Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 09 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 09 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
In the Senate, this bill was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary, which reported a substitute, when it was recommitted
and another substitute reported, by which it was provided,
that, on the adoption of a valid law by Missouri “for the
_gradual_ or immediate emancipation of all the slaves therein,
and the exclusion of Slavery forever thereafter from said
State,” twenty million dollars in United States bonds should
be applied “to compensate for the inconveniences produced by
such change of system,” which was to take effect “on some day
not later than the fourth day of July, 1876”; but the bonds
were not to exceed ten million dollars, unless there was “full
and perfect manumission” before the fourth day of July, 1865,
nor in their aggregate were they to exceed “the sum of three
hundred dollars for each slave emancipated.”
This recognition of the principle of _Gradual_ Emancipation,
especially as a war measure, was very disagreeable to Mr.
Sumner. February 7th, he moved to strike out “seventy-six”
and insert “sixty-four,” so that the Act of Emancipation
should go into operation on the 4th of July, 1864; and here he
remarked:--
MR. PRESIDENT,--This bill, as I understand it, is a bill of peace; it
is to bring back tranquillity in a disturbed State. If you ask for
authority under the Constitution, I cannot doubt that it is in the
War Power. It is in the power to suppress this insurrection, to put
down this rebellion. But most strangely do you seek to put down this
rebellion by the abolition of Slavery twenty years, or even ten years,
from now. To my mind the proposition is simply ridiculous. I use strong
language, because so it seems to me, and I cannot help saying it.
Sir, for the sake of our common country at this critical moment, for
the sake of Missouri herself, for the sake of every slave-master in
Missouri, and for the sake of every slave, I insist that Abolition
shall be completed at the nearest possible day. History, reason,
and common sense are uniform in this requirement, and I challenge
contradiction to their concurring testimony.
The measure on its face is double, being in the alternative. It
provides a certain sum in the event of Emancipation taking place within
two years, and another sum if it takes place at a certain distant day.
Now, Sir, I do not desire any alternative. I trust that what we do will
take effect at once. I wish to see the benefit of it, especially to see
it felt in the suppression of the Rebellion.
Mr. Willey, of West Virginia, said, that, in his estimation,
“it would be much better for Missouri, and for the slave, if,
instead of 1876, it was 1900”; and he was followed by Mr.
Henderson, of Missouri, on the same side. Mr. Sumner replied
briefly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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