# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 20/The Federal Relations of Oregon, Part 6

THE FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON—VI
By Lester Burrell Shippee, Ph.D.
CHAPTER XII
Territorial Organization
From all outward appearances there was nothing to prevent the Twenty-ninth Congress from proceeding to the completion of the work for Oregon when it convened in its second session in December, 1846. While it was expected that there might be some angry reverberations from the storm of the previous session, no repetition of that hurricane could occur for the question of the boundary was permanently settled. It now remained for Congress to make those customary provisions for territorial organization, surveys and land disposition, Indian regulation and the like which had so often been before Congress with other portions of the public domain. To this end Polk included in his second Annual Message a brief recommendation calling attention to the remaining needs of Oregon. The Secretary of the Treasury also mentioned the desirability of extending the revenue laws of the United States to Oregon for, as he pointed out, there might easily be inaugurated an illegitimate trade in goods from the Orient and elsewhere which would affect the more settled portions of the Union. He also adverted to the advisability of land grants; "with a system of liberal donation of tracts of land in Oregon sufficient for farms to settlers and emigrants, this highly inter csting portion of the Union would soon contain a considerable population and near and convenient as it s to Asia, its com merce would rapidly increase, and large revenue accrue to the Government.
The Indian Commissioner, in his report to the treasury department, pointed out the exposed condition of the American citizens in Oregon. He mentioned the fact that the trade relations of these Indians of the Northwest were chiefly with the ​Hudson's Bay Company, and since there was intercourse between the bands of natives north and south of 49 it would be very easy for persons inimical to the United States to In view of conexcite them to hostility towards Americans. ditions the department, soon after the adjournment of Congress the previous summer, had assumed the responsibility of appointing as subagent of Indian affairs an American citizen resident in Oregon. 3 This gentleman had been instructed to visit the different bands and endeavor to promote a feeling of friendship toward the United States and its citizens.
President Polk, in framing his Message, had also had in mind a recommendation that Congress provide for the survey and marking of the boundary between the possessions of Great Britain and the United States, but he had stricken out this paragraph on the advice of Buchanan, who told him it would revive another heated discussion of the international issue. Moreover, Buchanan added, it was well to recall the long delay and great expense of surveying the Northeastern boundary, for similar conditions might arise in the North west. 4
Polk's recommendation for territorial organization was referred to the appropriate committees of each house and at an early date bills were reported. In the Senate, Breese, and in the House, Douglas, for the Committee on Territories,
brought in measures for extending the laws of the United States over Oregon and for creating a territorial government.
The House took action first, on the eleventh of January. 5 The bill, in the ordinary form, was provocative of discussion on two grounds the franchise in the territory and slavery. The Committee bill extended to all free male white inhabitants of Oregon, over the age of twenty years, who had been residents of the territory at the time of the passage of the act, the right to vote in the first election and to be eligible for office;
3 Ibid., 8 Jan.,
1847.
Elijah
above and chapter XIII below.
White had previously
resigned.
See chapter
IV
4 Polk, Diary, II, 254. Walker thought this a reflection on him as a relative of his had been connected with the Maine survey.
5 Globe, XVII, 1 66 seq. ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
263
after the election qualifications both for voting and for office holding were to be fixed by the Legislative Assembly. W. W. Campbell, a Native American of York, moved to insert
New
in the proper place the words "who States." After some discussion an
is
a citizen of the United
amendment suggested by up the difficulty: to the
Douglas was adopted as clearing original provision was added the proviso, "that the right of suffrage shall be exercised only by citizens of the United States and those who shall have declared on oath, before some court of record, their intention to become such, and shall have taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the provisions of this act."
The slavery issue was not so easily disposed of. It was well understood that the war with Mexico would not leave the territorial situation of the United States as
before the outbreak of hostilities
tween the Rockies and the
first
it
had been
furthermore, the region bebelt of States west of the
was already offering attractions to pioneer spirits who would carry with them their accustomed institutions and ideas. That particular portion of the slavery discussion and resultant legislation which ended with the Compromise Mississippi
measures of 1850
may
be said to have started with the debate in the winter of 1846-7. As the bill
on the Oregon Territory
for Oregon's organization was being read to the House James Thompson, a Pennsylvania Democrat, desired to know whether an amendment suggested by him relative to slavery had been included. Douglas read the 12th section which he thought would satisfy the query "The inhabitants of said territory shall be entitled to enjoy all and singular the rights, privileges and advantages granted and secured to the people of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, by the articles of compact contained in the ordinance for the government of said territory, on the 13th day of July, 1787; and shall be subject to all the conditions, and restrictions, and prohibitions in said articles of compact imposed on the people of
said territory." ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
264
This provision, said Douglas, was in harmony with the terms of the provisional constitution which the people of Ore-
gon had adopted. Stevens
Adams
of Mississippi, a Democrat,
when
this article
was under consideration, proposed as a proviso: "That nothing in relation to slavery in this
act shall be construed as an intention to interfere with the provisions or spirit of the Missouri Compromise; but the same is hereby
recognized as extending to all territory which may hereafter be acquired by the United States." Objection was made to this because it applied to territory other than that under consideration in the lin of
bill.
Hannibal
Ham-
Maine objected
to the introduction of the question of while discussing the Oregon bill. He contended
slavery at all that the Missouri
Compromise had nothing whatever to do with Oregon; when the matter of slavery had come up with the annexation of Texas Congress had been told that the law of heaven prevented slavery in part of that State, yet when it came into the Union slavery existed in every part of it. "It was time now," he that the resolution
more
said, "that it should be fully understood; had been taken, that there should be no
slave territory admitted into the
Union or suffered
to
exist there."
Adams withdrew
his amendment but Burt, of South Caroat the place where there was reference to insert lina, proposed to the slavery provision of the Northwest Ordinance the words
"inasmuch as the whole of the said territory lies north of 36 30' north latitude, known as the line of the Missouri Compromise." He supported his amendment with an examination of the whole question of the Northwest Ordinance which he said was in violation of the terms of the Virginia cession, the Missouri Compromise, and the rights of the South under the Constitution to which the Compromise added nothing. Some of his southern friends, he said, doubted the wisdom of submitting the amendment at that moment, but if the South failed to raise her voice at that time it would never again have an opportunity and another precedent to her disadvan​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
265
tage would have been made. The language of the gentlemen from the West and from New England, he continued, was 7 all. plain enough that the South must move then or not at Pettit, of Indiana, took issue with him on the power of the United States over territories which, he contended, was sovThe South was not ready to answer to Burt's call; ereign. the amendment was lost after little discussion by a close vote. Further consideration in the Committee of the Whole House resulted in minor changes only, except that the recommendation of the Committee on Territories for a grant of one section
per township for educational purposes was increased to two. When the bill was reported to the House it was adopted as it stood although Burt made another attempt to have his amend-
ment included. The final vote, however, had not been taken before the Wilmot Proviso and all that it implied had been brought before the House. Leake of Virginia had stated the position of the South: twice the South had been cheated by compromises, once in 1820 and again in 1833 (on the tariff), and now the House had deliberately rejected Burt's amendrent the adoption of which would have shown the good faith refusing to allow all mention of the Missouri Compromise in the Oregon bill it was obvious that there was shown the same spirit which had produced the Wilmot
of the North.
By
Proviso, and it must all be looked upon as an Ultimatum, not In that case, said Leake, it was a Protocol, of the North. well for the North to hear the Ultimatum of the South if the
Wilmot proviso should be engrafted upon any legislation part of a permanent policy, "They (the Northerners)
as a will
have put the South to the exercise of those reserved rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and which have not been and which shall not be wrested from us. We cannot, we will not,
we ought
not, to submit to
it.
You have
put us on the de-
we
will defend! For the fraternal bond that has hitherto connected us, you will have substituted the chain of
fensive and
despotism: 7 Globe,
we
XVII,
will sever
it.
178-9; Appendix,
By making 116-7.
us feel the union only ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
266
through its oppressions, you will have driven us to the necessity of withdrawing from it, in order to avoid its despotism. By interfering with the rights of property, you will have driven us to the necessity of withdrawing it from your grasp." 8 Leake was supported by Rhett of South Carolina and was
opposed by Thurman of Ohio who flatly stated the point of view of the North as this while not agreeing with the abolboth of the North believed and Democrats itionists, Whigs that the Federal Government had supreme power over the territories, and through that government he and his colleagues were going to oppose the extension of slavery. Hamlin also reiterated this sentiment and said that each side might as well know where it stood; the North proposed that no territory then free, nor any territory subsequently added to the Union,
He, for one, was in favor of a declaratory the Wilmot (like Proviso) to that effect. The vote on the passage of the Oregon bill was 133 to 35
should be slave.
law
Of the negative votes two came from the North and one Native American) the other thirty(one Whig three from the South were cast by twelve Whigs and twentyone Democrats, but a considerable number of the southern 9 Representatives would not vote. The Senate referred the House bill to the Committee on 10 Judiciary which retained it until the twenty-fifth of January. It was then reported out with amendments, and on the twentyninth recommitted that some errors might be corrected. On the last day of the session Mr. Allen called up the bill, and, when objection was made on account of the many important measures which would have to be neglected if it should be taken up, declared that he understood the scheme. The interest in the Northwest was at that moment the weakest of the three interests in the Union; it was overshadowed by the Northeast and the South, both of which conspired to check action. The in its favor.
8 Leake in Globe, 188-90; Hamlin, 195-7. 9.
Ibid
10 Ibid.,
XVII,
188; Appen.,
197. 199, 246, 283, 570.
111-3; Rhett, Appen., 214-7;
Thurman, ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
267
two old wings were overshadowing the new center, and this could be seen by examining every vote taken since 1820 "the old North and the old South dreaded the power of the new center, and so were willing to let Oregon become independent." Allen's efforts, however, could produce no action and after a little desultory discussion of the House suffrage amendment which Huntingdon (Connecticut) and Webster looked upon as a dangerous innovation, the bill was tabled and so
killed.
The
vote on tabling
who wished
was twenty-six
to eighteen.
Fifteen
postpone action were from slave States, while six of the eighteen in favor of immediate action also came from south of Mason and Dixon's line. As such of those
to
the vote does not reveal very much, but if the personnel of who voted to table the bill is considered
the northern Senators
Gilley (N. H.) and Woodwere the two northern Democrats who voted bridge (Mich.) to table; the Whigs were Clayton (Del.), Davis and Webster (Mass.), Evans (Me.), Greene and Simmons (R. I.), Huntington (Conn.), Miller (N. Y.), and Upham (Vt.). When
a
little
more
light is afforded.
one considers the course of the Whigs during the crisis of 1848-50, their attempt to prevent a break by framing compromises, one can find in this list of names something which affords an explanation of their vote on the Oregon bill in 1847.
All but one of those
who
voted against tabling were Democrats; group also included all the western Senators except Woodbridge of Michigian and the two from Kentucky. this
The Senate
action
must
the resolutions introduced
also be interpreted in the light of by Calhoun on the nineteenth of
11 While these were applicable prospectively and February. looked rather to the territory held and about to be acquired
Southwest rather than in Oregon, it was necessary to the principle apply to all if it would have any force; and so, in the light of this declaration of principles, it is not in the
make
difficult to see that the supporters of the "peculiar institution" ii Ibid.,
445. ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPER
268
were unwilling that a decisive step should be taken with Oregon. "The territories of the United States belong to the several States composing this Union," read the resolutions, "and are held in common by them as their joint and common property" no discrimination between the States could be made by
Congress, their common agent, so that any State should be deprived of its full and equal rights in any territory, acquired or to be acquired.
"The enactment of any law which should
directly, or by deprive the citizens of any of the States of this Union from emigrating, with their property, into any of the territories of the United States, will make such discrimination, and would therefore be a violation of the Constitution, and the rights of the States from which such citizens emigrated, and in derogation of that perfect equality which belongs to them as members of this Union, and would tend directly to subvert the Union itself." its effects,
Moreover, Calhoun went on to state in his declaration of faith, it was a fundamental principle of the American political creed that a people has the right to form that sort of a government which seems best adapted to its needs; this principle is embodied in the Constitution, consequently any attempt on the part of Congress to place upon a people any other restrictions than that its government shall be republican would be not only against the Constitution but "in direct conflict with
the principle on which out political system rests." The skirmish of 1846-7, therefore, but presaged the bitter strife which waged in 1847-8 about Oregon and its territorial
organization but not with reference to it as such. With such a fate for the most important measure recommended by the President it is not surprising that the minor
suggestions were not followed out. some little discussion of the Senate
There was, to be bill
sure,
intended to provide
for a survey of the lands in Oregon and to make grants to It did not pass, although it reached the third reading, for it was recommitted on account of two features; no
settlers. 12
12 Globe,
XVII,
219,
255-6,
266,
275-6, 293-4. ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
269
made for quieting the Indian title, and there was no recognition of the claims of the Hudson's Bay Company and its servants. Congress had the customary petitions for grants of lands the railroad question did not come up except when the House committee to which had been referred the memorials of the last session asked to be discharged from further consideration of the same. Thomasson of Kentucky provision was
resolution in the House to inquire into the of setting apart a portion of the country west of expediency the Rocky Mountains for the use of the Indians of Oregon
introduced a
in perpetuity, "in
which
district
no white man
shall settle with-
out permission of the President of the United States, and then only for the purpose of instructing and improving the Indians."
18
Colonel Benton believed that the defeat of the territorial bill was the work of pro-slavery propagandists and he did not to give publicity to this opinion. On the twenty-ninth of March, just as he was leaving Washington, he went to the fail
President with a
letter,
a copy of which he intended to send
Oregon the next day by the newly appointed Polk urged him deputy postmaster of Astoria, Shively. strongly not to send the letter as it would inflame the inhabitants of Oregon where they were so far out of touch with the older portion of the United States that they would be
to the people of
unable to see the whole issue in
its
proper perspective.
"I think it right," wrote Benton, "to make this communication to you at the present moment, when the adjournment of Congress, without passing the bill for your government and protection, seems to have left you in a state of abandonment by your mother country. You are not abandoned! nor will you be denied protection for not agreeing to admit slavery. I, a man of the south and a slave-holder, tell you this.
This will be a great disappointment to you, and a real calamity already five years without law or legal institution for the protection of life, liberty and property!
1
3
The lettr was
Register, 8
May.
published in
See Polk, Diary,
the II,
New Orleans Mercury, quoted in Niles' 444 seq. ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
270
and now doomed to wait a year longer. This is a strange and anomalous condition! almost incredible to contemplate; and almost critical to endure! a colony of freeman, 4,000 miles from the metropolitan government, and without laws But do not be alarmed or government to preserve them or desperate,, you will not be outlawed for not admitting Your fundamental act against that institution * slavery.
will not be abrogated nor is that the intention of the Upon the record, the prime mover of the amendment. judiciary committee of the senate is the author of the amendment but not so the fact That committee is only the midwife to it. Its author is the same mind that generated the 'fire-brand' resolutions of which I send you a copy, and of which the amendment is the legitimate derivation. Oregon The most rabid propagandist of slavery is not the object. cannot expect to plant it on the shores of the Pacific, in the latitude of Wisconsin and the Lake of the Woods. A home agitation, for election and disunion purposes, is all that is intended by thrusting this fire-brand question into your !
and, at the next session, when it is thrust in again, we scourge it out! and pass your bill as it ought to be. I promise you this in the name of the south as well as the north and the event will not deceive me." 14
bill
will
Said the President, "I disapproved the
letter,
but knowing
(Benton's) domineering disposition and utter impatience of contradiction or difference of opinion, and knowing that I his
could not change his opinions, I contented myself with simply stating my objections to the letter and expressing my doubts
Nevertheless the next day Polk of sending such a letter." his decision; "I told him that to Benton reconsider urged
Oregon was a Northern Territory & that slavery could never exist there, that I condemned Mr. Calhoun's course, but this, I feared, would not be understood by the inhabitants of Oregon, who were far removed from newspapers and other sources of information." It would produce a mischievous excitement in Oregon where there would be alarm while, as those in Washington knew, there was no cause for it. Besides, said 14 Benton voiced similar sentiments when he was notified that the Democracy He thought a northern of Missouri desired him as their candidate for president. should be elected. Regsiter, 7 May, 1847.
man ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
271
Polk, only a day or so before the Secretary of State had addressed a communication to. the people of Oregon, as the Senator knew, giving them assurances that they would be pro-
by the United States and expressing the opinion that a territorial bill would be enacted at the next session of ConColonel Benton took the President's remarks under gress. consideration that the letter would do less harm if published but the letter went on to Oregon. in an eastern paper tected
According to Benton, Calhoun's object was to secure the presidency at the next
in all his agitation
election, a view in which Polk concurred, although he did not say so to Benton. Furthermore, "in the course of the conversation Gen'l Benton
dropped the idea distinctly that the New York gentlemen (Dickinson and Dix and the delegation in the House) had gone home from Congress with a full record of all the facts & intended to make an issue on that question * * * The is there is no patriotism in either faction of the party. Both desire to mount slavery as a hobby, and hope to secure the election of their favorite with it. They will fail and ought
truth
to fail."
The
President,
even to his
own
however, did not confide to Benton nor diary that he himself was in general accord
with the general idea which actuated Calhoun:
i.
e.,
the erec-
tion out of the territory to be gained from Mexico of units in which there would be no restriction on slavery. Polk was not
guided by the desire to be president a second term, for if there is in his course any consistency to be ranked with that with which he worked to obtain California and' New Mexico, it is his unfailing discouragement of all suggestions that he should try for a second election. If it was not to curry political favor with the South that Polk pursued his course, neither was it
merely to provide for the extension of territory where slaves might be held legally he desired an expansion of the territory of the United States, but more, he did not wish his country
disrupted on the issue of slavery, and so he strove to maintain the balance between the two sections. This is testified to by ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE the fact that he resisted the importunities of Buchanan and others in his Cabinet to secure all or a much larger portion of Mexico than he did, for this would have disturbed the bal-
ance as seriously in favor of the South and so equally have threatened disunion.
The letter written by Buchanan, to which Polk referred, was entrusted to Shively. 15 It noted the failure of the territorial
bill
but pointed to the encouragement to be derived in the House in its favor, and contended
from the large vote
that this foretold a successful issue at the next session.
The
disposition of the United States was, moreover, seen in the passage of an act extending postal facilities to the people of
Oregon, as well as of riflemen.
The
in that of the last session for a
regiment
demands against proof that Oregon
steadiness with which the
Great Britain has been maintained was also would never be abandoned. Good use was made during the summer and autumn of 1847 of the blazing issues raised by the Mexican war and the prospective increase in territory for the United States. In the North the principles of the Wilmot Proviso received approval and ten States, through their legislatures, formally endorsed the proposition, 16 while some of these went further and insisted that no new States should be admitted unless slavery should be prohibited. Oregon was swallowed up in the greater issue of slavery and its extension. An interesting, although not important, comment on the position Oregon was assuming even
West
afforded by a one-time ardent pro-Oregon, After pub54-40-or-Fight paper, the Missouri Republican. lishing a letter from L. W. Boggs once governor of Missouri, on the route to Oregon and California, the Republican said 17 in the
is
"We
give place to his instructions not because
we
desire
to be understood as recommending any man to go either
If we were asked our to California or Oregon
advice in this matter
we would
tell
any man who has any-
Works
of James Buchanan, VII, 258-60; 29 March, 1847. Ohio, New Hampshire and Vermont Register, 18 Sept.
15 1 6 to admission with slavery. 1 7 Quoted in Niles Register,
6
Nov.,
1847.
were
opposed ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
273
thing to hope for in any of the states or territories of this union who is not absolutely an outcast from society and deprived of all chances of maintaining a respectable standing not to move one foot towards either Oregon or Cali-
We
fornia.
have made inquiries from discreet and
intelli-
gent men who have visited both countries and they have uniformly concurred not an exception now occurs to us in representing both territories as inferior in advantages to those offered by our own state, and as representing no inducement to take any respectable man there." And those already there would be glad to get away if they could.
The Thirtieth Congress presented an example of that midadministration political change which has so often occurred in our country. Instead of a comfortable majority of DemoPolk found the House of Representatives hands of the Whigs by a small majority. The loss to the administration forces had been most serious in New York and Pennsylvania, although there had been scattering defecThis disaster Calhoun traced to tions elsewhere in the ranks. crats in both houses, in the
the "course of the Administration in reference to the
Oregon
and Mexican questions;" the Democratic party had become distracted, disheartened and divided, and the Whigs were not
much
better off. 18
How much
the
situation played a part in the conis open to question certainly it completely to the greater issues of the
Oregon
gressional elections of 1846
was subordinated Mexican war. On the whole, although the Whig party tried to make political capital by holding up as a horrible example the course of the President in the Oregon matter, it seems that a feeling of satisfaction everywhere except in parts of the West prevailed; there was satisfaction that the outcome had
been no worse. 19
Besides, the President had gotten more from Great Britain than many expected that nation to yield
without war. In considering the action of the Thirtieth Congress on the 18 Calhoun to Lewis S. Coryell, to his daughter, 21 Nov., Ibid., 713. 19 This
7
Nov., Correspondence, 709; see also letter
was the note of a speech by Webster
Works (1854)
II,
320 seq.
at Philadelphia
on Dec. zd, 1847. ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
274
territorial bill it is constantly to be borne in mind that whole the struggle was but an aspect of the greater question of slavery, its extension, and its relation to the fruits of the Mexican War. That war having dragged through 1847 Mexico City was occupied by American troops on September 14th had been ended by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, signed on the second of February, 1848, and ratified a month The cession of Upper California and later by the Senate. New Mexico to the United States had brought about exactly the situation which had in prospect stimulated the debates in
Oregon
the previous session of Congress, consequently the Thirtieth Congress dealt with existing conditions rather than with an expected situation as its predecessor had. Nevertheless, the
discussion was resumed with exactly the same spirit which had animated the Twenty-ninth Congress although feeling ran higher and a greater tenseness in the country at large was reflected in the increasing vehemence of partisans on both It is not the purpose here to discuss sides of the question. the greater issue in all its ramifications but only the Oregon side of the question. The Third Annual Message of President Polk renewed the
recommendations of the former message, particularly laying emphasis upon the necessity of creating a territorial organiza-
There was, he
tion.
told Congress, a
tection of the laws of the
demand
for the pro-
United States, for a legalization of
Oregon government which, in its existing provisional form, was "wholly inadequate to protect (the inhabitants) in their rights of person and property, or to secure them in the enjoyment of the privileges of other citizens, to which they (were) the
entitled
under the Constitution of the United States."
They
should be granted the right of suffrage and the privilege of sending a Delegate to Congress, and should have all the customary rights of the inhabitants of other portions of the terri-
No direct reference, of course, tory of the United States. was made to the slavery issue as it touched this subject, although
at the
end of the Message, Polk did
call to
the atten​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
275
tion of Congress the words of Washington, where he warned his countrymen against allowing sectionalism to tinge their deliberations. 20
In both houses, bills for the territorial government of Oregon were introduced early in the session. In the Senate it was Stephen A. Douglas, who now had left the House and was entering upon his eventful career in the upper body, to whom was granted the honor of introducing the measure which was immediately referred to the Committee on Terri21
The Senate, however, did not take up this- bill until House bill had been under discussion for over a month, hence, since each House pursued its own course, it is with the latter that we must deal first. The House Committee on Territories introduced a bill on the ninth of February it was made a special order of the day for the fourteenth of March and on the twenty-eighth of March tories.
after the
it
was
called
up by Wentworth, an
Illinois
sidered in Committee of the Whole. 22
Democrat, and con-
The
slavery debate,
which had to that time fastened upon other topics the Loan Bill, the Deficiency Appropriation Bill, and nearly every other measure before the House now seized upon that which, together with the bills for the organization of New Mexico and California, gave the most legitimate excuse for its consideration. John Gayle, of Alabama (Whig), and Ephraim K. of Maine (Democrat), occupied the time upon this Smart, 1
day with their views upon the constitutional power of Congress in legislating for the territories. The Southerner took the ground that hitherto legislation and decisions of the first
Supreme Court had considered States and territories as upon same legal footing; Congress could not legislate upon
the
domestic affairs within the States, consequently it could not for the territories. Furthermore, territorial governments could not of themselves exclude slavery for that would infringe
upon the
rights of citizens of certain States
20 Globe, XVIII, lo-n. 20 Ibid., 136. 21 Ibid., 136. 22 Ibid., 322; debate of 28 March, 542-8.
who might
desire ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
276
which was common property Mr. Smart took the opposite ground and said that Congress had legislated for territories from the beginning, thereby exercising an undoubted constitutional preto take
up
their residence in that
of all the States.
rogative. stricting
Besides, said he, the opponents of the clause reOregon from allowing slavery admitted that the
climate there
was such
statement was spoken
that slavery could never exist;
in sincerity there
if this
would be no objection
to legal prohibition.
With personal
variations these sentiments were those which
charactized the debate throughout; on the part of the opponents of the extension of slavery the purpose was to have included in the bill a specific prohibition of it in Oregon;
those from the South preferred that no reference whatever should be made to slavery, thus upholding Gayle's contention that Congress could not legislate up the subject. If, however,
should prove impossible to obtain this, the next best thing would be to obtain some kind of a statement which recognized the extension of the line of the Missouri Compromise to the it
Pacific.
Nothing further was done with the House bill until the first day of May when there was an attempt to have it made a The House, however, like the Senate, in addispecial order. tion to have more pressing business (the appropriation bills), was unwilling to proceed seriously with this measure before it
was apparent what general principle, if any, was to be established with reference to territories, consequently it was nearly a
month before any further mention
of the
Oregon
bill
was
made.
Meantime there had arrived messengers sent from Oregon
in
Washington one of the two
to
present the pleas of that
Quinn Thornton had arrived in May with a letter from Governor Abernathy to Douglas. On the basis of this letter Thornton had drawn up a memorial, dated May 25th, wherein was a brief history of the Oregon colony, and a description of the establishment and work of the Provisterritory to Congress.
J. ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON Government.
ional
It stated that there
277
had been thought of
electing a Delegate to represent the territory in Congress, but this had not been done because there was no law authorizing
such action, and there had been no time to elect a Delegate and get him away on the only vessel which could reach the Atlantic Coast in time to have him of any use; furthermore, it was not expedient to elect a Delegate with the expectation After this introthat a seat would be accorded by courtesy. duction the memorial proceeded to enumerate the desires of should be a regular territorial for should recognize this organization, all and legislative judicial acts already exprivate contracts, transfer for the suits to the new courts of and provide isting,
Oregon
in the first place there
and
the
law
to the land should be extinguished grants made be on the basis of a five years' residence, of land should
then the Indian
title
and other grants for those who might, during a limited time, come into Oregon, as well as grants for educational provision the revenue laws should be extended and finally there should
be appropriations to pay the public debt, for a library, to improve the mouth of the Columbia, employ pilots, erect lights and buoys and buy; a steam tug. A good wagon road from Missouri to the Willamette valley with a cordon of military was much needed, and the colony would benefit by an appropriation for seeds and for agricultural implements. After
posts
most modest
this
with a
of pressing needs the memorial concluded a good territorial act but a bad one would
list
final plea for
be better than none. 23
On man
the twenty-ninth of May, Caleb Smith of Indiana, chairof the House Committee on Territories, asked general con-
sent to allow establish the
him
to
Oregon
offer a resolution territorial
making the bill to 24 government a special order
of the day immediately following the passage of the approexcept for Fridays and Saturdays. McClernand Smith to modify his resolution so that the asked (Illinois) House might at once go into Committee of the Whole on the
priation
bills,
23 Sen. Misc. Doc. No. 143, 3oth Cong., ist &es. 24 Glob*, XVIII, 788 seq. ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
278 subject for he
had just received from a resident of Oregon
a letter depicting the distressing situation of the colony where the inhabitants were being harassed by the Indians.
McClernand's appeal for immediate action was supported by a message from the President transmitting a memorial from the legislative assembly of the Provisional Government. 25 The sorry condition of the people was described and Congress was urged to provide both an organized government and to send men to protect the whites in Oregon from the natives. "If it be at all the intention of our honored parent," concluded the memorial, "to spread her guardian wing over her sons and daughters in Oregon, she surely will not refuse to do so now, when they are struggling with all the ills of a weak and temporary government, and when the perils are daily thickening around them and preparing to When the ensuing summer's sun burst upon their heads. shall have dispelled the snow from the mountains, we shall look with glowing hope and restless anxiety for the coming
of your laws and your arms." President Polk recommended the appeal to the earnest atand advised provision for a regiment of
tention of Congress
mounted men and authority
for the
Oregon government
to
a volunteer force; these together, he thought, would be sufficient to deal with the Indian troubles. He pointed out the necessity of prompt action if the territory was to benefit raise
that year for if the laws were enacted too late in the the mountain passes would be closed and it would be late in the spring of 1849 before assistance could reach
by
it
summer
the Columbia valley.
Howell Cobb of Georgia agreed that immediate action was necessary, but Collamer (Maine) raised the question as to why the mounted riflemen provided for by the last Congress had not been used for the protection of Oregon. He was not satisfied with Cobb's explanation that these men had been used in the Mexican War, since the bill had made no especial The memorial Polk, Diary, II, 463-4. 25 Richardson, Messages, IV, 584-6. and papers were brought by Joseph Meek, who had been sent on this mission at about the same time Thornton had left with the Governor's letter for Douglas. rival factions in Oregon were represented by the two messengers.
Two ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
279
he said there was something designation of their service in Cobb's eagerness, it looked as though there suspicious which the President was implicated, be in an attempt, might ,
Oregon territory bill through under an emergency thus and plea gag Congress in its discussion of the major issue. Collamer's suspicions were shared by others, consequently the two measures were separated and the question of protection was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. Nothing, however, came of it; whatever protection Oregon received from Federal troops came from those which the President detailed for that duty after their services were no longer needed for the Mexican situation. The territorial bill awaited to rush the
its place after the appropriation bills, as Smith's resolution provided, and did not appear again until late in July. So long did other matters engage the attention of Con-
the presidential nominations gress, legislative and political had occurred and the campaign of '48 was well under weigh that the Senate had proceeded to take up, discuss and pass its Oregon bill before the House was in full swing on the
debate over
two days
its
own
measure. 26
after the President's
On
the thirty-first of May, message and the memorial were
and took up the had introduced four months earlier. Douglas Upon Benton's motion it was amended by adding a section to authorize the raising of volunteers in the territory. Next Hale received, the Senate postponed prior orders
bill
(Maine) proposed section 12 of the
last session's
bill,
ex-
Oregon the provisions of the Northwest Ordinance, as an amendment to the original measure. This raised a storm, tending to
mostly
from the
southern
Senators;
said
Benton,
if
this
"pestiferous question" had not been raised Oregon would already have had a government and the Indian disturbances would have been quelled at their beginning. Hannegan (Indiana) said the amendment was not heeded because every-
In body knew the Missouri Compromise covered Oregon. view of the excitement his amendment had created, Hale pro26 Globe, XVIII, 804 seq.; Appen., 684 seq. ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
280
posed that the question be postponed) a few days, although he said there would be slaves in Oregon unless Congress kept them out. Westcott gave notice that he would move a substitute for the bill, the
Senate
bill
of the last session.
The next day the bill was up with the question of Hale's amendment the immediate point of discussion. He withdrew it
since he
had been accused of casting a fire-brand into the
Senate although he announced that he would renew it or not as circumstances should seem to direct. This action brought
up Westcott't amendment (the substitute bill) the personal guaranties of the Northwest Ordinance should apply, and the laws of the Provisional Government would continue in force
end of the first session of the legislature provided by with this priviso 27 bill, "But no provisions of such laws, or of any act hereafter passed by the Legislative Assembly of said! Territory shall be construed to restrict citizens of any of the United States, or of any Territories thereof, from immigrating with their
until the
the
property to, and settling and residing in, said Territory, and holding and possessing their property therein, and fully participating in all the benefits, advantages, privileges, and immunities thereof as a Territory of the United States, with such property, on an equal footing with the citizens of any of the United States and all laws and parts of laws which shall operate in restraint of, or detriment to, the full enjoyment of such rights, are hereby declared to be null and
void."
This
restriction,
which
in
so
many words would
allow
slavery in Oregon, was in direct contravention of the laws of the Provisional Government. While Hale's amendment, which
might be renewed
at any time, presented the radical antislavery views, Westcott's voiced the opinions of the pro-slavery men. Those who wished to see the bill passed in some form
joined with those who desired to keep the real issue submerged in attempting to dodge the issue if possible. They were willing bill the 12th section by which, since continued the laws of the temporary organization, slavery
to see struck out of the it
27 Globe, Append., 690. ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
281
However, when Bright (Indiactually prohibited. ana), with the consent of his friends, agreed to strike out this section Hale threatened to renew his amendment if the
would be
Calhoun held that Bright's proposition prevail. did not touch the real issue, the real difficulty, which involved three questions the power of Congress to interfere with persons emigrating to a territory which was their property; the motion should
power of a territorial government to do the same thing; and the power of Congress to vest this power in a territorial government. Westcott's amendment alone, he thought, would solve the problem. Hereupon Dickinson of New York proposed that the troublesome section be left out and that the people of the territory be allowed to settle the matter as they should chose; in other words he advocated the "squatter sovereignty" which played so prominent a part a few years later.
Upon
the question of striking out the 12th section the debate its theme always being the same. Houston of
continued,
Texas proposed to insert in this section, after the provision which continued such existing laws in the territory as were not incompatible with the provisions of the act, the words, "or in violation of any rights by the laws or Constitution of the United States vested in or secured to the citizens of the
United States, or any of them/' 28 Such a clause could be interpreted according to the wish of each party, and it was adopted. The third day of the debate passed without progress. On the next day (June 3d) Foote (Mississippi) proposed to insert after "existing laws now in force in the Territory of Oregon" the words, "provided the same shall be compatible
with the laws and Constitution of the United States." To Westcott would not agree because such a proposal, which
this
intended to leave the whole issue to the decision of the Supreme Court, would take the question not a step in advance; the Court would have no jurisdiction, for the right to take ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
282 slaves to
Oregon rested upon
was nothing Badger (North Carolina) another way by submitting as a
in the Constitution to prohibit
tried to get at the
problem in 1
substitute for Foote's
the fact that there it.
amendment the provision
of the Ordi-
nance of 1787 omitting the slavery clause.
Here the discussion rested until the twenty-third of June when previous orders were again postponed to let the bill come 29 At that time Badger withdrew his amendment, and up. Berrien, who had previously renewed the amendment to strike out section 12, said that his proposition put the whole issue squarely before the Senate, the best way to come at the whole Nevertheless, Jefferson Davis presented an amendment, which he proposed should come at the end of the bill, question.
reading
"Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to authorize the prohibition of domestic slavery in said Territory whilst it remains in the condition of a territory of the United States."
The whole measure appeared
to be in danger of meeting
predecessor of the year before. In desperation the friends of the bill brought up the question with the Presithe fate of
dent
who
its
advised them to bring forward and press the adoption 30 Compromise line to the Pacific. Hannegan,
of the Missouri
whom
Polk
made
the suggestion, agreed that it was the of only practicable way settling the difficulty; Breese (Illinois), and the members of the Cabinet, concurred in Bright, Foote, to
first
Even Bradbury, a Maine Democrat, while he the opinion. did not exhibit any enthusiasm over the proposition, admitted that it seemed the only way out especially in view of the
New York, who had bolted the Democratic platform as framed at Baltimore. Accordingly at the President's table Foote wrote out, at Polk's dictation, the amendment which Bright copied and proposed on the twentyaction of the Barnburners of
seventh of June. 31 29 Ibid., 871; Appen., 861 seq. 30 Polk, Diary, III, 501-4. 31 Ibid., 505. ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON "That
in all the Territories
owned by
283
the United States,
including Oregon, New Mexico and Upper California, which 30' north latitude, slavery and involuntary lie north of 36 servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall be and is hereby forever prohibited; Provided always, That any person escaping into the same whose labor or service is lawfully claimled in any State or Territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or services as aforesaid.""
Thus the question of slavery and all the territories of the United States came before the Senate in the debate which engaged the talents of the most gifted men on both sides. "It 33 (the debate) has been," wrote Calhoun, "very able and high toned on the part of the South, with a great concurrence of views between Whigs and the democratic members of the South. I do hope our present danger will bring about union
among
ourselves on the most vital of
In questions ought to be dropped. To put the matter even more plainly
all
questions.
Union
lies
All other
our safety."
Underwood of Kentucky B added to amendment the further proviso: 34 (Whig) right's "That citizens of the United States emigrating, with their slaves, into any of the Territories of the United States south of said parallel of latitude, shall be protected in their property in their slaves so long as the Territory to which they emigrate continues under a territorial government."
The
struggle to eliminate all reference to slavery, or to embody in the bill some clause specifically opening all the new
was thus tacitly abandoned, and the conturned to the next best course, according to the South, of marking in definite terms a region for the expansion of territories to slavery,
test
Nevertheless the debate continued to thresh over the question of constitutionality of Congressional action, as well as to bring out what the South called the northern
their institutions.
desire to crush their future political power. 32 Globe. XVIII, 868. 33 To T. ^,?,^"J10U 1?' 9 July> Correspondence, 759. 34 Glo be, X'" ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
284
Thus retreat
locked, unable to proceed because neither side would its stand, the question stood when Polk, on the
from
sixth of July, transmitted to both houses the ratified treaty
with Mexico, and urged provision for a territorial organization in the region newly acquired by the United States. 35 Not alone to this public message did the President trust but he held long interviews with the Senators of his party and impressed upon
them the necessity of
settling the question in order "to allay excitement, prevent the organization of geographical parties, & preserve the harmony of the union." 36 Bright was a frequent visitor at the
White House and was one of those most eager
in one of his interviews he suggested as the most satisfactory solution the adoption of the phraseology of 30' the Texas Annexation Resolution which extended 36 as the dividing line between free and slave territory.
to secure action
The
preliminary step for a compromise was taken by adopting Clayton's (Maryland) motion for a committee of eight, two from each party in each section, following the precedent set at the time of the Missouri Compromise and the Comh 37 This was seconded by Foote. promise Tariff of 1833. out that the act of 1787 was a Calhoun, however, pointed had it null by refusing to the North rendered but compromise return fugitive slaves, a charge which he had previously
Several brought, especially against the people of Michigan. because the would to the scheme committee have the objected
Oregon bill before it, when it was understood that slavery would not be permitted there. Since no one could suggest any other solution the motion was adopted by a vote of 31 to 14.
from
All the votes against the compromise committee were the free States, eight Whigs and six Democrats. The
which as selected by ballot, was composed of Clayton (Chairman), Underwood (Ky.), Whigs, and Calhoun and Atchison (Mo.), Democrats, for the south; Clarke (R. I.),
committee,
35 Richadson, Messrages, IV, 587-93. 36 Polk, Diary, IV, 9, 12-14. Cobb, Houston, Bowden (Ala.), McLane (Md.), Sebastian (Ark.), Bright (Ind.), and several from the House talked with the President. 37 Globe, XVIII, 928 seq.; Appen., 914 seq. ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON Phelps
(Vt), Whigs, and Bright
(Ind.),
285
and
Dickinson
(N. Y.), Democrats, for the North.
The committee immjediately proceeded to its work, but it found nearly as much difficulty in reaching a basis of compromise as had the Senate
itself. In the first place an unacceptance of the compromise line (36 30') was rejected, but Dickinson suggested a modification of what he had proposed on the floor of the Senate chamber; that is,
qualified
non-interference with the question in New Mexico and California. Upon this basis the committee reached a tentative proposition of the following nature: the existing land laws which prohibited slavery in Oregon were to be left in force until altered
New
by the
territorial legislature; in
California and
Mexico the
legislative power should be vested in a Governor, Secretary and three Judges for each territory, and these men should be restricted by Congress from legislating
slavery, leaving the question, if it should to the Calhoun, who was brought to conarise, judiciary. ference with the President through the mediation of Colonel
upon the question of
38
Franklin H. Elmore of Charleston, told Polk, who approved the plan, that he would support the proposition much dethe President who would the pended upon appoint judges who be men northern for but for the other two might Oregon
territories they
must be southerners
in
order that the southern
views on slavery might be maintained. "The tone of his conversation," wrote Polk, "on this point seems to be designed to elicit a pledge
from me to
I at once felt the this effect. promptly replied that that was a subject upon which I could not speak, that if the laws passed in the form suggested I would do my duty, and jocosely added that my friends, as Gen'l Harrison's Cincinnati committee in 1844 [1840?] said for him, must have a 'generous
delicacy of
my
situation
confidence' that I would do so." Elmore had asked Polk to request Calhoun to 38 Polk, Diary, IV, 17-24. (he had not done so since the Oregon treaty of the year before) but Polk that the Senator was an older man and had been longer ini public life, and a request of this sort would make it appear that he was seeking some sort of influence over him; he would, however, be glad to see Calhoun.
call
said

## ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE

286
The compromise plan met with one objection from the northern memjbers of the committee; they insisted that there should be provision for appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, a modification which Calhoun and the other southern members did not like. Calhoun, in fact, gested to the President that the whole matter might as be allowed to go over to the next session of Congress; is,
until after the election
two sugwell that
had shown the sentiments of the
Polk strongly objected to this. Finally, however, Calhoun yielded the point and a bill was reported to the Senate on the eighteenth of July, on the lines outlined; that is, the original Oregon bill with added sections dealing with New Mexico and California. 39 On the twenty-second the bill was called up. There was a short discussion in which it was contended that there was no connection between Oregon and California, the best title to Oregon came from the Louisiana purchase so the Missouri Moreover, Compromise applied under any circumstances. those who were less sanguine than the comjmittee had appeared to be felt that the root of the question had not been touched at Nevertheless a test of strength was taken on a motion all.
people.
to strike out
all
after the 20th section
(i. e., all
except the parts
Oregon) and but seventeen votes as against thirtyseven could be mustered to defeat the compromise at that Hamlin, who said he was admonished by whisperings point. that the measure was to be pressed to a decision then and there, pointed out that the power of Congress to legislate on the subject of slavery was contained in the strongest terms in the relating to
bill
he objected to limiting the duration of the existing Oregon
laws to three months after the meeting of the first Legislative Assembly because that would bring the question of slavery again before Congress. This point was brought up by others and produced from Clarke (R. I.) an amendment to the secClayton, reporting the bill, 39 Ibid., IV, 24; Globe Appen., XVIII, 1139-40outlined the course of the discussion and added that it was the view of the committee that this bill would ultimately settle the whole question. The following day he stated that this was not intended as a report, but as a personal opinion; the bill must speak for itself. _ ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
287
powers to the territory to the effect "that no law repealing the act of the provisional government of said Territory, prohibiting slavery or involuntary servitude, tion extending legislative
be valid until the same shall be approved by Congress." 40 Like most compromises the bill did not meet with ardent
shall
support
who had been responsible for it were disand Underwood was outspoken in his complete oppo-
even those
satisfied,
sition to the principle involved
the portion regarding Oregon,
any Senator without surpower of Conrendering a there to been over have ought compromise on gress slavery 36 30' but this had been defeated by the northern Senators. He urged his compatriots of the South to migrate to California and New Mexico and so settle the question in such a way that they would be satisfied. said he, could not be voted for by all
constitutional objections to the
On
the
morning of July 27th the
bill
was pushed
to the
a twenty-one-hour sitting of the Senate. Durthe all-night session the bill had been resolutely attacked ing final vote after
by the more radical northerners, the Free-Soilers, who wished to wear out their colleagues and force an adjournment before a vote could be taken. Senator Niles was interrupted by Foote
who
called his attention to the
dawning
light.
"Well, sir," calmly replied the gentleman from Connecticut, "then I shall proceed with my argument with renewed en-
I have ten distinct heads, containing distinct grounds of objection to the extension of slavery over those There is Territories, which I propose to consider seriatim. plenty of time before us, and I shall proceed very deliberately
ergy.
in this discussion." 41
Dickinson took occasion to taunt his Free-Soil colleagues with having given a portion of Oregon to Great Britain; the "Free-soils" objected to the bill, he said because it gave the people of
Oregon
the right to legislate for themselves
they
40 Appendix to Globe, XVIII, 1141-74, for the discussion. 41 At 2 A. M. Senator Niles was talking and only one Senator besides himself was in sight; he moved an adjournment, and the sleeping members were roused from sofas and chairs in the lobby and anterooms to vote down the Every other attempt to adjourn before the bill was voted on motion, 32 to n. met with the same fat*. ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
288
professed to favor popular liberty, yet were insisting that a hasty and imperfect code of laws, designed to suit earlier days and framed under the influence of a British corporation, should
be forced upon the people of the Territory until
become a
it
should
"A
baser system of quack legislation never blacker decree of disfigured the records of civilized mjan! despotism, in principle, was never fulminated since the edict State.
A
of Nantes!"
During the debate various amendments which were proposed in order to nullify the compromise features were voted down. Hale, Davis (Mass.), Clarke, Baldwin (Conn.) all attempted in one form or another to defeat the purpose of the clauses dealing with New Mexico and California, but with no No vital amendment was made and the bill in essensuccess.
the form reported by the com/promise committee was passed by the Senate on a vote of 33 to 22. All but three of tially
membership responded to their names when the roll called, and one of these three had "remained till a late hour" when he had been "obliged to go home on account of 42 The twenty- two votes against the bill were all fatigue." from the North, except for two from Kentucky and one (Bell) from Tennessee. Nine Senators from the free States, four of them westerners, voted for the bill. Thirteen Whigs were for the measure while four opposed it. The House had just gotten started with its Oregon bill the full
was
when
the Senate
During
Compromise bill reached the Speaker's desk. the Senate debate, which had been closely watched by
the Representatives, some Congressmen had announced to the President their intention to vote for it when it should
reach them, but the strength of the northern non-slave vote
was shown by
the summary manner in which it was disposed Smith of Indiana expressed the sentiments of most of his northern colleagues when he said that the bill contained no promise of settling the controversy, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, taking the same ground, moved, as a of.
42 Webster was not present, and Jones of Iowa did not take December, 1848.
his
seat
until ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
289
House, that it be laid on the table. By a vote of 112 to 97 this was done and a motion to table the motion to
test of the
reconsider was carried, 114 to 96. 43 Thus in a few minutes all the work of the Senate was undone and the House pro-
ceeded with the discussion of
its
own
bill.
"I regard this vote of the House's as most unfortunate," recorded the President in his Diary** "The majority, I learn,
was made up
of every Northern Whig, of about half the Northern Democrats, & of 8 Southern Whigs. Those of the Democratic party whose sympathies are with the Barnburners
New
York, or who are timid & afraid to risk their popuhome, united with the Whigs to defeat the bill. * *
The political factions in Congress are all at work and they seem to be governed by no patriotic motives, but by the effect which they suppose may be produced upon the public mind of
larity at
pending Presidential election. A heavy responsibility upon these, and especially upon the 8 Southern Whigs, who have united to defeat this mieasure of compromise of this most delicate & vexatious question. If no Presidential election had been pending I cannot doubt the compromise Bill would have passed the House. If it had done so the agitation would have ceased and the question would have been at rest." in the
rests
He
thought
take
more
it
probable that the Northern candidate would
distinctly anti-slavery
who had been nominated by
ground
(i.
the Democrats
Van Buren, who were dis-
e..
satisfied with the Baltimore platform) that no candidate would have a majority in the electoral college, and so the election would go to the House. The Whig leaders in both Houses, he learned, desired to adjourn early and so prevent
any action on the
territories, thus
enhancing, as they supposed,
the chances of General Taylor, their candidate. In addition to the ever-present slavery issue, which occupied most of the attention of the House, there was some objection
form of the land grant provisions and to the veto power given to the governor in the House bill. The to the particular
43 Globe, XVIII, 1006-7.
44 IV, 33-4.
,> ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
290
measure, however, was reported to the House by the ComWhole in its original form, except for a few minor details and the addition of some sections, relating to mittee of the
ports of entry,
recommended by the Committee on Commerce.
Toward the end of the discussion in Committee McClernand had moved to strike out all but the enacting clause and to insert the Senate bill; he was declared out of order, in the midst of great confusion. An appeal from the ruling was taken but the House upheld the chair. A similar fate overtook an attempt to substitute the Senate compromise for the
whole
bill.
On
the second of August the bill as reported from the Committee of the Whole was taken up in the House and There was no division on the disposed of with no debate. amendments except that relating to the governor's veto, which was taken away by the House, and that on slavery. In Committee at a tim when there was a light attendance the 12th section had been striken out, but the House now replaced it by a vote of 114 to 88. The bill was then ordered engrossed and passed (129 to 71). In the division on the slavery section all the Congressmen from the slave States voted to retain the Committee amendment with the exception of fourteen who ten northern Representatives voted with their southern brethren, they were from Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and
refused to vote
45
Pennsylvania. The defeat of the Senate measure in the
House had been
taken by all as a most unfavorable omen; nevertheless the western Democrats were determined to save something from the wreck if possible. Hannegan, 46 on the last day of July, in giving notice that
Monday
a
fornia and
he would introduce on the following
for organizing the territories of Oregon, CaliNew Mexico, stated that it was his conviction
bill
was vain for any individual to attempt to adjust the question; the defeat of the compromise measure had brought to members of both houses numerous requests from all over that
it
45 Globe, XVIII, 1027. 46 Ibid., loio, 1016. ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
291
the country to leave the matter open because that would promote the interests of his (Hannegan's) favorite candidate for the Presidency (i. e. General Cass). That, however, he considered an impossible way to view the situation, for Christenlook upon the United States as on the verge of civil
dom would
war, especially as talk of disunion was so freely heard within It was the duty of Congress to adopt some measure to put a stop to this treasonable talk, for it was
the Senate chamber.
moral treason to breath the word "disunion." Benton, too, bill, framed upon the act of 1806 by which the people of Louisiana were to be governed according to existing offered a
law until other provision should have been made. He said he would call this up later if nothing better should be presented. The House bill, however, came before the Senate on August third. Senator Clayton was for extending it the same courtesy the Senate bill had received in the House, but this was refused, Clayton himself being the only one to vote for it. The bill was referred to the Committee on territories and by that committee reported back two days later with two major and two minor amendments the veto power was restored to the governor, and in the proper place were inserted the words, "Inasmuch as the said Territory is North of the Parallel of 36 30, usually known as the Missouri Compromise." On the eighth of August the Senate took up the bill and modified the veto amendment so that any act disapproved by
the governor should be specifically submitted to Congress in such a way as to provide a Congressional veto of the gov-
As
ernor's veto.
to
the amlendment touching the Missouri
Compromise Douglas stated that it was the unanimous desire of the committee that no Senator's vote should be understood
The northern radicals, future. however, refused to take this view and some of the southerners (e. g., Butler of South Carolina) opposed giving the North all the valuable territory north of the compromise line; this
as committing
Oregon
bill,
him for the
said Butler,
innocent measure,
which two years before had been an a battery from behind which
now masked ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
292
On the institutions of the South were being attacked. no decision was bill was but reached. the discussed, days the
the tenth of
two
On
Senate convened for an evening
August and threshed over the slavery issue until the final vote was taken the next morning at ten o'clock. First the committee amendment was voted on, with the understanding that if it was lost a vote should be taken on an amendment, subsession
mitted by Douglas, extending the Missouri Compromise line The committee to the Pacific without reference to Oregon.
amendment was lost, 52 to 2, and the Missouri Compromise clause was inserted (33 to 21). The opposition to the amendment was nearly the same as that to the Compromise Bill which had passed the Senate a couple of weeks before; Atherton (New Hampshire Democrat), Breese and Phelps, who had voted for the Compromise Bill, now voted against the amendment Atherton and Phelps voted against the bill. Fitzgerald (Michigan) and Underwood had opposed the Compromise bill and now voted for the amendment and the bill Calhoun voted for the amendment but against the bill, which, he said, was
ambiguous.
During the night while the Senate discussion was in progHouse was in great confusion so long as it sat, and 47 the next morning the excitement was even more pronounced. When the Oregon bill was brought before it for concurrence the whole section dealing with the veto was rejected, for, it ress the.
be remarked, the veto might conceivably be used to promote pro-slavery interests, since the governor would be appointed by a southern President. The Missouri Compromise line provision was lost, 121 to- 82. The bill was now before the Senate again (12 August). Benton moved that the Senate recede from its amendment and spoke feelingly for action on the bill. He said he had voted
may
reluctantly for the
Senate had taken
compromise amendment, but now that the stand enough had been done for concilia-
its
47 So stated the reporter of the debates, and the President, who had gone to the Capitol late in the evening and had stayed until 11:30 P. M. in order to Diary, IV, 79. sign such bills as should be presented to him. ​FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON
293
Oregon was in a deplorable condition would be criminal to adjourn before passing the bill. The provisional government, he went on, had reached a point where it could no longer handle the situation, and not only would there be war between Indians and whites but between whites and whites. Berrien begged his colleagues of the South tion; in the meantimle
and
it
not to let slip this opportunity for if the Senate amendment did not prevail the North would rule the South with a rod of iron. Calhoun spoke with bitterness of the defeat which the South
had experienced he denounced any southerner who supported North to turn the population of the whole South into slaves, for it had become not a question of terri;
this attempt of the
government but of the existence of the Union itself. made to induce Benton to withdraw his motion, which had precedence under the rule, but the Missouri Senator was adamant he was going to see that bill pass if it was a human possibility. All through the night and until nine o'clock on Sunday morning the ground was beaten over in the southern attempt to prevent action but finally the futility of the endeavor was seen. The amendments to which the House had refused its concurrence were taken up one by one and the Senate receded from its stand. The vote on the veto was 31 to 23 and that on the slavery section was 29 to 25. Four Senators did not vote; Clayton and Sturgeon were absent and Atherton paired with King of Alabama, who had left the Capitol exhausted. Those who voted to recede were all from the free States except Benton of Missouri and Houston of Texas. Party lines were forgotten twelve Whigs and seventeen Democrats voted to recede, and eight Whigs and seventeen Democrats voted not torial
Several attempts were
to recede.
Only one recourse was now left and to the President went Senators to urge him to refuse to sign the measure. Turney of Tennessee protested that the President must not sign; Calhoun said the bill must be vetoed on constitutional grounds 48 Hannegan said he would sustain a veto. Polk, however, had
~# Diary,
IV,
71-3. ​LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
294
made up
already
mind
his
Senate had acted.
to
He had
approve the
bill
even before the
consulted his Cabinet and had
found its m/embers unanimous for approval since Oregon was north of 36 30'. Then, asked he, should he accompany the by a message explaining that this was the reason All agreed that some explanation should be made, although Buchanan qualified his assent by stating that its effect upon Cass' chances of election should be considered, and Walker inclined to think that a statement in the Union would serve the purpose better than a message. Acsigned
bill
for his approval?
cordingly Polk requested Buchanan and Walker to prepare a draft which was read and discussed in Cabinet on the twelfth
had receded from its amendthe draft and with the advice of all his Polk revised ments, official family, except Buchanan, took it with the bill to the on the
thirteenth, after the Senate
Capitol.
When
he arrived at his room there he found the Senate
whether the rules relating to for the measures president's signature on the last presenting should be a of session suspended. Polk frankly told many day
engaged
in a discussion as to
of the Senators that
if
the rule should not be suspended
it
would defeat not only the Oregon bill but many other important measures, and in that case he would immediately issue a proclamation for an extra session of Congress. This threat was sufficient to cause the rules to be suspended, for not only had Congress been in session more than eight months, but the presidential campaign was in full swing and many fences needed immediate attention. Calhoun made one final appeal and urged the President, if he was bound to sign the bill, to do so in the usual manner and not accompany the signature with a mteasure. The request was of no avail and the President signed both bill and message and sent them by his private 49 secretary to the House. 50 Polk reviewed the course of the statesmen In this message of earlier days on the slavery issue including the framing of Globe, XVIII, 49 Polk, Diary, IV, 76-7. 50 Richardson, Messages, IV, 606-10.
1083-4. ​the Missouri Compromise which calmed "the troubled waters and (restored) peace and good will throughout the States of A similar adjustment, he went on, would unthe Union. doubtedly produce the same happy results, for it had been successfully applied to Texas when that State was admitted.
   "The Territory of Oregon lies far north of 36° 30′, the Missouri and Texas compromise line. Its southern boundary is the parallel of 42°, leaving the intermediate distance to be 330 geographical miles. And it is because the provisions of this bill are not inconsistent with the laws of the Missouri compromise, if extended from the Rio Grande to the Pacific Ocean, that I have not felt at liberty to withhold my sanction. Had it embraced territories south of that compromise, the question presented for my consideration would have been of a far different character, and my action upon it must have corresponded with my convictions * *
   "Holding as a sacred trust the Executive authority for the whole Union, and bound to guard the rights of all, I should be constrained by a sense of duty to withhold my official sanction from any measure which would conflict with these important objects."
This blunt statement of the President's stand upon the whole issue the House refused to allow to go before the country as a public document and in spite of the efforts of some Representatives it was not officially printed until the following December, after the election. It was circulated, however, in the newspapers, since Polk, with a little difficulty secured a copy from the Clerk of the House for that purpose.
Oregon, having played a major role in international relations, now completed its first appearance as a leading figure in the slavery drama, a part which it took again when the After being the subject of question of statehood came up. discussion for many years it was furnished, as far as the law went, with the ordinary form of organic law, excepting that its governor had no veto power and slavery could not legally exist within its borders so long as the territorial status continued.
* ↑ Globe, XVI, 10.
* ↑ Niles Register, 9 Dec. 1846.