The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1865-07-01
aThe Declaration Of Independence

l. L.
The Declaration, OF. Indepen dence.
We would like to publish this immortal docu
iment entire, but presume. most of our readers
ihave copylat hahds All shouldIhaveCit AND
we suggest that on the coming Anniversary it
be everywhere read, lin private as well as in
public. The leading idea of thesfraners of the
Declaration, was to'secure a great united 94aneri-
cdh Nationality, based on the Democratic doctrine
of human equality and man 5 capacity, for self
government. A short history Of its adoption
may not be amiss at this time
The Committee appointed by the. Colonial
Congress TO draw upa Declaration of Indepen-
1dence, consisted of Thomas Jefferson, JohnfAd-
ANS, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and
Robert R. Livingston. The members of the COM
mittee however asked Mr.. Jefferson to prepare
the document Tie did SO. A few unimnportant
corrections were made BY Adams and Franklin,
and it was then submitted to Congress. Hereit
passed through fiery ordeal ef debate for four
days. pne ID glsyd ,gragp b0os
70 Mr. Dickinson Of Pennsylvania, WHO Still hoped
fol, reconciliation with England, was its strong
est opponent. John Adams of Massachusetts,
was its most earnest advocate The only record
we have; of the discussion is contained in Jeffe-
ison's hfNotes, = which are very meagre. After
striking out several important clauses and7ma-
king some amendments, twas finally passed TO-
ward the close Of July t4th, TIC. The members
from New York waited to hear from lthsir, State
Convention, and did not sign the Declaration
until July 9th. Part of the Delegation from
Pennsylvania refuseditolsign it, and that State
promptly elected other men to take their place
These men signed it on the 2Oth!il on 10 /
we call special attention to the clauses stricken
out They are an evidence of the strong anti
slavery feeling existing at that time, Had they
been adopted and their spirit carried outae8e
might not have had a slave holders rebellion.
They read as foliows:d 9df ld glbn1 'neql
.l"Fe (ihe KingI has excited reasonable insur-
irections of our fellow-cftizens with the allure
ments Of forfeiture and confscation Of our prop
ierty. cal nGG 81 soil iiG 81 ts.I mon f9Yo
'7i5' He has waged cruel war against ,humanna
tgFe violating its most sacred rights o. life and
liberty in the persons Of q distant people. who
never offended him, captivating and carrying
them into Slavery in another hemisphere, or to
incur miserable death in their TRANSPORTATION
ttitheri This piratical warfare, the opprobrium
3of infdeg powers, is the warfare OF the Ctristzs1
king of Great Britain gh.dl {ng 50 OF m99s
Undetermined to.keep open a market where
MEN should be bought and sold, he has prosttu-
ted his negative for suppressing every legislative
attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrabe
commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors
might want no fact Of distinguished dye, he is
among US, and to purchase thelibefty of (which
he has deprived them, by numbering the people
on whom he also obtruded themj thus paying off
former crimes committed against the LIBERTIES of
one people with crimes which, he urges them to-
commit agsinstIthe HES Of, another aiie4o
n9MrsJeferson, in his q Memoif, gives tile fol-
loving reasons for the rejection Of these two
clauses. 4oVq g1'nnp2 ANA ~ SHIL7 on"
Hip 99gdj 10 0mOoGi GA esd 0d .rsd4Oaa
frfe s The pusillanimous idea that we had friends
in England worth keeping terms with, still haunt
ed the minds Of many: For this reason, those
passages which conveyed censure on the people
of England, were struck out lest, they should
give them offence. The clause, too, reprobatfng
the enslaving the inhabitants of Africa, was
Hstruek out in compliance to South Carolina and
Georgia. who had never attempted to restrain
theIimpertationl of slaves, and who, eon the con-
trarys wishedato continue it.1gaZs edt o. s4ed
u The History Of the Declaration of aIndepeIi-
dence is valuable record It shows the view
which Jefferson had Of the institution Of slavery
as well as the prevailing sentiment OF, the people
on that subject at that time. Only taoo of the
thirteen colonies objected to the clause censuring
the slave traffic, and theirq objection it appears,
was founded on interest not on principle There
is not single word on record SO show that any
Of the public men of that day, not even those
from South Carolina and Georgia, attempted to
justify slavery qit1was looked upon las,an evil
a crime---an institution which civilization and
humanity would ere dong odrive out of existence
No one expected it to be permanent, or to become
apart Or the settled policy Of the nation. Tie
infant Republic needed all the strength which
harmony could give i, /, and the Slave clause was
stricken out to conciliate South Carolnas and
Georgia. Unfortunate compromisehlslo yGo
Ha Jefferson's hostility to Slavery was uniformly
earnest and consistent 1t was through his efforts
that the great Northwestern territory was secured
to Freedom +, and he made repeated efforts to-
abolish Slavery in his own State. His, opinion
of the colored man is. given in a letter to the
Marquis de Chastellux, of June 9TH, 1885, in
which he says ~ ealToYi5t sGw Aafayall
5HoeI believe tile Indian in his body and mind,
to lie equal t0ethe white man. I have supposed
the black man, in his present statey might not be
so; bntit would be hazardous to iiaffirm that
equally cultivated for few generations, be
would not become SEN nsdw .ynb Isel oaf
iIeJeferson wasthe greatlead der of Democracy in
this country. How muchcof his Democracy has
been Inherited by many Of his Pretended folio%7
ets Of to-day, we viii, leave the reader to de-
e ''''' 'Hir'ns I'd hoa8qs sid djiB 30 tnsw met /
The Perjury Cases..
-loTbe case Of Alansdn shipleyi Geo W Norris