Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1847-09-30
From the National Era.
The Five Acts of the General Gov
eminent,

1t may be well to present the various acts of
the Confederation and Union on the question of
the extension of slavery.
I.-ORDINANCE OF 1857.
The ordinance of 1887 for the government of
the Northwestern Territory the sole Territory
under the jurisdiction of the Confederation, was
passed by Congress at the same time that the
Convention for the formation of the Constitution
was in session; and both bodies sat in the same
place 1t is fair to infer that so important an act,
involving consequences so far-reachng, and which
would deeply involve the interests of the new
Government, would hardly have been ventured
upon, unless after free interchange of opinions
between members of both the Congress and Con-
vention. That ordinance may therefore be just
ly regarded as the exponent of the sentiment Of
that period, and of the policy Of the Government
that was, and that was to be.
1t consists of two parts-one relating to mere
matters of form and arrangements the other, to
permanent guarantees of rights. This part is in
the form, not of an ordinary Legislative act, but
of a compact, consisting of preamble and six
articles, commencing as follows:
"And for extending the fundamental princ-
pies of civil and religious liberty, which form the
basis whereon these republics, their laws and
constitutions, are erected to fix and establish
those principles as the basis of all laws, consti-
tutions, and governments, which forever hereaf-
ter shall be formed in the said Terrtory to pro-
vide, also, for the establishment of States and
permanent Governments therein, and for their
admission to a share in the Federal Councils, on
an equal footing with the original States, at as
early periods as may be consistent with the gen
era interest
ct is hereby ordained and declared by the au-
M0ritg aforesaid, That the following articles
shall be considered articles of compact between
the original States and the people and States in
the said Territory, and forever remain unalter-
able, unless by common consent, to wit" &c.
The first article secures the rights of con-
science the second, the habeas corpus, Jury tr-
al, right of representation, sacredness of con-
tracts" &c the third enjoins the encourage
ment of pupic education and good faith towards
the Indians the fourth provides that the territory
shall always be part of the United States,
guards the public lands of the Confederation ly-
ing in it, and secures the perpetual free naviga-
ton of the navgable waters leading into the Mis-
sissippi and ST. Lawrence, as we'll to the inhabit-
ants of the Territory, as to the citizens of the
United States; the fifth desgnates the number
and general boundaries ofthe States to be formed,
and invests them with the right of admission into
the Union, on certain conditions the sixth is in
the words following;
"There shall be neither slavery or involuntary
servitude in the said Territory, otherwise than in
punishment Of crimes, whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted Provided, al,OayS,
That any person escaping into the same, from
whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any
one of the original States, such fugitive may be
lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person
claiming his or her labor or service, as afore-
said"
These articles, with the exception of the last,
were reported as a part of the ordinance by Mr.
Darlington, of Virginia, chairman of the commit
tee on the subject Nathan Dane, of Massachu-
sets, moved the sixth article as an amendment.
1t was carried, and the ordinance then was adop-
ted, by unanimous vote, South Carolina and all
the Southern States, except Maryland (Which
was absent,) voting aye.
In the year 1885, Mr.. King, of Massachusetts,
had submitted proposition of the same kind
without the proviso, and it was committed, but nc
report was ever made on it.
great deal has been lately written upon this
subject The editor of the Cincinnati Chronicle,
in an article purporting to embody facts taken
from the Journals of Congress, denies to Jeffer-
son the credit of this Anti-Slavery provision of
the ordinance, and claims it for Mr.. King Mr..
Force, of this city, thereupon appears in very
elaborate article, quoting more LARGELY from the
records, ana proving, Deyond all doubt, that the
article, as 1t non stands, was the work of Nathan
Dane, so often referred to as the author of it.
Both gentlemen, we think take limited view
con6ning their deductions within limits not au-
thorized by the facts they state. Both admit and
prove that, in 1884, when plan for the govern.
ment of the Northwestern Territory was under
consideration, committee, of which Mr. Jefer
son was chairman, reported an Ant-Slavery arti.
Gle precisely in the language in which it is now
embodied, except that 1t was to take effect III the
year 1900 and that 1t contained no provision fol
the reclamation of fugtlves from service or labor
The article reported by Mr.. Jefferson, and thai
which now stands in the ordinance, agree in all
essentials. Both recognise the right aad duty o
the Government of the Union to prohibit the ex
tension of slavery in all territory under its excu
slve jurisdiction both look to the establishing O
this as the permanent policy of the Government
the only difference between them is, that one wa
to take effect from the date of Its passage in I7S7
but allowed an exception to its general prin
ciple-the seizure and reclamation of flgitiv,
slaves-while the other allowed no such excep
ton, being, in this respect far preferable thong
it was not to take effect till the year 1900, thir
teen years after the date of the other. This wa
intended merely as concession to the claims G
the few shareholders already in the Territory, an
in all probability would have been followed b
no increase in the number of slaves; while tn
exceptional clause in the article, as it now stands
has been permanent in it's operation for half
century, and is still working. For this reason
we think the article introduced by Mr.. Jefferso
far better Anti-Slavery provision than that {
Mr.. Dane.
However this may be, the fact stands out clea
and unmistakable, that the noble policy of exclu
ding slavery from all United States territory is t
be ascribed to Thomas Jefferson, of Virgin;
and the committy of which he was chairman il
asmuch as it was they who reported and recon