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Show 10 INTRODUCTORY. upon the subject of slavery is taken up. This occurred in 1790, the first Congress that assembled under the present Constitution, and 'vas had upon the me1norial of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. The report of the committee, and the final action of Congress upon that suhj ect, will be found in this chapter. The Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, dnnvn by 1\iessrs. lVIadison and Jefferson, defining the rights and po·wers of the general government and the States, are next given. From this period till the application of Missouri for admission into the Union, in 1820) the question of slavery 'vas not agitated in Congress to any considerable extent. This \Vas the first discussion ever had in that body on the po,ver of Congress to restrict slavery in the territories of the United States. A succinct and careful history of the difficulty is given, together vvith extracts fron1 the speeches of the most prominent states1nen of that time who participated in it, e1nbracing nearly the entire speech of General Pinckney, ·who \vas the only n1ember of Congress, at that tin1e, who 'vas a n1e1nher of the Convention that framed the Constitution. In this con- INTRODUC'rORY. 11 nection, also, the reader 'vill find the opinions of Mr. Madison, Mr, Jefferson, Mr. 1\'Ionroe, General Harrison, and others, upon the power of Congress to restrict slavery in the national territories. From this period, down to 1854, the various phases of slavery agitation is traced, and the views of Clay, Calhoun, Benton, Cass, Dickinson, Se·ward, Marcy, John Quincy Adams, Silas 'V right, Daniel 'V ebster, and other of the eminent statesmen of the times, of both political parties, are given. A history of the ICansa - Nebraska bill ; extracts fron1 the opinion of the court in the Dred Scott case, and other opinions of the courts in reference to slavery; the inaugural addresses of vV ashington, Adams, J cffer on, and l\1adison ; and the farewell addresses of Washington and Jackson; may also be found. Since 1854, the Whig party, as a national organization, has ceased to exist, and the Republican party, organized particularly 'vith reference to the slavery question, has taken its place. I have compiled nothing save the resolutions of the !)residential conventions, subsequent to that period, for the reason that congressional discus. ions |