Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1861-05-11


prosecuted for the purpose of rendering insc-
cure the tenure of property in slaves Fanat-
lcal organizations, supplied with money by
voluntary subscriptions, wcro assiduously en-
gagged i'll exciting amongst the slaves a spirit
OF discontent and revolt; nicaus were fur
nislied for their escape from their owners, and
agents, secretly employed to cntice them to
abscond; the Constitutional provision for
! their rendition to their owners was first eva
dcd, then openly denounced as a violation of
conscientious obligation and IA religious duty
mcnS were taught that it was II merit to cludc,
disobcy, and violently oppose the execution of
tho laws enacted to secure the performance of
the promise contained in the Constitutional
compact owners of slaves were mobbcd and
even murdered in open day, solely for apply
ing to a magistrate for the arrest Of u fugitive
slave; the dogmas of these voluntary organi-
cations soon obtained control of the Logisla-
lures of many of the Northern States, and
laws were passed providing for the punish
mcnt by rninous fines and long continued i'm
prisonmcnt in jails and pcnitcntiarics, of citi-
zcns of the Southern States, who should dare
to ask md of the officers of the. law for tho
recovery of their property. Emboldencd by
success, the theatre Of agitation and aggression
against the clearly expressed Constitutional
|
to the Congress; Senators and Representa-
tives were sent to the common councils of tho
nation, whose chief title to this distinction
consisted IN the display of spirit of ultra ia
nnticism, aud whose business was, not "to
promote the general welfare or insure domcs.
tic tranquility" but to awaken the bttcrest
hatred against the citizens Of sister States by
violcnt dcnunciation Of their institutions the
transaction of public affairs was impcdcd by
repeated efforts to usurp powers not delegated
by the Constitution, for the purpose OF impair
ing the curty of property in slaves, aud re-
ducing those States which held slaves to con-
dition of nferiority. Finally, a great party
was organized for the purpose of obtaining the
administration Of the Government, with the
avowcd object Of using its power for tho total
exclusion OF tho slave States from MI paitici-
patton In the benefits of tho public domain
acquired by all the States in common, whcth-
er by conquest or purchase of surrounding
them entirely by Suites in which slavery
should be prohibited of thus rendering the
property in slaves SO insecure MS to be com
paratively worthless, aud thereby annihilating
in effect property worth thousands of millions
of dollars. This. party, thus organized, sue
cceded, in the montlof November last, in the
election of its candidate for the Presidency of
the United States e,sJ,
In the meantime, under the mild and gcni-
al climate of the Southern States, and. the in
crcasing care and attention for the we'll being
and comfort of the aboring class, dictated
alike by interest and humanity, the African
slaves had augmented in number from about
OOo,QO0 at the date of tlle adoption of the
Constitutional compact, to upwards of 4, ,000,-
600. In moral and social condition they had
| nj fnI fer,,,, Il
Intelligent and civilized agricultural laborcrs,
and supplied not only with bodily comforts
but with careful religious instruction. Under
the supervision of superior race, their labor
has been so directed as not only to allow
gradual and marked amclioration OF their own
condition, but to convert hundreds of thous
ands of square miles Of the wilderness into
cultivated lands, covered with "a prosperous
people; towns and cities had sprung into ex-
istencc, and had rapidly Increased in wealth
and population un Ter the social system of the
South the wlii;o popuiation OF the Southern
fslavcholding States had augmented from about
| ] go 900 at the date of the adoption of the
Constitution, to more than S, 500 600 in 1860 !;
and the productions of tho South in cotton
rice, sugar aud tobacco, for thecfull develop.
mcnt and continuance of which the labor of
| African slaves was, aud is, indispensable, had
| swollen to an amount Which formed nearly
three fourths of the exports Of the whole Uni
ted States, and had become absolutely neccs
| sary to the wants of civilized men. -, "
/ With interests of such overwhelming mag
nitude imperiled, the people of the Southern
| States we're driven by tho conduct of tho
North to. the adoption of some course of ac
tion to avert the danger with which they
were openly mcnaccd With this view, tho
Legislature of the several States invited the
people to, select delegates to conventions to be
| held for the purposeof determining for them.
selves What measures were best adapted to
meet 30 alarming crisis in thcir history;
Here it may be proper to observe that from
Ia poriod as early rs .1708, there had existed
in all ofthe States of the Union a party, al.
most unintcrluptedly in the majority, based
upon the creed that each State wus, in the
list resort, the sole judge US well of its
wrongs as Of the mode and measure of re.
+ dress. Indeed, tits obvious, that under the
law of nations, this principle is an axiom as
IappIied to the relations of Independent soyc.
reign States, such as those which had united
themselves under tho Constitutional compact.
The Deniocratic. party of the, United States
repeated in its successful canvass Of 1856,
the declaration mado IN numerous previous
political contests, that Il would !" faithfully
abidesby md uphold tho principles laid down
IN thesKentuoky and Virginia resolutions of
, l708,N and lin tho report Of Mr.$Madisod to
tho Virginia LEGISLATURE in 17ll and tl,,it IL