The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-05-30
SETTLING THE QUESTION;


of the Capitol, and in the hearts of the People.
The agitation now is no greater than it was du-
ring the Missouri struggle, and a compromise
now will certainly allay excitement, as it did
then. So they reason and predict.
MIR. Clay is of sanguine temperament (;
the more difficult the attainment of an object,
the greater his hope his confidence in success
increases as his chances decrease. Repeated de-
feats as a candidate for the Presidency have only
served to strengthen his belief in his own fitness
and popularity.
The same extraordinary hopefulness he carries
with him into all his enterprises. We recOllect
when he was in the Senate before, with what
confidence he calculated on putting down the anti
slavery agitation by q series Of resolutions moved
as an amendment to another series introduced by
Mr. Calhoun; aud in lS39-40, on delivering his
famous speech against the abOlitionists, he was
no doubt fully impressed with the truth of Cal
koun's declaration" abolitionism is now dead
a few months after that, arose the first Party
ever organized in this country urS,'nc',y
slavery grounds
A correct view Of the Missouri struggle in
lSl9-'20, will Furnish no grounds for expecting
that any compromise in the present struggle will be
followed by the same kind of reposc which took
place after the passage of the Missouri Com
promise.
The anti-slavery sentiment of the country in
1890, was rather an instinct, growing out of a
natural dislike to oppression, than an enlightened
and profound conviction, founded upon full
investigation of the nature Of slavery and an en-
larged view of its injurious effects upon oil inter-
ests. The discussions on the subject were gener-
ally one side No formidable opposition was
made to the operations of abolition societies,
which existed in the slqveholding as well as free
States AS a political question, slavery was
scarcely agitated until the controversy respect
ing the admission Of Missouri suddenly sprang
up
The Compromise then adopted, added a new
slavehOlding State TO the Union restricted the
institution Of slavery to portion Of the Louisi-
ana Territory, and cOnsecrated The rest TO Free
dom In other words, by this Compromise more
than one half Of what was slave territory was
secured to Freedom. We state the fact in this
way, not to intimate that the Compromise was
right--lor not an inch of the territory should
have been left to slavery-but to show one
reason why the political excitement after its
adoption, died away. 1t began to be thought
that perpetual limit was set to the evil, and
the friends of freedom did not see then the
necessity of continuing the political agitation.
1t cannot be denied that the anti-slavery
feeling grew more inactive after this event, and
hence it has been hastily assumed that the
passage of the Compromise was the cause of
this unfavorable change Suppose this were true
still the fact would furnish no ground for antci-
! patng similar result from the passage of the
compromise now proposed by Mr. Clay, as we
shall soon show. Perhaps the settlement of the
Missouri question did contribute slightly to the
abatement of general ant-slavery operations, but
the principal causes of this were, the institution
Of the American Colonization Society and the
extinction of slavery in the older States now
free SO long as the evil had legal existence in
these States, 80 long was there field for hopeful
anti.slavery effort, and the Societies acted vgor-
ously. But, when Freedom therein became
the Law, few materials were left for their
action and the Colonization Scheme. projected
in 1916, and efficiently organized in 1920. pro-
ceeding on the assumption that the ooiored race
could not be elevated in this country, that eman-
cipation should proceed no faster than transpor-
tation, soon absorbed the anti-slavery sentiment
so that the old abolition societies gradually
ceased to exist. BY these causes chiefly, and not
| by the settlement of the Missouri Question, was
the public mind thrown into a state of repose
Now, what is the nature and history of the pres
ent agitation on the Slavery Question
Two elements enter into it, the moral and the
political it did not grow out Of the acquisition Of
territory from Mexico, and as we shall show, will
not cease with the settlement of the Territorial
Question.
In 1882, many active anti-savcry men, who
had favored the Colonization enterprise, became
convinced that it was misleading the philan-
thropic sentiment of the nation, and stalking the
cause of Freedom on the accomplishment of an
impossibility. They raised their protest against
it, and recognized with increased vitality anti
slavery societies. No scheme for the acquisition
of slave territory or the extension of slavery was
then on foot. The movement had its origin in a
pure feeling of hostility to slavery, and deter
minatOn to produce Public Sentiment which,
acting under constitutional forms, should effect
its overthrow. IL was characterized by great en-
ergy, breaking out at times into excuses of nvec
tive and denuncation. The public mind was
aroused-poiticians in the South exaggerated
the agitation for party purposes-the trade of the
Northern cities was archaeological began
to be alarmcd-Prejudice was fred-the mob.
spirit WAS evoked-all things seemed to combine
TO give prominence to the anti-slavery discussion.
kindred movement in Great Britain reacted on
the movement here, and when it resulted in the
peaceful emancipation at a single blow of six
hundred thousand slaves in the West Indies, the
cause of Freedom in this country received pow
erful impulse. The movement, at first purely
moral and phianthropic, began to affect political
organizations, until in 1910, distinct anti slavery
party was organized, under the name Of the Lib
erty party. No Territorial Question then agita-
ted the public, but seven thousand voters cast
their SURFACES for a Presidential candidate, solely
on the ground Of opposition TO slavery, to its in
luence in the General Government, aud to the
scrvility of the old parties under its will. This
organization increased, slowly, but steadily until
lsil when aided incidentally by the Texas ex-
element, it gave sixty thousand votes and, in
lsls, aided still further by the controversy
springing cut of the new acquisitions from Mex
leo, it merged itself in an organization embracing
| its principles, but cnarging their application,
which cast three hundred thousand votes
While the agitation in one way assumed so
prominent an aspect, in another it became more
dstinctively religious and ecclesiastical. Every
church organization in the country has been