Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1860-07-19
THs BiRBiRITIES or SLiTERY.
SPEECH
or
HON. CHARLES SUMNER
IN Ge 4. s. Senate, June ia, 1860.
(coScLrprp.)

when VIZ read the constitution i'm th,
light of great national acts and of co.
;emporancous declarations: first come,
the Declaration Of independence. th,
Illuminated initial letter Of our his
tory. which. in familiar words. an,
nounces that all men are created
equal: that they are endowed by thei,
Creator with certain inalienablc rights
that among these are life. liberty. and
the pursuit of happiness: that to secure
these rights. governments are insti
tutcd am ong men deriving their Just
powers from the consent of the gov.
erned.' Nor does this declaration,
binding the conscience of all who en-
I JOY the privileges it secured. stand
alone. There is another national act
less known. but in itself key to the
first, when, at the successful close OF
the Revolution, the Continental Con-
grcss. in n solemn address to the peo.
pie. loftily announced: Let it be re-
membered that it has ever been the
pride and the boast of America that
the rights for which she has contended
were the rights of human nature. BY
the blessings of the Author of these
rights. they have prevailed over all
opposition, and form the basis of thir-
teen Independent states. Now what
ever may be the privileges of states in
their individual capacities, within
their several local Jurisdictions. no
power can be attributed to the nation
in the absence of positive unequivocal
grant inconsistent with these two ma
tional declarations. Here is the ma
tional heart, the national soul, the ma
tional will. the national voice, which
must inspire our Interpretation of the
constitution, and enter into and diffuse
itself through all the national legisla
ton. Such are the commanding au-
thorties which constitute, life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. and in
more general words, the rights OF
human nature without distinction OF
race, or recognition of the curse of
Ham. as the basis of our national in
stitutions. They need no additional
support. But in strict harmony with
these are the many utterances in the
Convention which framed the Consti-
tuition; of Gouverneur Morris of Penn
sylvania, who announced that he
would never concur in upholding
domestic slavery, it was a nefarious
institution of Eldrilge Gerry of Mas
sachusetts, who said that we had
nothing to do with the conduct Of the
States as to slavery, but we ought to
be careful not to give, any sanction tC
it, of Roger Sherman and Oliver
Ellsworth of Connecticut, and Mr.
Gorham of Massachusetts, who all
concurred with Mr.. Gerry; and espe-
cially of Mr.. Madison of Virginia,
who, in mild judicial phrase, thought
it wrong 20 admit In the Constitution
the idea that there could be property
in man. And. lastly. as if to com.
plete the elaborate work of Freedom,
and to give expression to. all these ut
terances, the word 'servitude,' which
had been allowed in the ella, Sc on the
apportionment of representatives, was
struck ont, and the word Service sub
stituted instead. This final exclusion
from the Constitution of the idea oil
property in man was on the mo.
tion of Mr.. Randolph in Virginia; and
the reason assigned for the substi.
tuition according to Mr.. Madison, in
his authentic report of the debate, was
that the former was thought to ex.
press the condition of slaves. and the
latter the obligation of free persons.
Thus at every point, by great national
declarations. by frank utterances in
the Convention, and by positive act
in adjusting the text of the Constitu.
tion was the idea of property in man
unequivocally rejected. This preten'
tension, which may be dismissed as
utterly baseless. becomes absurd when
it is considered to what result it neces-
sarily conducts. Ii the barbar:sm oil
Slavery, in III its fivefold wrong is
really embodied in the Constitution,
so as to be beyond the reach of prohi
bition, either Congressional or local
in the Territories. then for the same
reason, it must be beyond the reach o
prohibition or Abolition. even by loca
authority in the States themselves, anC
Just so long as the Constitution con
tinues unchanged, Territories and
States alike must be open to all it,
blasting influences. And yet this pre-
tension, which in its natural conse,
quences. overturns State rights. is pu
forward by Senators who profess to b,
the special guardians of state rights.
disdain to dwell on that other ar
gument, brought forward by Senators
who DENYING the equality of man, spe.
ciously assert the equality of the states
and from this principle. true in many
respects. jump to the conclusion tha
slave masters are entitled, in the nam,
of equality. to take their slaves into
the national Territories under the sol
emn safeguards of the Constitution
But this argument comes back to tn,
first preiension. that slaves; are rccog
nized as property in the Constitution
To that pretension. alreadyamply ex
posed. we are always brought. no.
can any sounding allegation of Stat,
equality avoid it. And yet this very
argument betrays the inconsistency
of its authors. II persons held tC
service in the slave States are prop
erty' under the Constitution. then,
under the provision-known as the
the 'three-fifths' which found,
representation in the other House OF
such persons. there is property rep