Volume III Part 110 (1/2)
It is an instrument of oppression unsurpa.s.sed in the criminal history of the world. How then can it be innocently sustained? It is not certain, it is not even probable, that if it had not been adopted, the mother country would have reconquered the colonies. The spirit that would have chosen danger in preference to crime,--to perish with justice rather than live with dishonor,--to dare and suffer whatever might betide, rather than sacrifice the rights of one human being,--could never have been subjugated by any mortal power. Surely it is paying a poor tribute to the valor and devotion of our revolutionary fathers in the cause of liberty, to say that, if they had sternly refused to sacrifice their principles, they would have fallen an easy prey to the despotic power of England.
II. The American Const.i.tution is the exponent of the national compact.
We affirm that it is an instrument which no man can innocently bind himself to support, because its anti-republican and anti-Christian requirements are explicit and peremptory; at least, so explicit that, in regard to all the clauses pertaining to slavery, they have been uniformly understood and enforced in the same way, by all the courts and by all the people; and so peremptory, that no individual interpretation or authority can set them aside with impunity. It is not a ball of clay, to be moulded into any shape that party contrivance or caprice may choose it to a.s.sume. It is not a form of words, to be interpreted in any manner, or to any extent, or for the accomplishment of any purpose, that individuals in office under it may determine. _It means precisely what those who framed and adopted it meant_--NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS, _as a matter of bargain and compromise_. Even if it can be construed to mean something else, without violence to its language, such construction is not to be tolerated _against the wishes of either party_. No just or honest use of it can be made, in opposition to the plain intention of its framers, _except to declare the contract at an end, and to refuse to serve under it_.
To the argument, that the words ”slaves” and ”slavery” are not to be found in the Const.i.tution, and therefore that it was never intended to give any protection or countenance to the slave system, it is sufficient to reply, that though no such words are contained in that instrument, other words were used intelligently and specifically, TO MEET THE NECESSITIES OF SLAVERY; and that these were adopted _in good faith, to be observed until a const.i.tutional change could be effected_. On this point, as to the design of certain provisions, no intelligent man can honestly entertain a doubt. If it be objected, that though these provisions were meant to cover slavery, yet, as they can fairly be interpreted to mean something exactly the reverse, it is allowable to give to them such an interpretation, _especially as the cause of freedom will thereby be promoted_--we reply, that this is to advocate fraud and violence toward one of the contracting parties, _whose co-operation was secured only by an express agreement and understanding between them both, in regard to the clauses alluded to_; and that such a construction, if enforced by pains and penalties, would unquestionably lead to a civil war, in which the aggrieved party would justly claim to have been betrayed, and robbed of their const.i.tutional rights.
Again, if it be said, that those clauses, being immoral, are null and void--we reply, it is true they are not to be observed; but it is also true that they are portions of an instrument, the support of which, AS A WHOLE, is required by oath or affirmation; and, therefore, _because they are immoral_, and BECAUSE OF THIS OBLIGATION TO ENFORCE IMMORALITY, no one can innocently swear to support the Const.i.tution.
Again, if it be objected, that the Const.i.tution was formed by the people of the United States, in order to establish justice, to promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity; and therefore, it is to be so construed as to harmonize with these objects; we reply, again, that its language is _not to be interpreted in a sense which neither of the contracting parties understood_, and which would frustrate every design of their alliance--to wit, _union at the expense of the colored population of the country_. Moreover, nothing is more certain than that the preamble alluded to never included, in the minds of those who framed it, _those who were then pining in bondage_--for, in that case, a general emanc.i.p.ation of the slaves would have instantly been proclaimed throughout the United States. The words, ”secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,” a.s.suredly meant only the white population. ”To promote the general welfare,” referred to their own welfare exclusively. ”To establish justice,” was understood to be for their sole benefit as slaveholders, and the guilty abettors of slavery. This is demonstrated by other parts of the same instrument, and by their own practice under it.
We would not detract aught from what is justly their due; but it is as reprehensible to give them credit for _what they did not possess_, as it is to rob them of what is theirs. It is absurd, it is false, it is an insult to the common sense of mankind, to pretend that the Const.i.tution was intended to embrace the entire population of the country under its sheltering wings; or that the parties to it were actuated by a sense of justice and the spirit of impartial liberty; or that it needs no alteration, but only a new interpretation, to make it harmonize with the object aimed at by its adoption. As truly might it be argued, that because it is a.s.serted in the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal, and endowed with an inalienable right to liberty, therefore none of its signers were slaveholders, and since its adoption, slavery has been banished from the American soil! The truth is, our fathers were intent on securing liberty to _themselves_, without being very scrupulous as to the means they used to accomplish their purpose. They were not actuated by the spirit of universal philanthropy; and though in words they recognized occasionally the brotherhood of the human race, _in practice_ they continually denied it. They did not blush to enslave a portion of their fellow-men, and to buy and sell them as cattle in the market, while they were fighting against the oppression of the mother country, and boasting of their regard for the rights of man. Why, then, concede to them virtues which they did not possess? _Why cling to the falsehood, that they were no respecters of persons in the formation of the government_?
Alas! that they had no more fear of G.o.d, no more regard for man, in their hearts! ”The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah [the North and 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.”
We proceed to a critical examination of the American Const.i.tution, in its relations to slavery.
In ARTICLE 1, Section 9, it is declared--”The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress, prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.”
In this Section, it will be perceived, the phraseology is so guarded as not to imply, _ex necessitate_, any criminal intent or inhuman arrangement; and yet no one has ever had the hardihood or folly to deny, that it was clearly understood by the contracting parties, to mean that there should be no interference with the African slave trade, on the part of the general government, until the year 1808.
For twenty years after the adoption of the Const.i.tution, the citizens of the United States were to be encouraged and protected in the prosecution of that infernal traffic--in sacking and burning the hamlets of Africa--in slaughtering mult.i.tudes of the inoffensive natives on the soil, kidnapping and enslaving a still greater proportion, crowding them to suffocation in the holds of the slave s.h.i.+ps, populating the Atlantic with their dead bodies, and subjecting the wretched survivors to all the horrors of unmitigated bondage!
This awful covenant was strictly fulfilled; and though, since its termination, Congress has declared the foreign slave traffic to be piracy, yet all Christendom knows that the American flag, instead of being the terror of the African slavers, has given them the most ample protection.
The manner in which the 9th Section was agreed to, by the national convention that formed the Const.i.tution, is thus frankly avowed by the Hon. LUTHER MARTIN[9] who was a prominent member of that body:
[Footnote 9: Speech before the Legislature of Maryland in 1787.]
”The Eastern States, notwithstanding their aversion to slavery, (!) were _very willing to indulge the Southern States_ at least with a temporary liberty to prosecute the slave trade, provided the Southern States would, in their turn, _gratify_ them by laying no restriction on navigation acts; and, after a very little time, the committee, by a great majority, agreed on a report, _by which the general government was to be prohibited from preventing the importation of slaves_ for a limited time; and the restrictive clause relative to navigation acts was to be omitted.”
Behold the iniquity of this agreement! how sordid were the motives which led to it! what a profligate disregard of justice and humanity, on the part of those who had solemnly declared the inalienable right of all men to be free and equal, to be a self-evident truth!
It is due to the national convention to say, that this Section was not adopted ”without considerable opposition.” Alluding to it, Mr. MARTIN observes--
”It was said that we had just a.s.sumed a place among independent nations in consequence of our opposition to the attempts of Great Britain to _enslave us_: that this opposition was grounded upon the preservation of those rights to which G.o.d and nature has ent.i.tled us, not in _particular_, but in _common with all the rest of mankind_; that we had appealed to the Supreme Being for his a.s.sistance, as the G.o.d of freedom, who could not but approve our efforts to preserve the rights which he had thus imparted to his creatures; that now, when we scarcely had risen from our knees, from supplicating his aid and protection in forming our government over a free people, a government formed pretendedly on the principles of liberty, and for its preservation,--in that government to have a provision, not only putting it out of its power to restrain and prevent the slave trade, even encouraging that most infamous traffic, by giving the States power and influence in the Union in proportion as they cruelly and wantonly sport with the rights of their fellow-creatures, ought to be considered as a solemn mockery of, and insult to, that G.o.d whose protection we had then implored, and could not fail to hold us up in detestation, and render us contemptible to every true friend of liberty in the world. It was said it ought to be considered that national crimes can only be and frequently are, punished in this world by _national punishments_, and that the continuance of the slave trade, and thus giving it a national sanction, and encouragement, ought to be considered as justly exposing us to the displeasure and vengeance of Him who is equally Lord of all, and who views with equal eye the poor _African slave_ and his _American master_![10]
[Footnote 10: How terribly and justly has this guilty nation been scourged, since these words were spoken, on account of slavery and the slave trade!]
”It was urged that, by this system, we were giving the general government full and absolute power to regulate commerce, under which general power it would have a right to restrain, or totally prohibit, the slave trade: it must, therefore, appear to the world absurd and disgraceful to the last degree that we should except from the exercise of that power the only branch of commerce which is unjustifiable in its nature, and contrary to the rights of mankind. That, on the contrary, we ought rather to prohibit expressly, in our Const.i.tution, the further importation of slaves, and to authorize the general government, from time to time, to make such regulations as should be thought most advantageous for the gradual abolition of slavery, and the emanc.i.p.ation of the slaves which are already in the States. That slavery is inconsistent with the genius of republicanism, and has a tendency to destroy those principles on which it is supported, as it lessens the sense of the equal rights of mankind, and habituates us to tyranny and oppression. It was further urged that, by this system of government, every State is to be protected both from foreign invasion and from domestic insurrections; that, from this consideration, it was of the utmost importance it should have a power to restrain the importation of slaves, since in proportion as the number of slaves were increased in any State, in the same proportion the State is weakened and exposed to foreign invasion or domestic insurrection; and by so much less will it be able to protect itself against either, and therefore will by so much the more, want aid from, and be a burden to, the Union.
”It was further said, that, as in this system, we were giving the general government a power, under the idea of national character, or national interest, to regulate even our weights and measures, and have prohibited all possibility of emitting paper money, and pa.s.sing insolvent laws, &c., it must appear still more extraordinary that we should prohibit the government from interfering with the slave trade, than which nothing could so materially affect both our national honor and interest.
”These reasons influenced me, both on the committee and in convention, most decidedly to oppose and vote against the clause, as it now makes a part of the system.”[11]
[Footnote 11: Secret Proceedings, p. 64.]
Happy had it been for this nation, had these solemn considerations been heeded by the framers of the Const.i.tution! But for the sake of securing some local advantages, they chose to do evil that good might come, and to make the end sanctify the means. They were willing to enslave others, that they might secure their own freedom. They did this deed deliberately, with their eyes open, with all the facts and consequences arising therefrom before them, in violation of all their heaven-attested declarations, and in atheistical distrust of the overruling power of G.o.d. ”The Eastern States were very willing to _indulge_ the Southern States” in the unrestricted prosecution of their piratical traffic, provided in return they could be _gratified_ by no restriction being laid on navigation acts!!--Had there been no other provision of the Const.i.tution justly liable to objection, this one alone rendered the support of that instrument incompatible with the duties which men owe to their Creator, and to each other. It was the poisonous infusion in the cup, which, though const.i.tuting but a very slight portion of its contents, perilled the life of every one who partook of it.
If it be asked to what purpose are these animadversions, since the clause alluded to has long since expired by its own limitation--we answer, that, if at any time the foreign slave trade could be _const.i.tutionally_ prosecuted, it may yet be renewed, under the Const.i.tution, at the pleasure of Congress, whose prohibitory statute is liable to be reversed at any moment, in the frenzy of Southern opposition to emanc.i.p.ation. It is ignorantly supposed that the bargain was, that the traffic _should cease_ in 1808; but the only thing secured by it was, the _right_ of Congress (not any obligation) to prohibit it at that period. If, therefore, Congress had not chosen to exercise that right, _the traffic might have been prolonged indefinitely under the Const.i.tution._ The right to destroy any particular branch of commerce, implies the right to re-establish it.
True, there is no probability that the African slave trade will ever again be legalized by the national government; but no credit is due the framers of the Const.i.tution on this ground; for, while they threw around it all the sanction and protection of the national character and power for twenty years, _they set no bounds to its continuance by any positive const.i.tutional prohibition._