The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1860-09-18
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY VINDICA-
TED-THE DEMANDS OF THE
SOUTH EXPLAINED.
S p E E G I'll
HON. ABRAHAM LINCOLN
OLE ILLINOIS,
OF ILLINOIS


arg 9th, 1860.
Mr.. President and tellov citizens ofMe
City of Neao York: The facts with
which l shall deal this evening are main
ly old and familiar nor is there anything
new in the general use l shall make OF
them. If there shall be any novelty, it
will be in the mode of presenting the
facts, and the inferences and observations
following that presentation. In his speech
last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio, as re-
ported in the New York Times, Senator
Douglas said
"Our fathers when they framed the Govern
ment under which we live, understood this
question just as well, and even better than we
do now"
1 fully endorse this, and | adopt it as
text for this discourse. Applause.
! so adopt it, because it furnishes pre-
else and and agreed starting point for
discussion between Republicans and
that wing of the Democracy headed by
Senator Douglas. 1t simply leaves the
inquiry, What was the understanding
those fathers had of the question mem
toned? What is the frame of govern
ment under which we live The answer
must be, the Constitution of the United
States. That Constitution consists of
the original, framed in 1897, land under
which the present Government first went
into operation, and twelve subsequently,
framed amendments, the first ten of
which were framed in 1889. Who were
our fathers that framed the Constitution?
| suppose the thirty nine" who signed
the original instrument may be fairly
called our fathers who framed that part
of the present Government. 1t is al
most exactly true TO say they framed it.
and it is altogether true to say they fair
ly represented the opinion and sentiment
of the whole nation at that time. Their
names, being familiar to nearly ALL and
accessible to quite all, need not now be
repeated. | take these thirty nine, !"
for the present, as being "our fathers
who framed the Government under which
we live. What is the question which,
according to the text, those fathers un-
derstood just as well, and even better,
than we do now 1t is this; Does the
proper division of local from Federal
authority, or anything in the Constitu
ton, forbid our Federal Government to
control as TO slavery in our Federal Ter
ritories? Upon this Douglas holds the
affirmative, and Republicans the negative.
This affirmative and denial form an issue;
and this issue, this question, is precisely
what the text declares our fathers under
stood better than We. Cheers. Let US
now inquire whether the thirty nine, !"
or any of them, ever acted upon this
question and if they did, how they act
ed upon it-how they expressed that bet
ter understanding. In 1884, three years
before the Constitution, the United States
then owning the Northwestern Territory,
and no other. the Congress of the Con
federation had before them the question
of prohibiting slavery in that Territory i;
and four of the "thirty nine" who after
wards framed the Constitution were in
that Congress. and voted on that ques-
ton. OF these, Roger Sherman, Thos.
Mifilin and Hugh Williamson, voted for
the prohibtion-thus showing that, in
their understanding, no line dividing 10
cal from Federal authority, nor anything
else, properly forbade the Federal Gov
ernment to control as TO slavery in Fed
eral territory. The other of the four,
James McHenry, voted against the pro
hibition--showing that, for some cause,
he thought it improper TO vote for it
In 1857, still before the Constitution, but
while the Convention was in session
framing it, and while the Northwestern
Territory still was the only Territory
owned by the United States, the same
question of prohibiting slavery in the
Territory again came before the Congress
of the Confederation and three more OF
the " thirty nine" who afterwards signed
the Constitution were in that Congress,
and voted on the question. They We're
William Blount, William Few, and Abra-
ham Baldwin and they all voted for the
prohibition-thus showing that. in their
understanding, no line dividing local
from Federal authority, nor anything
else. properly forbade the Federal Gov
ernment 10 control as TO slavery in Fed
eral territory. This time, the prohibi
tion became law. being n part Of what
is now we'll known as the ordinance of
1887. The question of Federal control
of Slavery in the Territories seems not
to have been directly before the Conven-
ton which framed the original Consti-
tuition; and hence it is not recorded
that the thirty nine" or any of them,
while engaged on that instrument. ex-
pressed an opinion on that precise ques-
ton In 1889, by the first Congress
which sat under the Constitution, an act
was passed to enforce the ordinance of
1897, including the prohibition of slavery
in the Northwestern Territory. The bill
for this act was reported by one Of the
=" thirty nine" Thomas Fitzsimmons,
than member Of the House of Repre-.
sentalives from Penns ylvania. 1t went
through all its stages without word OF
oppositition, and finally passed both
branches without yeas and nays, which
is equivalent 10 u unanimous passage.