Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-02-06

prohibition was extended to 1stE: New Hampshire
Connecticut Massachusetts, Maryland North Caro-.
lima, South Carolina and Georgiss voting for 1903
Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, voting for
1900. It will be seen that the trainers of the Consti
tuition assumed that Congress had the power to pro-
hibit the importation of persons: right then exer-
cised by the existing States, and that that body
declared the States should not be deprived of that
right for twenty years. The convention uses in the
article above referred to the word @importatien'
having well known commercial Specification, to
wit: the conveyance of an article of property from
one country to another. There were then about
600 Africans in the United States held as slaves
all of whom had been imported from Africa or the
West Indies, or were the descendants of those who
had been imported If that convention had intended
to have placed African slavery in course of ulti-
male extinction they would have promptly declared
that more African slaves should ever be imported
into the United States. But they intended no such
thing The commercial Statea of the North were
engaged in the slave trade and they did not wish to
put stop to that trade.
The Southern States wanted more laborers and
their delegates voted to prevent Congress from clos
ing the trade for the period of twenty years. After
the lapse of twenty years, Congress had the power
to prohibit the trade leave it open, at its dscre
ton They closed it. 1t has so stood for fifty years
and so it will stand 1t is true that the State of
Virginia had by an act of her Legislature, prohi-
bited the importation of more African slaves.
There were then27000 slaves; the white population
was then only 290000-about 10 blacks to ii whites
Jefferson stated then tina. abundance of wholesome
food, humane treatment, and moderate labor made
the blacks increase fast or faster than the whites.
continuance OF the slaye-trade might have.
placed the blacks in the ascendency. A suggestion
to emancipate slaves was made and hardly reeelv-
ed respectable attention. In thus continuing for
twenty years open slave-trade, let one Judge
our ancestors uncharitaby for the slave trade as
then, as the Supreme Court say, sanctioned by all
civilized nations. The French, the Spanish, the
Portuguese, the English and Dutch had all established
colonies and planted African slavery therein. The
French bad introduced slavery INTO Louisiana,
the SpaniaTds in Florida, West Indies, and else
where the English in West Indies, Virginia. Geor-
gia and other States, the Dutch in New York and
elsewhere.
The Supreme Court of Massachusetts say, in 1896,
that slavery came into that State, not by force OF
law, for none such is found or known to exist but
from that universal custom prevailing throughout
the European colonies in the West Indies and in the
Continent of America, fostered and encouraged by
the commercial policy Of the parent country. These
facts, as stated by the Supreme Court of Massachu
sets and OF the United States, are sustained by
the statements of Sir Archibald Allison in his his
tory of Europe. He says negro slaves had been for
period of more than two hundred years imported
from the coast of Africa to the British colonies
and so eficaciOus had their labor proved In clear
ing the American jungles and bringing into cult
walton the rich soil which had been accumuating
for thousands of years 1t had come to be attended
with very great profit and the slave-trade had be-
come an important branch of British commerce.
1t had been authorized and regulated by several
royal proclamations aud by acts of Parliament.
The two most important cities of western Britain
Liverpool and Glasgow-had mainly risen to wealth
and greatness from the profits Of this traffic. So
great had it become that nearly 100000 Africans
were at the close of the war. settled in the West
Indies, and above 100000 settled in the Island of
Cuba and adjoining Continent.
Il is therefore apparent that the trainers of the
CONSTITUTION, by Withdrawing from Congress the
power to close the slave trade intended to leave the
States the power to supply themselves with sufi-
cheney of efficient African laborers to bring into
cultivation their rich and boundless forests.
The number and distribution of the blacks at sew
n.al rarinis 1rarn NJ nllnrra.