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360 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
simply that it was the business of this government to secure the liberty of
every class and race. Having thus indicated as clearly as it could venture to
do, the spirit in which it proposed to deal with the subject of negro slavery
in future, the republican party denounced the decision of the supreme court
in the Dred Scott case; declared "that the normal condition of all the
Territories of the United States is that of freedom;" and explicitly denied
the " authority of Congress, of a Territorial Legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of the United States."
Now the supreme court had said with equal distinctness, that the constitution
recognized slavery in the Territories—and that neither Congress nor a Territorial Legislature, could constitutionally prohibit; slavery in any Territory,
but that on the contrary the slaveholder had the right to go there and the
Federal government was bound by the constitution to protect him. The
republican party, therefore, deliberately announced its determination to repudiate this adjudication—to act in defiance of the decision of the supreme
judicial tribunal of the land—to legislate in contravention of the established
law. It made its appeal to the North, a vast majority of whose people determined to sustain it, and now it was indignant at the reproaches and
suspicions of the South, and told the latter that its fears were goundless.
But the Southern people having vast interests at stake, and fearful dangers
to guard, against, were compelled to exercise more foresight and vigilance
than nations less peculiarly situated. They could but see that the power of
the Federal government could and might be now turned to their destruction.
They knew that if the republican administration should ostentatiously
abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the forts and dock-yards
throughout the South, and should encourage the circulation of incendiary
documents through the post-office, and interfere with the inter-State slave
trade, that then their utter ruin would speedily follow; and they felt that
they could not trust to the magnanimity or justice of those who had assumed
a menacing and illegal position, and who refused to recede from it. Surely
then the slave States had some cause for the alarm which they now manifested; and they did not oppose Mr. Lincoln simply because he was a
Northern man, or because his own individual views were antagonistic to
theirs. But they resisted the republican party and the election of the candidate who sympathized with it, and who was bound if he was honest, to carry
out its policy. They did not stand upon the Dred Scott decision because
they expected it would ever, be productive of any practical advantage to them;
but they made it a part of their platform becaus3 it was the undoubted law of
the land, and they desired its recognition by the North as a proof of the
loyalty of the people of that section. They felt that if the latter would disregard one constitutional obligation, they might repudiate all. They were
convinced that if the North could stand by Mr. Lincoln at this juncture, it
would probably not hesitate to endorse every other prominent leader of the
republican party. The platforms and the candidates were in themselves as
| Title | History of Maryland - 3 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000391 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 360 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. simply that it was the business of this government to secure the liberty of every class and race. Having thus indicated as clearly as it could venture to do, the spirit in which it proposed to deal with the subject of negro slavery in future, the republican party denounced the decision of the supreme court in the Dred Scott case; declared "that the normal condition of all the Territories of the United States is that of freedom;" and explicitly denied the " authority of Congress, of a Territorial Legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of the United States." Now the supreme court had said with equal distinctness, that the constitution recognized slavery in the Territories—and that neither Congress nor a Territorial Legislature, could constitutionally prohibit; slavery in any Territory, but that on the contrary the slaveholder had the right to go there and the Federal government was bound by the constitution to protect him. The republican party, therefore, deliberately announced its determination to repudiate this adjudication—to act in defiance of the decision of the supreme judicial tribunal of the land—to legislate in contravention of the established law. It made its appeal to the North, a vast majority of whose people determined to sustain it, and now it was indignant at the reproaches and suspicions of the South, and told the latter that its fears were goundless. But the Southern people having vast interests at stake, and fearful dangers to guard, against, were compelled to exercise more foresight and vigilance than nations less peculiarly situated. They could but see that the power of the Federal government could and might be now turned to their destruction. They knew that if the republican administration should ostentatiously abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the forts and dock-yards throughout the South, and should encourage the circulation of incendiary documents through the post-office, and interfere with the inter-State slave trade, that then their utter ruin would speedily follow; and they felt that they could not trust to the magnanimity or justice of those who had assumed a menacing and illegal position, and who refused to recede from it. Surely then the slave States had some cause for the alarm which they now manifested; and they did not oppose Mr. Lincoln simply because he was a Northern man, or because his own individual views were antagonistic to theirs. But they resisted the republican party and the election of the candidate who sympathized with it, and who was bound if he was honest, to carry out its policy. They did not stand upon the Dred Scott decision because they expected it would ever, be productive of any practical advantage to them; but they made it a part of their platform becaus3 it was the undoubted law of the land, and they desired its recognition by the North as a proof of the loyalty of the people of that section. They felt that if the latter would disregard one constitutional obligation, they might repudiate all. They were convinced that if the North could stand by Mr. Lincoln at this juncture, it would probably not hesitate to endorse every other prominent leader of the republican party. The platforms and the candidates were in themselves as |
