Speech of Mr. J. A. Woodward of S.C., on the relations between the United States and their territorial districts Page: 3 of 16
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SPEECH.
The House being in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union on the Civil and
Diplomatic Appropriation Bill, Mr. WOODWARD, of South Carolina, having obtained the
floor, said-
Mr. CHAIRMAN:
Some days since I thought proper to address the House in reply to a
speech made by the honorable gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. BAYLY,) upon
the question of the right of Congress to legislate for the settlers upon the public
lands. It was not my intention at that time to go into the general argument,
but only to develop the true practical issue before the country, and to show
that he had not presented it fully and fairly. True, in order to prevent misap-
prehension, I used the occasion to define my position, but with no view of en-
tering upon an argument in defence of it. I expressly reserved that for a future
occasion. I shall embrace the one now offered.
Are slaveholders, under the common Constitution of the Union, entitled, with
their slaves, to enter upon, purchase, and occupy, peaceably, the public lands,
which are the property of the United States ? This is the true question at issue.
I take but little interest in any inquiry into the powers of Congress within the
territory, except as it affects this question. I care as little about the authority
attributed to the first settlers or Mexican pre-occupants, or as to the supposed
abiding force of laws and institutions left in the conquered territories by Mexico,
except as they bear upon this question. If I could have a guaranty that the
rights, honor, and safety of the Southern States and people were to be re-
spected and maintained, I should feel disposed to indulge gentlemen in any
opinions they might choose to entertain in relation to these abstract proposi-
tions. If you could separate their reasoning from the practical consequences
that are to flow from it, I should not object to their reasoning as best suited their
fancies. But, sir, in the nature of things such a separation is impossible. The
vital interests, if not the very safety of the South, are dependent upon the con-
clusions to which gentlemen may come. Their logic is to be law to the South;
radical, fundamental law; law upon which our destiny is to depend, unless in-
deed we should choose to take our destiny out of other people's hands. If it
be true that the Constitution affords no guaranty for us in this emergency; if
Congress, too, be impotent for our defence; if our rights are to be held even
less sacred than the laws and institutions left by Mexico in the conquered coun-
try, as our Northern friends insist must be done, then is the condition of the South -
ern States humiliating and deplorable in the extreme. I deprecate the agitation of
these questions and their introduction into politics. Would that they had never
risen. But it will not do for those who have made the occasion, to ask that it
be permitted to pass in silence. I know it would be a great accommodation to
some gentlemen to do so. And I should find no difficulty in fabricating plausi-
ble excuses that would be perfectly satisfactory to my constituents, especially
when found to be endorsed by any desirable number of political writers; and
should I prove incompetent to the task, I could find friends ready and skilful
to serve me. Should I choose to gratify others by taking such a course, instead of
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Woodward, J. A. Speech of Mr. J. A. Woodward of S.C., on the relations between the United States and their territorial districts, pamphlet, 1848; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth497992/m1/3/?q=%22slav%22: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Schreiner University.