Life of Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President of the United States — John Shaqi
Life of Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President of the United StatesCrosby, Frank
History
Life of Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President of the United States
Crosby, Frank
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
“The Supreme Court met again; did not announce their decision, but
ordered a re-argument. The Presidential inauguration came, and
still no decision of the court; but the incoming President, in his
Inaugural Address, fervently exhorted the people to abide by the
forthcoming decision, _whatever it might be_. Then, in a few days
came the decision.
“This was the third point gained.
“The reputed author of the Nebraska Bill finds an early occasion
to make a speech at this capitol indorsing the Dred Scott
decision and vehemently denouncing all opposition to it. The new
President, too, seizes the early occasion of the Silliman letter
to indorse and strongly construe that decision, and to express his
astonishment that any different view had ever been entertained. At
length a squabble springs up between the President and the author
of the Nebraska Bill on the mere question of fact, whether the
Lecompton Constitution was or was not, in any just sense, made by
the people of Kansas; and, in that squabble, the latter declares
that all he wants is a fair vote for the people, and that he cares
not whether slavery be voted down or voted up. I do not understand
his declaration that he cares not whether slavery be voted down or
voted up, to be intended by him other than as an apt definition of
the policy he would impress upon the public mind--the principle for
which he declares he has suffered much, and is ready to suffer to
the end.
“And well may he cling to that principle. If he has any parental
feeling, well may he cling to it. That principle is the only shred
left of his original Nebraska doctrine. Under the Dred Scott
decision, ‘squatter sovereignty’ squatted out of existence, tumbled
down like temporary scaffolding--like the mould at the foundry,
served through one blast, and fell back into loose sand--helped to
carry an election, and then was kicked to the winds. His late joint
struggle with the Republicans, against the Lecompton Constitution,
involves nothing of the original Nebraska doctrine. That struggle
was made on a point--the right of a people to make their own
Constitution--upon which he and the Republicans have never differed.
“The several points of the Dred Scott decision, in connection
with Senator Douglas’s ‘care not’ policy, constitute the piece of
machinery in its present state of advancement. The working points
of that machinery are:
“First, That no negro slave, imported as such from Africa, and no
descendant of such, can ever be a citizen of any State in the
sense of that term as used in the Constitution of the United States.
“This point is made in order to deprive the negro, in every
possible event, of the benefit of this provision of the United
States Constitution, which declares that--‘The citizens of each
State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of
citizens in the several States.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account