Discussion on American Slavery

Mr. THOMPSON said he should commence with the end of his opponent's speech, and notice what that gentleman had said in regard to the charges brought by him against William Lloyd Garrison and Elizur Wright. It appeared as if Mr. Breckinridge expected that, because in his own country his character for veracity stood high, that therefore, he was entitled, if he chose, to enter an assembly of twelve hundred persons in Great Britain, and utter the gravest charges against certain individuals 3,000 miles away, and when called upon as he had been for proof, that he had nothing to do but turn round and say, 'Why, I am not bound to furnish proof; let the parties accused demonstrate their innocence.' This was American justice with a vengeance. This might be Kentucky law, or Lynch law, but could hardly be called justice by any assembly of honest and impartial persons. Such justice might suit the neighborhood of Vicksburg, but it would not recommend itself to a Scotish audience. He (Mr. T.) would not undertake at this time the task of justifying the men who had been calumniated. He knew these gentlemen, and had no doubt when they heard the charges preferred against them in this country, they would be able and ready to clear themselves before the world. He would not say that Mr. Breckinridge did not himself believe the allegations to be true, but he would say that had that gentleman possessed a knowledge of the true character of those he had spoken against – had he known them as he (Mr. T.) knew them, he would have held them incapable of the dark deeds alleged against them. With regard to Mr. B's remarks upon the number of the slave population, the amount of the troops in the United States, and the existence of slavery in the district of Columbia, he must say that they were nothing but special pleadings; that the whole was a complete specimen of what the lawyers termed pettifogging. He (Mr. T.) was not prepared to hear a minister say that because only 1500 troops out of 6000 were found in the southern states, that, therefore, the nation was not implicated – that because, if the slavery of the district was abolished, there would be no fewer slaves in the country – that, therefore, the seat of government should not be cleansed from its abomination. He would remind his opponent that they were discussing a question of principle, and that the scriptures had declared that he who was unjust in the least, was unjust also in the greatest. Mr. Breckinridge had still cautiously avoided naming the parties in the United States who were responsible for the sin of Slavery. They were told that neither New Hampshire nor Massachusetts, nor any other of the Northern states were to blame; that the government was not to blame, nor, had it even yet been said, that the Southern states were to blame. Still the aggregate of the guilt belonged somewhere; and if the parties to whom reference had been made were to be exculpated, at whose door, he would ask, were the sin and shame of the system to be laid. The gentleman with whom he was debating had repeatedly told him (Mr. T.) that he did not understand 'the system.' He frankly confessed that he did not. It was a mystery of iniquity which he could not pretend to fathom; but he thought he might add that the Americans themselves, at least the Colonizationists, did not seem to understand it very well neither, for they had been operating for a very long time, without effecting any favorable change in the system. A word with regard to the representation of slaves in Congress. Mr. B. had spoken as if he had intended to have it understood, that the slaves were themselves benefited by that representation – that it was a partial representation of the slave population by persons in their interest. How stood the fact? The slaves were not at all represented as men, but as things. They swelled, it was true, the number of members upon the floor of Congress, but that extra number only helped to rivet their bonds tightly upon them, being as they were, in the interest of the tyrant, and themselves slaveholders, and not in the interest of the slaves. What said John Quincy Adams in his celebrated report on the Tariff: —

'The representation of the slave population in this House has, from the establishment of the Constitution of the United States, amounted to rather more than one-tenth of the whole number. In the present Congress (1833,) it is equivalent to twenty-two votes; in the next Congress it will amount to twenty-five. This is a combined and concentrated power, always operating to the support and exclusive favor of the slave-holding interest.'

Here was a mighty engine in the cause of oppression. It was a wicked misrepresentation to say that the slaves were benefited by such an arrangement. Instead of being a lever in their hands to aid them in the overthrow of the system which was crushing them, it was a vast addition of strength to the ranks of their tyrants, who went to Congress to cry down discussion, to cry up Lynch law, and shout Hail Columbia. Mr. Thompson then proceeded to give some account of the Maryland Colonization scheme.

The first movement on the subject was in March, 1831, when Mr. Brawner submitted the following resolutions to the Maryland Legislature, which were by that assembly adopted. He begged particular attention both to the letter and spirit of this document, exhibiting as it did, the feelings of 'the good people of the state' towards the colored population: —

Resolved, That the increased proportion of the free people of color in this state, to the white population, the evils growing out of their connection and unrestrained association with the slaves their habits and manner of obtaining a subsistence, and their withdrawing a large portion of employment from the laboring class of the white population, are subjects of momentous and grave consideration to the good people of this state.

Resolved, That as philanthropists and lovers of freedom, we deplore the existence of slavery amongst us, and would use our utmost exertions to ameliorate its condition, yet we consider the unrestrained power of manumission as fraught with ultimate evils of a more dangerous tendency than the circumstance of slavery alone, and that any act, having for its object the mitigation of these joint evils, not inconsistent with other paramount considerations, would be worthy the attention and deliberation of the representatives of a free, liberal-minded, and enlightened people.

Resolved, That we consider the colonization of free people of color in Africa as the commencement of a system, by which if judicious encouragement be afforded, these evils may be measurably diminished, so that in process of time, the relative proportion of the black to the white population, will hardly be matter for serious and unpleasant consideration.

Ordered, therefore, That a committee of five members be appointed by the Chair, with instructions to report a bill, based as nearly as may be, upon the principles contained in the foregoing resolutions, and report the same to the consideration of this house.

Such was the first movement on the subject. At the next session of the legislature Mr. Brawner presented the report of the committee, some of the extracts from which he (Mr. T.) would read: —

The committee to whom was referred the several memorials from numerous citizens in this state, upon the subject, of the colored population, Report, —

That the views presented by the memorialists are various, and the recommendations contained in some of the memorials are entirely repugnant to those contained in others. The subjects, however, upon which legislative action is required, may be embraced under a few general heads:

First, That a law be passed prohibiting the future emancipation of the slaves, unless provision be made for their removal from the state.

Secondly, That a sum of money adequate for the attainment of the object, be raised and appropriated for the further removal of those already free.

Thirdly, That a system of police be established, regulating the future conduct and morals of this class of our population.

And, Fourthly, There are several memorials from different parts of our state, signed by a numerous and highly respectable portion of our citizens, recommending the entire abolition of slavery in the state.

On the 14th of March, 1832, the State Legislature of Maryland appropriated for the use of the State Colonization Society the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, payable in sums of twenty thousand dollars per annum for ten years. Having made the grant, the legislature next proceeded to pass acts to obtain the consent of the colored population to quit the state and country, and emigrate to Africa. He (Mr. T.) claimed special attention to some short extracts from those laws. They would reveal more powerfully than any language of his, the benevolent or rather atrociously cruel designs of the 'good people' of the state. He should quote first from 'An Act relating to Free Negroes and Slaves,' passed within a few days of the grant and part and parcel of the same benevolent scheme: —

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That after the passage of this act, no free negro or mulatto shall emigrate to, or settle in this State; and no free negro or mulatto belonging to any other state, district or territory, shall come into this State, and therein remain for the space of ten successive days, whether such free negro or mulatto intends settling in this State or not, under the penalty of fifty dollars for each and every week such persons coming into, shall thereafter remain in this State; the one half to the informer and the other half to the sheriff for the use of the county. * * * and any free negro or mulatto refusing or neglecting to pay said fine or fines, shall be committed to the jail of the county; and shall be sold by the sheriff at public sale, for such time as may be necessary to cover the aforesaid penalty, first giving ten days previous notice of such sale.

Sec. 2d. And be it enacted, That no person in this State, shall hereafter hire, employ, or harbor any free negro or mulatto who shall emigrate or settle in this state, after the first day of June next, or any free negro or mulatto who shall come into this state from any other state, district or territory, and continue in this state for the space of ten successive days as above, under the penalty of twenty dollars for every day after the expiration of four days, any such free negro or mulatto * * * shall be so employed, hired or harbored, and all fines accruing under this act, * * * one half thereof to be applied to the informer, and the other half to the use of the county; and if any negro or mulatto shall remove from this state and remain without the limits thereof for a space longer than thirty consecutive days, unless before leaving the state he deposits with the clerk of the county in which he resides, a written statement of his object in so doing, and his intention of returning again, or unless he shall have been detained by sickness or coercion, of which he shall bring a certificate, he shall be regarded as a resident of another state, and be subject, if he return, to the penalties imposed by the foregoing provisions upon free negroes and mulattoes of another state, migrating to this state: Provided that nothing contained in this act shall prevent any free negro or mulatto from visiting Liberia, and returning to the state whenever he may choose to do so.

Sec. 4. And be it enacted, That it shall not be lawful from and after the first of June next, to import or bring into this state by land or water, any negro, mulatto or other slave for sale, or to reside within this state: * * * and any person or persons so offending, shall forfeit for every such offence, any negro, mulatto or other slave brought into this state contrary to this act, and such negro, mulatto or other slave, shall be entitled to freedom upon condition that he consent to be sent to Liberia, or to leave the state forthwith, otherwise such negro or mulatto or other slave, shall be seized and taken and confined in jail by the sheriff of the county where the offence is committed, which sheriff shall receive ten dollars for every negro, mulatto or other slave so brought into this state and forfeited as aforesaid, and seized and taken by him. * * * Moreover, said sheriff shall receive five dollars for such negro, mulatto or other slave actually confined by him in jail, and the usual prison fee as now allowed by law, and any person or persons so offending under this act, shall be punished by indictment in the county court of the county where the offence shall be committed, and upon conviction thereof, the said court shall, by its order, direct said sheriff to sell any negro, mulatto or other slaves so seized and taken by him, under this act, to the Colonization Society for said five dollars, and the prison fees * * * to be taken to Liberia: and if such Colonization Society shall not receive such negroes, mulattoes or other slaves for said five dollars each, and the prison fees of each, upon refusing, said sheriff shall, after three weeks' public notice given by advertisements, sell any such negro, mulatto or other slave to some person or persons, with a condition that any such negro, mulatto or other slave shall be removed and taken forthwith beyond the limits of this state to settle and reside.

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