Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1856-03-14
The Aggrcssions and Usurpation. of the
Slave Power.
Declaration Of the Principles and Purposes
Of the Republican Party.
Address of the Republican Convention,
At PLrTSBtRGM FEB. %, 1856.

To the People Of the United States.
Having met in Convention at the City of
Pittsburgh, in the State of Pennsylvania,
this 22l day of February, 1886, as the repre-
tatircs OF the people in various sections OF the
Union, to consult upon the political evils by
which the country /. menaccd and the poll
teal action by which those evils may be
aycrted we address to you this Declaration of
our Principles and of the Purposes which we
seek to promote.
We declare in the first place. our fixed and
unulterable devotion to the Constitution 0f
the United States to the ends for which it
was established, and to the means which it
provided for their attainment. We accept
the solemn protcstation of the People of the
United States, that they ordained it, - in
order to form 4 more perfect union, establish
Justice, ensure domestic tranquility, pro-
vide for the common defence. promote the
general welfare, and secure the blessings of
liberty to themselves and their posterty."
We believe that the powers which it cOniers
ur0n the Government Of the United States
are ample for the accomplishment Of these
objects and that if these powers are
csed in the spirit Of the Constitution itself,
they cannot lead to any other result. We re-
spcct those great rights which the Constitu-
ton declares - be einyioable, freedom Of speech
Belief 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 haJeas corpus, the right of trial by jury,
and the right OF personal liberty unless de-
priyed thereof for crime by due process of
law. We declare our purpose to obey, in
all things, the requirements of the Consttu-
tion and of all laws enacted in pursuance
| thereof. We cherish profound reverence
for the wise and patriotic men by whom it
! was framed, and lively sense Of the bles-
sings it has conferred upon our Country and
| upon mankind throughout the world. In
every crisis of dilhcultyand ofdanger, we shall
invoke its spirit and proclaim the supremacy
Of its authority.
In the next place, we declare our ardent and
mistaken attachment to this Union of Amer
lean States, which the Constitution created
and has thus far preserved. We revere it as
| the purchase of the blood of our forfathers,
| as the condition of our national renown, and
as the guardian and guaranty Of that Liberty
which the Constitution was designed to Sc
cure. We will defend and protect it against
all its enemies. We will recognize no geo.
| graphical divisions, no local interests. no mar
row or sectional prejudice., in our endeavors
to preserve the Union of these States against
| foreign aggression and domestic strife. What
we claim for ourselves, we claim for all.
The rights, privileges and liberties which we
demand as our inheritance, We concede as
their Inheritance to all the citizens 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 preservation and pros
perity OF the American Union but that
| its powers are systematically welded FOR The
! PROMOTION AND EXTENSION or TIE INTEREST OF
SLAVERY, in direct hostility to the letter and
spirit OF the Constitution, in flagrant di.re-
gard Of other great interests Of the country,
aud 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 year. past been adopted in
the Administration of the General Govern.
nent, tends to the utter subversion Of each ol
the great ends for which the Constitution
was established and that, unless it shall be
arrested by the prompt interposition of the
People, the hold Of the Union upon their low
atty aud affection will be relaIed,-the do
nestle tranquility will be disturbed, and all
! constitutional securities for the blessing. Of
liberty 10 ourselves and our posterity will be
destroyed. The Slaveholding interest cannot
be made permanently paramount in the Gen
eral Government, without involving conse.
quences fatal to free institutions We ac-
knowledge that it is large and powerful
that in the States where it exists it is EMIT.
led, under the Constitution, like all other To-
cal interests, to immunity from the interfer-
ences Of the General Government, and that il
must necessarily exercise through its repre-
sentativss, a considerable share of poll itica
n.,t . =. f. -.
as there is certainly nothing in it. charac,
ter, to sustain the supremacy which it SEEK
to establish. There is not a State in the I'm
ion in winch the Shareholders number on,
tenth of the free white populstion,-no II
the aggregate do they number one fiHeth part
Of the white population of the United States
The annual productions of the other classe.
in the Union, far exceed the total value of al
the slaves. To say nothing therefore of the
questions of natural Justice and of politica
economy which Slavery involves, neither it,
magnitude nor the numbers Of those by whom
1t is represented, entitle it to one tenth part
OF the political powers conferred upon the
Federal Government by the Constitution
Yet we see it seeking, and at this moment
welding all the functions of the Government
-exeeutiye, legislative and judicial ,-anC
using them for the augmentation Of its pow
ers and the establishment of it's ascenden "
From this ascendency the principles of the
Constitution, the rights of the several States
the safety of the Union, and the welfare o
the people of the United States, demand that
it should be dislodged
HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE PRO
GRESS OF SLAVERY TOWARDS AS
CENCENCY IN THE FEDERAL GOV
ERNMENT
1t is not necessary for us to rehearse in de