Year: 1865

The following is from the speech of Sem
ator Hunter Of Virginia in the rebel Congress
against arming the slaves


To the agitation OF this question, the as
sumption Of this power, he dated the origin
Of the gloom which now overspreads our peo-
pie. They knew that IL our liberties we're to
be achieved il Was to be done by the hearts
and hands Of freedmen. IL also injured us
abroad. II was regarded as a confession Of
despair and an abandonment Of the ground
upon which we had seeded from the old
Union. We had insisted that Congress had
no right to interfere with slavery, and upon
the coming into power Of the party who it
was known would assume and exercise that
power we seeded. We had also then con-
tended that whenever the two races were
thrown together one must be master and the
other slave, and we vindicAted ourselves a.
gainst the accusations OF the abolitionists by
asserting that slavery was the best and hap.
piest condition Of the negro. Now, what
does this proposition admit The right of
the central government to put the slaves into
the militia, and to emsncipste at least so many
as shall be placed in the military service. 1t
is a clear claim Of the central government to
emancipate the slaves. II we are right in
passing this measure, uce tOers iDrong IN deny
,ng 10 the old government he right to interfere
Nth Ne institution of slavery and TO e'nancpate
sldVes. Besides, il we offer slaves their free
dom as boon, we confess that we were in
sincere, were hypccritical in asserting that
slavery was the best state for the negroes
themselves. He had been sincere 10 declar-


ing that the central government had no pow
er over the institution of slavery, and that
freedom would be no boon to negro. He now
believed, as be had formerly said in discus
sion on the same subject that arming and
emancipating the slaves wds an abandonment
of this contest----an abandonment of the
grounds upon which it had been under AIKEN
II this is so, who il to answer for the hun.
dreds Of thousands Of men who had been slain
in the war Who was to answer for them
before the bar OF Heaven, Not those who
had entered into the contest upon principle
and adhered to the urincipe, but those who
had abandoned the principle. Not for all the
gold in California would he have put his
name TO such measure as this unless obliged
to do it by instructions. As long as he was
free to vote from his own convictions nothing
could have extorted il from him.


Mr.. Hunter then argued the necessity Of
freeing the negroes if they we're made sol
diers. There was something in the human
heart and head that tells US it must be so !;
when they come out scared from this conflict
they must be free. Mr. Hunter then showed
from statistics that no considerable body Of
negro troops could be raised in the states
over which the government had control with
out stripping the country Of the labor abso-
lu,ely necessary to produce food. He thought
there vas a much better chance Of getting
the large number of deserters back to the
army than of getting the slaves into it. The
negro abhored the profession Of a soldier
The commsndsnt of conscripts, with authori-
ty to impress twenty thousand slaves, had be-
tween last September and the present time,
been able 10 get but four housond /; and of
these thirty-6ve hundred had been obtained
in Virginia and North Carolina, and five hun
dred from Alabama. II be, armed with all
the powers of impressment, could not get
them as lsborers, how will we be able to get
them as soldiers Unless they volunteer
they will go to the Yankees il we depend
upon their volunteering we can't get them.
and those we do get will desert to the ene-
my, who can offer them better price than
we can. The enemy can offer them liberty,
clothing and even farms at our expense. Ne
groes now were deferred from going to the
enemy only by their fear of being put into
the army. II zoe put them IN they ,Oould all
90 over. In conclusion, that the measure,
when received as to its expediency, was worse
than as question of principle. HI was not
satisfied that majority OF the army were in
favor of the measure.