CONGRESS. U. S. 



269 



to answer, if Congress has the power by the 

 mere fact of a slave serving for an hour or 

 two hours, or a day, to emancipate all his 

 rc-latives, has it not also the power to-day to 

 . law emancipating the slaves of Kentucky 

 and Missouri, entirely upon the broad ground 

 that slavery stands in the way of our peace, 

 that it is an institution which has originated 

 the rebellion, and that in order to put down 

 the rebellion it is necessary to get rid of it, and 

 therefore we have the power to pa?s it ''. ' 



Mr. Grimes : " I will say very frankly that 

 I have not any doubt of it at all, and I shall 

 be very anxious to have an opportunity to vote 

 for the passage of such a law as that." 



Mr. Henderson : " Do I understand the Sen- 

 ator to assume the ground that this power 

 would not exist in the Congress of the United 

 States but for the existence of the present 

 civil war I Is that his position I I understand 

 that it is. He assents to it. "Well, now. Mr. 

 President, of course, upon an amendment of this 

 character, I am not disposed to go into a dis- 

 cussion of the extended or enlarged powers of 

 the Government during the existence of a civil 

 war. I see no necessity whatever for the leg- 

 islation proposed in the third section of the bUl 

 before us. If I could vote for it I could vote 

 for the proposition which the Senator from 

 Iowa says he is prepared to vote for, and which 

 he desires to vote for. That question ought to 

 be tested ; and if it be desired to abolish sla- 

 very throughout the United States by an act of 

 Congress, let the proposition be made and let us 

 meet the question boldly and manfully.'' 



The subject again came up in the Senate on 

 February 2d, when Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, 

 said : " Mr. President, the bill now before the 

 Senate presents not only the question of the 

 employment of negroes in the military service 

 of the United States, but also, in my judgment, 

 the question of the emancipation of the whole 

 negro race in this country. The second section 

 of the bill provides that all persons of African 

 descent who have been or may be hereafter 

 employed in the military or naval service, shall 

 receive the same uniform, pay, arms, and equip- 

 ments as other soldiers of the regular or vol- 

 unteer forces of the United States other than 

 bounty. The third section provides that ' when 

 any person of African descent whose service 

 or labor is claimed in any State under the laws 

 thereof, shall be mustered into the military or 

 naval service of the United States, he," his 

 mother, his wife, and children, shall forever 

 thereafter be free.' It is manifest, Mr. Presi- 

 dent, that if a slave is employed in the military 

 service, the inevitable result of that employ- 

 ment is emancipation. It would appear to be 

 just, when a slave renders military service and 

 exposes his life in a civil war like this, that it 

 should inure to the benefit of his wife, his 

 mother, and his children. It is equally clear 

 that if by the laws of war all slaves who enter 

 into the military service in the Southern States, 

 and all who are connected with them bv the 



ties of blood shall be emancipated, the tenure 

 of slavery in this country would become so un- 

 certain as to result in universal emancipation. 

 I will, therefore, treat this proposition ac- 

 cording to its logical effect, and as involving 

 the emancipation of the negro race in this 

 country. 



" Has Congress or the President power to 

 employ slaves in the military service ? Can we 

 emancipate them either as a punishment of 

 rebels, or as a reward for military service \ If 

 these powers exist, to what extent and in what 

 way should we exercise them? These ques- 

 tions present the most difficult problem of the 

 war, which requires in its solution more than 

 human wisdom. 



" Have we this power, and if so whence is it 

 derived and to what extent can we execute it \ 

 The power to emancipate a slave by Congress 

 or the President certainly does not exist in 

 time of peace. This is an axiom in American 

 politics. 



"It is equally true that the existence of a mere 

 insurrection in our country will not justify in- 

 terference with slavery. This has been settled 

 now by many cases in our courts. I have lis- 

 tened very often to the argument made by the 

 Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Davis) on this 

 point, but the difficulty with him is that he 

 does not distinguish between insurrection and 

 war. The line is broad and deep. 



"It will be necessary for Senators to keep 

 in view these distinctions, because upon them 

 rests the whole argument in the case. Civil 

 war is where an insurrection has assumed such 

 power and strength as to invoke armies, where 

 victories and defeats alternate, when the mat- 

 ter ceases to be a mere insurrection or rising 

 against the civil authority, and when marshals 

 and constables are no longer necessary, but 

 armies must be called upon to decide the con- 

 flict. The law of 1795 defines what an insur- 

 rection is. I have not the laws before me, but 

 the words are familiar. In such cases, the 

 President must call out the militia of the State, 

 through its Governor, the riot act must be 

 read, and various precautions are prescribed; 

 constables and marshals must be employed to 

 a certain extent ; notice must be given to the 

 insurgents ; and they must be dispersed in that 

 way, if possible. The law of 1T95 provides 

 the manner in which an insurrection shall be 

 treated, but when the insurrection assumes the 

 magnitude of civil war, other laws must gov- 

 ern ; the law of 1795 ceases to apply ; and the 

 laws of war as recognized among the civilized 

 and Christian nations of the world must then 

 decide the contest. 



"It is sometimes difficult to ascertain when 

 an insurrection melts into rebellion, and when 

 a rebellion assumes the proportions of a civil 

 war is often difficult of ascertainment ; but in 

 the present case, the character of the struggle 

 in which we are engaged has been ascertained 

 and definitely settled by every department of 

 the Government. The Supreme Crnrt of the 



