Rosenfeld Susan. Encyclopedia of American Historical Documents
Подождите немного. Документ загружается.
on this point, a few plain questions (it seems to me) could
not fail to remove it. What power has given this nation its
Presidents for more than fifty years? Slavery. What power
is that to which the present aspirants to presidential hon-
ors are bowing? Slavery. We may call it “Union,” “Consti-
tution,” “Harmony,” or “American institutions,” that to
which such men as Cass, Dickinson, Webster, Clay and
other distinguished men of this country, are devoting their
energies, is nothing more nor less than American slavery.
It is for this that they are writing letters, making speeches,
and promoting the holding of great mass meetings, pro-
fessedly in favor of “the Union.” These men know the ser-
vice most pleasing to their master, and that which is most
likely to be richly rewarded. Men may “serve God for
nought,” as did Job; but he who serves the devil has an eye
to his reward. “Patriotism,” “obedience to the law,” “pros-
perity to the country,” have come to mean, in the mouths
of these distinguished statesmen, a mean and servile
acquiescence in the most flagitious and profligate legisla-
tion in favor of slavery. I might enlarge here on this picture
of slave power, and tell of its influence upon the press in
the free States, and upon the condition and rights of the
free colored people of the North; but I forbear for the
present.—Enough has been said, I trust, to convince all
that the abolition of this evil will require time, energy,
zeal, perseverance and patience; that it will require fidelity,
a martyr-like spirit of self-sacrifice, and a firm reliance
on Him who has declared Himself to be “the God of
the oppressed.” Having said thus much upon the power
and prevalence of slavery, allow me to speak of the nature
of slavery itself; and here I can speak, in part, from ex-
perience—I can speak with the authority of positive
knowledge. . . .
First of all, I will state, as well as I can, the legal and
social relation of master and slave. A master is one (to
speak in the vocabulary of the Southern States) who claims
and exercises a right of property in the person of a fellow
man. This he does with the force of the law and the sanc-
tion of Southern religion. The law gives the master abso-
lute power over the slave. He may work him, flog him, hire
him out, sell him, and, in certain contingencies, kill him,
with perfect impunity. The slave is a human being,
divested of all rights—reduced to the level of a brute—a
mere “chattel” in the eye of the law—placed beyond the
circle of human brotherhood—cut off from his kind—his
name, which the “recording angel” may have enrolled in
heaven, among the blest, is impiously inserted in a master’s
ledger, with horses, sheep and swine. In law, the slave has
no wife, no children, no country, and no home. He can
own nothing, possess nothing, acquire nothing, but what
must belong to another. To eat the fruit of his own toil, to
clothe his person with the work of his own hands, is con-
sidered stealing. He toils that another may reap the fruit;
he is industrious that another may live in idleness; he eats
unbolted meal, that another may eat the bread of fine
flour; he labors in chains at home, under a burning sun and
a biting lash, that another may ride in ease and splendor
abroad; he lives in ignorance, that another may be edu-
cated; he is abused, that another may be exalted; he rests
his toil-worn limbs on the cold, damp ground, that another
may repose on the softest pillow; he is clad in coarse and
tattered raiment, that another may be arrayed in purple
and fine linen; he is sheltered only by the wretched hovel,
that a master may dwell in a magnificent mansion; and to
this condition he is bound down as by an arm of iron.
From this monstrous relation, there springs an
unceasing stream of most revolting cruelties. The very
accompaniments of the slave system, stamp it as the off-
spring of hell itself. To ensure good behavior, the slave-
holder relies on the whip,; to induce proper humility, he
relies on the whip,; to rebuke what he is pleased to term
insolence, he relies on the whip,; to supply the place of
wages, as an incentive to toil, he relies on the whip,; to
bind down the spirit of the slave, to imbrute and to destroy
his manhood, he relies on the whip, the chain, the gag, the
thumb-screw, the pillory, the bowie-knife, the pistol, and
the blood-hound. These are the necessary and unvarying
accompaniments of the system. . . .
Nor is slavery more adverse to the conscience than it
is to the mind.
This is shown by the fact that in every State of the
American Union, where slavery exists, except the State of
Kentucky, there are laws, absolutely prohibitory of educa-
tion among the slaves. The crime of teaching a slave to
read is punishable with severe fines and imprisonment,
and, in some instances, with death itself.
Nor are the laws respecting this matter, a dead letter.
Cases may occur in which they are disregarded, and a few
instances may be found where slaves may have learned to
read; but such are isolated cases, and only prove the rule.
The great mass of slaveholders look upon education among
the slaves as utterly subversive of the slave system. I well
remember when my mistress first announced to my mas-
ter that she had discovered that I could read. His face col-
ored at once, with surprise and chagrin. He said that “I was
ruined, that my value as a slave was destroyed; that a slave
should know nothing but to obey his master; that to give a
Negro an inch would lead him to take an ell; that having
learned how to read, I would soon want to know how to
write; and that, bye and bye, I would be running away.” I
think my audience will bear witness to the correctness of
this philosophy, and to the literal fulfilment of this
prophecy.
It is perfectly well understood at the South that to
educate a slave is to make him discontented with slavery,
and to invest him with a power which shall open to him the
792 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction
treasures of freedom; and since the object of the slave-
holder is to maintain complete authority over his slave, his
constant vigilance is exercised to prevent everything which
militates against, or endangers the stability of his authority.
Education being among the menacing influences, and,
perhaps, the most dangerous, is therefore, the most cau-
tiously guarded against.
It is true that we do not often hear of the enforcement
of the law, punishing as crime the teaching of slaves to
read, but this in not because of a want of disposition to
enforce it. The true reason, or explanation of the matter is
this, there is the greatest unanimity of opinion among the
white population of the South, in favor of the policy of
keeping the slave in ignorance. There is, perhaps, another
reason why the law against education is so seldom violated.
The slave is too poor to be able to offer a temptation suffi-
ciently strong to induce a white man to violate it; and it is
not to be supposed that in a community where the moral
and religious sentiment is in favor of slavery, many martyrs
will be found sacrificing their liberty and lives by violating
those prohibitory enactments.
As a general rule, then, darkness reigns over the
abodes of the enslaved, and “how great is that darkness!”
We are sometimes told of the contentment of the
slaves, and are entertained with vivid pictures of their hap-
piness. We are told that they often dance and sing; that
their masters frequently give them wherewith to make
merry; in fine, that they have little of which to complain. I
admit that the slave does sometimes sing, dance, and
appear to be merry. But what does this prove? It only
proves to my mind, that though slavery is armed with a
thousand stings, it is not able entirely to kill the elastic
spirit of the bondman. That spirit will rise and walk abroad,
despite of whips and chains, and extract from the cup of
nature, occasional drops of joy and gladness. No thanks to
the slaveholder, nor to slavery, that the vivacious captive
may sometimes dance in his chains, his very mirth in such
circumstances, stands before God, as an accusing angel
against his enslaver.
But who tell us of the extraordinary contentment and
happiness of the slave? What traveller has explored the
balmy regions of our Southern country and brought back
“these glad tidings of joy”? Bring him on the platform, and
bid him answer a few plain questions, we shall then be able
to determine the weight and importance that attach to his
testimony. Is he a minister? Yes. Were you ever in a slave
State, sir? Yes. May I inquire the object of your mission
South? To preach the gospel, sir. Of what denominations
are you? A Presbyterian, sir. To whom were you intro-
duced? To the Rev. Dr. Plummer. Is he a slaveholder, sir?
Yes, sir. Has slaves about his house? Yes, sir. Were you than
the guest of Dr. Plummer? Yes, sir. Waited on by slaves
while there? Yes, sir. Did you preach for Dr. Plummer?
Yes, sir. Did you spend your nights at the great house, or at
the quarter among the slaves? At the great house. You had,
then, no social intercourse with the slaves? No, sir. You
fraternized, then, wholly with the white portion of the pop-
ulation while there? Yes, sir. This is sufficient, sir; you can
leave the platform.
Nothing is more natural than that those who go into
slave States, and enjoy the hospitality of slaveholders,
should bring back favorable reports of the condition of the
slave. If that ultra republican, the Hon. Lewis Cass could
not return from the Court of France, without paying a
compliment to royalty simply because King Louis
Phillippe patted him on the shoulder, called him “friend,”
and invited him to dinner, it is not to be expected that
those hungry shadows of men in the shape of ministers,
that go South, can escape a contamination even more
beguiling and insidious. Alas! for the weakness of poor
human nature! “Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw!”
Why is it that all the reports of contentment and hap-
piness among the slaves at the South come to us upon the
authority of slaveholders, or (what is equally significant), of
slaveholders’ friends? Why is it that we do not hear from
the slaves direct? The answer to this question furnishes the
darkest features in the American slave system.
Is is often said, by the opponents of the anti-slavery
cause, that the condition of the people of Ireland is more
deplorable than that of the American slaves. Far be it from
me to underrate the sufferings of the Irish people. They
have been long oppressed; and the same heart that
prompts me to plead the cause of the American bondman,
makes it impossible for me not to sympathize with the
oppressed of all lands. Yet I must say that there is no anal-
ogy between the two cases. The Irishman is poor, but he is
not a slave. He may be in rags, but he is not a slave. He is
still the master of his own body, and can say with the poet,
“The hand of Douglass is his own.” “The world is all before
him, where to choose,” and poor as may be my opinion of
the British Parliament, I cannot believe that it will ever
sink to such a depth of infamy as to pass a law for the
recapture of Fugitive Irishmen! The shame and scandal of
kidnapping will long remain wholly monopolized by the
American Congress! The Irishman has not only the liberty
to emigrate from his country, but he has liberty at home.
He can write, and speak, and co-operate for the attainment
of his rights and the redress of his wrongs.
The multitude can assembly upon all the green hills,
and fertile plains of the Emerald Isle—they can pour our
their grievances, and proclaim their wants without molesta-
tion; and the press, that “swiftwinged messenger,” can bear
the tidings of their doing to the extreme bounds of the civ-
ilized world. They have their “Conciliation Hall” on the
banks of the Liffey, their reform Clubs, and the newspa-
pers; they pass resolutions, send forth addresses, and enjoy
The Causes of the Civil War 793
the right of petition. But how is it with the American slave?
Where may he assemble? Where is his Conciliation Hall?
Where are his newspapers? Where is his right of petition?
Where is his freedom of speech? his liberty of the press?
and his right of locomotion? He is said to be happy; happy
men can speak. But ask the slave— what is his condition?—
what his state of mind?— what he thinks of this enslave-
ment? and you had as well address your inquiries to the
silent dead. There comes no voice from the enslaved, we
are left to gather his feelings by imagining what ours would
be, were our souls in his soul’s stead.
If there were no other fact descriptive of slavery, than
that the slave is dumb, this alone would be sufficient to
mark the slave system as a grant aggregation of human
horrors.
Most who are present will have observed that leading
men, in this country, have been putting forth their skill to
secure quiet to the nation. A system of measures to pro-
mote this object was adopted a few months ago in
Congress.
The result of those measures is known. Instead of
quiet, they have produced alarm; instead of peace, they
have brought us war, and so must ever be.
While this nation is guilty of the enslavement of three
millions of innocent men and women, it is as idle of think
of having a sound and lasting peace, as it is to think there
is no God, to take cognizance of the affairs of men. There
can be no peace to the wicked while slavery continues in
the land, it will be condemned, and while it is condemned
there will be agitation; Nature must cease to be nature;
Men must become monsters; Humanity must be trans-
formed; Christianity must be exterminated; all ideas of jus-
tice, and the laws of eternal goodness must be utterly
blotted out from the human soul, ere a system so foul and
infernal can escape condemnation, or this guilty Republic
can have a sound and enduring Peace.
Source:
James Andrews and David Zarefsky, eds. American Voices: Sig-
nificant Speeches in American History, 1640–1945. Reading,
Mass.: Longman, 1989.
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852
First serialized beginning June 5, 1851, a chapter at a time, in
a weekly publication called the
National Era
, and then pub-
lished in a volume, this book sold more than 350,000 copies
when it was first printed and was turned into plays, granting it
an even wider audience. Daughter of the famous preacher and
abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, Stowe emphasized the
degradation of slave women and the coarsening effect it had
on at least some of their mistresses, as well as the horrors of
breaking up slave families. Sold abroad as well as in the North,
it had a powerful effect on attitudes toward slavery. It has since
been translated into more than 20 languages. According to
legend, when President Abraham Lincoln was introduced to
Stowe, he remarked, “So this is the little lady who made this
big war?”
Stowe based her narrative on stories told to her by former
slaves and by her observations of plantations in Kentucky. The
character of Uncle Tom was allegedly based on a Maryland
slave, Josiah Henson. His “cabin” stood into the late 20th cen-
tury in Montgomery County in the Washington, D.C., suburbs.
After working as a slave for 41 years, in 1830 Henson and his
family escaped to Ontario, Canada via the Underground Rail-
road. In 1841 he helped to establish the Dawn Settlement, a
refuge providing a new beginning for former slaves. Through
his leadership, the British American Institute, one of Canada’s
first industrial schools, was founded.
The chapter reproduced here describes a slave auction,
including the separation of mother and daughter. In the pre-
ceding chapter, the widow of Tom’s benevolent master disre-
gards the deathbed pleas of her daughter Little Eva and her
husband and refuses to grant Tom his freedom. Instead she
decides to sell most of the slaves.
________________________
h
_______________________
CHAPTER XXX The Slave Warehouse A slave warehouse!
Perhaps some of my readers conjure up horrible visions of
such a place. They fancy some foul, obscure den, some
horrible—Tartarus “informis, ingens, cui lumen ademp-
tum.”—But no, innocent friend; in these days men have
learned the art of sinning expertly and genteelly, so as not
to shock the eyes and senses of respectable society. Human
property is high in the market; and is, therefore, well fed,
well cleaned, tended, and looked after, that it may come to
sale sleek, and strong, and shining. A slave-warehouse in
New Orleans is a house externally not much unlike many
others, kept with neatness; and where every day you may
see arranged, under a sort of shed along the outside, rows
of men and women, who stand there as a sign of the prop-
erty sold within. Then you shall be courteously entreated
to call and examine, and shall find an abundance of hus-
bands, wives, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and young
children, to be “sold separately, or in lots to suit the con-
venience of the purchaser;” and that soul immortal, once
bought with blood and anguish by the Son of God, when
the earth shook, and the rocks rent, and the graves were
opened, can be sold, leased, mortgaged, exchanged for
groceries or dry goods, to suit the phases of trade, or the
fancy of the purchaser. It was a day or two after the con-
versation between Marie and Miss Ophelia, that Tom,
794 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction
Adolph, and about half a dozen others of the St. Clare
estate, were turned over to the loving kindness of Mr.
Skeggs, the keeper of a depot on———street, to await the
auction, next day. Tom had with him quite a sizable trunk
full of clothing, as had most others of them. They were
ushered, for the night, into a long room, where many other
men, of all ages, sizes, and shades of complexion, were
assembled, and from which roars of laughter and unthink-
ing merriment were proceeding. “Ah, ha! that’s right. Go
it, boys—go it!” said Mr. Skeggs, the keeper. “My people
are always so merry! Sambo, I see!” he said, speaking
approvingly to a burly negro who was performing tricks of
low buffoonery, which occasioned the shouts which Tom
had heard. As might be imagined, Tom was in no humor to
join these proceedings; and, therefore, setting his trunk as
far as possible from the noisy group, he sat down on it, and
leaned his face against the wall. The dealers in the human
article make scrupulous and systematic efforts to promote
noisy mirth among them, as a means of drowning reflec-
tion, and rendering them insensible to their condition. The
whole object of the training to which the negro is put, from
the time he is sold in the northern market till he arrives
south, is systematically directed towards making him cal-
lous, unthinking, and brutal. The slave-dealer collects his
gang in Virginia or Kentucky, and drives them to some con-
venient, healthy place—often a watering place,—to be fat-
tened. Here they are fed full daily; and, because some
incline to pine, a fiddle is kept commonly going among
them, and they are made to dance daily; and he who
refuses to be merry—in whose soul thoughts of wife, or
child, or home, are too strong for him to be gay—is
marked as sullen and dangerous, and subjected to all the
evils which the ill will of an utterly irresponsible and hard-
ened man can inflict upon him. Briskness, alertness, and
cheerfulness of appearance, especially before observers,
are constantly enforced upon them, both by the hope of
thereby getting a good master, and the fear of all that the
driver may bring upon them if they prove unsalable. “What
dat ar nigger doin here?” said Sambo, coming up to Tom,
after Mr. Skeggs had left the room. Sambo was a full black,
of great size, very lively, voluble, and full of trick and gri-
mace. “What you doin here?” said Sambo, coming up to
Tom, and poking him facetiously in the side. “Meditatin’,
eh?” “I am to be sold at the auction, tomorrow!” said Tom,
quietly. “Sold at auction—haw! haw! boys, an’t this yer
fun? I wish’t I was gwine that ar way!—tell ye, wouldn’t I
make em laugh? But how is it,—dis yer whole lot gwine
tomorrow?” said Sambo, laying his hand freely on Adolph’s
shoulder. “Please to let me alone!” said Adolph, fiercely,
straightening himself up, with extreme disgust. “Law, now,
boys! dis yer’s one o’ yer white niggers—kind o’ cream
color, ye know, scented!” said he, coming up to Adolph and
snuffing. “O Lor! he’d do for a tobaccer-shop; they could
keep him to scent snuff! Lor, he’d keep a whole shope
agwine—he would!” “I say, keep off, can’t you?” said
Adolph, enraged. “Lor, now, how touchy we is—we white
niggers! Look at us now!” and Sambo gave a ludicrous imi-
tation of Adolph’s manner; “here’s de airs and graces. We’s
been in a good family, I specs.” “Yes,” said Adolph; “I had
a master that could have bought you all for old truck!”
“Laws, now, only think,” said Sambo, “the gentlemens that
we is!” “I belonged to the St. Clare family,” said Adolph,
proudly. “Lor, you did! Be hanged if they ar’n’t lucky to get
shet of ye. Spects they’s gwine to trade ye off with a lot o’
cracked tea-pots and sich like!” said Sambo, with a pro-
voking grin. Adolph, enraged at this taunt, flew furiously at
his adversary, swearing and striking on every side of him.
The rest laughed and shouted, and the uproar brought the
keeper to the door. “What now, boys? Order—order!” he
said, coming in and flourishing a large whip. All fled in dif-
ferent directions, except Sambo, who, presuming on the
favor which the keeper had to him as a licensed wag, stood
his ground, ducking his head with a facetious grin, when-
ever the master made a dive at him. “Lor, Mas’r, ‘tan’t us—
we ‘s reglar stiddy,—it’s these yer new hands; they’s real
aggravatin’—kinder pickin’ at us, all time!” The keeper, at
this, turned upon Tom and Adolph, and distributing a few
kicks and cuffs without much inquiry, and leaving general
orders for all to be good boys and go to sleep, left the
apartment. While this scene was going on in the men’s
sleeping-room, the reader may be curious to take a peep at
the corresponding apartment allotted to the women.
Stretched out in various attitudes over the floor, he may
see numberless sleeping forms of every shade of complex-
ion, from the purest ebony to white, and of all years, from
childhood to old age, lying now asleep. Here is a fine
bright girl, of ten years, whose mother was sold out yester-
day, and who tonight cried herself to sleep when nobody
was looking at her. Here, a worn old negress, whose thin
arms and callous fingers tell of hard toil, waiting to be sold
tomorrow, as a cast-off article, for what can be got for her;
and some forty or fifty others, with heads variously
enveloped in blankets or articles of clothing, lie stretched
around them. But, in a corner, sitting apart from the rest,
are two females of a more interesting appearance than
common. One of these is a respectably-dressed mulatto
woman between forty and fifty, with soft eyes and a gentle
and pleasing physiognomy. She has on her head a high-
raised turban, made of a gay red Madras handkerchief, of
the first quality, her dress is neatly fitted, and of good
material, showing that she has been provided for with a
careful hand. By her side, and nestling closely to her, is a
young girl of fifteen—her daughter. She is a quadroon, as
may be seen from her fairer complexion, though her like-
The Causes of the Civil War 795
ness to her mother is quite discernible. She has the same
soft, dark eye, with longer lashes, and her curling hair is of
a luxuriant brown. She also is dressed with great neatness,
and her white, delicate hands betray very little acquain-
tance with servile toil. These two are to be sold tomorrow,
in the same lot with the St. Clare servants; and the gentle-
man to whom they belong, and to whom the money for
their sale is to be transmitted, is a member of a Christian
church in New York, who will receive the money, and go
thereafter to the sacrament of his Lord and theirs, and
think no more of it. These two, whom we shall call Susan
and Emmeline, had been the personal attendants of an
amiable and pious lady of New Orleans, by whom they had
been carefully and piously instructed and trained. They
had been taught to read and write, diligently instructed in
the truths of religion, and their lot had been as happy an
one as in their condition it was possible to be. But the only
son of their protectress had the management of her prop-
erty; and, by carelessness and extravagance involved it to a
large amount, and at last failed. One of the largest credi-
tors was the respectable firm of B. & Co., in New York. B.
& Co. wrote to their lawyer in New Orleans, who attached
the real estate (these two articles and a lot of plantation
hands formed the most valuable part of it), and wrote word
to that effect to New York. Brother B., being, as we have
said, a Christian man, and a resident in a free State, felt
some uneasiness on the subject. He didn’t like trading in
slaves and souls of men,—of course, he didn’t; but, then,
there were thirty thousand dollars in the case, and that was
rather too much money to be lost for a principle; and so,
after much considering, and asking advice from those that
he knew would advise to suit him, Brother B. wrote to his
lawyer to dispose of the business in the way that seemed to
him the most suitable, and remit the proceeds. The day
after the letter arrived in New Orleans, Susan and Emme-
line were attached, and sent to the depot to await a general
auction on the following morning; and as they glimmer
faintly upon us in the moonlight which steals through the
grated window, we may listen to their conversation. Both
are weeping, but each quietly, that the other may not hear.
“Mother, just lay your head on my lap, and see if you can’t
sleep a little,” says the girl, trying to appear calm. “I haven’t
any heart to sleep, Em; I can’t; it’s the last night we may be
together!” “O, mother, don’t say so! perhaps we shall get
sold together—who knows?” “If ’t was anybody’s else case,
I should say so, too, Em,” said the woman; “but I’m so
feard of losin’ you that I don’t see anything but the dan-
ger.” “Why, mother, the man said we were both likely, and
would sell well.” Susan remembered the man’s looks and
words. With a deadly sickness at her heart, she remem-
bered how he had looked at Emmeline’s hands, and lifted
up her curly hair, and pronounced her a first-rate article.
Susan had been trained as a Christian, brought up in the
daily reading of the Bible, and had the same horror of her
child’s being sold to a life of shame that any other Christian
mother might have; but she had no hope—no protection.
“Mother, I think we might do first rate, if you could get a
place as cook, and I as chambermaid or seamstress, in
some family. I dare say we shall. Let’s both look as bright
and lively as we can, and tell all we can do, and perhaps we
shall,” said Emmeline. “I want you to brush your hair all
back straight, tomorrow,” said Susan. “What for, mother? I
don’t look near so well, that way.” “Yes, but you’ll sell bet-
ter so.” “I don’t see why!” said the child. “Respectable fam-
ilies would be more apt to buy you, if they saw you looked
plain and decent, as if you wasn’t trying to look handsome.
I know their ways better‘n you do,” said Susan. “Well,
mother, then I will.” “And, Emmeline, if we shouldn’t ever
see each other again, after tomorrow—if I’m sold way up
on a plantation somewhere, and you somewhere else—
always remember how you’ve been brought up, and all
Missis has told you; take your Bible with you, and your
hymn-book; and if you’re faithful to the Lord, he’ll be
faithful to you.” So speaks the poor soul, in sore discour-
agement; for she knows that tomorrow any man, however
vile and brutal, however godless and merciless, if he only
has money to pay for her, may become owner of her
daughter, body and soul; and then, how is the child to be
faithful? She thinks of all this, as she holds her daughter in
her arms, and wishes that she were not handsome and
attractive. It seems almost an aggravation to her to remem-
ber how purely and piously, how much above the ordinary
lot, she has been brought up. But she has no resort but to
pray; and many such prayers to God have gone up from
those same trim, neatly-arranged, respectable slave-pris-
ons—prayers which God has not forgotten, as a coming
day shall show; for it is written, “Who causeth one of these
little ones to offend, it were better for him that a millstone
were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in
the depths of the sea.” The soft, earnest, quiet moonbeam
looks in fixedly, marking the bars of the grated windows on
the prostrate, sleeping forms. The mother and daughter
are singing together a wild and melancholy dirge, common
as a funeral hymn among the slaves: “O, where is weeping
Mary? O, where is weeping Mary? ’Rived in the goodly
land. She is dead and gone to Heaven; She is dead and
gone to Heaven; ’Rived in the goodly land.” These words,
sung by voices of a peculiar and melancholy sweetness, in
an air which seemed like the sighing of earthy despair after
heavenly hope, floated through the dark prison rooms with
a pathetic cadence, as verse after verse was breathed out:
“O, where are Paul and Silas? O, where are Paul and Silas?
Gone to the goodly land. They are dead and gone to
Heaven; They are dead and gone to Heaven; ’Rived in the
goodly land.” Sing on poor souls! The night is short, and
the morning will part you forever! But now it is morning,
796 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction
and everybody is astir; and the worthy Mr. Skeggs is busy
and bright, for a lot of goods is to be fitted out for auction.
There is a brisk lookout on the toilet; injunctions passed
around to every one to put on their best face and be spry;
and now all are arranged in a circle for a last review, before
they are marched up to the Bourse. Mr. Skeggs, with his
palmetto on and his cigar in his mouth, walks around to
put farewell touches on his wares. “How’s this?” he said,
stepping in front of Susan and Emmeline. “Where’s your
curls, gal?” The girl looked timidly at her mother, who,
with the smooth adroitness common among her class,
answers, “I was telling her, last night, to put up her hair
smooth and neat, and not havin’ it flying about in curls;
looks more respectable so.” “Bother!” said the man,
peremptorily, turning to the girl; in the sale of her.”
Beneath a splendid dome were men of all nations, moving
to and fro, over the marble pave. On every side of the cir-
cular area were little tribunes, or stations, for the use of
speakers and auctioneers. Two of these, on opposite sides of
the area, were now occupied by brilliant and talented gen-
tlemen, enthusiastically forcing up, in English and French
commingled, the bids of connoisseurs in their various
wares. A third one, on the other side, still unoccupied, was
surrounded by a group, waiting the moment of sale to
begin. And here we may recognize the St. Clare servants—
Tom, Adolph, and others; and there, too, Susan and Em-
meline, awaiting their turn with anxious and dejected faces.
Various spectators, intending to purchase, or not intending,
examining, and commenting on their various points and
faces with the same freedom that a set of jockeys discuss
the merits of a horse. “Hulloa, Alf! what brings you here?”
said a young exquisite, slapping the shoulder of a sprucely-
dressed young man, who was examining Adolph through an
eye-glass. “Well! I was wanting a valet, and I heard that St.
Clare’s lot was going. I thought I’d just look at his—” “Catch
me ever buying any of St. Clare’s people! Spoilt niggers,
every one. Impudent as the devil!” said the other. “Never
fear that!” said the first. “If I get ’em, I’ll soon have their
airs out of them; they’ll soon find that they’ve another kind
of master to deal with than Monsieur St. Clare. ’Pon my
word, I’ll buy that fellow. I like the shape of him.” “You’ll
find it’ll take all you’ve got to keep him. He’s deucedly
extravagant!” “Yes, but my lord will find that he can’t be
extravagant with me. Just let him be sent to the calaboose a
few times, and thoroughly dressed down! I’ll tell you if it
don’t bring him to a sense of his ways! O, I’ll reform him,
up hill and down—you’ll see. I buy him, that’s flat!” Tom
had been standing wistfully examining the multitude of
faces thronging around him, for one whom he would wish
to call master. And if you should ever be under the neces-
sity, sir, of selecting, out of two hundred men, one who was
to become your absolute owner and disposer, you would,
perhaps, realize, just as Tom did, how few there were that
you would feel at all comfortable in being made over to.
Tom saw abundance of men—great, burly, gruff men; little,
chirping, dried men; long-favored, lank, hard men; and
every variety of stubbed-looking, commonplace men, who
pick up their fellow-men as one picks up chips, putting
them into the fire or a basket with equal unconcern,
according to their convenience; but he saw no St. Clare. A
little before the sale commenced, a short, broad, muscular
man, in a checked shirt considerably open at the bosom,
and pantaloons much the worse for dirt and wear, elbowed
his way through the crowd, like one who is going actively
into a business; and, coming up to the group, began to
examine them systematically. From the moment that Tom
saw him approaching, he felt an immediate and revolting
horror at him, that increased as he came near. He was evi-
dently, though short, of gigantic strength. His round, bullet
head, large, light-gray eyes, with their shaggy, sandy eye-
brows, and stiff, wiry, sun-burned hair, were rather unpre-
possessing items, it is to be confessed; his large, coarse
mouth was distended with tobacco, the juice of which, from
time to time, he ejected from him with great decision and
explosive force; his hands were immensely large, hairy, sun-
burned, freckled, and very dirty, and garnished with long
nails, in a very foul condition. This man proceeded to a very
free personal examination of the lot. He seized Tom by the
jaw, and pulled open his mouth to inspect his teeth; made
him strip up his sleeve, to show his muscle; turned him
round, made him jump and spring, to show his paces.
“Where was you raised?” he added, briefly, to these in-
vestigations. “In Kintuck, Mas’r,” said Tom, looking about,
as if for deliverance. “What have you done?” “Had care of
Mas’r’s farm,” said Tom. “Likely story!” said the other,
shortly, as he passed on. He paused a moment before
Dolph; then spitting a discharge of tobacco-juice on his
well-blacked boots, and giving a contemptuous umph, he
walked on. Again he stopped before Susan and Emmeline.
He put out his heavy, dirty hand, and drew the girl towards
him; passed it over her neck and bust, felt her arms, looked
at her teeth, and then pushed her back against her mother,
whose patient face showed the suffering she had been
going through at every motion of the hideous stranger. The
girl was frightened, and began to cry. “Stop that, you minx!”
said the salesman; “no whimpering here—the sale is going
to begin.” And accordingly the sale begun. Adolph was
knocked off, at a good sum, to the young gentlemen who
had previously stated his intention of buying him; and the
other servants of the St. Clare lot went to various bidders.
“Now, up with you, boy! d’ye hear?” said the auctioneer to
Tom. Tom stepped upon the block, gave a few anxious looks
round; all seemed mingled in a common, indistinct noise—
the clatter of the salesman crying off his qualifications in
French and English, the quick fire of French and English
bids; and almost in a moment came the final thump of the
The Causes of the Civil War 797
hammer, and the clear ring on the last syllable of the word
“dollars,” as the auctioneer announced his price, and Tom
was made over—He had a master! He was pushed from
the block—the short, bullet-headed man seizing him
roughly by the shoulder, pushed him to one side, saying, in
a harsh voice, “Stand there, you!” Tom hardly realized any-
thing; but still the bidding went on,—ratting, clattering,
now French, now English. Down goes the hammer
again—Susan is sold! She goes down from the block, stops,
looks wistfully back,—her daughter stretches her hands
towards her. She looks with agony in the face of the man
who has bought her—a respectable middle-aged man, of
benevolent countenance. “O, Mas’r, please do buy my
daughter!” “I’d like to, but I’m afraid I can’t afford it!” said
the gentleman, looking, with painful interest, as the young
girl mounted the block, and looked around her with a
frightened and timid glance. The blood flushes painfully in
her otherwise colorless cheek, her eye has a feverish fire,
and her mother groans to see that she looks more beauti-
ful than she ever saw her before. The auctioneer sees his
advantage, and expatiates volubly in mingled French and
English, and bids rise in rapid succession. “I’ll do anything
in reason,” said the benevolent-looking gentleman, press-
ing in and joining with the bids. In a few moments they
have run beyond his purse. He is silent; the auctioneer
grows warmer; but bids gradually drop off. It lies now
between an aristocratic old citizen and our bullet-headed
acquaintance. The citizen bids for a few turns, contemptu-
ously measuring his opponent; but the bullet-head has the
advantage over him, both in obstinacy and concealed
length of purse, and the controversy lasts but a moment;
the hammer falls—he has got the girl, body and soul,
unless God help her! Her master is Mr. Legree, who owns
a cotton plantation on the Red river. She is pushed along
into the same lot with Tom and two other men, and goes
off, weeping as she goes. The benevolent gentleman is
sorry; but, then, the thing happens every day! One sees
girls and mothers crying, at these sales, always! it can’t be
helped, &c.; and he walks off, with his acquisition, in
another direction. Two days after, the lawyer of the Chris-
tian firm of B. & Co., New York, send on their money to
them. On the reverse of that draft, so obtained, let them
write these words of the great Paymaster, to whom they
shall make up their account in a future day: “When he
maketh inquisition for blood, he forgetteth not the cry of
the humble!”
Source:
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin or Life Among the
Lowly, 1852; Kenneth S. Lynne, ed., Harvard Library Clas-
sics Edition, 1962. Project Gutenberg Etext. Available on-
line. URL: www.mdarchives.state.md.us./ecp/10/223/0001/
html/00010000.html.
Moses Arrives with Six Passengers, 1854
A brief account of Harriet Tubman’s career on the Under-
ground Railroad and the stopover in Baltimore, Maryland,
of six former slaves whom she was helping to smuggle to
freedom. A Maryland-born slave, Tubman escaped in 1849.
She changed her name to Harriet but was dubbed “Moses”
because of her role in leading black slaves out of bondage to
liberation.
________________________
h
_______________________
“MOSES” ARRIVES WITH SIX PASSENGERS.
“Not allowed to seek a master;”—”Very devilish;”—father”
leaves two little sons;”—“Used hard;”—”Feared falling into
the hands of young heirs,” etc. John Chase, alias Daniel
Floyd; Benjamin Ross, alias James Stewart; Henry Ross,
alias Levin Steward; Peter Jackson, alias Staunch Tilghman;
Jane Kane, alias Catharine Kane, and Robert Ross.
The coming of these passengers was heralded by
Thomas Garrett as follows:
Thomas Garrett’s Letter
Wilmington, 12 mo. 29th, 1854.
Esteemed Friend, J. Miller McKim:—We made arrange-
ments last night, and sent away Harriet Tubman, with six
men and one women to Allen Agnew’s, to be forwarded
across the country to the city. Harriet, and one of the men
had worn their shoes off their feet, and I gave them two
dollars to help fit them out, and directed a carriage to be
hired at my expense, to take them out, but do not yet know
the expense. I now have two more from the lowest country
in Maryland, on the Peninsula, upwards of one hundred
miles. I will try to get one of our trusty colored men to take
them to-morrow morning to the Anti-slavery office. You
can then pass them on.
Thomas Garrett.
Harriet Tubman had been their “Moses,” but not in the
sense that Andrew Johnson was the “Moses of the colored
people.” She had faithfully gone down into Egypt, and
had delivered these six bondmen by her own heroism.
Harriet was a woman of no pretensions, indeed, a more
ordinary specimen of humanity could hardly be found
among the most unfortunate-looking farm hands of the
South. Yet, in point of courage, shrewdness and disinter-
ested exertions to rescue her fellow-men, by making per-
sonal visits to Maryland among the slaves, she was without
her equal.
Her success was wonderful. Time and again she made
successful visits to Maryland on the Underground Rail
Road, and would be absent for weeks, at a time, running
daily risks while making preparations for herself and pas-
798 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction
sengers. Great fears were entertained for her safety, but she
seemed wholly devoid of personal fear. The idea of being
captured by slave-hunters or slave-holders, seemed never to
enter her mind. She was apparently proof against all adver-
saries. While she thus manifested such utter personal indif-
ference, she was much more watchful with regard to those
she was piloting. Half of her time, she had the appearance
of one asleep, and would actually sit down by the road-side
and go fast asleep when on her errands of mercy through
the South, yet, she would not suffer one of her party to
whimper once, about “giving out and going back,” however
wearied they might be from hard travel day and night. She
had a very short and pointed rule or law of her own, which
implied death to any who talked of giving out and going
back. Thus, in an emergency she would give all to under-
stand that “times were very critical and therefore no fool-
ishness would be indulged in on the road.” That several who
were rather weak-kneed and faint-hearted were greatly
invigorated by Harriet’s blunt and positive manner and
threat of extreme measures, there could be no doubt.
After having once enlisted, “they had to go to go
through or die.” Of course Harriet was supreme, and her
followers generally had full faith in her, and would back up
any word she might utter. So when she said to them that “a
live runaway could do great harm by going back, but that a
dead one could tell no secrets,” she was sure to have
obedience. Therefore, none had to die as traitors on the
“middle passage.” It is obvious enough, however, that her
success in going into Maryland as she did, was attributable
to her adventurous spirit and utter disregard of conse-
quences. Her like it is probable was never known before or
since. On examining the six passengers who came by this
arrival they were thus recorded:
December 29th, 1854—John is twenty years of age,
chestnut color, of spare build and smart. He fled from a
farmer, by the name of John Campbell Henry, who resided
at Cambridge, Dorchester Co., Maryland. On being inter-
rogated relative to the character of his master, John gave
no very amiable account of him. He testified that he was
a “hard man” and that he “owned about one hundred
and forty slaves and sometimes he would sell,” etc. John
was one of the slaves who were “hired out.” He “desired to
have the privilege of hunting his own master.” His desire
was not granted. Instead of meekly submitting, John felt
wronged, and made this his reason for running away. This
looked pretty spirited on the part of one so young as John.
The Committee’s respect for him was not a little increased,
when they heard him express himself.
Benjamin was twenty-eight years of age, chestnut
color, medium size, and shrewd. He was the so-called
property of Eliza Ann Brodins, who lived near Buckstown,
in Maryland. Ben did not hesitate to say, in unqualified
terms, that his mistress was “very devilish.” He considered
his charges, proved by the fact that three slaves (himself on
of them) were required to work hard and fare meagerly, to
support his mistress’ family in idleness and luxury. The
Committee paid due attention to his ex parte statement,
and was obliged to conclude that this argument, clothed in
common and homely language, was forcible, if not elo-
quent, and that he was well worthy of aid. Benjamin left
his parents besides one sister, Mary Ann Williamson, who
wanted to come away on the Underground Rail Road.
Henry left his wife, Harriet Ann, to be known in fu-
ture by the name of “Sophia Brown.” He was a fellow-ser-
vant of Ben’s, and one of the supports of Eliza A. Brodins.
Henry was only twenty-two, but had quite an insight
into matters and things going on among slaves and slave-
holders generally, in country life. He was the father of two
small children, whom he had to leave behind.
Peter was owned by George Wenthrop, a farmer, liv-
ing near Cambridge, Md. In answer to the question, how
he had been used, he said “hard.” Not a pleasant thought
did he entertain respecting his master, save that he was no
longer to demand the sweat of Peter’s brow. Peter left par-
ents, who were free; he was born before they were eman-
cipated, consequently, he was retained in bondage.
Jane, aged twenty-two, instead of regretting that she
had unadvisedly left a kind mistress and indulgent master,
who had afforded her necessary comforts, affirmed that
her master, “Rash Jones, was the worst man in the coun-
try.” The Committee were at first disposed to doubt her
sweeping statement, but when they heard particularly how
she had been treated, they thought Catherine had good
ground for all that she said. Personal abuse and hard usage,
were the common lot of poor slave girls.
Robert was thirty-five years of age, of a chestnut color,
and well made. His report was similar to that of may others.
He had been provided with plenty of hard drudgery—hew-
ing of wood and drawing of water, and had hardly been
treated as well as a gentlemen would treat a dumb brute.
His feelings, therefore, on leaving his old master and home,
were those of an individual who had been unjustly in prison
for a dozen years and had at last regained his liberty.
The civilization, religion, and customs under which
Robert and his companions had been raised, were, he
thought, “very wicked.” Although these travelers were all
of the field-hand order, they were, nevertheless, very
promising, and they anticipated better days in Canada.
Good advice was proffered them on the subject of tem-
perance, industry, education, etc. Clothing, food and
money were also given them to meet their wants, and they
were sent on their way rejoicing.
Source:
William Still. The Underground Railroad. Philadelphia: Porter &
Coates, 1872, courtesy of Maryland State Archives Library.
The Causes of the Civil War 799
Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
Bill passed by Congress in 1854 that established the territories
of Kansas and Nebraska. It repealed the Missouri Compromise
of 1820 and established the principle of popular sovereignty,
allowing settlers in the newly organized territories to deter-
mine whether to permit slavery there. Although the bill, which
was sponsored by Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas,
and signed into law by President Franklin Pierce on May 30,
1854, aimed to reduce the growing national controversy over
slavery in the West, it actually intensified the conflict. Its pas-
sage contributed to the formation of the Republican Party,
which opposed the expansion of slavery into the territories. A
period of violence known as Bleeding Kansas erupted
between proslavery and antislavery factions. John Brown and
his sons participated by viciously murdering five proslavery
men. Popular sovereignty led to rival constitutions in Kansas.
A constitutional convention held in October–November 1855
at Topeka drafted one establishing Kansas as a free state. The
document, prepared in opposition to the proslavery territorial
government, prohibited slavery and declared invalid black
indentures executed in other U.S. states. It was approved by
voters in December. A bill to admit Kansas under this consti-
tution passed the U.S. House of Representatives the following
year but failed in the Senate. A period of violence followed.
The Lecompton Constitution represented the next attempt
to establish the state, and a constitutional convention adopted
it in September 1857. It organized the territory of Kansas as a
proslavery state. Free-state supporters boycotted a vote on the
document. In October Kansas sought admission to the Union
under the Lecompton Constitution. Despite the support of
President James Buchanan, the measure failed to win congres-
sional approval and was returned for a territorial referendum.
In August 1858 Kansas voters rejected it.
Following the failure of the Lecompton Constitution, a
constitutional convention of Republicans and Democrats con-
vened at Wyandotte (now part of Kansas City), Kansas, in July
1859. The document produced there rejected slavery, suffrage
for women and blacks, and prohibition, but affirmed property
rights for women and established the present boundaries of the
state. It was ratified by popular vote on October 4, 1859.
Kansas was finally admitted to the Union as a free state on Jan-
uary 29, 1861.
________________________
h
_______________________
An Act
To Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assem-
bled, That all that part of the territory of the United States
included within the following limits, except such portions
thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted from the
operations of this act, to wit: beginning at a point in the
Missouri River where the fortieth parallel of north latitude
crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to the east
boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit of the
Rocky Mountains; thence on said summit northward to the
forty-ninth parallel of north latitude; thence east on said
parallel to the western boundary of the territory of Min-
nesota; thence southward on said boundary to the Missouri
River; thence down the main channel of said river to the
place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, created
into a temporary government by the name of the Territory
of Nebraska; and when admitted as a State or States, the
said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received
into the Union with or without slavery, as their constitution
may prescribe at the time of their admission: Provided,
That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to
inhibit the government of the United States from dividing
said Territory into two or more Territories, in such manner
and at such times as Congress shall deem convenient and
proper, or from attaching any portion of said Territory to
any other State or Territory of the United States: Provided
further, That nothing in this act contained shall be con-
strued to impair the rights of person or property now per-
taining to the Indians in said Territory, so long as such
rights shall remain unextinguished by treaty between the
United States and such Indians, or to include any territory
which, by treaty with any Indian tribe, is not, without the
consent of said tribe, to be included within the territorial
limits or jurisdiction of any State or Territory; but all such
territory shall be excepted out of the boundaries, and con-
stitute no part of the Territory of Nebraska, until said tribe
shall signify their assent to the President of the United
States to be included within the said Territory of Nebraska,
or to affect the authority of the government of the United
States to make any regulations respecting such Indians,
their lands, property, or other rights, by treaty, law, or oth-
erwise, which it would have been competent to the gov-
ernment to make if this act had never passed.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the executive
power and authority in and over said Territory of Nebraska
shall be vested in a Governor, who shall hold his office for
four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and
qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of the
United States. The Governor shall reside within said Ter-
ritory, and shall be commander-in-chief of the militia
thereof. He may grant pardons and respites for offences
against the laws of said Territory, and reprieves for
offences against the laws of the United States, until the
decision of the President can be made known thereon; he
shall commission all officers who shall be appointed to
office under the laws of the said Territory, and shall take
care that the laws be faithfully executed.
800 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That there shall be a
Secretary of said Territory, who shall reside therein, and
hold his office for five years, unless sooner removed by the
President of the United States; he shall record and pre-
serve all the laws and proceedings of the Legislative
Assembly hereinafter constituted, and all the acts and pro-
ceedings of the Governor in his executive department; he
shall transmit one copy of the laws and journals of the Leg-
islative Assembly within thirty days after the end of each
session, and one copy of the executive proceedings and
official correspondence semi-annually, on the first days of
January and July in each year to the President of the
United States, and two copies of the laws to the President
of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Repre-
sentatives, to be deposited in the libraries of Congress; and
in case of the death, removal, resignation, or absence of
the Governor from the Territory, the Secretary shall be,
and he is hereby, authorized and required to execute and
perform all the powers and duties of the Governor during
such vacancy or absence, or until another Governor shall
be duly appointed and qualified to fill such vacancy.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the legislative
power and authority of said Territory shall be vested in the
Governor and a Legislative Assembly. The Legislative
Assembly shall consist of a Council and House of Repre-
sentatives. The Council shall consist of thirteen members,
having the qualifications of voters, as hereinafter pre-
scribed, whose term of service shall continue two years.
The House of Representatives shall, at its first session,
consist of twenty-six members, possessing the same quali-
fications as prescribed for members of the Council, and
whose term of service shall continue one year. The number
of representatives may be increased by the Legislative
Assembly, from time to time, in proportion to the increase
of qualified voters: Provided, That the whole number shall
never exceed thirty-nine. An apportionment shall be
made, as nearly equal as practicable, among the several
counties or districts, for the election of the council and
representatives, giving to each section of the Territory rep-
resentation in the ratio of its qualified voters as nearly as
may be. And the members of the Council and of the House
of Representatives shall reside in, and be inhabitants of,
the district or county, or countries for which they may be
elected, respectively. Previous to the first election, the
Governor shall cause a census, or enumeration of the
inhabitants and qualified voters of the several counties and
districts of the Territory, to be taken by such persons and
in such mode as the Governor shall designate and appoint;
and the persons so appointed shall receive a reasonable
compensation therefor. And the first election shall be held
at such time and places, and be conducted in such manner,
both as to the persons who shall superintend such election
and the returns thereof, as the Governor shall appoint and
direct; and he shall at the same time declare the number
of members of the Council and House of Representatives
to which each of the counties or districts shall be entitled
under this act. The persons having the highest number of
legal votes in each of said council districts for members of
the Council, shall be declared by the Governor to be duly
elected to the Council; and the persons having the highest
number of legal votes for the House of Representatives,
shall be declared by the Governor to be duly elected mem-
bers of said house: Provided, That in case two or more per-
sons voted for shall have an equal number of votes, and in
case a vacancy shall otherwise occur in either branch of the
Legislative Assembly, the Governor shall order a new elec-
tion; and the persons thus elected to the Legislative
Assembly shall meet at such place and on such day as the
Governor shall appoint; but thereafter, the time, place, and
manner of holding and conducting all elections by the peo-
ple, and the apportioning the representation in the several
counties or districts to the Council and House of Repre-
sentatives, according to the number of qualified voters,
shall be prescribed by law, as well as the day of the com-
mencement of the regular sessions of the Legislative
Assembly: Provided, That no session in any one year shall
exceed the term of forty days, except the first session,
which may continue sixty days.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That every free
white male inhabitant above the age of twenty-one years
who shall be an actual resident of said Territory, and shall
possess the qualifications hereinafter prescribed, shall be
entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to
any office within the said Territory; but the qualifications
of voters, and of holding office, at all subsequent elections,
shall be such as shall be prescribed by the Legislative
Assembly: Provided, That the right of suffrage and of hold-
ing office shall be exercised only by citizens of the United
States and those who shall have declared on oath their
intention to become such, and shall have taken an oath to
support the Constitution of the United States and the pro-
visions of this act: And provided further, That no officer,
soldier, seaman, or marine, or other person in the army or
navy of the United States, or attached to troops in the ser-
vice of the United States, shall be allowed to vote or hold
office in said Territory, by reason of being on service
therein.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the legislative
power of the Territory shall extend to all rightful subjects
of legislation consistent with the Constitution of the
United States and the provisions of this act; but no law
shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the
soil; no tax shall be imposed upon the property of the
United States; nor shall the lands or other property of non-
The Causes of the Civil War 801