Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1856-01-10

adopted IN the Congress of the Confederation
1t is not to be supposed that the question of fu-
ture relative power as between the States which
retained and those which did not retain its col
ored population escaped notice, or failed to be
considered; and yet the concession of that vast
territory to the interests and opinions of the
Northern States, a territory now the seat of
five among the largest members of the Union.
was in great measure the act of the State of
Virginia and of the South.
When Louisiana was acquired by the United
States, 1t was an acquisition not less to the
North than to the South. For while it was i'm
poftant to the country at the mouth of the
Mississippi to become the emporium of the
country above it, so also was it even more i'm
portant to the whole Union, and although the
new province, by reason of its imperfect settle
ment, was mainly regarded as on the gulf of
Mexico, yet IN Fact it extended to the opposite
boundaries OF the United States with far great
er breadth above than below, and was in ter
rltory, as In everything else, equally at least an
accession to tire Northern States. 1t is mere
delusion and prejudice, therefore, to speak of
Louisiana as an acquisition in the special inter-
est of the South.
The patriotic and just men who participated
in that act were influenced by motives far above
all sectional prejudice. 1t was in the South the
great event by which they would compete with
us for the possession Of the Valley Of the Mis-.
slssppi, while commercial access to the Gulf of
Mexico impaired unity and strength to the
whole confederation and attached together by
lndlssoluble ties the East and the West, as we'll
as the North and the South. AS to Florida,
that was but the transfeIby Spain to the United
States OF territory on the east side of the Mis-
sissppi in exchange for large territory which
the United States had transferred to Spain on
the west side of that river, as the entire diplo-
matte history of the transaction serves to dem
onstrate. Moreover it was an acquisition de-
manded by the commercial interests and the Sc
curity of the whole Union.
In the meantime the people of the United
States had grown up to proper consciousness
eff their strength, and in q contest with France
on second serious war with Great Britain they
had shaken off all which remained of undue
reverence of Europe, and emerged from the at
mosphere Of those transatlantic influences
which surrounded the infant Republic, and had
hegun to turn their attention to the full and
systematic internal resources of the Union -
Among the evanescent controversies at that pc
Rod, the most conspicuous was the question of
regulation by Congress Of the social condition
of the future States to be founded in the terri
tory Of Louisiana
The Ordinance for the government of the ter
ritory northwest of the river Ohio had contain
ed provision which prohibited the use of scry-
lie labor therein, subject to the condition of the
extraditlon of fugitiyes from service due in any
other part of the United States. Subsequently
to the adoption Of the Constitution, this provs-
ion ceased to be a law, for its operation us such
was absolutely superseded by the Constitution.
But the recollection of the fact excited the zeal
OF social propdgandizcmcnt in some sections of
the confederation, and when a second State, that
OF Missouri, came to be formed in the territory
OF Louisiana, opposition was made to the pro-
posal to extend to the latter territory the res
friction originally applied to the country stu
ated between the rivers Ohio and Mississippi
Most questionable as was this proposition in
all its constitutional relations nevertheless, it
received the sanction Of Congress, with some
slight modification Of line, to save the existing
rights Of new States. 1t was reluctantly acqui-
esced in by Southern States as IL sacrifice to the
cause of peace and Of the Union not only of
the rights stipulated by the treaty of Louis
lana, but of the principle Of equality among
the States guaranteed by the Constitution. 1t
was received by the Northern States with angry
and resentful condemnation and complaint, be.
cause it did not concede all which t ley had ex-
actingy demanded Having passed through
the form Of lesslatinn it took its place in the
Statute book, standing open to repeal like all
othor act of doubtful constitutiouality, subject
to be pronounced null and void by the Courts of
law, and possessing no possible efficacy to con-
troll the rights of the States which might there
after be organized out of any part Of the origi-
nal territory Of Louisiana.
In all this, if any aggression there were if
any innovation upon the pre,existing rights, to
which portion of the Union are they Justly en-
titled This controversy passed away with the
occasion, nothing surviving it, save the DOR
mant letter of the statute. But long after
wards, when by the proposed accession of the
Republic Of Texas the United States were to
take their next step in territorial greatness, a
similar contingency occurred, and became the
occasion for systemltizcd attempts to intervene
in the domestic affairs Of one section of the
Nation, in defiance Of their rights as States, and
OF the stipulatons Of the Constitution, these
attempts assumed IL practical direction in tho
shape OF persevering endeavors by some of the
representatives in both Houses of Congress to
deprive the Southern States of the supposed
benefit OF the provisions of the act authorizing
the organization of the State of Missouri But
the good sense Of the people, and the vital force
OF the Constitution, triamphed over sectional
prejudice and the political errors of the dav,
and the State of Texas returned to the Union
as she was, with social institutions which the
people had chosen for themselves and with the
express agreement by the re-annexng act that
she should be susceptible of subdivision into IL
plurality Of States.
Whatever advantages the interest of the
Southern States, as such, gained by this, were
far inferior in results as unfoldcd in the progress
Of time, to those which sprang from previous
concessions made by the South. 10 every
thoughtful friend Of the Union; to the true
lovers Of their country to all who long and
ardently labored for the full successef this great
experiment of Republican Institutions it was
Of great congratulation that such an opportu-
nifty occurred to Illustrate our advancing pow
er on this continent, and to furnish to the world
additional assurance Of the stength and stabili-
ty Of the Constitution. Who would wish to
see Florida still a European Colony! Who
would rejoice to hail Texas as ' lone star, -
instead Of one in the galaxy of States Who
does MT appreciate the incalculable benefits
of the acquisition Of louisiana And yet,
narrow views and sectional purposes would in
eyitably have excluded them all from the Union.
But another struggle on the same point en-
sued when our victorious armies returned from
Mexico 1t devoved on Congress to provide for
the territories acquired by the treaty of Gaud-
aloupe- Hidalgo The great relations of the
subject had now become distinct and clear to
the perception of the public mind, which APP
preciated the evils of sectional controversy upon
the question of the admission of new States.
In that crisis intense solicitude pervaded the
nation, but the patriotic impulses of the popu-
lar heart. guided by the admonitory advice of
the father of his country, rose superior to all
the difficulties of an Incorporation of a new
Empire into the Union. In the councils OF
Congress, there was manifested extreme antag-
onism of opinion and action between some rep-