The Texan Mercury. (Seguin, Tex.), Vol. 2, Ed. 1 Saturday, March 10, 1855 Page: 1 of 2
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• TA
SEGUIN, GUADALUPE BOUNTY, MAM 10, 1855.
■ BT
as to tbe nativities of «'the residents
i-ststes, as follows, taking the nearest
;*J r
i Northwestern States. .2,113,000
Atlantic States. . 744,000
States..... 610,000
land Stale .... 1*16,000
' tbe United States.4,149,000
fo#eign countries.
566,000
in 1850.
Hmb
....... 4,IIS,OOO
ulation, amounting
her the wife of tbe wealthiest and worthiest ne-
gro of the land. And, if a man of bin «harp
sense makes sncb ludicrous blunders about us,
it is not wonderful that others should make;
worse, nor that we should desiro to set ourselve s'
right.
The great mass of our people no not desire
to see slavery anywhere; many of them have^
come among us to get rid of it; but so long as-
it is considered, as in the early days of the Re-
public, a local institution, to be confined to the
States where it exists, we desire to see it
sively under tbe control of the citizens of
slaveboldiflg States. We see tho*
the natives
dese^ketr constitutesolution of the slave question,
desire to intermeddle nor to take any
biiiUw noTpfoj^-l^igiBg.l&w;
two mi|0oiw; the
li the
¡ate
i, great ai
f , tiy all sorts of
ssaie' population.
ble argument I ever heard in
retf^na frotóla Vermont preacher,
¡png tosome ÜéW sect; ánd our most effec-
tive abolition speakers and writers are usually
theslave States. So it is with all other
ttonfej many occupying with 'fts a much lar-
ger space than the slave question, which was, in
,%tf f^tjB«lqep until waked up by fclie Kansas-
Nebraska íbilL
JRo arguments qfany body who is ebíuéát
Kjuent, on any prominent topic, áre pft-
r and even eagerly read and'listened to by
of onr people, of whom the majority
¡perhaps opinions very decidedly contrary ;
^$8 strangers among us, who come froqi
t and settled communities, where so
¡¿^¿peegb is not usual, are apt to
i conclusions as to public
• new States. 1 haVe no dóobt,
nt Of otfr Southern breth-
v/Vii- «-1, J?¡H¿ ¿ i J 7/
iuse we tolerate^ .we are
ition disuuiou doctrines of
I o there of that school, and that; we
.'respect for the men as well as their
• would say that the
that m-__
I tbe
r*e
i>y
the ex-
white citi-
too delicate
the North-
rather gin-
an article con-
why it was not
uts to Ohio from
the following
¡ po property had been
a thing a poor white
is usually consider-
iveowuers, in a slave*
G eorgla.'.
Vwtb Carolina
Vir^ittia-
Illinois. .
Jnriiaoa
Otilo
Acre* Iinf . I .and
.... M-78.000
10,3«0.000
CikIi Vol. I'nrmx.
%'j't.Wo, OO'I
G7,900,000
21 ooo
. 5,010,000
. 5,047,000
. 9,851,000
19,'J.I^.OOO
3^0,100,000
96.100,000
35*,800,000
600,300,000
Milt* of Canal. Mile* Railroad in Von- Annual val. ol
In opra'tii Btr.ict'n. IfóntifuctufCs.
<#..,,•28,
sao
831
.189 " 037
,r e '-.i-t-r-
'W*
<0 2.6f>7
J,453
ezi '¿mi
¡Vthe
white
"in
The
con-
aiany
,|rf
E?1
tip
" T"
> other
as tofhcSr doctrines.. 'me <jnar-
ury and other jnrgans of the predom-
inant interest in that eombnnity have of late
advocated the revival of the African slave trade;
and they hold out this lure to tbe laboring men
of the South that they may in this way be pro-
vided, at little or no expense, with what Mr
Mitchell calls " an Alabama plantation, stocked
with yuung and healthy negroes." Now, if the
advocates of this shocking proposition have
formed so low an estimate of the citizeus of -the
Sonth as to suppose they will fall into any suek
trap, tee do them no such injustice, and would
willingly leave the question to be decidcd by
them alone. And we ask the same charity of
them in relation to our estimate of abolition dis-
union teaching and teachers. The bitter feeling,
engendered by long controversies between the
oliticians of the Northern and Southern Atlan-
S ta tes, has not crossed the Alleganies, or, if
it did, it disappeared in the brotherhood speedi-
ly* formed by the participation of commou toils
and hardships among the hardvjpioneers, coming,
in abOUt equal proportions, from all the great
sections of the .Union. Yet have we as a sec-
tion decided opinions of our own. We consider
the presence of .the African race among us,
whether bond or free, as a great and growing
eyrl, to be removed, if possible, even at great
sacrifices; for. the results of the amalgamation
of widely different races in South America, Mex-
i, and Turkey, wherever Abas taken place in
are not encouraging.; nor is the distinc-
of caste, owing to color and "race, which
kept tfp for thousands of years iu India
desirable or even possible sta-
to-iwepr
her Of ?Vsé alternatives mast':Wle*re-
m - ■' • • . 1
if tlicj re-roam among n #
The repugnance of tlrn white race for the
«^common Government and a- com
iny, end believing as w*e dó thilt slave
at political evil, that it Tetards the
¿ud prosperity of our common country, and 1
ere us, as a people professing republicanism
the estimation of the civilized world, we
least be permitted tO-'inqoire with whom
Hé«| attd responsibility of dealing with 1
evlf: does reside ? And that question T
propose t^iOxamipQ. ;
The ehtlire white population of the
slave States in 1850 (De Bow, page
51) was over 6,222,0
Of which one-fourth are males ever 21. .1,555,00®
Deducting aliens and other non-voters I
10 per cent., leaves 155,00<$
- j^ów, of these 1,400.000 voters óf the1,
• . " ' 1. r .? 7 . }. ■ •;
tb«srp are, acceding to De Bow, page 95—
Total slaveholders 347^
Holders offrorn"I'to 4 slaves. 174.
Leaving holders of five slaves and up-
wards lt3
W *W. • • - 1 Ipj
., • t1 - T- n
And of no^-slavehojdere..., >. . .j. . .. 1,052^
Of these 34T,525 slaveholders I'suppose i
one-hálf to be votéis in the Southern
many of thein I know to reside in the fre«j
—so that 173,-000 is about the number
siaVe holders who are resident voters in-
Southern States, as it is of ail of- the i
holders, tfdiiers and non-voters, who oWn fii
more slaves each.
With the holders of from one to
each an aH
i^hn 11 n uil ■ftrinniiF i
might be desirable to remove
exceed in number the European
one year. But one thing is plain, evi
all of the 347,525 as resident Southern
452
243 .
1,095
87.08fi.626 h
9,111.246
2V«swr
1,700 46,903^157 '
1,5. 6
2,50
r 17,238,073
18,922,(551
02,047.259
upon the past. The gates -of office ami honor
were gradually opened.to all who aré rífognif^ri
by their fellow-citizens as most Worthy. TM«
process was IrUstcnéd by the settling of thé Wild
Iambi of the HepiibUc, whtro hardy,.
pioneers from alLaoqtioay mH '
feet equality, and had th
direct tliem in their-great task
and great States. > ■.
Blow stand tbe represent*
rifftems now, tákiúg the 6buf<
west as their e;
it 'or ten years <
hid be'obvíotu^ \
son? íñ the Militaty Ái
and the Naval Schofil at
fife
ri
ty
bt,)
i e to ti
in a;
snd thei
the
the power of dealing as they 'may deem
with the slave question rests' witík'ijie n<
holding citizens of the. Southern St
are in.a vast majority in all those
wiíK thfem, therefore, rests all tíie i
to the W^ole Republic and to
"they deal with this great evil wisely,'
add humanely; for it is too much tq
human nature that these one hundrec
ty-three thonsaud large slaveholders,"
"Wlitn self t!je wavering balance i
should decide in their own case otl
in accordance with tlieir owu inter
are, besides, in a small minority, an<
say that the responsibility is not
Wherever a final solution of the
ha3 taken place it has always been donVj
sl^veholding citizens. At the adoption^
Federal Constitution in 1789 Peunsj
New York, Virginia, and North Cnroffifij
all slaveholding States. In 1790 Yjr"
North Carolina had a population of 1,5
New. York and Pennsylvania 874,00(
wealth of the two Southern States was
much greater excess than their populatic
area twenty per cent, greater; their '
much better; their soil and their advant
seaport1? and mineral wealth, about eqi
trary to the wishes of the slaveholders,
jority of the citizeus of Pennsylvania
and of New York in 1799' took
the gradual emancipation of theír
óf the cn¡ ítat*1nv^|
<lre;tdy tirpn^ cuao^rb: in i
-Virginia to prevent:
being taken t|jér«f.
citiz«;ns oi tfio.se States"
r -guíate tW matter as.they
ivery
linates
iégro is a stubborn fact which nb1 fdgic can
urgne dowu. I do uot attempt to explain, or
^*es over* . j . .
freedom of conde,n"' or defeu.l this rooted repugnance, butj^ve luid it-ever since, they
inected with
ay lie done,
3u—there is
whether
democracy or
tconstraint has sent to a
to tbe usual course of
i of the 616,000 natives
the census of 1850
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
it , tbe six States of the
others who have passed
erroneous opinions pr^
and composition of the
r States ; and, being my-
of them, and having
t<J)ieir people, I will,
i statements having
tors.
from Mr. De Bow's
Of 1850, (pp. 116,
'■¡if* -A.
if . a friend
ire slaye law—
merely to state the fact, not confined to our
«sofcntry or our ige. It operates aliku North
and South, npou the hypocritical ucgrophlle
b-cturer and his unbel'eving audience ; but if
slwiws more strongly in the white laboring man
of the Northwest, because his social i position i*
higher than elsewhere, his habits thore active
and energetic, and therefore his antip&hy grea-
ter for the luzy and Hpiritlcfs negro.
I heard Mr. , of New York, say, a few
d.iys since, that he believed, if it was left to the
popular vote in tbe Northwest, slavery would In*
introduced among us. The reason of his error
is obvious: he has advocated the social equality
and fraternity of the races so long that he !m
a modified belief that way himself; and, finding
that the people of the Northwest diflVr from
him iu toto on that question, has jumped to his
illogical conclusion ou the other. Now, of
children of Africa, I hazard nothing in «ííying
that Mr. G would rather see the elephant
'I have stated the relative standing
four Teading States iu 1790—all then,
bright stars iu our "Republican constellation,
always true to the Union, with no J^a^ford
Convention or nullification stains about tlífri at
any period of their glorious history.
What is their relative standing now
latiou, in wealth, in stalely cities, in
industry, in u-eful arts, unci all that t
duce; in everything, iu fine, which
and advancing civilization?
cities of these now free S-írffes eouj
their suburbs, as largo ir 1white,
l oth the great StaJs*Tol Norffi
Virginia. Noj r^akc these two
add to thprtf'tíeoriria, the most pros;
enter^físiiig of the Southern States
at the census returns, as eortf
those of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois,
tire population in 1800 was less thai
and which were admitted into the
grea
himself iu bis bed chamber than to have one of] St-ites in 1^02, 1816, ami 1818, a« free
her sable daughters there as a wife, and would
rather baud over his own daughter to poverty
sad at Uj^wifip a white man than to nee
thanks to the statesmen of the revoi
era, and, above all, to the statesmen of
De Bow, page 160:
. x7>
old States, with'.their improvements of
■ies, is less than two-thirds the «value of the
of the three; rU«Wi States, where more than
improvements have been made within
years; tbe miles of canal less than one-
, of railroads iu operation less than one-
of railroad iii construction less than one
third, and the annual value of the , product of
. manufactures,' mining, and the mechanic arts
less than, one-half in the three old than in the
ree new States. Tbe same depreciation of
the value of lands runs through the whole of. the
slave States, as will be seen page 170, De Bow:
Average value of "Lands per Acre.
New England States .$20,27
ie Statés.. 28,07
orlhwestern States 11,39
j- * *
uthern States 5,34
luthwestcrn States, excluding Texas
and California, which are lower 6,26
' this, although, owing to the advantage of
climate, the animal value of the great staple
crops of the South—cotton, sugar, and rice,
¿which cannot be raised in any of the free States
over twenty dollars per acre. (De Bow,
page 176) while the annual val a*''per acre of
'" phief crops cultivated North—corn, wheat,
rl potatocs, crops raised also at the South—
less than ten dollars per acre. Now, in view
of the depreciating effects of capital invested in
slaves upon the value of lands and of the pro-
ducts of white .labor in any for.n, have hot the
«T
white 4a*«orérs, the non-slaveholders of Ihft
Sonth and the North, á common interest in ex-
lavery from the hb#Territories ? ED
ttdÉB&hÉfi
latfM','f^(J'-r%ht, and is it not their
, to say'to these 173,000 slaveholders wio
pose té extend the evils of slavery to the
new Territories, " Keep your property at home,
andado not destroy the value of the new' lands
of the Republic, the property of such of us as
desire to better onr condition by removing to
the West and that of our children for ages to
come ?"
But it has been urged with great force by the
advocates on the other side that these evidences
of mere material progress may be delusive, and
that to compare social systems in their loftiest
uspects we must compare the men reared under
them. I admit this proposition in all its length
and breadth, as to all the men reared under
each system; for that is not a good or republi-
can system of society which rears a few great
at the expense of the degradation of the
" There ia yttt * more excellent uray."
A great poet has saidpwrth not less truth than
beauty, in answer to'the question—
'•What constitutes a Staty ?
Not high rais'd battlements nor labored mound,
Thick wall nor moated j^nte.
Nor cities proud, with ppires and turrets cro«n:d.
Nor ilarr'd and Fpnngled courts,
Win r" low-l>orn baseness watts perfume to pride;
lint Mkn ! high-mind'-d men!
Men who their duties know. l utknow their right ,
And knowing dare ma ntain.
Thoe constitute a State:"
Let us examine the two systems in this aspect
fairly and fearlessly; and in order to do so it
will be necessary to look back a little. Our
ancestors, the people of the British* islands,
have long oeen governed, by a lauded aristocra-
cy, usaally men of high spirit and intelligence,
«d their colonists were naturally inclined to
follow the beaten track. Systems connected
with a gujtygus past do not pass away in a day
uo£jt- generation. " We make laws, but are
are governed by customs," and the prestige
which clothed the landed aristocracy of Eng-
land naturally attached at the close of the rev-
olution to the great landholders of the South,
who were also slaveholders. And if the old
aristocratic system were to be continued, this
was perfectly natural; for these Southern men
far exceeded the aristocracy of England in lofty
aims, in disinterested patriotism, in |K pular
manners, and popular elcipience. Among them
wire historical names, ornaments of our countn
and our race, and from nrnong them at th.it
time most of the high functionaries of the lie-
public were selected; so that the advocates «it
slavery are right when they say that the South-
ern school in those days furnished more than its
proportion of the great names of the Republic.
Iiut though individuals were worthy, the system
itself, like the British aristocracy, was a sham,
giviii' iu quiet times to the accidents of birth
and wealth and social position what is due t<>
merit ulonc. It lingers yet, especially in the
Atlantic States of the South, but, like all shams
must finally jiass away.
" Delur Difrjiioii,'1 is the inexorable maxim
of a true Democracy, and the true Aristoi arc
the men most capable of leading in the great
fntcrpriscs of the age We eanr.ot live always
the Soi
erfnl creation o£ ti
hunutn brain and
the ntMoiit tension Avith
'aímoe^fabüíóus, whe
been loeké& up'itr the ick lii]
for six je&tn,
to San Frani
State' whfcre six yeáré
Here was a fair field5 ánd tfo
census of 1850 shows that the
Southern States to
double thfjtjtroil the
Yet the number, of
who represent .California i
posts.of honor a^-:home^ mojak^a*
those of tlie South who are so h
fact, more of the |n;omineni mea of
are natives of Ohio alone than
era States. '
This parallel might be carried furrier wi|íí.
the same results. I claim nothing on account
of the poverty and Other disadvantages
pioneers of the Northwest., but invite
comparison* beíweeu the rtfc
schools of training—the one w
taught self-dependence and self-reliance,
all interests are treated-alike;
tion of pubjic policy is .«ébjeet'¿
sion.and scrqt^r, end "
tercstal
tEev
s!^f
the destiny of «Hi
Now, t h ese gfabwoents -are
glorious spirit. I rejoice to .'kn
pabilities of tbe citizens of the
to those of any portion of our
lation; and I desire only to show^?«ogi.j«fe resi
ults of the two systems, that Ittsr thé right and
the dntv of the non-sl aveholdióg citizens, both
of the Sonth and the North, to prevent these
173,000 holders of capital invested in slaves
from sending their property to the new Territo-
ries, which are yet nnder the control of the
whole people of the United States, and tbn in-
juring the rights and impairing the value of th^
property of the vast majority of the settlers in
these Territories, both from the South and the
North.
Let us inquire for a moment who are these
173,000 slaveholders? Mr. De Bow says, (p.
95:) "The nativities of the slaveholders were
not taken. An experiment in a Southern town
out of a total of 25Ó holders gave 115 natives
of free States at home and abroad, 49 being
foreign." This is a narrow basis, but is the
best we have, and would give the' foUowirig
results:
Holdert df Jive ot more ¿fives each.
Natives of the South................. 93,420
Natives of the uon-fiFaveheldiag'StatC .. .40,710
Foreigners ..33,8
I should think that the proportion of
ers above is too large, and perhapSi also,
natives of the Northern States;
obvious reasons that class is in
must continue to increase, from th
uu agricultural people to become
one that is commercial ar.j) m^i
it is not unlikely that in this wajj
all the holders pf slaves may
be natives of the Jftrtliírn Staíee"é
thus giviuj^tbe control Of the Soutl]
terest should continue to predominate,
who would not feel any great sympathy ex
that of property in her welfare.
Many of the present race of slavebfWM ore
gentlemen of kind and generous feelings^ Many
<>f them see and deplore, as Mr. Jefferson did,
the evils of slavery; but, when it is necessary to
act, they cling to their order, and are ruled by
men of extreme opinions—a small minority of
the whole number.
Now, a few words to "Southwest" aud I have
done. lie has made a shrewd guess nt noui*i of
my early avocations. I hoxe charge of horsett.
have lived many years in a log-cabin, greased the
boots and shoes of the family, and have b-en em-
ployed iu other menial occupations. But hav-
ng been brought up to consider nil useful labor
.is honorable, the ti mpcr iu which "Southwest1'
makes a fling at ' the servants in manufacturing
establishments, iu the public city hotels, in the
livery stables, or in other menial offices, in some
of which it may bo, for ought the humble writer
knows to the contrary, the odventurons "North-
we.st'' received his superior enlightenment," gives
me no offence, and is only noticed as a rather
amusing instance of the d.flkrent way that peo-
ple differently educated look at the same thing.
It is certainly an indirect avowal that he himself
so far reflects the opiutons ot «tajftfeoidvs tfcotl
hand,
AUb^a^v..
?- 1
r.J
i
Tennessee...
Texas ...,. t;w
althong
áuj
dowi
ontsi
any r
should
have
deeay and <
the price óf 1
by oeeasi<
rieneratlon
those that are;
do onr share
must we uot ac
in the perfor
t is necessity not
"wait."
Much lit we i
-oinmuuicatioa'
must say ffljfc
avoid as tu as i
• oluiuns; but, ha
old Kentucky fri
iu fairness, exc
"JVorthviest,"
ted ad
X
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Burke, H. T. The Texan Mercury. (Seguin, Tex.), Vol. 2, Ed. 1 Saturday, March 10, 1855, newspaper, March 10, 1855; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth180518/m1/1/?q=+date%3A1845-1860: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.