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the Constitution. And it was no less astonishing that CHAPTER Dr. Franklin had taken the lead in a business which looked so much like a persecution of the Southern inhab- 1790 itants, especially when he recollected the parable the doctor had written some time ago with a view to show the impropriety of one set of men persecuting others for a difference of opinion."

Boudinot "agreed to the general doctrines of Scott, but could not go so far as to say that the clause in the Constitution relating to the importation or migration of such persons as the states now existing shall think proper to admit, did not include the case of negro slaves. Candor required him to acknowledge that this was the express design of the Constitution. He had been informed that the tax or duty of ten dollars was agreed to instead of five per cent. ad valorem, and that it was so expressly understood by all parties in the Convention. It was, therefore, the interest and duty of Congress to impose the tax, or it would not be doing justice to the states or equalizing the duties throughout the Union. The gentlemen in opposition were justifiable in supporting the interests of their constituents, but their warmth had been excessive. Yet even that warmth was not without excuse. It was an arduous task, in this enlightened age, to prove the legality of slavery. When gentlemen attempt to justify this unnatural traffic, or to prove the lawfulness of slavery, they ought to advert to the genius of our government and to the principles of the Revolution. If it were possible for men who exercise their reason to believe,' says the Declaration of 1775, setting forth the causes and necessity for taking up arms, that the divine Author of our existence intended a part of the human race to hold an absolute power in and an unbounded property over others, marked out by his infinite good

6

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CHAPTER ness and wisdom as the objects of a legal domination never rightfully resistible, however severe and oppressive, 1790. the inhabitants of these colonies might at least require from the Parliament of Great Britain some evidence that this dreadful authority over them had been granted to that body. By the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Congress declare these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' Such was the language of America in the day of

her distress!

"But there was a wide difference between justifying the African slave trade and supporting a claim vested at the adoption of the Constitution and guaranteed by it; nor would he be understood as contending for any right in Congress to give freedom to those who are now held as slaves, or, at the present time, to prohibit the slave trade. It would be a piece of inhumanity to turn these unhappy people loose, to murder each other or to perish for want of the necessaries of life. He never was an

advocate for conduct so extravagant."

After an elaborate vindication of the Quakers, Boudinot denied that the petition signed by Franklin asked any thing contrary to the Constitution. The request "was to go to the utmost verge of the Constitution," not to go beyond it.

The ardent Jackson was by no means satisfied with the distinction attempted to be set up between the African slave trade and the case of the slaves already in the country. "I am for none of these half-way consciences; if I was disposed to do any thing, I should be for total abolition. Let charity and humanity begin at home; let the gertlemen in the Northern States who own slaves

II.

and advocate their cause, set the example of emancipa- CHAPTER tion. Let them prove their own humanity; let them pull the beam out of their own eye previous to discover- 1790. ing the mote in their neighbor's. That is an argument that would speak for itself. Gentlemen have talked of our raising alarms; but it is at a reality, not at a bugbear. The whole tenor of the resolutions has been contrary to Southern interests; and manumission, emancipation, and abolition have been their intention. I give the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Scott) credit; I admit his candor; he has boldly spoken out. I wish the same might be done by other members, who appear to me to conceal their real designs under the specious pretext of concern for the interests of the Southern States."

Jackson's reiterated abuse of the Quakers, for which he made a sort of half apology, by remarking that he believed they cared very little about it, called up Williamson, who had just taken his seat from North Carolina, and who had been a member of the Federal Convention. One of his colleagues was Sevier, the late rebel governor of the transitory and now extinct State of Frankland. Williamson thought the time of Congress badly employed in passing abstract resolutions as to what they could or could not do, and still worse in discussing what appeared to be the general subject of debate, whether the Quakers were the worst or the best of all religious societies. Ast to their conduct in the present case, he believed they held themselves bound in conscience to bear a testimony against slavery. He revered all men who respect the dictates of conscience at the expense of time and money: such men are seldom bad members of society. "We, too, must regard the dictates of conscience; we are bound to support the Constitution, and to protect the property of our fellow-citizens; and we are expressly prohibited by

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CHAPTER the Constitution from giving liberty to a single slave That business remains with the individual states; it is 1790. not committed to Congress, who have no right to intermeddle with it." He was therefore opposed to all the resolutions.

March 23.

After some further debate, in which the merits of the Quakers continued to hold a large place, the sixth resolution was agreed to. The seventh, pledging Congress to exert their full powers for the restriction of the slave trade-and, as it might also be understood, for the discountenancing of slavery-was struck out. The committee then rose, and reported the resolutions to the House.

The next day, as soon as the preliminary business had been disposed of, it was moved to take up this report. Ames, so eloquent formerly on the molasses duty, but silent hitherto throughout this debate, now expressed the opinion that the subject might rest at the stage it had reached. He regretted the time consumed, and the manner also in which the debate had been conducted He reprobated the idea of a declaration of abstract propositions. Let the report lie on the files of the House, where it might be occasionally referred to.

Ames was highly complimented by Jackson, whc wished that more of the members from the eastward had acted in a similar spirit. Madison thought the sugges tion of Ames a good one, with this modification, that the report of the Committee of the Whole should be entered on the journals for the information of the public, and to quiet the fears of the South, by showing that Congress claimed no power to prohibit the importation of slaves before 1808, and no power of manumission at any time.

Burke "complained of this as an uncandid method of disposing of the business. He would rather it should

It was CHAPTER

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pass regularly through the forms of the House. smuggling the affair to let it rest here, as it deprived the people of the counsel of their Senate." Smith tock the 1790. same ground. The precedents quoted of memorials entered on the journals were not applicable to the present question, which involved a discussion of the powers of Congress. On a question as to those powers, the Senate, composing one branch of the Legislature, should certainly be consulted. Both reports were now to be entered on the journals, without any declaration to show which had been approved and which rejected. They were precluded from having the yeas and nays on the report, and yet it would be called the act of the House. Madison contended that, as it was impossible to shut the door altogether upon this business, the method proposed was the most conciliatory, and the best adapted to the present situation of things. The motion finally prevailed, by a vote of twenty-nine to twenty-five, and the report was entered on the journal as follows:

"That the migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit can not be prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808.

"That Congress have no authority to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of them, in any of the states, it remaining with the several states. alone to provide any regulations therein which humanity and true policy require.

"That Congress have authority to restrain the citizens of the United States from carrying on the African slave trade for the purpose of supplying foreigners with slaves, and of providing by proper regulations for the humane treatment, during their passage, of slaves imported by the said citizens into the said states admitting such importation.