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covered by it. When the Compromises of 1850 were accepted in 1852 by the National Conventions of the two great parties, as a settlement of the distracting controversy therein contemplated, no hint was added that the Nebraska region was opened thereby to Slavery.

Several petitions for the organization of a Territory westward of Missouri and Iowa were presented at the session of 1851-2, but no decisive action taken thereon until the next session, when,

Dec. 13th.-Mr. W. P. Hall of Mo., pursuant to notice, submitted to the House a bill to organize the Territory of PLATTE, which was read twice, and sent to the ComImittee on Territories. From that Committee,

Feb. 2d, 1853.-Mr. W. A. Richardson of Ill. reported a bill to organize the Territory of NEBRASKA, which was read twice and committed.

Feb. 9th.-The bill was ordered to be taken out of Committee, on motion of W.

P. Hall.

Feb. 10th. The bill was reported from the Committee of the Whole to the House, with a recommendation that it do not

pass.

Mr. Richardson moved the previous question, which prevailed.

Mr. Letcher of Va. moved that the bill do lie on the table: Lost; Yeas 49 (mainly Southern); Nays 107.

The bill was then engrossed, read a third time, and passed; Yeas 98; Nays 43, (as before).

Feb. 11th.-The bill reached the Senate and was referred to the Committee on Territories.

Feb. 17th.-Mr. Douglas reported it without amendment.

March 2nd.-(Last day but one of the session), Mr. Douglas moved that the bill be taken up: Lost: Yeas 20; (all Northern but Atchison and Geyer of Mo.); Nays 25; (21 Southern, 4 Northern).

session; and, for my own part, I acknowledge now that, as the Senator from Illinois well knows, when I came to this city, at the beginning of the last session, I was perhaps as much opposed to the proposition, as the Senator from Texas now is. The Senator from Iowa knows it; and it was for reasons which I will not now mention or suggest. But, sir, I have from reflection and investigation in my own mind, and from the opinions of others-my constituents, whose opinions I am bound to respect-come to the conclusion that now is the time for the organization of this Territory. It is the most propitious time. The treaties with the various Indian tribes, the titles to whose possessions must be extinguished, can better be made now than at any future time; for, as the question is agitated, and as it is understood, white men, speculators, will interpose, and interfere, and the longer it is postponed the more we will have to fear from them, and the more difficult it will be to extinguish the Indian title in that country, and the harder the terms to be imposed. Therefore, Mr. President, for this reason, without going into detail, I am willing now that the question shall be taken, whether we will proceed to the consideration of the bill or not."

The meaning is here diplomatically veiled, yet is perfectly plain. Gen. Atchison had been averse to organizing this Territory until he could procure a relaxation of the Missouri Restriction as to Slavery; but, seeing no present hope of this, he was willing to waive the point, and assent to an organization under a bill silent with respect to Slavery, and of course leaving the Missouri Restriction unimpaired.

Gen. Pierce was inaugurated President on the 4th March, 1853; and, in his Inaugural Address, referred to the discussions concerning Slavery and the Compromises of 1850 in the following terms :

"I believe that involuntary servitude, as it exists in different States of this confederacy, is recognized by the Constitution. I believe that it stands like any other admitted right, and that the States where it exists are entitled to efficient remedies to enforce the constitutional provisions. I hold that the laws of 1850, commonly called the "Compromise Measures," are strictly constitutional, and to be unhesitatingly carried into effect. I believe that the constituted authorities of this Republic are bound to regard the rights of the South in this respect, as they would view any laws to enforce them should be respected and other legal and constitutional right, and that the obeyed, not with a reluctance encouraged by abMr. Borland of Ark. moved that it do lie stract opinions as to their propriety in a different on the table: Carried: Yeas 23; (all South-state of society, but cheerfully, and according ern but 4;) Nays 17; (all Northern but Atchison and Geyer). So the bill was put to sleep for the session.

March 3rd.-Mr. Douglas again moved that the bill be taken up.

On the motion to take up-Mr. Rusk of Texas objecting-Mr. Atchison said:

to the decisions of the tribunal to which their exposition belongs. Such have been, and are, my convictions, and upon them shall I act. I fervently hope that the question is at rest, and that no sectional, or ambitious, or fanatical excitement may again threaten the durability of our institutions, or obscure the light of our prosperity."

"I must ask the indulgence of the Senate to say one word in relation to this matter. Perhaps The XXXIIId Congress assembled at there is not a State in the Union more deeply in Washington, Dec. 5th, 1853, with a large terested in this question than the State of Mis- Administration majority in either House. souri. If not the largest, I will say the best, Linn Boyd of Ky. was chosen Speaker of portion of that Territory, perhaps the only portion of it that in half a century will become a the House. The President's Annual MesState, lies immediately west of the State of Mis-sage contained the following allusion to the souri. It is only a question of time, whether we will organize the territory at this session of Congress, or whether we will do it at the next

subject of Slavery:

"It is no part of my purpose to give promi

nence to any subject which may properly be regarded as set at rest by the deliberate judgment of the people. But, while the present is bright with promise, and the future full of demand and inducements for the exercise of active intelligence, the past can never be without useful lessons of admonition and instruction. If its dangers serve not as beacons, they will evidently fail to fulfill the object of a wise design. When the grave shall have closed over all, who are now endeavoring to meet the obligations of duty, the year 1850 will be recurred to as a period filled with anxious apprehension. A successful war had just terminated. Peace brought with it a vast augmentation of territory. Disturbing questions arose, bearing upon the domestic institutions of one portion of the confederacy, and involving the constitutional rights of the States. But, not withstanding differences of opinion and sentiment which then existed in relation to details and specific provisions, the acquiescence of distinguished citizens, whose devotion to the Union can never be doubted, has given renewed vigor to our institutions, and restored a sense of repose and security to the public mind throughout the confederacy. That this repose is to suffer no shock during my official term, if I have power to avert it, those who placed me here may be as

sured."

tioned by the approving voice of the American People, your Committee have deemed it their duty to incorporate and perpetuate, in their territorial bill, the principles and spirit of those measures If any other consideration were necessary to render the propriety of this course imperative upon the Committee, they may be found in the fact that the Nebraska country occupies the same relative position to the Slavery question, as did NewMexico and Utah, when those Territories were organized.

of

It was a disputed point, whether Slavery was prohibited by law in the country acquired from Mexico. On the one hand, it was contended, as a legal proposition, that Slavery, having been prohibited by the enactments of Mexico, according to the laws of nations, we received the country with all its local laws and domestic institutions attached to the soil, so far as they did not conflict with the Constitution of the United States; and that a law either protecting or prohibiting Slavery, was not repugnant to that instrument, as was evidenced by the fact that one-half of the States of the Union tolerated, while the other half prohibited, the institution of Slavery. On the other hand, it was insisted that, by virtue of the Constitution of the United States, every citizen had a right to remove to any Territory of the Union, and carry his property with him under the proDec. 15th.-Mr. A. C. Dodge of Iowa sub-tection of law, whether that property consisted mitted to the Senate a bill (No. 22) "To persons or things. The difficulties arising from this diversity of opinion, were greatly agorganize the Territory of Nebraska," which gravated by the fact that there were many perwas read twice, and referred to the Com-sons on both sides of the legal controversy, who mittee on Territories. were unwilling to abide the decision of the courts those who claimed that the Mexican laws were on the legal matters in dispute; thus, among still in force, and, consequently, that Slavery was already prohibited in those Territories by valid enactment, there were many who insisted upon Congress making the matter certain, by enacting another prohibition. In like manner, some of those who argued that Mexican law had ceased to have any binding force, and that the Constitution tolerated and protected Slave property in those territories, were unwilling to trust the decision of the courts upon the point, and insisted that Congress should, by direct enactment, remove all legal obstacles to the introduction of Slaves into those Territories.

Jan. 4th.-Mr. Douglas, from said Committee, reported said bill with amendments, which were printed. The following is the accompanying Report:

The Committee on Territories, to whom was referred a bill for an act to establish the Territory of Nebraska, have given the same that serious and deliberate consideration which its great importance demands, and beg leave to report it back to the Senate with various amend ments, in the form of a substitute for the bill: The principal amendments which your committee deem it their duty to commend to the favorable action of the Senate, in a special report, are those in which the principles established by the Compromise Measures of 1850, so far as they are applicable to territorial organizations, are proposed to be affirmed and carried into practical operation within the limits of the new Territory.

Such being the character of the controversy in respect to the territory acquired from Mexico, a similar question has arisen in regard to the right to hold slaves in the Territory of Nebraska, when the Indian laws shall be withdrawn, and the country thrown open to emigration and settlement. By the 8th section of "an act to authorize the people of Missouri Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and to prohibit Slavery in certain Territories," approved March 6th, 1820, it was provided; "That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the State contemplated by this act, Slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and are hereby, prohibited: Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any State or Territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the persons claiming his or her labor or service, as aforesaid."

The wisdom of those measures is attested, not less by their salutary and beneficial effects, in allaying sectional agitation and restoring peace and harmony to an irritated and distracted people, than by the cordial and almost universal approbation with which they have been received and sanctioned by the whole country. In the judgment of your Committee, those measures were intended to have a far more comprehensive and enduring effect than the mere adjustment of difficulties arising out of the recent acquisition of Mexican territory. They were designed to establish certain great principles, which would not only furnish adequate remedies for existing evils, but, in all time to come, avoid the perils of similar agitation, by withdrawing the question of Slavery from the Halls of Congress and the political arena, and committing it to the arbitration of those who were immediately interested in, and Under this section, as in the case of the Mexican alone responsible for, its consequences. With a law in New-Mexico and Utah, it is a disputed view of conforming their action to what they re- point whether Slavery is prohibited in the Negard as the settled policy of the Government, sanc-braska country by valid enactment. The deci

sion of this question involves the constitutional power of Congress to pass laws prescribing and regulating the domestic institutions of the various Territories of the Union. In the opinion of those eminent statesmen who hold that Congress is invested with no rightful authority to legislate upon the subject of Slavery in the Territories, the 8th section of the act preparatory to the ad mission of Missouri is null and void; while the prevailing sentiment in large portions of the Union sustains the doctrine that the Constitution of the United States secures to every citizen an inalienable right to move into any of the Territories with his property, of whatever kind and description, and to hold and enjoy the same under the sanction of law. Your Committee do not feel themselves called upon to enter upon the discussion of these controverted questions. They involve the same grave issues which produced the agitation, the sectional strife, and the fearful struggle of 1850. As Congress deemed it wise and prudent to refrain from deciding the matters in controversy then, either by affirming or repealing the Mexican laws, or by an act declaratory of the true intent of the Constitution, and the extent of the protection afforded by it to Slave property in the Territories, so your Committee are not prepared to recommend a departure from the course pursued on that memorable occasion, either by affirming or repealing the 8th section of the Missouri act, or by any act declaratory of the meaning of the Constitution in respect to the legal points in dispute.

Your Committee deem it fortunate for the peace of the country, and the security of the Union, that the controversy then resulted in the adoption of the Compromise Measures, which the two great political parties, with singular unanimity, have affirmed as a cardinal article of their faith, and proclaimed to the world as a final settlement of the controversy and an end of the agitation. A due respect, therefore, for the avowed opinions of Senators, as well as a proper sense of patriotic duty, enjoins upon your Committee the propriety and necessity of a strict adherence to the principles, and even a literal adoption of the enactments of that adjustment, in all their territorial bills, so far as the same are not locally inapplicable. Those enactments embrace, among other things, less material to the matters under consideration, the following provisions :

When admitted as a State, the said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received into the Union, with or without Slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission;

That the legislative power and authority of said Territory shall be vested in the Governor and a Legislative Assembly;

That the legislative power of said Territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation, consistent with the Constitution of the United States, and the provisions of this act; but no law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the soil; no tax shall be imposed upon the property of the United States; nor shall the lands or other property of non-residents be taxed higher than the lands or other property

of residents.

Writs of error and appeals from the final decisions of said Supreme Court shall be allowed, and may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States in the same manner and under the same regulations as from the Circuit Courts of the United States, where the value of the property or amount in controversy, to be ascertained by the oath or affirmation of either party, or other competent witness, shall exceed one thousand dollars; except only that, in all cases involv. ing title to slaves, the said writs of error or ap

peals shall be allowed and decided by the said Supreme Court, without regard to the value of the matter, property, or title in controversy; and except, also, that a writ of error or appeal shall also be allowed to the Supreme Court of the United States from the decisions of the said Supreme Court by this act, or of any judge thereof, or of the district courts created by this act, or of any judge thereof, upon any writ of habeas corpus involving the question of personal freedom; and each of the said district courts shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction, in all cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States, as is vested in the circuit and district courts of the United States; and the said supreme and district courts of the said territory, and the respective judges thereof, shall and may grant writs of habeas corpus, in all cases in which the same are granted by the judges of the United States in the District of Columbia.

To which may be added the following proposition affirmed by the act of 1850, known as the fugitive slave law.

That the provisions of the "act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters," approved February 12, 1793, and the provisions of the act to amend and supplementary to the aforesaid act, approved September 18, 1850, shall extend to, and be in force in, all the organized Territories, as well as in the various States of the Union.

From these provisions, it is apparent that the Compromise Measures of 1850 affirm, and rest upon, the following propositions : First. That all questions pertaining to Slavery in the Territories, and the new States to be formed therefrom, are to be left to the deci sion of the people residing therein, by their appropriate representatives, to be chosen by them for that purpose.

Second. That "all cases involving title to slaves," and "questions of personal freedom," are to be referred to the adjudication of the local tribunals, with the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Third. That the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, in respect to fugitives from service, is to be carried into faithful execution in all" the original Territories," the same as in the States.

The substitute for the bill which your Committee have prepared, and which is commended to the favorable action of the Senate, proposes to carry these propositions and principles into practical operation, in the precise language of the Compromise Measures of 1850.

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Feb. 15th.-The bill having been discussed daily until now, Mr. Douglas moved to strike out of his amendment the words above quoted (which the Senate had refused to strike out on Mr. Chase's motion,) and insert instead the following:

"Which, being inconsistent with the principle of non-intervention by Congress with Slavery in the States and Territories, as recognized by the legislation of 1850, (commonly called the Compromise Measures,) is hereby declared inoperative and void; it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate Slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States"

which prevailed-Yeas 35; Nays 10-as follows:

YEAS-For Douglas's new Amendment : Messrs. Adams,

souri Restriction. Mr. Dixon thought if that was the object, (and he was in favor of it), it should be approached in a direct and manly way. He was assailed for this in The Union newspaper next morning; but his suggestion was substantially adopted by Douglas, after a brief hesitation. Mr. Dixon's proposition, having been made in Committee, does not appear in the Journal of the Senate, or it would here be given in terms.]

The bill was further discussed daily until March 2nd, when the vote was taken on Mr. Chase's amendment, to add to Sec. 14 the following words :

"Under which the people of the Territory, through their appropriate representatives, may, if they see fit, prohibit the existence of Slavery therein"

which was rejected: Yeas 10; Nays 36, as follows:

YEAS-For Mr. Chase's Amendment: Messrs. Chase,

Hamlin,

Dodge of Wisc.

Seward,

Fessenden,

Smith,

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Gwin,

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Messrs. Atchison,

Houston,

Geyer,

Weller,

Badger,

Hunter,

Williams-35.

Bell,

Jones of Iowa,

NAYS--Against said Amendment:

Messrs. Allen,

Benjamin,

Jones of Tenn.

Brodhead,

Mason,

Foot,

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Butler,

Morton,

Clay,

Norris,

Dawson,

Pettit,

Dixon,

Pratt,

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[NOTE.-Prior to this move of Mr. Douglas, Mr. Dixon (Whig) of Ky. had moved to insert a clause directly and plainly repealing the Mis

Fish, Fitzpatrick,

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Smith,

Stuart,

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Williams-21.

Mr. Chase moved to amend, by providing for the appointment of three Commissioners residing in the Territory to organize the Territory, divide it into election districts, notify an election on the first Monday in September then ensuing, etc., at which election the people should choose their own Governor, as well as a Territorial Legislature-the Governor to serve for two years, and the Legislature to meet not later than May, 1855.

This extension of the principle of "Squatter Sovereignty" was defeatedYeas 10; Nays 30-as follows: YEAS-To enable the People of the Territory to choose their own Governor, etc.

Gwin,

Mr. Douglas's amendment was then Committee of the Whole to the Senate. agreed to, and the bill reported from the

A motion to strike out the amendment, allowing emigrant aliens who have declared their intention to become citizens to vote, was agreed to-Yeas 22; Nays 20-as follows:

YEAS-To strike out said provision: Messrs. Adams,

Evans, Fitzpatrick, Houston, Hunter, Johnson, Jones of Tenn.

TE

Atchison, Badger, Bell, Benjamin, Brodhead, Brown, Butler, Clay, Dawson, Dixon,

Mason, Morton, Pratt, Sebastian, Slidell-22.

NAYS-Against striking out:

Seward,

Shields,

Smith,

Sumner,

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Wade-10.

Dodge of Wisc.

Pettit,

Dodge of Iowa,

Seward,

Douglas,

Shields,

Fessenden,

Smith,

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The question on the engrossment of the bill was now reached, and it was carriedYeas 29; Nays 12-as follows:

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