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Mr. Reed, of Delaware, "was for the commitment provided the clause concerning taxes on exports should also be committed."

Mr. Sherman, observed: "that that clause had been agreed to and therefore could not be committed."

Mr. Randolph, of Virginia, "was for committing in order that some middle ground, if possible, be found. He could never agree to the clause as it stands. He would sooner risk the Constitution. He dwelt on the dilemma to which the Constitution was exposed by agreeing to the clause it would revolt the Quakers, the Methodists and many others in the States having no slaves. On the other hand, two States might be lost to the Union. Let us then," he said, "try the chance of a commitment."

On the question of committing, the vote was: New Hampshire, no; Massachusetts, abstaining from voting; Connecticut, aye; New Jersey, aye; Pennsylvania, no; Delaware, no; Maryland, aye; Virginia, aye; North Carolina, aye; South Carolina, aye; Georgia, aye; In a total of eleven States at Convention seven ayes, three noes, one not voting.

The clause having been referred to a committee consisting of Messrs. Langdon, King, Johnson, Livingston, Clymer, Dickinson, L. Martin, Madison, Williamson, C. C. Pinckney, and Baldwin, the committee reported in favor of the clause, with an amendment making it read: "The migration or importation of such persons as the several States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Legislature prior to the year 1800, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such migration or importation at a rate not exceeding the average of the duties laid on imports."

Gen. Pinckney moved to strike out the words "the year 1800 and to insert the words eighteen hundred and eight."

Mr. Gorham, of Massachusetts, seconded the motion. This action brought from one, who up to that time does not appear to have participated in the discussion, Mr. Madison, the declaration that: "twenty years will produce all the mischief that can be apprehended from the liberty to import slaves. So long a term will be more dishonorable to the national character than to say nothing about it in the Constitution."

The reported clause had been referred to the committee against the vote of New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Virginia and New Jersey both opposed the amendment; but as it received the vote of both New Hampshire and Massachusetts, which had not voted for the commitment, it was supported by seven out of the eleven States, the three New England States present and four of the five Southern States, the three Middle States present, and one Southern State, opposing.

While reasonable men must always be alive to the necessity of compromise, and while also the great responsibilities of the situation concerning this matter are apparent, yet this most important discussion and vote establishes some facts, with regard to the constitutional Union, which the honest historian cannot disregard.

First: The migration or importation of Negroes was prohibited in spite of the declaration of the representatives of the three Southern States, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, that some of the Southern States could not accept the Constitution if it did.

Second: A tax upon the importation was imposed through the aid of the vote of New England, whose representatives had warned the Convention that it would be a recognition of slavery to tax importation. The claim, therefore made, that South Carolina and Georgia forced the recognition of the slave trade is not borne out by the facts in the case. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia followed the suggestion of Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania, and, abandoning the principles for which they had contended, "formed a bargain" by which the slave trade was surrendered for the recognition of slavery by the Constitution.

Upon considering the discussion, although Ellsworth's shrewd criticism crippled, to some extent, the lofty flight of Mason of Virginia, yet the speech of the latter puts him upon a higher plane of statesmanship than that occupied by any deputy present. On the other hand, no matter how high their reputations otherwise may have been established, none descended to so low a plane as King, of Massachusetts and Rutledge of South Carolina; while no individual exhibited as much ignorance of the existing situation as he, who by the temperance of his utterance and the influence of his high personal character, most thoroughly mastered it.

Gen. C. C. Pinckney did not seem to know that South Carolina had not been permitted by Great Britain to throw off the slave trade, when, as a province, she sought to do so, or that the sentiment of the people of his State, even while he was speaking, had found expression in an Act which prohibited the bringing into the State of "any Negro slave contrary to the Act to regulate the recovery of debts and prohibiting the importation of Negroes" and which was sufficiently strong even after the above compromise to negative, by a vote of 93 to 40, Gillon's attempt in the South Carolina Legislature in 1788, to repeal the law prohibiting importation. No severer criticism of the General's statesmanship on this point was ever promulgated than that, thirty-four years later, which his devoted brother, Gen. Thomas Pinckney, furnished, in some reflections, published by him without any thought of how positively they ran counter to the dictum of his brother--"South Carolina and Georgia cannot do without slaves"--he warned South Carolinians that Negro artisans were taking the places of whites.

But, turning from this discussion, it is of importance to consider just how the Negro population of the United States was located at the time of the adoption of the Constitution.

Considering the percentage of blacks to whites in the different sections, South Carolina had the greatest, with a colored population rising as high as 44 per cent of the total. Virginia came second, with a percentage of 41, Georgia was third, with 36; Maryland fourth, with 35; North Carolina fifth, with 27; Delaware sixth, with 26; New Jersey seventh, with 9; New York eighth, with 8; Rhode Island ninth, with 7, and Pennsylvania tenth, with less than three per cent.

There is still another standpoint, however, from which this population might be considered; that is with regard to the area of the State containing the same, and considered in this light, Maryland, with a Negro population in excess of that of South Carolina, and with an area of only one-third, was the most distinct Negro State of the Union. Delaware came second, and Virginia third. In the two States of Maryland and Virginia, with a combined area of 79,124 square miles, there was considerably more than one-half of the colored population of the United States, 416,572. In the region to the south, embracing the three States of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, with an area of 143,040 square miles, there were as yet but 244,104 Negroes, or about one-third of the number, considered with regard to the area they inhabited, which makes very obvious the contention of Ellsworth that the abrogation of the slave trade would have operated as a distinct commercial benefit to Maryland and Virginia, enabling them to supply to the region south of them, at enhanced prices, the slaves they might raise for market.

Virginia, Maryland and Delaware then constituted at this time the black belt, containing, as they did, four-sevenths of the colored population of the Union, three-fourths of the remainder being in the region below and one-fourth above.

In the first decade of the Constitution the density of this colored population in Virginia and Maryland was actually increased; while, at the same time, through an extraordinary accession to her white population, in spite of great gains to the colored, South Carolina's colored percentage decreased, and it is on this account that what happened in the next decade of the Constitution in South Carolina is of so much importance. A consideration of these events will show, that, in spite of the declaration of her great deputies, that "South Carolina could not do without slaves," and that her people "would never be such fools as to give up so important an interest" as "their right to import slaves," they not only proposed to give up the right, but strove earnestly to do so, and only after thirty years of unavailing effort, accompanied by an ever increasing investment in that class of property, did the strong minority, which had opposed it, acquiesce in Calhoun's most unwise view, that the blacks furnished "the best substratum of population, upon which great and flourishing Commonwealths may be most easily and safely reared."

Once it was accepted, the march was steadily on to disaster.

FOOTNOTES:

Phillips, American Negro Slavery, p. 361.

Statutes of S. C., Vols. 2 & 7, pp. 153, 367, 370.

S. C. Gazette, Feb. 26, 1732, McCrady, S. C. under the Royal Government, p. 378.

Compendium of the Ninth Census of the United States, p. 13.

Farrand. Records of the Federal Convention, Vol. 2, p. 183.

Farrand. Records of the Federal Convention, Vol. 2, p. 364.

Farrand. Records of the Federal Convention, Vol. 2, pp. 369, 374.

Ibid. p. 374.

Ibid. p. 400.

Prof. Farrand renders "abst" absent, which the context contradicts. King of Massachusetts, was put on the committee.

Farrand. Records of the Federal Convention, Vol. 2, p. 415.

S. C. Gazette, Feb. 19, 1732, Stat. S. C. Vol. 7, pp. 367-370. McCrady, S. C. Under the Royal Government, p. 378.

Stat. S. C. Vol. 7, p. 430.

State Gazette, Jan. 28, 1788.

Jervey, Robert Y. Hayne and His Times, p. 130.

Calhoun's Correspondence, p. 369.

Following Gillon's unsuccessful attempt in 1788, to repeal the existing law, the State of South Carolina, by successive enactments, in spite of the implied sanction of the Constitution until 1808, prohibited the importation of slaves up to the year 1803. In that year Governor James B. Richardson, in his annual message to the General Assembly, indirectly suggested the repeal of such legislation.

The language of this message is so involved that, considered without reference to its effect, it seems to indicate some sympathy with the prohibition of the importation; but carefully considered, the secret sympathy of this official with those he condemns is obvious. The promptness with which it was seized upon by the opponents of prohibition, and the arguments culled from it, indicate that it was the opening wedge by which the defence against the black flood, was split, to admit it in such volume, as to make subsequent efforts to stop the flow almost useless.

That portion of the message which dealt with the importation of Negro slaves reads as follows:

"All possible diligence and my best efforts have been used to carry effectually into operation the law prohibiting the importation of Negroes into the State, but it is with concern that I have here to state to you, that it has been without success; whether it must be attributed principally to the ill consequences that are apprehended would result from carrying the law into operation by emancipating the Negroes so brought in or whether the interests of the citizens is so interwoven with that species of property, that it prevents their aiding the law in answering the salutary purposes, I will not presume to determine; but I am inclined to believe both causes operate as preventatives; for those people are continued to be brought into the State beyond the possibility of prevention. In all laws intended for the general benefit, they should be so calculated that their operation should be found equal in every part of the State; where this is not the case it means that there is some radical defect therein, or it is inimical to the interest of the citizens; with this law such is the situation; for in the present state of things, the citizens in the frontier and sea coast districts do accumulate this property without the possibility of being detected, while those of the interior and middle districts only experience the operation of that law from their remote situation, etc.... This indeed is a circumstance to be lamented, but such is the true state of our situation and therefore becomes a subject worthy of your consideration and one that I trust will engage your endeavors to render equally energetic in every part of the State that law which experience has proved partial in its operation and is oppressive upon such citizens in the interior districts as hold it the object of desire to augment their capital in the accumulation of such property."

This expression of opinion from the Governor brought up in the House the appointment of "a committee to inquire whether any and what amendments are necessary, to the Act entitled, 'An Act to prevent Negro slaves from being brought into or entering this State'; in the Senate a bill to permit their importation."

The leading opponent in the Senate of the bill to permit importation was State Senator Robert Barnwell, at that time in his forty-second year. He had served with credit in the Revolutionary war, in the course of which he had been seriously wounded; had been a delegate to the Continental Congress; and later a member of Congress from the 2nd Congressional district of South Carolina, later still he had been elected Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives. He is described by Edward Hooker as "a tall, portly, well-built man of about sixty years--a man of singular gravity, and possessed of great influence in the Senate. Said to be an eminent orator and very religious character."

The most prominent advocate of the bill was State Senator William Smith, the schoolmate of Andrew Jackson, later judge, and, later still, United States Senator, the most determined of Calhoun's political opponents in after years. He was a native of North Carolina, of somewhat indefinite age, a reformed drunkard; but a man of firmness and power, and also of pleasing appearance.

The report of his remarks upon this occasion is brevity itself, but sufficient to condemn him, as it is apparent that in a spirit of pessimism he voted against his convictions. The report is: "Mr. Smith said he would agree to put a stop to the importation of Negroes but he believed it to be impossible. For this reason he would vote for the bill." The House had meantime reported that "the laws prohibiting the importation of Negroes can be so amended as to prevent their introduction among us," but a strong faction were for action on the Senate bill. "Mr. Drayton was of the opinion that the committee should proceed to consider the bill from the Senate rather than the report of the committee of this House. He confessed that he was a friend to that bill in its utmost latitude. Many of the planters had cash which they could not so well dispose of as in purchasing Negroes, and he did not see why they should not be allowed to improve their estates in the best manner they were able, as well as merchants or any other class of persons."

The House was not, however, swayed from its course. It proceeded to consider the report of the committee, and a bill in accordance therewith was arranged to be brought before the House on the 12th. On that date, upon a motion to postpone the second reading to February 1, 1804, the same was lost by a vote of 41 to 63; and upon the following day the bill from the Senate came up, and, by a vote of 55 to 46, became a law. With the majority appears only one great name, Langdon Cheves. With the minority is recorded the name of a new member, Joseph Alston, destined to something of a career, who on this occasion, in opposition to the bill permitting importation, made a notable speech.

From the achievement of her independence in 1783, South Carolina had legislated against the importation of Negro slaves with greater and greater severity. The indications are all that this reversal of her past policy was the result of the matter having been sprung as a surprise by Governor Richardson in the second year of his term of office, when the Senate was two to one in favor of such action as he suggested, and even in the more popular branch of the Legislature a majority of nine in one hundred and one votes could be secured. Under these conditions, that a strong effort should have been at once inaugurated by those who opposed the importation, to repeal the Act permitting same was natural, and, upon the reassembling of the Legislature in the fall of 1804, a bill having such for its purpose was introduced, pressed to a vote in the Senate, and lost by only one vote, the record being 16 for, 17 against repeal of Act permitting importation, and two absent.

Four days later the House went into committee on the following resolution: "Resolved, that in the opinion of this House, it is inexpedient and impolitic to permit the importation of slaves into this State, and that a committee of five be appointed to bring in a bill for that purpose." The resolution was adopted by a vote of 69 to 39, and among the names of the majority appears that of William Lowndes. Thus the two Houses being unable to agree before adjournment, it was to be inferred, from the heavy majority in the House, against importation and the extremely narrow margin by which it had been sustained in the Senate, the fight would again be made, at the convening of the Legislature, in the fall of 1805. And so it was, for upon its reassembling Governor Paul Hamilton at once and pointedly referred to the subject in his message: "I should be wanting in my endeavors towards the public good were I to omit soliciting you to legislate on the importation of slaves. Abstractedly from other considerations of it, on which indeed much may be said, I feel myself bound to represent its continuance as productive of effects the most injurious, in draining us of our specie, thereby embarrassing our commercial men and naturally lessening the sales of our produce; that viewed with reference to population it increases our weakness not our strength; for it must be admitted that in proportion as you add to the number of slaves, you prevent the influx of those men who would increase the means of defence and security. I will add, that an immediate stop to this traffic is, in my judgment, on every principle of sound policy, indispensable."

The message at once engaged the attention of the newly elected House, to the Speakership of which Joseph Alston had been elected. The young Speaker was a most interesting personality. His father, with perhaps one exception, was the largest slave-owner in the State, and of the latter, we are informed, that "in his opinion the true interests of the planter were in exact accord with the dictates of an enlightened humanity. The consequence was that his numerous plantations were models of neatness and order and his slaves always exhibited an appearance of health and comfort, which spoke well for their treatment."

This election to the Speakership was the beginning of a political career for Joseph Alston, which soon led to the Governorship and might well have extended into national fields, had it not been for the tragedy which cut it short. He had just married Theodosia Burr, the fascinating and accomplished daughter of Aaron Burr. But the death of his only son in 1812 and almost immediately after, the loss of his wife at sea, seemed literally to destroy all his interest in life and take it from him. This debate in 1805, in which he was the foremost figure, is alluded to in the diary of Edward Hooker, by whom we are informed that the principle speakers in the House were Simons, Alston, Miles, Taylor and Wright. The resolution under consideration, as drawn up by Joseph Alston, was prefaced with several considerations, such as the inconsistency of the slave trade with the precepts of Christianity--with justice, humanity, etc., and later with the true interests of the State. In the argument of Mr. Miles, of Richland, appear the extraordinary insinuations of Governor Richardson, as to the injustice of the law with regard to those who found it difficult to violate it, and whom it did prohibit from importing slaves. Of the members of the House and Senate who sufficiently struck the attention of Hooker to draw from him something like a pen portrait, Barnwell, Lowndes and Alston stand out the clearest. He estimated Alston to be about twenty-eight years of age. He was not quite twenty-seven. He describes him thus: "Mr. Alston is a short man and rather thick. Of a dark complexion, with thick black hair and a formidable pair of whiskers, that cover a great part of his face, and nearly meet at the chin. His dress and demeanor are well deserving the name buckish. When not in the legislative hall, he may be seen as often as anywhere, about the stables, looking at fine horses, dressed in a short jockey-like surtout or frock, and laced and tossled boots, with a segar in his mouth, and much more of the 'gig and tandem' levity than the austere virtues of a senatorial leader. Indeed he is one of the last persons that I should have picked out from the crowd of people in town for a president of one branch of the Legislature."

Of the speech he says: "Alston's speech appears to me more like an extemporaneous one, though it is said by such as are acquainted with him that he always, without exception, writes his speeches. He like Simons, used notes, but did not recur to them so often; nor did he confine himself so much to method, nor avoid so scrupulously every expression not stamped with elegance, yet his arrangement was not bad, nor his language undignified. He did not at first speak with uncommon fluency, indeed he stammered a little, but when he became once fairly engaged his words appeared to flow with great ease. His figures and allusions were eminently striking and beautiful, and his speech abounded with them. He dropped some excellent moral and political sentiments, quoted two or three texts of sublime morality from the Scriptures, and with great vehemence and apparent sincerity urged the House to consult the dictates of justice and humanity, in opposition to sordid interest. His manner of delivery was extremely good and his gestures forcible and expressive. He labored some time, and with success, to show that the increase of slaves tends to destroy that equality which is the basis of our republican institutions and insists that it is not only unjust to bring them in, but demonstrably injurious to the real interests of the State. In his argument was a fund of good sense and useful information. The utmost silence pervaded the House while he spoke thirty-five or forty minutes."

The resolution was adopted, and the bill prohibiting importation was sent to the Senate by a vote of 56 to 28.

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