The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1856-04-01
THE AGGREsSIONs AND UsURPA-
TIONS OF THE SLAVE POWER.
Declaration Of the Principles and Purposes Of
- the Republican Party.
ADDRESS OF THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION,
At Pittsburgh, Feb. 22. 1856. 81.
TO Tie People Of tie United States:

a We leoPte " We CHtee0 otuteS'
Having met in Convention at the City of
Pittsburgh in the State of Pennsylvania, this
22d day Of February, 1856, as the rcpresen-
tatives of the people in various sections of the
Union, to consult upon the political evils by
which the country is menaced and the politi-
cal action by which those evils may be aver
ted, we address to you this Declaration Of
our Principles and the Purposes which we
seek to promote.
We declare, in the first place, our fixed
and unalterable devotion to the Constitution
of the United States,-to the ends for which
it was established, and to the means for which
it provided for their attainment. We accept.
the solemn protestation of the People of the
United States, that they ordained it, Sin or
der to form more perfect. Union, establish
Justice, ensure domestic tranquility, r~--;I-
for the common defence, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings Of liberty to
themselves and their posterity." We believe
that the powers which it confers upon the
Government Of the United States, are am
ple for the accomplishment of these objects;
and that If these powers are exercised in the
snir;t Of the Constitution itself, they cannot
lead to any other result. We respant those
great rights which the Constitution declares
to be inviolablc, Freedom of Speech and OF
the Press, the free exercise of Religious Be
lief and the right of the People peaceably
to assemble and to petition the Government
for a Redress of Grievances. We would pre-
serve those great safeguards of civil freedom,
the ha5eas corpus, the right of trial by jury,
and the right of personal liberty unless de-
prived thereof for crime by due process of
law. We declare our purpose to obey in all
things, the requirements of the Constitution
and of all laws enacted in pursuance thereof
We cherish profound reverence for the wise
and patriotic men by whom il was framed,
and a lively sense of the blessings it has con-
ferred upon our Country and upon mankind
throughout the world. In every crisis of diff
ficulty and of danger, we shall invoke its
spirit and proclaim the supremacy of its au-
thority.
In the next place, we declare our ardent
and mistaken attachment to this Union OF
American States which the Constitution Gre
ated and has thus far preserved. We revere
it as the purchase of the blood of our fore
fathers, rs the condition Of our national re-
nown, and as the guardian and guarantee of
that Liberty which the Constitution was de-
signed to secure. We will defend and pro-
tect it against all lis enemies. We will rec
ocnizc no geographical divisions, no local in
tercsts, no narrow or sectional prejudices in
our endeavors to preserve the Union Of these
States against foreign aggression and domes-
tic strife. What we claim for ourselves, we
claim for all. The rights privileges and lib
critics which we demand as our inheritance,
We conccdc rs their Inheritance to all the cti-
zens Of this Republic.
Holding these opinions, and animated by
these sentiments, we declare our conviction
that the Government of the United States is
not administered in accordance with the Con-
stitution, or for the preser ,alion and prosper
ity of the American Union but that Its
powers are systematically welded FOR THE
PROMOTION AND EXTENSION OF TIE INTEREST
OF SLAVERY, in direct hostility 10 the letter
and spirit Of the Constitution, in fragrant dis
regard of other great interests Of the country
and in open contempt Of the public sentiment
of the American people and of the Christian
world. We proclaim our belief that the poll
cy which has for years past been adopted ii
the Administration of the General Govern
mcnt, tends to the utter subversion of eacl
of the great ends for which the Constitution
was established land that, unless it shall bc
arrested by the prompt interposition of the
People, the hold of the Union upon thci
LOYALTY and affection will be relaxed.-the do
mestic tranquility will be disturbed, and al
constitutional securities for the blessings o
liberty to ourselves and our posterity, will b'
destroyed. The saveholding interest canno
be made permanently paramount in the Gen
cral Government, without involving conse
ouences fatal to free institutions. We nc
knowledge that it is large and powerful; tha
in the States where it exists it is entitled, un
der the Constitution, like all other local in
terests, to immunity from the interference o
tho General Government, and that it mus
necessarily exercise through its representa-
tives, considerable share Of political power
But there is nothing in its position, and Their
is certainly nothing in its character, to sus
tain the supremacy which it seeks to establish
There is not a State in the Union in whicl
the Shareholders number one tenth part of tn
free white population,-nor in the aggregat
do they number one .fftieM part of the whit
population of the United States. The annua
productions of the other classes in the Unior
far exceed the total value of all the slaves
To say nothing, therefore, of the question
of natural Justice, and of political econom
which Slavery involves, neither its magnitud
nor the numbers Of those by whom it is rcr
resented, entitle it TO one-tenth part of tn
political powers conferred upon the Fedora
Government by the Constitution. Yet W
see it seeking, and at this moment welding
all the functions of the Government, ,-execu
tive, Legislative and judicial, and using ther
for the augmentation Of its powers and tn
establishment of its ascendancy.
From this ascendancy the principles of tn
Constitution, the rights ofthe several State
the safety of the Union, and the welfare {
the people Of the United States, demand ths
It should be dislodged.
HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE PROGRESS o
SLAVERY TOWARDS AscENDANcy IN TIL
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
IL is not necessary for us to rchearse in d.
fail tRo successiye stems by which the Slay,