Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1860-03-23

80 INV.
an idea contrary to the fact. My colleague
we'll knows, and so do I, that, practically
we had slaves there while a Territory, and
after we became State. I have seen him
dance to the music ola negro slave in lii
nois many time, and have danced to the
saihg tnusic myself. daughter We have
both had the same uegro servants to black
our boot and wait upon us, and they were
held as slaves. We know, therefore; that
slavery did exist In the State III fact. and
slavery did exist In the Territory in fact; and
his denial felates exclusively to the question
whether slavery was legal. Whether legal
or not, it existed in fact The master exer-
cised his dominion over the slave; AID those
negroes were held as slaves until 1847,
when we established the new constitution.
There are gentlemen around ME here, who
know the act-gghtlemen who were nursed
by slaves in Illinois. No man familiar with
the history Of Illinois will deny the fact
The bubble Is; that the territorial laws au-
thorizing the Introduction of slaves were
void because the ordinance of 17S7 said sla.
very was prohibited.
notwithstanding that ordinance; the old
French inhabitants, who had slaves before
the ordinance, paid no attention to it, and
held slaves still Slaves were held there
all the time that Illinois was Territory
and after 1t became State they were held
till they all died out, and their children be-
came emancipated under the constitution
It is fact; we all know it. That gentle
man has seen many Of those old French
slaves, who we're held in defiance Of the or
dihahss: Whether they were lawfully held
or not, the territorial authorities sustained
the rights Of the master. Not OILY were
slaves held by the French before the ordi-
nance, but the Territorial Legislature pass
cd law in substance to this effect: any
citizen might GO to Kentucky, or any other
State or Territory, Where slaves wers held,
and bring slaves into the Territory Of Hi
nois, take them to a county court, and in
open court enter into an indenture by which
the slave and his posterity were to serve him
for ninety nihe years. and in the event that
the slave refused to enter into the indenture
| the master should havea certain time to take
him out of the Territory and sell him. The
Senator now says that law was not valid
Valid or not, it was executed; slaves were
introduced. and they were held; they were
used; they we're worked; and they died sla-
yes. That is the fact have bad handed
to me book showing the number of slaves
( in Illinois at the taking Of the various cen
suses, by which it appears that, when tbs
census of 1910 was taken, they were in Lii;
nois 1853 slayes;in 1920, 917;in 1880, TAT;
and in 1910, 331 In 1850 there were
none, for the reason that, in 1S47, we adop
ted a new constitution that prohibited slave.
ry entirely, and by that time they had near.
" all died The census shows that at one
| time there were as many as nine hundred
slaves, AHA at all times tie dominion Of the
master was maintained.
The fact is, that the people of the Terri
tory of Illinois. when it was Territory
were almost all from the Southern States
particularly from Kentucky and Tennessee
| The Southern end of the State was the only
part at first settled-that part called Egypt,
! because it is the land of letters and Of plen.
ity. Civilization and learning all originated
| in Egypt The Northern part Of The State,
where the political friends Of my colleague
now preponderate, was then in the posses
sion Of of the Indians, and SO were northern
Indiana and northern Ohio and Yankee
could not get to Illinois at all, unless he
passed down through Virginia and over into
Tennessee and through Kentucky. The
consequence was, that ninety-nine out of a
hundred of the settlers were from the slave
States. They carried the old family ser
wants With them, and kept them. They
were told Here is an ordinance of Con-
gress passed against your holding them. "
They said .'What has Congress to do with
our domestic institutions Congress had bet
ter mind its own business, and let us alone;
we know what we want better than Con-
gress )" and hence they passed this law te
bring them in and make them indeptured
Under that, they established slavery, and
held Slaves as long as they wanted them
When they assembled to make the co1lstl-
tuition Of Illinois, i'd 1918, for admission in
to the Union, nearly every delegate to the
convention brought his negro along with
him to black his boots, play the fiddle. wai
upeu him and and take care Of his foom.-
They had jolly time there; they were
dancing people, frolicksome people, people
who enjoyed life I; they had the old French
habits. Slaves were just as thick there as
black berries.
But they said Experience proves tina
it is not going to be profitable in this eli
mate" There we're no scruples about it
Every one of them was nursed by it. His
mother and his father held slaves. They
had RIO scruples about its being right, but
they said, ''yVe cannot make money by it,
and as our State runs way north up to those
eternal SHOWS, perhaps we shall gain popu-
lation faster, if we stop slavery and invite
in the northern population = and, as nat
ter of political policy, State policy, they pro-
hibited slavery themselves. How did they
prohibi: it? Not by emancipating, setting
at liberty, the slaves then in the State, fo1
I believe that has never been done By any
legislative body in Americas, and I doubt
whether any one will ever arrogate to itself
the right to divest property already there
but they provided that all slaves then III the
State should rethain slaves for life that all
indentured persons should fulfil the terms OF
their indentures. Ninety-nine wears was
about long enough, / reckon, for grown