Democratic banner., 1849-07-02
The A&dress. Of Southern Members Of
C6nsress to their Constituent.

WI WHose uauISS are 0efeunt0 annexed,
address sou IN discharge of what we be-
lieve to be q solemn duty, on the most i'm
Portsns subject eeer presented for your con-
sideration, not excepting the declaration
which separated you & the other united colo.
mics from the parent country. That involv ed
your independence; but this your all, not ex-
cePting even your safety. We alluds to the
conflict between the two great sections of
the Union, growing out of a difference of
feeling and opinion Interference to the rela-
ton existing between the two races, the Eu-
roPean aRd African, which inhabit the south.
err section, and the acts of aggression and
en~croachment to which it has led.
The conflict commenced not long after
the acknowledgment of our independsce,
and has gradually increased until it has ar
raysd the great body Of the North against
The South on this, to her, the most vital of
all subjects. In the progress of this con-
Aict, aggression has followed aggression,
and e~ncroachment encroachment, until they
have reached a point when aregard for your
peace and safety will not permit us to re.
main longer silent. The object of this adj
dress is to give you a clear, correct, but
brief account of the whole series of aggres-
sion and encroachments onyour rights, with
a statement of the dangers to which they
expose you. Our object in making it is not
to Cause excitement, but to put you in full
possession of all the facts and circumstan-
ces necessary to a full and just conception
Of q deep settled disease, which threatens
great danger to you and the whole body
polite. We act on the impression, that in a
popular government like ours, a true con-
ception of the actual character and state of
q disease is indispensable to effecting a cure.
We have made it a joint address, because
w believe that the magnitude Of the sub
;ect required that it should assume the most
impressive and solemn form.
Not to go further back, the difference Of
opinion aud feeling in reference to the rela-
tion between the two races disclosed itself
IN the convention that framed the constitu-
ton, and constituted one of the greatest diff
fcslies in forming it. After many efforts.
it wss overcome by a compromise, which
provided, in the first place, that representa-
tives and direct taxes shall be apportioned
among the States according to their resPec-
tive numbers; and that, in ascertaining the
Rumber Of each, FIVE slaves shall be estima-
ted as three. In the next, that slaves esca-
ping into States where slavery does not ex-
ist, shall not be discharged from servitude,
but shall be delivered up on claim of the
party to whom their labor or service is due.
In the third place, that Congress shall not
prohibit the importation Of slaves before the
year 1908; but a tax not exceeding ten dol
lars may be imposed on each imported
And finally, that no capitation or direct tax
shall be laid, but in proportion to federal
numbers; and that no amendment Of the
constitution, prior to 1908, shall effect this
provision, nor that relating to the impor-
tation Of slaves.
So satisfactory were these provisions, that
the second relative to the delivery upof flu
gitive slaves, was adopted unanimously, and
oil the rest, except the third, relative to the
importation of slaves until 1908, with al
most equal unanimity. They recognise the
existence Of slavery, and make a specific
provision for its protection where it was sup
posed to be the most exposed. They 60
further, and incorporate it, as an important
element, In determining the relative weight
Of the several States in the government of
the Union, and the respective burden they
should bear in laying capitation and direct
taxes. It was we'll understood at the time,
that, without them the constitution would
not have been adopted BY the southern
States, and; of course that they constituted
elements SO essential to the system that-it
would have existed without them
The northern States, knowing all this, rati.
fed the constitution, and pledged their faith,