Volume II Part 18 (2/2)
Note 1. See the conduct of the Northern States in the war of 1812.
”During that war,” says Jefferson in a letter to General Lafayette, ”four of the Eastern States were only attached to the Union, like so many inanimate bodies to living men.”
Note 2. The profound peace of the Union affords no pretext for a standing army; and without a standing army a Government is not prepared to profit by a favourable opportunity to conquer resistance, and take the sovereign power by surprise.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER EIGHT.
The next question to be examined into is, has this government of the United States set an example of honour, good faith, and moral principle, to those who are subjected to it?--has it, by so behaving, acted favourably upon the morals of the people, and corrected the vices and errors of the monarchical inst.i.tutions which the Americans hold up to such detestation?
The Americans may be said to have had, till within the last twenty years, little or no relation with other countries. They have had few treaties to make, and very little diplomatic arrangements with the old Continent. But even if they had had, they must not be judged by them; a certain degree of national honour is necessary to every nation, if they would have the respect of others, and a dread of the consequences would always compel them to adhere to any treaty made with great and powerful countries. The question is, has the Federal Government adhered to its treaties and promises made with and to those who have been too weak to defend themselves? Has it not repeatedly, in the short period of their existence as a nation, violated the national honour whenever without being in fear of retaliation or exposure it has been able to do so. Let this question be answered by an examination into their conduct towards the unhappy Indians, _who_, to use their own expression, are ”now melting away like snow before the white men.” We are not to estimate the morality of a government by its strict adherence to its compacts with the powerful, but by its strict moral sense of justice towards the weak and defenceless; and it should be borne in mind, that one example of a breach of faith on the part of a democratic government, is more injurious to the morals of the people tinder that government than a thousand instances of breach of faith which may occur in society; for a people who have no aristocracy to set the example, must naturally look to the conduct of their rulers and to their decisions, as a standard for their guidance. To enumerate the multiplied breaches of faith towards the Indians would swell out this work to an extra volume. It was a bitter sarcasm of the Seminole chief, who, referring to the terms used in the treaties, told the Indian agents that the white man's ”_for ever_” did not _last long enough_. Even in its payment of the trifling sums for the lands sold by the Indians and resold at an enormous profit, the American Government has not been willing to adhere to its agreement; and two years ago, when the Indians came for their money, the American Government told them, like an Israelite dealer, that they must take half money and half goods. The Indians remonstrated; the chiefs replied, ”Our young men have purchased upon credit, as they are wont to do; they require the dollars, to pay honestly what they owe.”
”Is our great father so poor?” said one chief to the Indian agent; ”I will lend him some money;” and he ordered several thousand dollars to be brought, and offered them to the agent.
In the Florida war, to which I shall again refer, the same want of faith has been exercised. Unable to drive the Indians out of their swamps and mora.s.ses, they have persuaded them to come into a council, under a flag of truce. This flag of truce has been violated, and the Indians have been thrown into prison until they could be sent away to the Far West, that is, if they survived their captivity, which the gallant Osceola could not. Let it not be supposed that the officers employed are the parties to blame in these acts; it is, generally speaking, the Indian agents who are employed in these nefarious transactions. Among these agents there are many honourable men, but a corrupt government will always find people corrupt enough to do anything it may wish. But any language that I can use as to the conduct of the American Government towards the Indians would be light, compared to the comments made in my presence by the _officers_ and other American _gentlemen_ upon this subject. Indeed, the indignation expressed is so general, that it proves there is less morality in the Government than there is in the nation.
With the exception of the Florida war, which still continues, the last contest which the American Government had with the Indians was with the Sacs and Foxes, commanded by the celebrated chief, Black Hawk. The Sacs and Foxes at that period held a large tract of land on Rock river, in the territory of Ioway, on the east side of the Mississippi, which the Government wished, perforce, to take from them. The following is Black Hawk's account of the means by which this land was obtained. The war was occasioned by Black Hawk disowning the treaty and attempting to repossess the territory.
”Some moons after this young chief (Lieutenant Pike) descended the Mississippi, one of our people killed an American, and was confined in the prison at St Louis for the offence. We held a council at our village to see what could be done for him, which determined that Quash-qua-me, Pa-she-pa-ho, Ou-che-qua-ha, and Ha-she-quar-hi-qua, should go down to St Louis, and see our American father, and do all they could to have our friend released; by paying for the person killed, thus covering the blood and satisfying the relations of the man murdered! This being the only means with us of saving a person who had killed another, and we _then_ thought it was the same way with the whites.
”The party started with the good wishes of the whole nation, hoping they would accomplish the object of their mission. The relations of the prisoner blacked their faces and fasted, hoping the Great Spirit would take pity on them, and return the husband and the father to his wife and children.
”Quash-qua-me and party remained a long time absent. They at length returned, and encamped a short distance below the village, but did not come up that day, nor did any person approach their camp. They appeared to be dressed in fine coats and had medals. From these circ.u.mstances, we were in hopes they had brought us good news. Early the next morning, the council lodge was crowded; Quash-qua-me and party came up, and gave us the following account of their mission:--
”On their arrival at St Louis, they met their American father, and explained to him their business, and urged the release of their friend.
The American chief told them he wanted land, and they agreed to give him some on the west side of the Mississippi, and some on the Illinois side, opposite the Jeffreon. When the business was all arranged, they expected to have their friend released to come home with them. But about the time they were ready to start, their friend, who was led out of prison, ran a short distance, and was _shot dead_. This is all they could recollect of what was said and done. They had _been drunk_ the greater part of the time they were in St Louis.
”This is all myself or nation knew of the _treaty of_ 1804. It has been explained to me since. I find by that treaty, all our country east of the Mississippi, and south of the Jeffreon, was ceded to the United States for one thousand dollars a year! I will leave it to the people of the United States to say, whether our nation was properly represented in this treaty? or whether we received a fair compensation for the extent of country ceded by those four individuals. I could say much mere about this treaty, but I will not at this time. It has been the origin of all our difficulties.”
Indeed, I have reason to believe that the major portion of the land obtained from the Indians has been ceded by parties who had no power to sell it, and the treaties with these parties have been enforced by the Federal Government.
In a Report for the protection of the Western Frontier, submitted to Congress by the Secretary of War, we have a very fair expose of the conduct and intentions of the American Government towards the Indians.
Although the Indians continue to style the President of the United States as their Great Father, yet, in this report, the Indian feeling which really exists towards the American people is honestly avowed; it says in its preamble--
”As yet no community of feeling, except of _deep and lasting hatred_ to the white man, and particularly to the _Anglo-Americans_, exists among them, and, unless they coalesce, no serious difficulty need be apprehended from them. Not so, however, should they be induced to unite for purposes offensive and defensive; their strength would then become apparent, create confidence, and in all probability induce them to give vent to their long-suppressed desire to _revenge past wrongs_, which is restrained, as they openly and freely confess, by fear alone.”
And speaking of the feuds between the tribes, as in the case of the Sioux and Chippeways, which, as I have observed in my Journal, the American Government _pretended_ to be anxious to make up; it appears that this anxiety is not so very great, for the Report says--
”Should it however prove otherwise, the United States will, whenever they choose, be able to bring the whole of the Sioux force (the hereditary and irreclaimable enemy to every other Indian) to bear against the hostiles; or _vice versa_, should our difficulty be with the Sioux nation. And the suggestion is made, whether prudence does not require, that _those hereditary feelings_ should not rather be _maintained_ than destroyed by efforts to cultivate a closer reunion between them.”
This Report also very delicately points out, when speaking of the necessity of a larger force on the frontier, that, ”it is merely adverted to in connexion with the heavy obligations which rest upon the Government, and which have been probably contracted from time to time without any _very nice calculation_ of the means which would be necessary to a _faithful discharge_ of them.”
I doubt whether this Report would have been presented by Congress had there been any idea of its finding its way to the Old Country.
By-and-by I shall refer to it again. I have made these few extracts merely to shew that expediency, and not moral feeling, is the principle alone which guides the Federal Government of the United States.
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