788 



UNITED STATES. 



the maintenance of the Constitution and the 

 preservation of the Union, with all the dignity, 

 equality, and rights of the several States unim- 

 paired, was declared to be the only object of 

 the Government. In addition a proclamation 

 by Gen. Fremont of emancipation to slaves in 

 Missouri was countermanded by the President ; 

 and that portion of the report of the Secretary 

 of War, Cameron, at the commencement of 

 the session of Congress in Dec. 1861, which 

 contained the following among other remarks, 

 was suppressed: "If it shall be found that the 

 men who have been held by the rebels as 

 slaves' are capable of bearing arms, and per- 

 forming efficient military service, it is the right 

 and may become the duty of this Government 

 to arm and equip them, and to employ their 

 services against the rebels, under proper milita- 

 ry regulation, discipline, and command." 



Such was the declared position of the Gov- 

 ernment at the close of 1861, and it was under- 

 stood to be its policy not to interfere with the 

 institutions of the States, or their domestic 

 and local policy. These views received the ap- 

 proval of the great mass of the people in the 

 States remaining in the Union, and they were 

 producing a paralyzing effect upon the hostile 

 elements in the seceded States. No evidence 

 to sustain the charges which had led to seces- 

 sion was to be found in the acts of the Gov- 

 ernment, nor were there any indications of a 

 purpose to approve of or adopt any distinctive 

 anti-slavery measures in the conduct of public 

 affairs. It may have been true.that the sudden 

 and unusual state of affairs into which the Gov- 

 ernment was thrown, demanded all its energies 

 for the emergency, and no opportunity was 

 given to introduce or develop any particular 

 policy beyond its reference to present events. 

 In the single instance of fugitives or " contra- 

 bands " as they were called, the whole action 

 of the Government, however, was in favor of 

 the freedom of the slaves. 



At this time the first regular session of the 

 37th Congress commenced, Dec. 1861, and it 

 soon appeared to differ widely from the Gov- 

 ernment. The position was assumed by the 

 majority that slavery was the cause of the 

 war with all its evils, and therefore it was the 

 duty of the Government in all its branches to 

 strive to remove this cause. Measures were at 

 once introduced to emancipate the slaves in the 

 district of Columbia, to prohibit the existence of 

 slavery in all the Territories, and to abolish 

 slavery in the seceded States by confiscation ; 

 also to remove every obstacle to the successful 

 escape of the slave from his master in those 

 States (see CoNGRESSjU. S.) The introduction and 

 discussion of these measures indicated that the 

 legislative branch of the Government was rap- 

 idly adopting anti-slavery views. The diffi- 

 culties presented by the Constitution to some 

 of the measures proposed were avoided on th'e 

 ground that under the " war power," as it was 

 called, Congress could adopt any measures ne- 

 cessary to sustain the existence of the Govern- 



ment. The way was thus cleared for the en- 

 forcement of the most thorough anti-slavery 

 measures, if the administrative officers of the 

 Government came up to the necessary point 

 for their execution. Those who had struggled 

 for so many years under obloquy and reproach, 

 as the friends of the slave, to whom it was ne- 

 cessary to give freedom, Avhether in the Divine 

 order of events or not, now conceived that the 

 day of universal emancipation through their 

 efforts would soon dawn. 



On the 6th of March President Lincoln sent 

 a message to Congress recommending an expres- 

 sion by that body, that the United States ought 

 to cooperate with any State which might adopt 

 gradual emancipation by giving them pecuniary 

 aid. (See PUBLIC DOCUMENTS, page 720). This 

 was a great step. It was a direct and positive in- 

 terference with the domestic institutions of the 

 States. It was justified on the ground, that to 

 deprive the leaders of secession of the hope 

 that they would ultimately be joined by the 

 border slave States would end the contest. It 

 admitted the absolute right of the States to 

 control their domestic institutions ; it admitted 

 the property of the master in the slave, but it 

 was a preliminary step to get rid of the insti- 

 tution. In Congress even those who had here- 

 tofore denounced such suggestions on the 

 ground that the "body and soul" of man could 

 not be made the subject of pecuniary purchase 

 or compensation, except at the sacrifice of ad- 

 mitting the rightfulness of the slaveowner's 

 "claim," approved of the measure and suggest- 

 ed " the deportation of the institution over a 

 bridge of gold." On the 10th of April the fol- 

 lowing resolution having passed Congress was 

 approved : 



Be it resolved ty the Senate and House of Represen- 

 tatives of the Umted States of America in Congress 

 assembled, That the United States ought to co-operate 

 with any State which may adopt gradual abolishment 

 of shivery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be 

 used by such State in its discretion, to compensate for 

 the inconveniencies, public and private, produced by 

 such a.change of system. 

 Approved, April 10, 1862. 



Among the people, those classed as ex- 

 treme conservatives said, with regard to the 

 proposition, "the intervention which it calls' 

 for is a violation of all the pledges of the pre- 

 vious year, and its influence must be to undo 

 the good effected by the few^conservative meas- 

 ures of that year." On the other hand, those 

 of extreme anti-slavery views objected to the 

 measure, as it offered a bounty to all the States 

 that were in Confederate secession as much as 

 to any so called loyal slave States, which could 

 not be done with any sort of propriety, justice, 

 or consistency. It held out no inducement for 

 immediate emancipation, whereas slavery ought 

 not to exist for one moment, and special in- 

 ducements ought to be held out for its instant 

 abolition, as against a lingering process. Ethi- 

 cally and pecuniarily immediate emancipation 

 was better for all parties ; and the President 

 was culpable for keeping up the old delusion 



