OMNIBUS RESOLUTIONS.

117

nis first and only message to Congress He deplored the excitement which had arisen out of the subject of slavery; and suggested, as a method of avoiding a recurrence of former difficulties, that Congress should await the action of the people of the newly acquired Mexican territory, (who were free,) and content itself with admitting them, with or without slavery, as they should at the time of their application elect or desire. Concerning the Wilmot proviso, which had been involved in the Presidential canvass, he was entirely silent.

Both Houses of Congress entered at once upon the business of legislation for the newly acquired territories. Mr. Foote, of Mississippi, promptly introduced a bill into the Senate, for organizing territorial governments in California, Deseret and New Mexico, and to enable the people of Jacinto to form a State government, with a view to admission into the Union on an equal footing with the original States. An adopted Constitution for Deseret was submitted. Various bills were introduced by other Senators, when Mr. Clay, who was proficient in compromises, to save the Union, introduced eight resolutions, familiarly styled the "omnibus resolutions," declaring 1st, That California, with suitable boundaries, ought to be admitted without restriction in respect to slavery; 2d, That as slavery was not likely to be introduced into any of the territory acquired from Mexico, appropriate Governments ought to be established in the balance of the territory, without restriction in respect to slavery; 3d, That the Western boundary of Texas should be so established as not to infringe on New Mexico; 4th, That the United States should assume and pay, upon certain conditions, the debt of Texas; 5th, That it was inexpedient to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, without consent of the people, and compensation to the owners of slaves; 6th, That it was expedient to prohibit the slave trade therein; 7th, That further provision ought to be made for the reclamation and extradition of fugitive slaves;

118

OPPOSED BY CALHOUN AND WEBSTER.

and 8th, That Congress possesses no power to prohibit traffic in slaves between the people of the slave-holding States.

Upon these propositions, separately and collectively, an earnest and able debate ensued, during which Mr. Calhoun, as usual, declared the Union to be in imminent danger. "The cause of the danger," he said, "was discontent in the South

-a discontent which arose from the belief which prevailed among the people of the South, that they could not longer, with honor or safety, remain in the Union." He was opposed alike to the President's plan and to the resolutions of Mr. Clay, as neither of them would save the Union. Nothing, he said, would save it in that emergency but a concession to the South, of an unrestricted right to colonize the acquired territory; the passage of a stringent law for the re-capture and extradition of fugitive slaves; a suppression of abolition societies and every form of slavery agitation in the free States; and such an amendment of the Constitution as would restore to the South the rights she had lost by the ordinance of 1787, and the Missouri compromise.

At this point, Mr. Webster surprised and mortified his friends by descending from his high position before the country, into the ranks of southern politicians, and affecting, with them, a serious concern for the safety of the Union. Whether this somersault was performed for revenge against the Whig party, on account of its omission to nominate him for the presidency, or for the purpose of menacing President Taylor, or as a resulting consequence of physical infirmity, it is difficult to determine. It is enough for the purposes of history to record the change. He went to the aid of the opposition, endorsed its groundless complaints against the North, and declared himself opposed to anti-slavery restrictions upon the newly acquired territory, and in favor of a stringent law for the capture of fugitive slaves.

Mr. Seward stood by the administration, defended its policy,

and insisted upon the admission into the Union of California, as a free State. His argument was an elaborate exposition of the true theory of the Government, of the moral and political tendency of slavery upon civilization, upon the settlement and development of the resources of the country, and the public safety, and of the evils to proceed from further compromises of freedom with the slave power.

A bill embodying the various propositions, was reported in the Senate by a select committee, of which Mr. Clay was chairman, and debated and pruned from time to time, until the last day of July, 1850, when it passed the Senate as a bill to provide for the territorial government of Utah. It was then sent to the House as an "omnibus upset," where it was ultimately passed. The omnibus bill as a whole was defeated, and California was admitted as a State. New Mexico was erected into a territory, the Mexican boundary was adjusted by paying ten millions of dollars to Texas, and Mr. Calhoun's proposition in respect to fugitive slaves was passed into a law. The slave trade in the District of Columbia was prohibited at the same time.

The Texas boundary bill passed the Senate on the 10th of August, by a vote of thirty against twenty. The New Mexico territorial bill passed the same body on the 14th, by a vote of twenty-seven against ten. They were united in the House, and qualified with a proviso, that nothing contained therein should impair the joint resolution for the annexation of Texas, and passed on the 6th of September by a vote of one hundred and seven against ninety-seven. The bill admitting California into the Union, passed the Senate on the 13th of August, by a vote of thirty-four against eighteen, and the House on the 17th, by a vote of one hundred and fifty against fifty-six. The fugitive slave bill passed the Senate on the 23d of August, by a vote of twenty-seven against twelve, and in the House, under the previous question, without debate,

by a vote of one hundred and nine against seventy-five. The bill for abolishing the slave trade in the district of Columbia, passed the Senate on the 14th of September, by a vote of thirty-three against nineteen, and the House on the 17th, by a vote of one hundred and twenty-four against fifty-nine.

A stringent fugitive slave law was then passed, which was very obnoxious to the people of the north. It deprived the fugitives of the trial by jury, and, under heavy penalties, compelled all citizens to aid in their capture. To defeat the execution of this law, "Personal liberty bills" were passed in many of the States, securing a trial by jury to such fugitives, and refusing the use of their jails and prisons for their confinement. The repeal of those laws was long and earnestly demanded by the south.

CHAPTER VII.

REPEAL OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE-WAR IN KANSAS-CHARLESTON CONVENTION

ELECTION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

Effect of the Admission of California as a Free State-The Compromise Settlement not "final" - Senator Douglass and the Kansas Nebraska Bill-Doctrine of "Squatter Sovereignty" in the Senate - Non-Intervention - The Same Question in the House-Passage of the Kansas Nebraska Bill — Repeal of the Missouri Compromise-Decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott Case-Indignation at the Vote-Attempt to Colonize Kansas- Missourians Vote-They Control the Election-Violence at the Polls-The Election Declared Void-New Election Ordered-Second Invasion of Missourians-Electing of the Territorial Legislature-Free State Members Ousted-Missouri Members Meet at Pawnee Mission-Their ProceedingsOpposition of Gov. Reeder-Topeka Convention - The Proceedings-Violent Conflicts-Border Ruffian War - Its Atrocities -Aided by the Government- Effect upon the North - Organization of the Republican Party - Presidential Contest of 1856-Election of Buchanan- A Pro-Slavery CabinetThe Plan of Secession Already Laid-Knights of the Golden Circle - Transmission of Arms - Admission of Kansas-John Brown- His Raid into Virginia - Its Cause― Effect of the Triumph of Freedom in Kansas- The Final Struggle for Political Control - Election of 1860-Secessionists Control it to Secure the Election of an Abolitionist-Popular Vote-The Pretext for Secession.

California was, as we have seen, admitted as a free State, and the South was thus thwarted in securing slave States from the territory acquired by the Mexican war. The North had established a free State south of the compromise line of 36° 30. To balance this, the South must herself pass that line and secure a slave area north of it. West of Missouri lay an extensive and inviting region, rapidly settling, with a thriving population, but all north of 36° 30'. It was proposed to constitute it into two territories, under the names of Kansas.