Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-07-11

slavery would he abolished. But
after the val had fairly commenced
it seemed that everyloyal American
took a solemn vow that the stars
aud stripes should never again float
over a human being IN bondage.
Now for some of the circumstan-
ces that led up to this condition.
In August, 1921, the great state of
Missouri, with a population of a.
600, was admitted to the union, but
the addition of Missouri TO the re-
public was attended with great
political strife.
The difficulty was the presence OF
slavery in Missouri. In 1919 the
bill to organize the territory was
brought up in congress. The issue
was az once raised in congress whether
a new state should be admitted with
the system of slave labor prevalent
therein, or whether by congressional
action slave holding should be pro-
hibited, An amendment was offered
10 the original bill and became the
law, prohibiting the admission of
Missouri as a slave state. Meanwhile
the Missouri bill went to the senate
and was lost.
In 1920 the formal admission OF
Missouri as a state was brought up
in congress. The proposition to adj
nit was opposed by the large and
growing party of those who favored
the exclusion OF slavery from the
public domain. At that time Maine
was presented for admission as a free
state. The Pro-slavery party oppo-
sed the admission of Maine as a free
state until Missouri should be admit
ted as a slave state. An angry
debate of over two months duration
followed, until the 10th OF February
of the same ar,when a bill coupling
the two states together, one with and
the other without slavery, was passed.
After the admission Of the states
of Maine and Missouri upon the con
ditions of which / have spoken, =
bill passed both houses forever ex-
GLIDING slavery from all that part of
the Louisiana cession, Missouri ex-
cepted-lying north of the parallel sc
degrees and thirty minutes. This
was known as the Mason and Dixon
line, and such was the celebrated
Missouri compromise, n of the
most important acts of American
Legislation. BY this compromise the
slavery agitation was allayed until
l849.
In September, 1S49, California
submitted a constitution excluding
slavery from that state, which was
adopted by her people. The presen-
tation of a petition to congress ask
ing for the admission of California as
an anti-slavery state was the subject
for a bitter controversy. The scenes
attendant upon the admission of Mis-
souri, were re-enacted. The ground
of opposition was that the Missouri
compromise line in its extension to
the Pacific, crossed California where
by a part of the state was open to
the institution of slavery, and this by
an act of congress which no territorial
Legislation could abrogate. The peo-
pie of the proposed state had indi-
Gated their opposition to slavery.
Such was the issue. The debates
grew more and more violent, until
the stability of the union was serious.
ly threatened.
BY this time the people of the
south in general had begun to clamor
loud and bitter with respect to the
escape of fugitive slaves. 1t was
claimed that slaves fleeing from the
south were received on crossing the
borders of free states, by abolition
lists, and were aided in ~effecting a
| FINAL escape from their masters. The
opponents of slavery demanded that
in the District of Columbia where the
national authority was paramount,
where no constitution guaranteed the
existence of the institution, the slave
trade should be abolished.