THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE EX CITEMENT-1819-21. The well known "compromise" resolutions, and, by his eloquence and great personal influence, succeeded in securing their passage-thus averting the peril threatened, of a disruption of the Union. The Compromise consisted of admitting Missouri as a Slave State, but conceding, as an equivalent for Northern concession in the premises, the prohibition of any further Slave territory north of the parallel 36 deg. 30 min. The Compromise, though unpalatable to the opponents of the right of Slave extension, was accepted as a solemn guarantee against all further extension, as, south of the parallel named, the territory then was not ours. Had it not been proposed and pledged as such a guarantee, the bill of Mr. Clay never could have passed the House of Representatives. It was not until August, 1821, that the tory had adopted a State Constitution, one provision of which required the Legislature to pass a law "to prevent free negroes from coming to and settling in the State." When presented to Congress, this provision was strenuously opposed, but Missouri was finally admitted, on condition that no law should be passed by which any citizen of either of the States of the Union should be excluded from the enjoyment of any of the privileges and immunities to which such citizen is entitled The Territory of Missouri came forward, in December, 1818, for admission into the Union as a State. As Slavery existed in the territory, the admission as a State involved the principles of a recognition of the "peculiar institution," and its right to extension. Freesoil element of the Northern or Free States becoming alarmed, resolved to oppose the admission of the territory as a State with a Slave clause in its constitution. The South, equally determined, resolved the State should have Slavery if it wanted it, and thereby assumed that position which it has ever since persistently maintained-of a Slave right in the territories. The issue, thus squarely presented, was met in the House of Representatives by a bill (introduced by Mr. Tall-State was admitted. Prior to this the terrimadge, of New York,) prohibiting Slavery, "except for the punishment of crimes, and that all children born in the said State after the admission thereof into the Union, shall be free at the age of twenty-five years." This passed the House, but was lost in the Senate. For eighteen months the discussion was continued in both branches of Congress with great ability, and not without great excitement which extended to every section of the Union On the one hand, it was contended that the ordinance of 1787, which excluded Slavery from all territory north-west of the river Ohio, was a public recognition of the principles of the people of the United States in regard to the establishment of Slavery in new States and Territories in that region, and that the proposal to establish it in Missouri was a direct violation of these fundamental princi-States in the government. State by State had ples. On the other hand, it was urged that Slavery was incorporated in the system of society when Louisiana, which comprehended the territory of Missouri in 1803, was purchased from the French, and that as the faith of the United States was pledged by treaty to all the inhabitants of that wide domain to maintain their rights and privileges on the same footing with the people of the rest of the country, it would be a violation of that faith and those rights to abolish the institution of Slavery without their consent. under the Constitution of the United States. The vote upon the passage of the bill in the House was 86 to 82, several members from non-Slaveholding States voting for it. In the Senate it was passed two to one-28 to 14. Missouri thus became one of the United States, measureably to increase the power of the Slave been added to the original thirteen-Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana, all with Slavery in their borders, and bearing to Congress the preponderating weight of their votes. The admission of Missouri, and the later admission of Arkansas and Florida, confirmed the supremacy of the South in the National counsels; a supremacy which was not disturbed until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854 called into life the party which, in 1860, succeeded to the majority.* *Mr. Everett states:-"Out of seventy-two years Henry Clay then came forward with his since the organization of this government, the Execu HISTORY OF FORMER THE INDIAN DIFFICULTIES IN reserva The immense tracts of lands held in Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi by the Creeks, Choctaws, Chicksaw and Cherokee Indians, proved, for awhile, the source of much anxiety to government. The " tions" guaranteed by solemn treaty to the Indians, in the various Southern and Western States, embraced immense bodies of choice land, up to a comparatively recent period. Thus, the treaties secured to the savages, and promised protection from all infringements by the whites on their domains, territories as follows:—In Georgia, nine and a half millions of acres; in Alabama, seven and a half millions; in Mississippi, fifteen and three-quarter millions: in the Territory of Florida, four millions; in the Territory of Arkansas, fifteen and a half millions; in the State of Missouri, two millions and three-quarters; in Indiana and Illinois, fifteen millions, and in Michigan, east of the lake, seven millions. The “march of civilization" soon compassed these reservations with white settlements, head waters of the Arkansas river. Gcorgia made her demand peremptorily, since she held the Federal Government bound by a compact to relieve her. This compact stipulated that, in consideration of Georgia relinquishing her title and claim to the Mississippi Territory, the General Government would extinguish the Indian titles to the lands within her confines, "whenever it could be peaceably done and on reasonable terms." After making that agreement the Government succeeded in extinguishing the title to about fifteen million acres, and conveyed the same to the State of Georgia. There still remained 9,537,000 acres in the possession of the Indians, of which 5,292,000 acres belonged to the Cherokees and the remainder to the Creek nation. Shortly before the termination of Mr. Monroe's administration, the State Government became very urgent for the entire of the Governor two Commissioners were apremoval of the Indians, and at the solicitation pointed to make a treaty with the Creeks for the purchase of their lands. This was a treaty negotiated on the 12th of February, 1825, the famous Chief, General William McIntosh, signing it in the presence of Mr. Crowell, the United States Indian Agent, by which all the Creek country and several millions of acres and, as a matter of course, trouble followed in Alabama were ceded to the United States. Complaints followed it to Washington as hav been concluded by McIntosh without the authority of the nation. The ratification of the treaty was opposed, but was finally car named, to get rid of the aborigines, that their ried by the strong vote of thirty-four to fɔur. State Legislatures demanded of Government the entire removal of the red-men from their midst to the unsettled Territories around the tive Chair has, for sixty-four years, been filled nearly all the time by Southern Presidents; or when not by Southern men, by those possessing the confidence of the South. For a still longer period the controlling influences of the Legislative and Judicial Departments of the government have centered in the same quarter Of all the offices in the gift of the central power, in every department, far more than her proportionate share has always been enjoyed by the South." It is well to remember so important a fact. Judge Holt, of Kentucky, uses these facts, in his speech made at This sanction, on reaching the ears of the discontented Creeks, produced great excitement, and a secret council of the nation being called, they resolved not to accept the treaty. The death of McIntosh was determined on, and on the 30th of April his house was surrounded by a party, who shot him and another chief, and burned his premises. This aroused the State authorities to a determined course, and Georgia resolved to take possession of the lands by force. Troops were called out to sustain the claim. By this act the State opened a controversy with the General Gov “Camp Holt,” late in July, 1860, with most damag-ernment, which was bound to protect the In ing force against those who make the plea that the South has been de: ied her rights and just share in the Government. dians in their just rights. When Mr. Adams came into power he made the subject an early matter of examination, and became convinced that the Indians were right that the treaty, as they represented, had been made by McIntosh without authority, and therefore that the enforcement of its provision ought not to be urged. As Georgia had called out troops to force the savages into an acceptance and fulfillment of the treaty, it only remained for the President to order a Federal force to the confines of the reservation to protect the Indians in their rights. This step aroused not only Georgia, but also the adjoining States, who were prepared, with troops and money, to assist Georgia "against the Government and the Indians." The passage of the Tariff Act of 1828 was the immediate cause of the excitement known as the "Nullification" rebellion. That act heavily taxed woolens and other imported products—thus greatly enhancing their price to the South, and restricting importations. The complaint was one well calculated to excite a bitter feeling in the Cotton States, since it took the shape of a "Northern exaction"-a "tribute to Northern capital and labor"-an "unequal assessment of burdens," &c. Mr. Hayne, U. S. Senator from South Carolina, in January, 1830, arraigned the act as unconstitutional, and asserted the right and duty of the State to nullify the law by refusing to pay the required duties. This speech called forth from Webster his great oration on the powers of the Constitution. In it he so thoroughly killed the assumed right of nullification, that, for the moment, the friends of resistance to the law were in To avoid this hazard of war, Mr. Adams succeeded in gathering at Washington, in January, 1826, the head men and responsible representatives of the Creeks, and concluded a new treaty, which was substituted for the old one, whereby all the lands in Georgia were ceded, but none in Alabama. Notwith-timidated, if not convinced. standing the oposition of the Georgia delegation in Congress, the new treaty was ratified by the Senate at the ensuing session by a vote of thirty to seven, and the appropriations were made by the House of Representatives by a vote of one hundred and sixty-seven to ten. This treaty was faithfully observed by the Indians, and Georgia became possessed of their valuable land, after waiting a quarter of a century for Government to fulfil its agreement (made in 1802). At a late day the Cherokees' title was extinguished in Alaba-ing began to spread that the dinner was got ma, though their removal to the West was not accomplished until Gen.. Scott took the matter in hand (in May, 1838). THE SOUTH CAROLINA NULLIFICA TION CONSPIRACY, 1832-3. This Conspiracy raised the direct issue, invented by Mr. Jefferson in his Resolutions of '98, of the right of a State to nullify the acts of Congress and to be its own judge of the constitutionality of a law.* It is denied that Mr. Jefferson is the originator of the idea; but, as we have before remarked, the evidence to the contrary is the resolutions them The excitement, however, soon received a new impetus, from a most trivial but not less significant source. The matter is thus stated: On the 15th of April, 1830, the anniversary of the birthday of Thomas Jefferson was celebrated by a numerous company at Washington city, among whom were the President and Vice-President of the United States, several members of his Cabinet, and a numerous attendance of the members of Congress. With the promulgation of the toasts the feel up to inaugurate the doctrine of nullification, and make Mr. Jefferson its father. Numbers left the table, but the company was still numerous and the festivity a success. When the regular toasts were over, the President selves. The time has gone by for us as partisans to make special pleas to explain away or qualify acts and expressions of great leaders. Let plain words be interpreted in the plain way. There has been so much "pettifogging" in regard to the clear, Saxon expressions of the Constitution, so much good sense wasted in constructing equivocalities for party platforms, so much legal doubt created by Supreme Court decisions on property in men, that we should be permitted to regard them all as consigned to the past, and to read the records by the new and direct light of a present disenthralment of mind from old passions and prejudices. HISTORY O F FORMER was called upon for a volunteer, and gave| one which has since become historical. "Our Federal Union-it must be preserved." Under the peculiar circumstances of the case the feeling that had found vent in South Carolina and elsewhere in that section, and the excited state of the public mind generally, this simple sentiment was received as a proclamation from the President to announce a plot against the Union. The next toast was by Mr. Calhoun, and it did not by any means allay the suspicions which existed in every bosom. It was this: : "The Union, next to our liberty, the most dear may we all remember that it can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the States, and distributing equally the benefit and burthen of the Union." In the language of Thomas H. Benton, who was present, "this toast touched all the tender parts of the new question-liberty before Union-only to be preserved. State rights, inequality of burthens and benefits. These phrases connecting themselves with Mr. Hayne's speech, and with proceedings and publications in South Carolina, unveiled nullification as a new and distinct doctrine in the United States, and the existence of a new party in the field." From that moment the issue was. directly presented in the shape of " our rights or dis union," and the State Rights party, in the extreme Southern States, became very power- | ful, particularly in South Carolina-the home of both Mr. Hayne and John C. Calhoun, where their influence was remarkably strong. To meet the approaching storm, and avert the calamity of an open rupture with South Carolina, a modification was made of the offensive act; but, the duties were not abated enough. The fact that the movement for nullification and secession had frightened Congress into some concessions made the State Rights men more strenuous than ever. It gave them the prestige which comes from victory. Had not Mr. Calhoun been elected Vice-President of the United States? Had not Congress made concessions and betrayed a nervous apprehension of South Carolina threats? The leaders of the nullification movement deemed the beginning auspicious for a glorious ending. Meetings took place throughout the State close upon the Presidential election. The Legislature came together amid much excitement. One of its first acts was to appoint a Committee to report on the relations of the State with the General Government. It reported that the Federal Constitution was a compact originally formed, not between the people of the different States as distinct and independent sovereignties; that when any violation of the spirit of that compact took place, it was not only the right of the people, but of the State Legislature, to remonstrate against it; that the Federal Government was responsible to the State Legislatures whenever it assumed powers not conferred; that notwithstanding a tribunal was appointed under the Constitution to decide controversies where the United States. was a party, there were some questions that must occur between the Government and the State which it would be unsafe to submit to any judicial tribunal; and finally, that there was a peculiar propriety in a State Legislature's undertaking to decide for itself, inasmuch as the Constitution had not provided any remedy. A convention of delegates was thereupon ordered to assemble on the 19th of November, to act for the State, in the crisis. Meanwhile the Virginia Legislature, also, by a vote of 154 to 68, gave her assent to the principle of nullification. North Carolina declared against it and held out firmly for the Constitution and the laws. Alabama and Georgia endorsed South Carolina heartily, and their course led the country to feel that, in event of South Carolina's sccession, they would follow her lead. Government had just succeeded at enormous cost, in extinguishing the Indian titles to lands in these States, and they in return, were ready to cast off the Government. The Convention of Delegates assembled on the 19th of November. Governor Hayne (late United States Senator) was made its President. The Tariff acts of 1828 and 1832 were declared null and void and not binding upon the citizens of the States. It was further declared that if the United States should attempt to enforce them by naval or military force, the Union was to be dissolved, and a convention called to form a government for of the harbor at the cannon's mouth, if necessary. South Carolina. It further provided that no appeal should be permitted to the Supreme Court of the United States in any question At the opening of Congress, Jackson sent concerning the validity of the ordinance, or in his Message, setting forth the facts of the of the laws passed to give effect thereto. case. His policy was one of peaceful settleThis threw the die for the movements to fol- ment, if possible; but, if Congress did not low. The Legislature immediately took all repeal or modify the law, he was ready to steps necessary to carry out the programme force South Carolina into submission. Nulof the Convention—the legislators being con-lification he termed revolution, which he vened for the especial purpose, by call of the was bound to suppress. The entire country, Governor. The acts adopted embraced one save the States of Virginia, South Carolina, authorizing the Governor to call on the mili- Georgia and Alabama, approved "Old Hicktia to resist any attempt on the part of the ory's" policy, and stood ready to sustain him. Government of the United States to enforce Even in these apparently disloyal States there the revenue laws. Ten thousand stand of was a very powerful Union party, which rearms and the requisite quantity of military pudiated the baleful idea of nullification, and munitions were ordered to be purchased, and which, eventually, succeeded in making itself any acts done in pursuance of that law were heard and felt. to be held layful in the State courts. This was followed by the resignation of the Vice-President of the United States by Mr. Calhoun, and he proceeded to Washington to resume his seat in the Senate. The President, Andrew Jackson, just re-elected, felt extremely indignant toward Calhoun, and, it is now known, had made up his mind to arrest him, on his arrival at the Capital, to try him for high treason, and to hang him if convicted. He was persuaded from this extreme and hazardous course by Mr. Webster and others; and, on the 10th, issued his famous proclamation against the nullifiers, in which was forcibly and plainly stated the nature of the American Government; the pretended right of sovereignty was denied; the supremacy of the Federal Government declared, and an exhortation made to the citizens of South Carolina not to persist in a course which must bring upon their State the force of the Confederacy, and expose the Union to the hazard of dissolution. At the same time all the disposable military force was ordered to assemble at Charleston, and a sloop-of-war was sent to that port to protect the Federal officers, if necessary, in the discharge of their duty. General Scott, then as at a later day, the watchful Guardian of the public weal, was given charge of the military movements, under special instructions from Lewis Cass, Secretary of War. Ere the South Carolinians were aware Scott was in Fort Moultrie, with a strong force, prepared to collect the revenues Her The determined front of the governmentthe argument read in General Scott's face— the silent admonition of Moultrie's guns, induced a material abatement of the nullifiers' zeal. South Carolina, it became painfully evident to the leaders of the conspiracy, could not get out of the Union if she would. revenues were collected by the Collector, at the regular Custom House, and, in all other respects, the state of affairs was not changed. The Convention, after its most extraordinary display of arrogance and opposition, resolved to wait until Feb. 1st before ordering hostile action! On the 21st of January, Mr. Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, introduced in the United States Senate his bill, to empower the President to crush out all opposition to the collection of the revenue by suminoning the military power of the Confederacy. Pending the discussion which followed, Calhoun delivered his argument on the Constitution. It was a most powerful and subtle plea, claiming the rights of states as states and independencies, and assuming nullification to be the bulwark of their liberties. The speech was published and circulated extensively throughout the country, to be quickly followed by Webster's truly magnificent reply, which, in fact, made the Government and the Constitution stronger for the assault of the Carolina logician. The bill of Mr. Wilkins passed by an almost unanimous vote-so united was the sentiment on the question of sustaining the laws and pro |