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Show 250 DESPOTIS:O.I . . d 1 ursuit of happiness, they must hfc, hbcrty, an t 10 P. 1 . 1 8 to the world be esteemed as pledging t lCm~en~t~on and main tc~ and to t>ach other, for the rccoo . I na ncc of that right. Nor was this declaration t w t"?:re act of the Continental Congress, whose power mioht be di.;: Hlted ; for it was distinctly an? ~?l ?m nly rat~ ificd, ~~opted, and confirmed by every mdivtd_ual '~t~te in the Union. From that moment, then, Jt "as _a solemn pledge on the part of all the states, and a tacit condition of the Union, t hat slavery should _be done away with as soon as possible. By adoptmg, two cars before, the non-importation agreement, known y. the American Association, the states had already a~cdacd themselves to import no more slaves; a pledge from which they were never released, tl~ough fhe Carolinas and Georgia chose afterwards ~o ~wlatc it, and to insist on a constitutional pern;usswn to continue that violation for tw~nty ~cars. fhe sa;U.~ understanding as to t he abolltwn of slavf'ry prevat ct when the Federal constitution was adopted. Slavery was regarded as a transitory evd, to be spcedtly rc· moved, and the greate~t care was ~aken n~t to men· tion it by name, nor to recognize .m that wstrumcut any such idea as that of property Ill man. . 'l'he northern states have waited a great whtle, p~· t'cntly for their southern neig hbors to carry ~ut Jhe~r a'rrrcet~ent. If t he conclusion should be ar~I~C (1 ~~ 1.\~at the southern states are unable or unwill11}o th redeem their pled~e, certainly t he least we o c North can do is, t~ proclaim, every where, o~r r_on· viction of the utter illegality of this acc~nsed lmstilut. ion, Ulld of the bad faith of the South Ill pro onglllg its existence. t d tl t the Nor indeed, can it reasonably be cxpcc e . ~a of men o'r the North will stop there. 'l'ht ~baht~~~ the ~lavery, not to mentio n how e~sent.m If t~s free. is r f the ri ~hts and lobcrlles 0 e . d ~~r~~(~tv~~~~~r~m t he l)~Jited s.talcs to the mem?r~i a;~s JJOnor of our Revolutionary lather~, t~f the ~r~~~1~f in of dt>mocraC'y, to hnman nature Ilsc ; au J o IN AMf:RICA. 251 proportion as our southern brethren shall fa il to take the lead in tlli~ inevitable enterprbe, that ieadership must of ncccsstty devolve on us of the North. It has On_Jy been by p.rofcsHions of ultra dernocraey, of cxeccdmg respect lor the natural rights of men, and of opposition to a il arbitrary and unnecessary author~ ity, that the slave-holding body have been enabled to exercise so long-continued and so dcdded an influ~ ence over our national politics. The time has now come-the ascendency of democratic ideas having, under southern patronage, been firmly established at the North, and the domination of the old ari stocrat~ ieal cliques completely put down-that the northern democracy can return the favor by aiding t he sout h~ ern stales in the ~u bstituti on of a democracy like that of the North, in place of those slave-holding oligarchies by which the entire laboring population of the South, white as well as black, has hitherto been held in such entire subjection. And, in adopting such a course, 1 he northern democracy will cous ult not more the spirit of their own policy than the true in tent of the framers of t he Federal constitution. For whatever disputes may be raised as to the precise intent of the framerf of t hat instrument in partie~ ular clauses, one thing at least is eertain,-whatevcr monstrous assumptions to the contrary may have lately been countenanced in quarters where more knowledge and better feelings might naturally have been expected ;-the framers of the constitution never intended, the people who ratified the constitution never intended, to found a slave-breeding and a sla~ very-propagating republic. 'fhc barest suspicion that the constitution could operate to perpetuate the institu_ tJO~ of slavery would have caused its iudig na nt rejechon by all the northern a nd by a part of the southern states. The general intent of the framers of the constitution is clearly and comprehensively expressed in its preamble, by which Hs objects a re ~ecl~rcd. to be, u 'l'o form a more perfect union, estab~ ltsh JUshee, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for |
