state. And it is further recommended that the said states shall persevere in their efforts to obtain such amendments, until the same shall be effected. First. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers of free persons, including those bound to serve for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, and all other persons. Second. No new state shall be admitted into the Union by Congress, in virtue of the power granted in the constitution, without the concurrence of two-thirds of both houses.

Third. Congress shall not have power to lay an embargo on the ships or vessels of the citizens of the United States, in the ports or harbors thereof, for more than sixty days.

Fourth. Congress shall not have power, without the concurrence of twothirds of both houses, to interdict the commercial intercourse between the United States and any foreign nation or the dependencies thereof.

Fifth. Congress shall not make nor declare war, nor authorize acts of hostility against any foreign nation, without the concurrence of two-thirds of both houses, except such acts of hostility be in defense of the territories of the United States when actually invaded.

Sixth. No person who shall hereafter be naturalized shall be eligible as a member of the Senate or House of Representatives of the United States, or capable of holding any civil office under the authority of the United States.

Seventh. The same person shall not be elected President of the United States a second time, nor shall the President be elected from the same state two terms in succession.

Resolved, That if the application of these states to the government of the United States, recommended in a foregoing resolution, should be unsuccessful, and peace should not be concluded, and the defense of these states should be neglected, as it has been since the commencement of the war, it will, in the opinion of this convention, be expedient for the legislatures of the several states to appoint delegates to another convention, to meet at Boston, in the state of Massachusetts, on the third Monday of June next, with such powers and instructions as the exigency of a crisis so momentous may require.

Resolved, That the Honorable George Cabot, the Honorable Chauncey Goodrich, the Honorable Daniel Lyman, or any two of them, be authorized to call another meeting of this convention, to be holden in Boston at any time before new delegates shall be chosen as recommended in the above resolution, if in their judgment the situation of the country shall urgently require it.

CHAPTER IX.

MONROE'S ADMINISTRATIONS.

1817-1825.

ERA OF GOOD FEELING.

Monroe came into the Presidency upon a high tide of political prosperity and unity. The old controversies between the parties were no longer waged, and the country was evidently approaching an epoch marked by the absence of party and factional strifes. The President adopted the doctrine of the new school of republicans, led by Clay and Calhoun, which had the effect of allying more closely to him the old federal element. All other factions acquiesced in the result of the previous election, and from them all, the administration drew many warm supporters. Party differences subsided, and a calm serenity seemed to pervade the whole country. The summer after his inauguration the President made a tour of the states, and was everywhere received with hearty greetings. This visit tended to strengthen the new administration in the hearts of the people, and gave to the President great personal popularity. From these manifestations and the general prevalence of harmony everywhere, it was announced that the Era of Good Feeling had begun; and while this designation is given to the whole of Monroe's administration, it more properly belongs to his second term.

JACKSON'S ADVICE.

General Jackson, gratified at the auspicious circumstances attending Mr. Monroe, advised him as follows:

"Now is the time to exterminate that monster called party

spirit. By selecting [for cabinet officers] characters most conspicuous for their probity, virtue, capacity, and firmness, without regard to party, you will go far to, if not entirely, eradicate those feelings which, on former occasions, threw so many obstacles in the way of government. The chief magis trate of a great and powerful nation should never indulge in party feelings. His conduct should be liberal and disinterested; always bearing in mind that he acts for the whole and not a part of the community."

These suggestions accorded, in the main, with the feelings of the President. He believed that the government could exist without parties, and that circumstances were then very favorable for him to promote this idea. Nevertheless, he did not think it advisable to go outside of his party for cabinet officers, lest he might give offense to the republicans and encourage a reorganization of the federals. His idea was to bring them all into the republican fold. He selected all the members of his cabinet from the republicans.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

Congress met December 1, 1817. An act was immediately Fifteenth Congress, passed abolishing the internal taxes First Session. which had been laid during the war. The President, in his message to Congress, had dwelt at great length upon the matter of internal improvements. This subject, from the very first, had occupied an important place in the public mind. From time to time the executive veto of bills pertaining to this system of improvements had interrupted the continuity of the same; but, as the people began to see the importance of developing the resources of the country, they urged the more strongly upon Congress the propriety of going to the full extent of their powers in this direction. The President thought that the government should encourage the system, but seriously questioned whether Con

gress had the right, by the constitution, to pass measures supporting it. During this session many earnest discussions were had upon the subject. Henry Clay headed a majority of the republicans in favor of Congress making internal improvements, but, learning that the President would veto any bill in favor of such improvements, the subject was dismissed without further consideration until the next session, when it was renewed under the pressure of petitions from several states. A bill for the repair and preservation of the Cumberland road was vetoed by the President for the reason above stated. During this session Henry Clay offered a resolution looking to the reorganization of the South American republics, formed by colonies that had revolted from Spain, but it was rejected. Congress adjourned April 20, 1818.

THE FLORIDA CESSION.

Congress met November 16, 1818. During the summer Fifteenth Congress, previous, occurred what is called the Second Session. Seminole war-a number of disturbances caused by Indians in Florida. Andrew Jackson in attempting to quell them met with opposition from the Spanish authorities of Florida. "He therefore entered their territory, seized their principal towns, and captured and put to death, 'as outlaws and pirates,' Arbuthnot and Ambrister, two British subjects, who had led the Seminoles to war." Much of the time of this session was taken up in the investigation of these Indian difficulties. The committee on military affairs. offered a resolution censuring Jackson for his execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, but it did not pass. In 1819, a treaty was concluded by which the United States bought Florida of Spain, paying $5,000,000 and releasing the federal claim to Texas. Although there was no opposition to the purchase of Florida, it was claimed that in making this acquisition we had given away Texas and, by so doing, had

dismembered the Mississippi valley; that the establishment of boundaries would be a constant source of controversy and perhaps war. The treaty was ratified by the Senate, and met with the general approbation of the people.

THE MISSOURI QUESTION.

During this session a memorial from the legislature of Missouri was introduced by Mr. Scott, a delegate to Congress from that territory, to the effect that Missouri be allowed to form a state government, and be admitted into the Union. This, with a bill complying with the memorial, was referred to the committee of the whole on the state of the Union.

When the bill came up before the House, Gen. Tallmadge moved the following proviso: "And provided, that the further introduction of slavery or involuntary servitude be prohibited, except for the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; and that all children born within the said state, after the admission thereof into the Union, shall be free at the age of twenty-five years." This marks the beginning of the famous struggle between the free and slave states, and was one of the most difficult constitutional questions the country has ever been called upon to settle. In the debate which followed, those opposing the proviso argued that Congress had no constitutional right to impose restrictions as to slavery upon a state wishing admittance into the Union; that the right to hold slaves was guaranteed to the original states by the constitution, and that the right applied to the new states as well as to the old. It was admitted that Congress had power to regulate or prohibit slavery from the territories as well as make all other needful rules and regulations respecting them; but this right related to the territories only as property; that when organized as states they stood on an equal footing with other states, and Congress had no power to impose restrictions on their local legislation.