Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1861-02-22

Of your material intorcsts2 No, sir. But with a
lavish and munificent hand they gave you of their
sbundance-Virginis alone giving to you 239, ,55s
square mile and forever prohibiting slavery In it.
thereby swelling your aggregate of territory from
l69,662 square miles to 4O9 800, and reducing the
aggregate of slave territory from 6ss,0l6 square
miles TO 800 45S from which generous cession you
have since erected the great States of Ohio, lndi
ana, illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. And yet
sir hear men of my section on this floor, as
well as from the North declare that t1e whole force
of the Government has heretofore beeR welded for
the extension of the institution of slavery, and
against the North. Sir, it is grossly erroneous and
wholly uhsustsincd by the facts.
But beg gentlemen of the North to follow me
yet further in the investigation of this question to
the next partition of territory; for we haye always
until the last acqusion--that under the treaty Of
Gaudaloupe- e-HidRlgo-divided our territorial acqu-
sitions between the North and the South. BY the
treaty of Paris, made on the 30th day of April,
1908, We purchased from the Gov ernment of France
the Louisiana territery, extending from the mouth
of the Mississippi TO Vancouvers Island, aud con-
tanning an area Of ], ,l3G,496 square miles; every
foot of which was slave territory and by the terms
of the purchase made so; and our Government was
pledged to protect it. Article third of such treaty
is in the following words:*
.The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be
incorporated in the Union of the United States and
admitted soon ss possible, according to the prin-
dples of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment
of all the rights advantages, and immunities of cit
izens of the United States; and, in the mean time,
they shall be maintained and protected in the free
enjoyment OF their liberty property and the religion
which they profess"
No one doubts or questions, sir, that in all this
vast extentof territory wherever settled-and there
were many settlements on it-slaves were held as
- ttat nf hos
always been understood both cotemporaneously aud
since TO pledge our government to the protection of
this species of property in the Louisiana Territory
while ip territorial condition remained. But in
1920 we established the line of 36o 30\ north lati-
tude, and prohibited slavery in all that portion OF
this vast empire north of that line; which gave to
the North 977602 square miles, retaining for the
slave States only l5S,894 square miles. Thus, in
the partition of a territory all slave by the terms OF
the treaty by which it was acquired, the South re-
linquished to the North slS70S square miles mere
territory than she retained to her own Can il
be asserted that this is illiberal that this il using
the power of the Government for the agg dizc-
ment of the South, and to the detriment VI the
i North The South might have retained all this
j Nor did our fathers think, when they confdingy
yielded to you this vast prepondeernce them in
the Government q section, that it would ever bt
used TO crush the South and destroy its most cher
ished institution.
But sir must hurry on, for my hour is fast eI
! piring.
By the Florida purchase, the slave States acquir
ed territory of 9,26S square miles; and by th'
annexation of Texas, 774,356 square miles making
; total of 333,624 square miles. By the treaty o
Guadaloupe Hidago, our total acquisicn of terrific
) ry was G654S6 square miles OF this the Nortl
has already acquired California, containing lSs9Sl
square miles +; leaving now undispostd Of New
Mexico and Utah. which contain 47e,5o5 squar
miles.
! ask sir, to recapitulste the statistics which
have collected, from the report Of the COMMISSIONS
of the Land Uaice: