Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1856-07-01

equal part, to the unreseryed adoption OF which
every State has formally subscribed, by ex-
press clause establishes, sanctions, and con-
firms the African slave trade, and to its pro-
lection on the high seas pledges the whole
power Of all of the States.
To this acknowledgment and protection of
the slave trade, by which freemen were stolen
and reduced to slavery, Massachusetts, as well
as every other State, gave its full and deliberate
sanction.
Massachusetts, and all the free States en-
gagged in this African slave trade a very large
portion of their ships and their capital were
engaged in stealing free men from Africa, re-
ducing them to slavery, and selling them with
guarantee of title into perpetual bondage,
they and their children. Let the free States
recolect that this warrantee of title is still i'm
perative upon them.
Massachusetts, and other free States imported
some 100000 negroes, sold them into slavery,
giving bills of sale guaranteeing to the pur-
chaser full right and title to the negroes and
their issue as slaves for life, until their owners
should voluntarily emancipate them. The
negro slaves by the men Of the free States,
with interest aecruing, now exceeds two thou
sand millions of dollars. The mere mention
of this enormous sum gives some idea Of the
direct profit which the men of the free States
have reaped from reducing freemen to slavery
Not only have they enjoyed this immense
direct profit, but they have also reaped the
larger portion Of these slaves labor after they
had received full payment for them.
The view we wish to present is this: At the
time Of the forming Of the Constitution, all the
States, with perhaps single exception, were
slavehoding States; by the Constitution, which
they all adopted, provision was made for per
petual slave trade, and so earnest were they to
augment the number Of Slares, that an irwin
chile obstacle against the exclusion of slaves
was put into the Constitution, by which the
introduction Of slaves was countenanced and
encouraged for the long space Of twenty years /;
it was not until after the expiration Of that
tiuiC iHat tHC iCuCidl ouNclHucuL IOuiu CA
clude slaves, how desirous soever the States
might be.
The question which boldly stands in relief
from these facts, is this:
Could it be possible that the people who took
such stringent measures TO increase the number
Of slares could have had any conscientious
scruples in giving greater number of slaves
a greater area Of soaf
Could that be sound and honest conscience
which could carefully and conscientiously pro-
vide for the enslaving of seven hundred thou
sand freemen, and yet feel it to be violation
of conscience to augment the area upon which
they should reside?
At that time all the States were slave States,
and did as we have stated. Suppose that they
had all continued slave States, and those that
have since come in were also slave States,
would it not appear to be very strange con-
struction by which all the States felt them
selves excluded from their own territory?
But the right of the whole of the States
together is no greater than that of each one
separately, under the Constitution; and it is
equally as unjust construction which would
exclude one State from the Territories as TO
exclude the whole.
Slavery is as national as the Constitution
can make anything national. Slavery was uni
yersal at the adoption Of the Constitution, and
if universally does not include nationality
nothing does. This nationality is made more
striking by an exception adopted, by which the
Northwestern Territory was by common con-
sent exempted. The sequitur from this is, that
everywhere else, where it shall not be by equally
express exemption excluded, it does and may
exist. Coeyal therefore with the Constitution
is the nationality and constitutionality of
slavery.
1t would seem to be clearer than the noon
day sun, that no sane mind and conscience
could sanction and abet the enslavement and
introduction Of a million Of negroes, and yet
scruple at allowing them larger area for resi-
dence, as in itself a heinous sin, while the re.
ducing them TO slavery was considered no sin.
1t is too preposterous for argument; the plain
statement ofihe fact makes it resistless as an
axiom.
In the course Of time the Northern States,
finding slavery Improbable, passed laws com.
pelling their citizens to sell to the South their
slaves The bill compelling this sale of slaves,
bore the title of the gradual abolition Of slavery
from the State-but its adjustment was by the
fundamentally Of a sale Of the slaves.
This radiance Of slaves and the great influx
Of immigrants gave to the Northern policy a
new tone.
Federalism being thoroughly crushed out, a
new issue was sought, by which this defeated
party might overthrow the Democracy and re-
gain power-and the subject Of slavery was
seized upon and sectional war aroused, SINH
lar to the present contest-the federal leaders
contending that slavery should be confined to
where it originally existed, and the South con-
tending that il went properly over the whole
national domain, save only where, by express