the Conquest of Mexico, Vol. I. p. 379, Note.

In a clause of his will Cortés expresses a doubt whether it is right to exact personal service from the natives, and commands that a strict inquiry shall be made into the nature and value of such services as he had received, and that in all cases a fair compensation shall be allowed for them. Lastly, he makes this remarkable declaration: “It has long been a question, whether one can conscientiously hold property in Indian slaves. Since this point has not yet been determined, I enjoin it on my son Martin and his heirs that they spare no pains to come to an exact knowledge of the truth, as a matter which deeply concerns the conscience of each of them, no less than mine.”—Cortés,his Testament: Ibid., Vol. III. p. 345.

Mais certes, s’il y a rien de clair et d’apparent en la nature, et en quoy il ne soit pas permis de faire l’aveugle, c’est cela que nature, le ministre de Dieu et la gouvernante des hommes, nous a tous faits de mesme forme, et, comme il semble, à mesme moule, afin de nous entrecognoistre tous pour compaignons, ou plus tost frères.—La Boëtie,De la Servitude Volontaire: Œuvres, ed. Feugère, (Paris, 1846,) p. 26.

Quand est-ce donc un homme de Dieu goûtera le plaisir de la liberté dans toute son étendue? Quand il ne la goûtera que dans ses frères affranchis.—Bossuet,Panégyrique de Saint Pierre Nolasque, Point II.

Et qu’on ne dise pas, qu’en supprimant l’esclavage, le Gouvernement violeroit la propriété des colons. Comment l’usage, ou même une loi positive, pourroit-elle jamais donner à un homme un véritable droit de propriété sur le travail, sur la liberté, sur l’être entier d’un autre homme innocent, et qui n’y a point consenti? En déclarant les nègres libres,on n’ôteroit pas au colon sa propriété; on l’empêcheroit de faire un crime, et l’argent qu’on a payé pour un crime n’a jamais donné le droit de le commettre.—Condorcet,Note 109 sur les Pensées de Pascal.

Allegiance to that Power that gives us theformsof men commands us to maintain therightsof men; and never yet was this truth dismissed from the human heart,—never in any time, in any age,—never in any climewhere rude man ever had any social feeling, or where corrupt refinement had subdued all feelings; never was this one unextinguishable truth destroyed from the heart of man, placed as it is in the core and centre of it by his Maker, that man was not made the property of man.—Richard Brinsley Sheridan,Speech on the Trial of Warren Hastings, June 6, 1788:Moore’s Memoirs of Sheridan(London, 1825), Vol. I. p. 505.

In each of these cases [the United States and Russia] the slaves and the serfs are not ripe for freedom; no enslaved people ever are; and to wait, before you bestow liberty or political rights, till the recipients are fit to employ them aright, is to resolve not to go into the water till you can swim. You must make up your mind to encounter many very considerable evils at first, and for some time, while men are learning to use the advantages conferred on them.—Archbishop Whately,Annotations to Bacon’s Essays: Essay XXI.,Of Delays.

Non-seulement ma liberté est à moi, par la seule grâce de Dieu, comme ma vie, et personne n’en peut disposer à ma place, mais je ne suis pas maître d’en disposer moi-même. Ce n’est pas assez de dire, que la liberté est un droit: la liberté est un devoir.—Jules Simon,La Liberté, Tom. I. p. 26.

The first public movement for an Amendment of the National Constitution, abolishing Slavery, was a resolution presented by the devoted Abolitionist, Henry C. Wright, and adopted by the American Antislavery Society at its anniversary meeting in Philadelphia, December 4, 1863. In a letter to Mr. Sumner, January 13, 1870, Mr. Wright recounted the history of this resolution, which he set forth, prefixing the original in the handwriting of Mr. Sumner:—“That the voice of the people is heard through petitions to Congress, and this Convention earnestly recommend that this voice be raised in petitions for an Amendment of the Constitution, declaring that Slavery shall be forever prohibited within the limits of the United States.“Charles Sumner.“On board of Steamboat Empire State.”Mr. Wright adds:—“This is in your hand. On the back, in my hand, are the words: ‘Saloon of Steamer Empire State, on Long Island Sound, Wednesday,A. M., December 2, 1863. Adopted by the American Antislavery Society, at its thirtieth anniversary or third decade meeting, held in Philadelphia, December 3d and 4th, 1863. Adopted December 4th, Friday. Presented by Henry C. Wright, of Boston, and adopted by the Society without a dissenting voice.’“Henry C. Wright.”Mr. Wright afterwards communicated these facts to the press.December 14, 1863, in the House of Representatives, Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, introduced a Constitutional Amendment abolishing Slavery, in these terms:—“Slavery is hereby forever prohibited in all the States of the Union, and in all Territories now owned or which may hereafter be acquired by the United States.”On the same day, Mr. Wilson, of Iowa, introduced another, in these terms:—“Slavery, being incompatible with a free Government, is forever prohibited in the United States, and involuntary servitude shall be permitted only as a punishment for crime.”January 11, 1864, in the Senate, Mr. Henderson, of Missouri, proposed the following amendment:—“Slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, shall not exist in the United States.”This was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.February 8th, while the Committee had the question still under consideration, Mr. Sumner proposed an Amendment as follows:—“Article —.Everywhere within the limits of the United States, and of each State or Territory thereof, all persons are equal before the law, so that no person can hold another as a slave.”Mr. Sumner moved the reference of the joint resolution containing his Amendment to the Select Committee on Slavery and Freedmen, of which he was Chairman. Mr. Trumbull thought it had better go to the Committee on the Judiciary, to which the other proposition had been referred. Mr. Sumner remarked, that already petitions against the Fugitive Slave Act had been reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with the recommendation that they be referred to the other Committee, that the terms of the resolution raising this Committee were broad enough to cover every proposition relating to Slavery, and that, in fact, petitions relating to a Constitutional Amendment had already been referred to this Committee. If after this statement the Senator desired that the joint resolution should be referred to the Committee of which he was the honored head, Mr. Sumner consented with the greatest pleasure. Mr. Trumbull expressed the opinion that “the appropriate Committee for all propositions to change the Constitution was the Judiciary Committee,” and in this opinion Mr. Doolittle concurred. Mr. Sumner was perfectly willing to follow the suggestion made. His chief desire was that the Committee would “act upon it soon.”Meanwhile Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, moved that the joint resolution be indefinitely postponed, which was lost,—Yeas 8, Nays 31. It was then referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.February 10th, Mr. Trumbull reported back the two joint resolutions, and the various petitions on the subject, with a substitute, as an amendment to the joint resolution of Mr. Henderson, in the following terms:—“Section 1.Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.Section 2.Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”February 17th, Mr. Sumner, inferring from the report of the Committee a disposition to follow the Ordinance for the Northwest Territory,and also thinking it desirable to expel from the Constitution clauses alleged to concern Slavery, gave notice of the following substitute, the first clause of which is modelled precisely on the famous prohibition in the Ordinance.“Article 13.“Section 1.There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude anywhere in the United States, or within the jurisdiction thereof, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; and the Congress may make all laws which shall be necessary and proper to enforce this prohibition.“Section 2.In the third paragraph of the second section of the first article, concerning the apportionment of Representatives, the following words shall be struck out, so as to be no longer a part of the Constitution, namely: ‘Which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons,’ except the words ‘excluding Indians not taxed,’ which shall be allowed to remain, so that the whole clause shall read: ‘Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union according to their respective numbers, excluding Indians not taxed.’“Section 3.The whole of the third paragraph of the second section of the fourth article, in the words hereto appended, shall be struck out, so as to be no longer a part of the Constitution, namely: ‘No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.’”March 28th, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the joint resolution, the pending question being the substitute of the Committee. Mr. Trumbull opened the debate by an elaborate speech, in which he said: “If we are to get rid of the institution of Slavery, we must have some more efficient way of doing it than by the Proclamations that have been issued or the Acts of Congress which have been passed.… Sir, in my judgment, the only effectual way of ridding the country of Slavery, and so that it cannot be resuscitated, is by an Amendment of the Constitution, forever prohibiting it within the jurisdiction of the United States. It is reasonable to suppose, that, if this proposed Amendment passes Congress, it will within a year receive the ratification of the requisite number of States to make it a part of the Constitution. That accomplished, and we are forever freed of this troublesome question.… We take this question entirely away from the politics of the country; we relieve Congress of sectionalstrifes; and, what is better than all, we restore to a whole race that freedom which is theirs by the gift of God, but which we for generations have wickedly denied them.” Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, made an effective speech, whose character appears in its title, as published: “The Death of Slavery is the Life of the Nation.” Then followed, on successive days, speeches from Mr. Davis, of Kentucky, Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, Mr. McDougall, of California, Mr. Hendricks, of Indiana, and Mr. Powell, of Kentucky, all against the Amendment. Mr. Davis declared that “the most operative single cause of the pending war was the intermeddling of Massachusetts with the institution of Slavery,” and it was an “objection of overruling weight, that no revision of the Constitution, in any form, ought to be undertaken under the auspices of the party in power.” Mr. Saulsbury said: “Immediately after the Flood, the Almighty condemned a whole race to servitude. He said, ‘Cursed be Canaan!’” In behalf of the Amendment were able speeches by Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, Mr. Howe, of Wisconsin, Mr. Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, Mr. Harlan, of Iowa, Mr. Hale, of New Hampshire, and Mr. Henderson, of Missouri.April 8th, the last day of debate, Mr. Sumner made the speech which follows this Introduction.During the discussion there were several votes. Mr. Davis moved as a substitute, “No negro, or person whose mother or grandmother is or was a negro, shall be a citizen of the United States, or be eligible to any civil or military office or to any place of trust or profit under the United States.” This was lost,—Yeas 5, Nays 32. Mr. Davis then proposed to add to the first section of the proposed article: “But no slave shall be entitled to his or her freedom under this Amendment, if resident, at the time it takes effect, in any State the laws of which forbid free negroes to reside therein, until removed from such State by the Government of the United States.” This was rejected without a division. Mr. Davis further proposed to add at the end of the second section, that, “when this Amendment of the Constitution shall have taken effect by freeing the slaves, Congress shall provide for the distribution and settlement of all the population of African descent in the United States among the several States and Territories in proportion to the white population of each State and Territory.” This also was rejected without a division, as was another Amendment by him concerning the election of President and Vice-President. Mr. Powell moved to add to the first section: “No slave shall be emancipated by this article, unless the owner thereof shall be first paid the value of the slave or slaves so emancipated.” This was rejected,—Yeas 2, Nays 34.Mr. Sumner offered his substitute in these terms:—“All persons are equal before the law, so that no person can hold another as a slave; and the Congress may make all laws necessary and proper to carry this article into effect everywhere within the United States and the jurisdiction thereof.”Concerning the Amendment of the Committee he remarked:—“It starts with the idea of reproducing the Jeffersonian Ordinance. I doubt the expediency of reproducing that Ordinance. It performed an excellent work in its day, but there are words in it which are entirely inapplicable to our time. They are the limitation, ‘otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.’ Now, unless I err, there is an implication from those words that men may be enslaved as a punishment of crimes whereof they shall have been duly convicted. There was a reason for that at the time; for I understand that it was the habit in certain parts of the country to doom persons as slaves for life as a punishment for crime, and it was not proposed to prohibit this habit. But Slavery in our day is something distinct, perfectly well known, requiring no words of distinction outside of itself. Why, therefore, add the words, ‘nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted’? To my mind they are entirely surplusage. They do no good there, but absolutely introduce a doubt.“In placing a new and important text in our Constitution we cannot be too careful. We should consider well that the language adopted in this Chamber to-day will in all probability be adopted in the other House, and it must be adopted, also, by three fourths of the Legislatures of the States. Therefore we have every motive, the strongest inducement in the world, to make that language as perfect as possible. I do not hesitate to say, that I object to the Jeffersonian Ordinance, even if presented here in its original text. But now I am brought to the point that the proposition of the Committee is not the Jeffersonian Ordinance, except in its bad feature. In other respects, it discards the language of the Jeffersonian Ordinance, and also its collocation of words.”Mr. Trumbull replied, that the Committee, upon discussion and examination, had come to their conclusion. “I do not know,” he said, “that I should have adopted these precise words, but a majority of the Committee thought they were the best words; they accomplish the object; and I cannot see why the Senator from Massachusetts should be so pertinacious about particular words.” He hoped Mr. Sumner would withdraw his proposition.Mr. Howard, of Michigan, wished as much as Mr. Sumner to use significant language that cannot be mistaken or misunderstood; but he preferred to dismiss all reference to French constitutions or Frenchcodes, and “go back to the good old Anglo-Saxon language employed by our fathers in the Ordinance of 1787, an expression which has been adjudicated upon repeatedly, which is perfectly well understood both by the public and by judicial tribunals.”Mr. Sumner withdrew his proposition, which he called a “suggestion” only, and also “a sincere effort to contribute as much as he could to improve the proposition in form,” but could not resist the appeal of his friend, the Chairman of the Committee. He forbore to press any amendment.Mr. Sumner often regretted that he had not insisted upon a vote on striking out the clause giving implied sanction to slavery or involuntary servitude as “a punishment for crime.”April 8th, on the passage of the joint resolution, the vote stood, Yeas 38, Nays 6, when the Vice-President announced that the joint resolution, having received the concurrence of two thirds of the Senators present, was passed.May 31st, the joint resolution was taken up in the House of Representatives. Mr. Holman, of Indiana, objected to its second reading, and the Speaker stated the question, “Shall the joint resolution be rejected?” On this question the vote stood, Yeas 55, Nays 76; and the joint resolution was not rejected. An excited debate occupied several days.June 15th, the vote was taken, and it stood, Yeas 95, Nays 66, not voting 21. So the joint resolution failed, two thirds not voting in its favor. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, a most strenuous supporter of the Constitutional Amendment, changed his vote from the affirmative to the negative, so as to move a reconsideration, which motion he made in the evening, and it was duly entered on the Journal, thus holding the joint resolution in suspense. The session of Congress closed without further action.At the next session the President in his Annual Message reminded Congress of the pending Constitutional Amendment, and recommended its “reconsideration and passage,” adding, that by the recent election the will of the majority was “most clearly declared in favor of such Constitutional Amendment.” January 6, 1865, on motion of Mr. Ashley, the House of Representatives took up his motion to reconsider the vote of rejection. The debate, which was opened by him in an earnest speech, proceeded, with some interruptions, until January 31st, when he called the previous question on the motion. Mr. Stiles, of Pennsylvania, moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table, which was lost,—Yeas 57, Nays 111. The previous question was then ordered. On the motion to reconsider, the vote stood, Yeas 112, Nays 57, notvoting 13; but, a majority being sufficient for this purpose, the motion to reconsider was agreed to. The question then recurred on the passage of the joint resolution, when, on motion of Mr. Ashley, the previous question was ordered. Before this was done, he stated that to hasten a vote he had declined speaking. Mr. Brown, of Wisconsin, asked him to yield, so that he might “offer a substitute for the joint resolution.” Mr. Ashley could not yield; he had a substitute himself, which he should much prefer to the original joint resolution, but he did not offer it. On its final passage the vote stood, Yeas 119, Nays 56, not voting 8. So the two thirds required by the Constitution having voted in its favor, the joint resolution was passed.All possible preparation had been made for the vote, and the attendance was unusually large, both of Representatives and spectators. The people throughout the country awaited the result with profound interest. The announcement by the Speaker was received with an outburst of enthusiasm in the Chamber. The Republican Representatives sprang to their feet and applauded with cheers and clapping of hands. The spectators in the crowded galleries followed the example, and for several minutes the Chamber was a scene of joy and congratulation. Mr. Ingersoll, of Illinois, then said, “In honor of this immortal and sublime event, I move that the House do now adjourn”; and the House adjourned.The joint resolution submitting the Constitutional Amendment bears date February 1, 1865. It now remained that the Amendment should be ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, there being at the time thirty-six. A certificate, announcing that this had been done, was issued by the Secretary of State, December 18, 1865, and from this date the Amendment became part of the Constitution. President Lincoln, who had watched this event with absorbing interest, did not live to witness the final result.Mr. Sumner saw so clearly the delay incident to a Constitutional Amendment, and even the uncertainty with regard to its passage by Congress and adoption by the States, that, while supporting it cordially, he did not relax meanwhile his efforts for Congressional legislation against Slavery. Even if Congress could not be induced, in the exercise of its powers, to decree the death of the public enemy, he hoped that at least it would not hesitate to use all other powers to limit and weaken it, so that, should the Constitutional Amendment fail, or be postponed, Slavery would be in a condition from which it could not recover. His main postulate, that Slavery was contrary to Nature, and an outlaw, was important in sustaining action against it, whether by Constitutional Amendment or Congressional legislation. In thecourse of debate on another question, Mr. Sherman spoke incidentally of the Constitutional Amendment as “the main proposition,” when Mr. Sumner at once remarked:—“The main proposition, Sir, is to strike Slavery wherever you can hit it; and I tell the Senator he will not accomplish his purpose, if he contents himself merely with a Constitutional Amendment. I am for a Constitutional Amendment; I have made the proposition in several forms: but how long will it take to carry that Amendment through both Houses of Congress, and then carry it to its final consummation in the votes of the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, according to the requirements of the Constitution? Are we to postpone action on all these questions until that possibly distant day? No, Sir!”[273]The speech which follows was published originally under the title, “Universal Emancipation without Compensation.” In the edition of the Loyal Publication Society of New York the title was “No Property in Man.” These two titles present fundamental principles of special significance at that time. They were in the nature of answer to the clamor for compensation.

“That the voice of the people is heard through petitions to Congress, and this Convention earnestly recommend that this voice be raised in petitions for an Amendment of the Constitution, declaring that Slavery shall be forever prohibited within the limits of the United States.“Charles Sumner.“On board of Steamboat Empire State.”

“Charles Sumner.

“On board of Steamboat Empire State.”

Mr. Wright adds:—

“This is in your hand. On the back, in my hand, are the words: ‘Saloon of Steamer Empire State, on Long Island Sound, Wednesday,A. M., December 2, 1863. Adopted by the American Antislavery Society, at its thirtieth anniversary or third decade meeting, held in Philadelphia, December 3d and 4th, 1863. Adopted December 4th, Friday. Presented by Henry C. Wright, of Boston, and adopted by the Society without a dissenting voice.’“Henry C. Wright.”

“Henry C. Wright.”

Mr. Wright afterwards communicated these facts to the press.

December 14, 1863, in the House of Representatives, Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, introduced a Constitutional Amendment abolishing Slavery, in these terms:—

“Slavery is hereby forever prohibited in all the States of the Union, and in all Territories now owned or which may hereafter be acquired by the United States.”

On the same day, Mr. Wilson, of Iowa, introduced another, in these terms:—

“Slavery, being incompatible with a free Government, is forever prohibited in the United States, and involuntary servitude shall be permitted only as a punishment for crime.”

January 11, 1864, in the Senate, Mr. Henderson, of Missouri, proposed the following amendment:—

“Slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, shall not exist in the United States.”

This was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

February 8th, while the Committee had the question still under consideration, Mr. Sumner proposed an Amendment as follows:—

“Article —.Everywhere within the limits of the United States, and of each State or Territory thereof, all persons are equal before the law, so that no person can hold another as a slave.”

Mr. Sumner moved the reference of the joint resolution containing his Amendment to the Select Committee on Slavery and Freedmen, of which he was Chairman. Mr. Trumbull thought it had better go to the Committee on the Judiciary, to which the other proposition had been referred. Mr. Sumner remarked, that already petitions against the Fugitive Slave Act had been reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with the recommendation that they be referred to the other Committee, that the terms of the resolution raising this Committee were broad enough to cover every proposition relating to Slavery, and that, in fact, petitions relating to a Constitutional Amendment had already been referred to this Committee. If after this statement the Senator desired that the joint resolution should be referred to the Committee of which he was the honored head, Mr. Sumner consented with the greatest pleasure. Mr. Trumbull expressed the opinion that “the appropriate Committee for all propositions to change the Constitution was the Judiciary Committee,” and in this opinion Mr. Doolittle concurred. Mr. Sumner was perfectly willing to follow the suggestion made. His chief desire was that the Committee would “act upon it soon.”

Meanwhile Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, moved that the joint resolution be indefinitely postponed, which was lost,—Yeas 8, Nays 31. It was then referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

February 10th, Mr. Trumbull reported back the two joint resolutions, and the various petitions on the subject, with a substitute, as an amendment to the joint resolution of Mr. Henderson, in the following terms:—

“Section 1.Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.Section 2.Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

Section 2.Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

February 17th, Mr. Sumner, inferring from the report of the Committee a disposition to follow the Ordinance for the Northwest Territory,and also thinking it desirable to expel from the Constitution clauses alleged to concern Slavery, gave notice of the following substitute, the first clause of which is modelled precisely on the famous prohibition in the Ordinance.

“Article 13.“Section 1.There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude anywhere in the United States, or within the jurisdiction thereof, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; and the Congress may make all laws which shall be necessary and proper to enforce this prohibition.“Section 2.In the third paragraph of the second section of the first article, concerning the apportionment of Representatives, the following words shall be struck out, so as to be no longer a part of the Constitution, namely: ‘Which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons,’ except the words ‘excluding Indians not taxed,’ which shall be allowed to remain, so that the whole clause shall read: ‘Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union according to their respective numbers, excluding Indians not taxed.’“Section 3.The whole of the third paragraph of the second section of the fourth article, in the words hereto appended, shall be struck out, so as to be no longer a part of the Constitution, namely: ‘No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.’”

“Article 13.

“Section 1.There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude anywhere in the United States, or within the jurisdiction thereof, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; and the Congress may make all laws which shall be necessary and proper to enforce this prohibition.

“Section 2.In the third paragraph of the second section of the first article, concerning the apportionment of Representatives, the following words shall be struck out, so as to be no longer a part of the Constitution, namely: ‘Which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons,’ except the words ‘excluding Indians not taxed,’ which shall be allowed to remain, so that the whole clause shall read: ‘Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union according to their respective numbers, excluding Indians not taxed.’

“Section 3.The whole of the third paragraph of the second section of the fourth article, in the words hereto appended, shall be struck out, so as to be no longer a part of the Constitution, namely: ‘No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.’”

March 28th, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the joint resolution, the pending question being the substitute of the Committee. Mr. Trumbull opened the debate by an elaborate speech, in which he said: “If we are to get rid of the institution of Slavery, we must have some more efficient way of doing it than by the Proclamations that have been issued or the Acts of Congress which have been passed.… Sir, in my judgment, the only effectual way of ridding the country of Slavery, and so that it cannot be resuscitated, is by an Amendment of the Constitution, forever prohibiting it within the jurisdiction of the United States. It is reasonable to suppose, that, if this proposed Amendment passes Congress, it will within a year receive the ratification of the requisite number of States to make it a part of the Constitution. That accomplished, and we are forever freed of this troublesome question.… We take this question entirely away from the politics of the country; we relieve Congress of sectionalstrifes; and, what is better than all, we restore to a whole race that freedom which is theirs by the gift of God, but which we for generations have wickedly denied them.” Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, made an effective speech, whose character appears in its title, as published: “The Death of Slavery is the Life of the Nation.” Then followed, on successive days, speeches from Mr. Davis, of Kentucky, Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, Mr. McDougall, of California, Mr. Hendricks, of Indiana, and Mr. Powell, of Kentucky, all against the Amendment. Mr. Davis declared that “the most operative single cause of the pending war was the intermeddling of Massachusetts with the institution of Slavery,” and it was an “objection of overruling weight, that no revision of the Constitution, in any form, ought to be undertaken under the auspices of the party in power.” Mr. Saulsbury said: “Immediately after the Flood, the Almighty condemned a whole race to servitude. He said, ‘Cursed be Canaan!’” In behalf of the Amendment were able speeches by Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, Mr. Howe, of Wisconsin, Mr. Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, Mr. Harlan, of Iowa, Mr. Hale, of New Hampshire, and Mr. Henderson, of Missouri.

April 8th, the last day of debate, Mr. Sumner made the speech which follows this Introduction.

During the discussion there were several votes. Mr. Davis moved as a substitute, “No negro, or person whose mother or grandmother is or was a negro, shall be a citizen of the United States, or be eligible to any civil or military office or to any place of trust or profit under the United States.” This was lost,—Yeas 5, Nays 32. Mr. Davis then proposed to add to the first section of the proposed article: “But no slave shall be entitled to his or her freedom under this Amendment, if resident, at the time it takes effect, in any State the laws of which forbid free negroes to reside therein, until removed from such State by the Government of the United States.” This was rejected without a division. Mr. Davis further proposed to add at the end of the second section, that, “when this Amendment of the Constitution shall have taken effect by freeing the slaves, Congress shall provide for the distribution and settlement of all the population of African descent in the United States among the several States and Territories in proportion to the white population of each State and Territory.” This also was rejected without a division, as was another Amendment by him concerning the election of President and Vice-President. Mr. Powell moved to add to the first section: “No slave shall be emancipated by this article, unless the owner thereof shall be first paid the value of the slave or slaves so emancipated.” This was rejected,—Yeas 2, Nays 34.

Mr. Sumner offered his substitute in these terms:—

“All persons are equal before the law, so that no person can hold another as a slave; and the Congress may make all laws necessary and proper to carry this article into effect everywhere within the United States and the jurisdiction thereof.”

Concerning the Amendment of the Committee he remarked:—

“It starts with the idea of reproducing the Jeffersonian Ordinance. I doubt the expediency of reproducing that Ordinance. It performed an excellent work in its day, but there are words in it which are entirely inapplicable to our time. They are the limitation, ‘otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.’ Now, unless I err, there is an implication from those words that men may be enslaved as a punishment of crimes whereof they shall have been duly convicted. There was a reason for that at the time; for I understand that it was the habit in certain parts of the country to doom persons as slaves for life as a punishment for crime, and it was not proposed to prohibit this habit. But Slavery in our day is something distinct, perfectly well known, requiring no words of distinction outside of itself. Why, therefore, add the words, ‘nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted’? To my mind they are entirely surplusage. They do no good there, but absolutely introduce a doubt.“In placing a new and important text in our Constitution we cannot be too careful. We should consider well that the language adopted in this Chamber to-day will in all probability be adopted in the other House, and it must be adopted, also, by three fourths of the Legislatures of the States. Therefore we have every motive, the strongest inducement in the world, to make that language as perfect as possible. I do not hesitate to say, that I object to the Jeffersonian Ordinance, even if presented here in its original text. But now I am brought to the point that the proposition of the Committee is not the Jeffersonian Ordinance, except in its bad feature. In other respects, it discards the language of the Jeffersonian Ordinance, and also its collocation of words.”

“In placing a new and important text in our Constitution we cannot be too careful. We should consider well that the language adopted in this Chamber to-day will in all probability be adopted in the other House, and it must be adopted, also, by three fourths of the Legislatures of the States. Therefore we have every motive, the strongest inducement in the world, to make that language as perfect as possible. I do not hesitate to say, that I object to the Jeffersonian Ordinance, even if presented here in its original text. But now I am brought to the point that the proposition of the Committee is not the Jeffersonian Ordinance, except in its bad feature. In other respects, it discards the language of the Jeffersonian Ordinance, and also its collocation of words.”

Mr. Trumbull replied, that the Committee, upon discussion and examination, had come to their conclusion. “I do not know,” he said, “that I should have adopted these precise words, but a majority of the Committee thought they were the best words; they accomplish the object; and I cannot see why the Senator from Massachusetts should be so pertinacious about particular words.” He hoped Mr. Sumner would withdraw his proposition.

Mr. Howard, of Michigan, wished as much as Mr. Sumner to use significant language that cannot be mistaken or misunderstood; but he preferred to dismiss all reference to French constitutions or Frenchcodes, and “go back to the good old Anglo-Saxon language employed by our fathers in the Ordinance of 1787, an expression which has been adjudicated upon repeatedly, which is perfectly well understood both by the public and by judicial tribunals.”

Mr. Sumner withdrew his proposition, which he called a “suggestion” only, and also “a sincere effort to contribute as much as he could to improve the proposition in form,” but could not resist the appeal of his friend, the Chairman of the Committee. He forbore to press any amendment.

Mr. Sumner often regretted that he had not insisted upon a vote on striking out the clause giving implied sanction to slavery or involuntary servitude as “a punishment for crime.”

April 8th, on the passage of the joint resolution, the vote stood, Yeas 38, Nays 6, when the Vice-President announced that the joint resolution, having received the concurrence of two thirds of the Senators present, was passed.

May 31st, the joint resolution was taken up in the House of Representatives. Mr. Holman, of Indiana, objected to its second reading, and the Speaker stated the question, “Shall the joint resolution be rejected?” On this question the vote stood, Yeas 55, Nays 76; and the joint resolution was not rejected. An excited debate occupied several days.

June 15th, the vote was taken, and it stood, Yeas 95, Nays 66, not voting 21. So the joint resolution failed, two thirds not voting in its favor. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, a most strenuous supporter of the Constitutional Amendment, changed his vote from the affirmative to the negative, so as to move a reconsideration, which motion he made in the evening, and it was duly entered on the Journal, thus holding the joint resolution in suspense. The session of Congress closed without further action.

At the next session the President in his Annual Message reminded Congress of the pending Constitutional Amendment, and recommended its “reconsideration and passage,” adding, that by the recent election the will of the majority was “most clearly declared in favor of such Constitutional Amendment.” January 6, 1865, on motion of Mr. Ashley, the House of Representatives took up his motion to reconsider the vote of rejection. The debate, which was opened by him in an earnest speech, proceeded, with some interruptions, until January 31st, when he called the previous question on the motion. Mr. Stiles, of Pennsylvania, moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table, which was lost,—Yeas 57, Nays 111. The previous question was then ordered. On the motion to reconsider, the vote stood, Yeas 112, Nays 57, notvoting 13; but, a majority being sufficient for this purpose, the motion to reconsider was agreed to. The question then recurred on the passage of the joint resolution, when, on motion of Mr. Ashley, the previous question was ordered. Before this was done, he stated that to hasten a vote he had declined speaking. Mr. Brown, of Wisconsin, asked him to yield, so that he might “offer a substitute for the joint resolution.” Mr. Ashley could not yield; he had a substitute himself, which he should much prefer to the original joint resolution, but he did not offer it. On its final passage the vote stood, Yeas 119, Nays 56, not voting 8. So the two thirds required by the Constitution having voted in its favor, the joint resolution was passed.

All possible preparation had been made for the vote, and the attendance was unusually large, both of Representatives and spectators. The people throughout the country awaited the result with profound interest. The announcement by the Speaker was received with an outburst of enthusiasm in the Chamber. The Republican Representatives sprang to their feet and applauded with cheers and clapping of hands. The spectators in the crowded galleries followed the example, and for several minutes the Chamber was a scene of joy and congratulation. Mr. Ingersoll, of Illinois, then said, “In honor of this immortal and sublime event, I move that the House do now adjourn”; and the House adjourned.

The joint resolution submitting the Constitutional Amendment bears date February 1, 1865. It now remained that the Amendment should be ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, there being at the time thirty-six. A certificate, announcing that this had been done, was issued by the Secretary of State, December 18, 1865, and from this date the Amendment became part of the Constitution. President Lincoln, who had watched this event with absorbing interest, did not live to witness the final result.

Mr. Sumner saw so clearly the delay incident to a Constitutional Amendment, and even the uncertainty with regard to its passage by Congress and adoption by the States, that, while supporting it cordially, he did not relax meanwhile his efforts for Congressional legislation against Slavery. Even if Congress could not be induced, in the exercise of its powers, to decree the death of the public enemy, he hoped that at least it would not hesitate to use all other powers to limit and weaken it, so that, should the Constitutional Amendment fail, or be postponed, Slavery would be in a condition from which it could not recover. His main postulate, that Slavery was contrary to Nature, and an outlaw, was important in sustaining action against it, whether by Constitutional Amendment or Congressional legislation. In thecourse of debate on another question, Mr. Sherman spoke incidentally of the Constitutional Amendment as “the main proposition,” when Mr. Sumner at once remarked:—

“The main proposition, Sir, is to strike Slavery wherever you can hit it; and I tell the Senator he will not accomplish his purpose, if he contents himself merely with a Constitutional Amendment. I am for a Constitutional Amendment; I have made the proposition in several forms: but how long will it take to carry that Amendment through both Houses of Congress, and then carry it to its final consummation in the votes of the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, according to the requirements of the Constitution? Are we to postpone action on all these questions until that possibly distant day? No, Sir!”[273]

The speech which follows was published originally under the title, “Universal Emancipation without Compensation.” In the edition of the Loyal Publication Society of New York the title was “No Property in Man.” These two titles present fundamental principles of special significance at that time. They were in the nature of answer to the clamor for compensation.

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