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  1. Overview: The Road to Civil War
  2. Full Record: The Road to Civil War
  3. Committee:Senate Committee of the Whole
  4. Session: 1861-01-09 12:00:00
  5. Event type: CREATE_FROM

The Road to Civil War

Senate Committee of the Whole

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Document introduced in:

Session 12495: 1861-01-09 12:00:00

The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, takes up S. 54. Consideration is postponed until Tomorrow.

Document View (with components):

S. No. 54

Shown with amendment 'None' (e826382)

(Showing state at moment e900841)
There is 1 proposed amendment related to this document on which a decision has not been taken.

Resolved[+e824656]Whereas the Union is in danger[-e824656], Th[+e824656]and owing [-e824656]to[-e824656] the pro[+e824656]un-happy di[-e824656]visions of the[+e824656]existing in[-e824656] Constitution are a[+e824656]gress, it would be difficult it if not i[-e824656]mpossib[-e824656]le,[-e824656] for the preservatio[+e824656]at body to concur i[-e824656]n b[-e824656]of [+e824656]the Union, and[+e824656] its branches by[-e824656] the protection of all the material[+e824656]requisite majority so as to enable[-e824656] in[+e824656]t eith[-e824656]erest[+e824656] to adopt such measure[-e824656]s of the country;[+e824656]legislation, or to recommend to[-e824656] the St[-e824656]at it need[+e824656]es such amendment[-e824656]s to be obeyed rath[+e824656]the Constitution, as are deemed neces-sary and proper to av[-e824656]ert[-e824656] than amended[+e824656]t danger[-e824656]; and th[+e824656]whereas in so gre[-e824656]at an extricat[+e824656]mergency the opin[-e824656]ion from[+e824656]and judgment of the peo-ple[-e824656] ought to be hea[-e824656]rd,[-e824656] and would be the best and surest guide to their re[-e824656]present dangers [+e824656]atives: Therefore, [-e824656]

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Resolved, That prov[-e824656]ision ought[-e824656] to be looked for in strenuous ef[+e824656]made by law with-out delay for taking the sense of the people submitting to their vote the following resolutions as the basis [-e824656]forts[+e824656] to[+e824656]he final and[-e824656] pe[-e824656]rman[-e824656]ent [-e824656]serve[+e824656]ttlement of[-e824656] thos[-e824656]e peace, protect[+e824656]disputes that now disturb[-e824656] the public property,[+e824656]eace of the country[-e824656] and threat[-e824656]enfor[+e824656] the existen[-e824656]ce of [-e824656]the laws, ra[+e824656]Union. [-e824656]

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A[-e824656]RT. 1. In all [-e824656]the te[-e824656]rritory of[-e824656] than in new guarantees for particu[+e824656]e United States now held or hereafter acquired, situate north of latitude 36° 30', s[-e824656]lavery o[-e824656]r involun[-e824656]tary s[-e824656]erests, compromises[+e824656]vitude, except as a punishment[-e824656] for particular difficulties, or concessions to unreasonable d[+e824656]crime, is prohibited, while such territory shall r[-e824656]emain u[-e824656]nds. [+e824656]

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Resolved, That[+e824656]er territorial government. In[-e824656] all a[+e824656]the [-e824656]tempts to dissol[+e824656]rritory south of said line of latitude, sla[-e824656]very of[-e824656] the present Union, or overthrow or abandon[+e824656]African race is hereby recognized as existing, and shall not be interfered with by Congress; but shall be protected as property by all[-e824656] the present Constitution, with the hope or expectation of constructing a new one, [+e824656]departments of the territorial government during its continuance; and when any territory, north or south of said line, within such bound[-e824656]ari[-e824656]es[-e824656] d[+e824656]as Co[-e824656]ngerous, illusory, and destructive; that [+e824656]ress may prescribe, shall contain the population requisite for a member of Congress, accord[-e824656]ing to[-e824656] the opin[+e824656]then Federal ratio of representat[-e824656]ion of the Senat[+e824656]peopl[-e824656]e of the United States no such reconstruction is pract[+e824656], it shall, if its form of government be republ[-e824656]ican, [-e824656]bl[+e824656]e;[+e824656] and, therefore, [+e824656]dmitted in[-e824656]to the maintenance of[+e824656]Union on an equal footing with[-e824656] the existing Union and C[+e824656]original States, with or without slavery, as the c[-e824656]onstitution should be directed all the energies of all the departments of the government, and the eff[+e824656]of such new state may provide. [-e824656]

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ART. 2. Congress shall have [-e824656]no power[-e824656] to abolish slave[-e824656]ry in places under its exclusive jurisdiction, and situate within the lim[-e824656]its of Sta[-e824656]tes that permit the holdin[-e824656]g of slaves.

ART. 3. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery within[-e824656] the District of Columbia, so long [-e824656]as it[-e824656] ex[-e824656]ist[-e824656]s i[-e824656]n the adjoining States [-e824656]of Virgin[-e824656]ia and Maryland, o[-e824656]r eit[-e824656]her, nor without the c[-e824656]onsent of the inhabitants, nor withou[-e824656]t just compensation fir[-e824656]st made to such owner[-e824656]s of slaves as do not consent[-e824656] to such abol[-e824656]ishment. Nor shall Congress at any [-e824656]time prohibit officers of the Federa[-e824656]l Gov[-e824656]ernment, or mem-bers of Congress, whose duties require them to be in sai[-e824656]d District, from bringing them their sla[-e824656]ves, and holding them as such during the time their duties may require them to remain there, and afterwards taking them from the District.

ART. 4. Congress shall have no power to prohib[-e824656]it or hinder the transportation of sl[-e824656]ave[-e824656]s from one State to another or to a Territory in which slaves are by law permitted to be held, whether that transportation be by land, navigable rivers, or by the sea.

ART. 5. Th[-e824656]at in addition to the [-e824656]provisions of t[-e824656]he thrid paragraph of the second section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States, Congress shall have power to provide by law, and it shall be its duty so to provide, that the United States shall pay to the owner who shall apply for it, the full value of his fugitive slave in all cases when the marshal or other officer whose duty it was to arrest said fugitive was prevented from so doing by violence or intimidation, or when, after arrest, said fugitive was rescued by force, and the owner thereby prevented and obstructed in the pursuit of his remedy for the recovery of his fugitive slave under the said clause of the Constitution and the laws made in the pursuance thereof. And in all such cases, when the United States shall pay for such fugitive, they shall have the right, in their own name, to sue the county in which said violence, intimidation, or rescue was committed, and to recover from it, with interest and damages, the amount paid by them for said fugitive slave. And the said county, after it has paid said to amount to the United States, may, for its indemnity, sue and recover from the wrong doers or rescuers by whom the owner was prevented from the recovery of his fugitive slave, in like manner as the owner himself might have sued and recovered.

ART. 6. No future amendment of the Constitution shall affect the five preceding articles; nor the third paragraph of the second section of the first article of the Constitution; nor the third paragraph of the second section of the fourth article of said Constitution; and no amendment shall be made to the Constitution which shall authorize or give to Congress any power to abolish or interfere with slavery in any of the States by whose laws it is, or may be, allowed or permitted.

And whereas, also, besides those causes of dissension embraced in the foregoing amendments proposed to the Constitution of the United States, there are others which come within the jurisdiction of Congress, and may be remedied by its legislative power; and whereas it is the desire of Congress as far as its powerful will ext[-e824656]end, ot remove all just cause for the p[-e824656]opular[-e824656] discontent and agitatio[-e824656]n which now disturb the peace of the country, and threaten the stability or its institutions: Therefore,

1. Resolv[-e824656]ed by the Senate and House of Representati[-e824656]ves of the United[-e824656] States of America in Congress assembled[-e824656], That the laws now i[-e824656]n force for the recovery of fugitive slaves [-e824656]are[-e824656] in stri[-e824656]ct pursuance[-e824656] of the plain and mandatory prov[-e824656]is-ions of the[-e824656] Constitution, and [-e824656]have been sanction[-e824656]ed as [-e824656]vali[-e824656]d and constitutional by the judgm[-e824656]ent of the Supreme Court of the United [-e824656]States; that the slaveholding States are enti-tled to the faithful observance and execution of those laws, and that they ought not to be rep[-e824656]ealed, or so modified or changed as to i[-e824656]mpair their efficiency; and that laws o[-e824656]ught to be made for the pun[-e824656]ishment of those of all good citizen[+e824656]wh[-e824656]o attempt by rescue of the slave, or other i[-e824656]llegal means, to hinder or defeat the due exec[-e824656]ution of said laws.

2. Th[-e824656]at a[-e824656]ll State laws which conflict with the fugitive slave acts of Congre[-e824656]ss, [-e824656]or[-e824656] any othe[-e824656]r constitutiona[-e824656]l acts of Congress, or which, in their operation, imped[-e824656]e, [-e824656]hinder, or dela[-e824656]y the free course and due execution of any said acts, are nul[-e824656]l and vo[-e824656]id by the plain provisions of the Constitu[-e824656]tion of the United [-e824656]States; yet those State law[-e824656]s, voi[-e824656]d as th[-e824656]ey are, have gi[-e824656]ven [-e824656]color to practices, and led to consequences, which have obstructed the [-e824656]due administration and execu-tion of acts of Congress, and esp[-e824656]ecially the acts for[-e824656] the de-livery o[-e824656]f fugitive slaves, and have thereby c[-e824656]ontribute[-e824656]d much to the[-e824656] di[-e824656]scord and commotion now prevailing[-e824656]. Congress, therefore, in the present perilous juncture, does not deem it improper, respectfully and earnestly to recommend the repeal of those laws to the several States which have en-acted them, or such legislative corrections or explanations of them as may prevent their being used or perverted to such mischievous purposes.

3. That the act of the 18th of September, 1850, commonly called the fugitive slave law, ought to be so amended as to make the fee of the commissioner, mentioned in the eighth section of the act, equal in amount in the cases decided by him, whether his decision be in favor of or against the claimant. And to avoid misconstruction, the last clause of the fifth section of said act, which authorizes the person holding a warrant for the arrest or detention of a fugitive slave, to summon to his and the posse comitatus, and which declares it to be the duty of all good citizens to assist him in its execution, ought to be so amended as to expressly limit the authority and duty to cases in which there shall be resistance or danger of resistance or rescue.

4. That the laws for the suppression of the African slave trade, and especially those prohibiting the importation of slaves in the United States, ought to be made effectual, and ought to be thoroughly executed; and all further enact-ments necessary to those end ought to be promptly made.

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