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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Contest in America + +Author: John Stuart Mill + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5123] +Last Updated: February 6, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONTEST IN AMERICA *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, David A. Maddock and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE CONTEST IN AMERICA + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By John Stuart Mill + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Reprinted From Fraser's Magazine + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE CONTEST IN AMERICA + </h1> + <p> + The cloud which for the space of a month hung gloomily over the civilized + world, black with far worse evils than those of simple war, has passed + from over our heads without bursting. The fear has not been realized, that + the only two first-rate Powers who are also free nations would take to + tearing each other in pieces, both the one and the other in a bad and + odious cause. For while, on the American side, the war would have been one + of reckless persistency in wrong, on ours it would have been a war in + alliance with, and, to practical purposes, in defence and propagation of, + slavery. We had, indeed, been wronged. We had suffered an indignity, and + something more than an indignity, which, not to have resented, would have + been to invite a constant succession of insults and injuries from the same + and from every other quarter. We could have acted no otherwise than we + have done: yet it is impossible to think, without something like a + shudder, from what we have escaped. We, the emancipators of the slave—who + have wearied every Court and Government in Europe and America with our + protests and remonstrances, until we goaded them into at least ostensibly + coöperating with us to prevent the enslaving of the negro—we, who + for the last half century have spent annual sums, equal to the revenue of + a small kingdom, in blockading the African coast, for a cause in which we + not only had no interest, but which was contrary to our pecuniary + interest, and which many believed would ruin, as many among us still, + though erroneously, believe that it has ruined, our colonies,—<i>we</i> + should have lent a hand to setting up, in one of the most commanding + positions of the world, a powerful republic, devoted not only to slavery, + but to pro-slavery propagandism—should have helped to give a place + in the community of nations to a conspiracy of slave-owners, who have + broken their connection with the American Federation on the sole ground, + ostentatiously proclaimed, that they thought an attempt would be made to + restrain, not slavery itself, but their purpose of spreading slavery + wherever migration or force could carry it. + </p> + <p> + A nation which has made the professions that England has, does not with + impunity, under however great provocation, betake itself to frustrating + the objects for which it has been calling on the rest of the world to make + sacrifices of what they think their interest. At present all the nations + of Europe have sympathized with us; have acknowledged that we were + injured, and declared with rare unanimity, that we had no choice but to + resist, if necessary, by arms. But the consequences of such a war would + soon have buried its causes in oblivion. When the new Confederate States, + made an independent Power by English help, had begun their crusade to + carry negro slavery from the Potomac to Cape Horn; who would then have + remembered that England raised up this scourge to humanity not for the + evil's sake, but because somebody had offered an insult to her flag? Or + even if unforgotten, who would then have felt that such a grievance was a + sufficient palliation of the crime? Every reader of a newspaper, to the + farthest ends of the earth, would have believed and remembered one thing + only—that at the critical juncture which was to decide whether + slavery should blaze up afresh with increased vigor or be trodden out at + the moment of conflict between the good and the evil spirit—at the + dawn of a hope that the demon might now at last be chained and flung into + the pit, England stepped in, and, for the sake of cotton, made Satan + victorious. + </p> + <p> + The world has been saved from this calamity, and England from this + disgrace. The accusation would indeed have been a calumny. But to be able + to defy calumny, a nation, like an individual, must stand very clear of + just reproach in its previous conduct. Unfortunately, we ourselves have + given too much plausibility to the charge. Not by anything said or done by + us as a Government or as a nation, but by the tone of our press, and in + some degree, it must be owned, the general opinion of English society. It + is too true, that the feelings which have been manifested since the + beginning of the American contest—the judgments which have been put + forth, and the wishes which have been expressed concerning the incidents + and probable eventualities of the struggle—the bitter and irritating + criticism which has been kept up, not even against both parties equally, + but almost solely against the party in the right, and the ungenerous + refusal of all those just allowances which no country needs more than our + own, whenever its circumstances are as near to those of America as a cut + finger is to an almost mortal wound,—these facts, with minds not + favorably disposed to us, would have gone far to make the most odious + interpretation of the war in which we have been so nearly engaged with the + United States, appear by many degrees the most probable. There is no + denying that our attitude towards the contending parties (I mean our moral + attitude, for politically there was no other course open to us than + neutrality) has not been that which becomes a people who are as sincere + enemies of slavery as the English really are, and have made as great + sacrifices to put an end to it where they could. And it has been an + additional misfortune that some of our most powerful journals have been + for many years past very unfavorable exponents of English feeling on all + subjects connected with slavery: some, probably, from the influences, more + or less direct, of West Indian opinions and interests: others from inbred + Toryism, which, even when compelled by reason to hold opinions favorable + to liberty, is always adverse to it in feeling; which likes the spectacle + of irresponsible power exercised by one person over others; which has no + moral repugnance to the thought of human beings born to the penal + servitude for life, to which for the term of a few years we sentence our + most hardened criminals, but keeps its indignation to be expended on + "rabid and fanatical abolitionists" across the Atlantic, and on those + writers in England who attach a sufficiently serious meaning to their + Christian professions, to consider a fight against slavery as a fight for + God. + </p> + <p> + Now, when the mind of England, and it may almost be said, of the civilized + part of mankind, has been relieved from the incubus which had weighed on + it ever since the <i>Trent</i> outrage, and when we are no longer feeling + towards the Northern Americans as men feel towards those with whom they + may be on the point of struggling for life or death; now, if ever, is the + time to review our position, and consider whether we have been feeling + what ought to have been felt, and wishing what ought to have been wished, + regarding the contest in which the Northern States are engaged with the + South. + </p> + <p> + In considering this matter, we ought to dismiss from our minds, as far as + possible, those feelings against the North, which have been engendered not + merely by the <i>Trent</i> aggression, but by the previous anti-British + effusions of newspaper writers and stump orators. It is hardly worth while + to ask how far these explosions of ill-humor are anything more than might + have been anticipated from ill-disciplined minds, disappointed of the + sympathy which they justly thought they had a right to expect from the + great anti-slavery people, in their really noble enterprise. It is almost + superfluous to remark that a democratic Government always shows worst + where other Governments generally show best, on its outside; that + unreasonable people are much more noisy than the reasonable; that the + froth and scum are the part of a violently fermenting liquid that meets + the eyes, but are not its body and substance. Without insisting on these + things, I contend, that all previous cause of offence should be considered + as cancelled, by the reparation which the American Government has so amply + made; not so much the reparation itself, which might have been so made as + to leave still greater cause of permanent resentment behind it; but the + manner and spirit in which they have made it. These have been such as most + of us, I venture to say, did not by any means expect. If reparation were + made at all, of which few of us felt more than a hope, we thought that it + would have been made obviously as a concession to prudence, not to + principle. We thought that there would have been truckling to the + newspaper editors and supposed fire-eaters who were crying out for + retaining the prisoners at all hazards. We expected that the atonement, if + atonement there were, would have been made with reservations, perhaps + under protest. We expected that the correspondence would have been spun + out, and a trial made to induce England to be satisfied with less; or that + there would have been a proposal of arbitration; or that England would + have been asked to make concessions in return for justice; or that if + submission was made, it would have been made, ostensibly, to the opinions + and wishes of Continental Europe. We expected anything, in short, which + would have been weak and timid and paltry. The only thing which no one + seemed to expect, is what has actually happened. Mr. Lincoln's Government + have done none of these things. Like honest men, they have said in direct + terms, that our demand was right; that they yielded to it because it was + just; that if they themselves had received the same treatment, they would + have demanded the same reparation; and that if what seemed to be the + American side of a question was not the just side, they would be on the + side of justice; happy as they were to find after their resolution had + been taken, that it was also the side which America had formerly defended. + Is there any one, capable of a moral judgment or feeling, who will say + that his opinion of America and American statesmen, is not raised by such + an act, done on such grounds? The act itself may have been imposed by the + necessity of the circumstances; but the reasons given, the principles of + action professed, were their own choice. Putting the worst hypothesis + possible, which it would be the height of injustice to entertain + seriously, that the concession was really made solely to convenience, and + that the profession of regard for justice was hypocrisy, even so, the + ground taken, even if insincerely, is the most hopeful sign of the moral + state of the American mind which has appeared for many years. That a sense + of justice should be the motive which the rulers of a country rely on, to + reconcile the public to an unpopular, and what might seem a humiliating + act; that the journalists, the orators, many lawyers, the Lower House of + Congress, and Mr. Lincoln's own naval secretary, should be told in the + face of the world, by their own Government, that they have been giving + public thanks, presents of swords, freedom of cities, all manner of heroic + honors to the author of an act which, though not so intended, was lawless + and wrong, and for which the proper remedy is confession and atonement; + that this should be the accepted policy (supposing it to be nothing + higher) of a Democratic Republic, shows even unlimited democracy to be a + better thing than many Englishmen have lately been in the habit of + considering it, and goes some way towards proving that the aberrations + even of a ruling multitude are only fatal when the better instructed have + not the virtue or the courage to front them boldly. Nor ought it to be + forgotten, to the honor of Mr. Lincoln's Government, that in doing what + was in itself right, they have done also what was best fitted to allay the + animosity which was daily becoming more bitter between the two nations so + long as the question remained open. They have put the brand of confessed + injustice upon that rankling and vindictive resentment with which the + profligate and passionate part of the American press has been threatening + us in the event of concession, and which is to be manifested by some dire + revenge, to be taken, as they pretend, after the nation is extricated from + its present difficulties. Mr. Lincoln has done what depended on him to + make this spirit expire with the occasion which raised it up; and we shall + have ourselves chiefly to blame if we keep it alive by the further + prolongation of that stream of vituperative eloquence, the source of + which, even now, when the cause of quarrel has been amicably made up, does + not seem to have run dry. {1} + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +{1. I do not forget one regrettable passage in Mr. Seward's letter, +in which he said that "if the safety of the Union required the +detention of the captured persons, it would be the right and duty of +this Government to detain them." I sincerely grieve to find this +sentence in the dispatch, for the exceptions to the general rules of +morality are not a subject to be lightly or unnecessarily tampered +with. The doctrine in itself is no other than that professed and +acted on by all governments—that self-preservation, in a State, as +in an individual, is a warrant for many things which at all other +times ought to be rigidly abstained from. At all events, no nation +which has ever passed "laws of exception," which ever suspended the +Habeas Corpus Act or passed an Alien Bill in dread of a Chartist +insurrection, has a right to throw the first stone at Mr. Lincoln's +Government.} +</pre> + <p> + Let us, then, without reference to these jars, or to the declamations of + newspaper writers on either side of the Atlantic, examine the American + question as it stood from the beginning; its origin, the purpose of both + the combatants, and its various possible or probable issues. + </p> + <p> + There is a theory in England, believed perhaps by some, half believed by + many more, which is only consistent with original ignorance, or complete + subsequent forgetfulness, of all the antecedents of the contest. There are + people who tell us that, on the side of the North, the question is not one + of slavery at all. The North, it seems, have no more objection to slavery + than the South have. Their leaders never say one word implying + disapprobation of it. They are ready, on the contrary, to give it new + guarantees; to renounce all that they have been contending for; to win + back, if opportunity offers, the South to the Union by surrendering the + whole point. + </p> + <p> + If this be the true state of the case, what are the Southern chiefs + fighting about? Their apologists in England say that it is about tariffs, + and similar trumpery. <i>They</i> say nothing of the kind. They tell the + world, and they told their own citizens when they wanted their votes, that + the object of the fight was slavery. Many years ago, when General Jackson + was President, South Carolina did nearly rebel (she never was near + separating) about a tariff; but no other State abetted her, and a strong + adverse demonstration from Virginia brought the matter to a close. Yet the + tariff of that day was rigidly protective. Compared with that, the one in + force at the time of the secession was a free-trade tariff: This latter + was the result of several successive modifications in the direction of + freedom; and its principle was not protection for protection, but as much + of it only as might incidentally result from duties imposed for revenue. + Even the Morrill tariff (which never could have been passed but for the + Southern secession) is stated by the high authority of Mr. H. C. Carey to + be considerably more liberal than the reformed French tariff under Mr. + Cobden's treaty; insomuch that he, a Protectionist, would be glad to + exchange his own protective tariff for Louis Napoleon's free-trade one. + But why discuss, on probable evidence, notorious facts? The world knows + what the question between the North and South has been for many years, and + still is. Slavery alone was thought of, alone talked of. Slavery was + battled for and against, on the floor of Congress and in the plains of + Kansas; on the slavery question exclusively was the party constituted + which now rules the United States: on slavery Fremont was rejected, on + slavery Lincoln was elected; the South separated on slavery, and + proclaimed slavery as the one cause of separation. + </p> + <p> + It is true enough that the North are not carrying on war to abolish + slavery in the States where it legally exists. Could it have been + expected, or even perhaps desired, that they should? A great party does + not change suddenly, and at once, all its principles and professions. The + Republican party have taken their stand on law, and the existing + constitution of the Union. They have disclaimed all right to attempt + anything which that constitution forbids. It does forbid interference by + the Federal Congress with slavery in the Slave States; but it does not + forbid their abolishing it in the District of Columbia; and this they are + now doing, having voted, I perceive, in their present pecuniary straits, a + million of dollars to indemnify the slave-owners of the District. Neither + did the Constitution, in their own opinion, require them to permit the + introduction of slavery into the territories which were not yet States. To + prevent this, the Republican party was formed, and to prevent it, they are + now fighting, as the slave-owners are fighting to enforce it. + </p> + <p> + The present government of the United States is not an Abolitionist + government. Abolitionists, in America, mean those who do not keep within + the constitution; who demand the destruction (as far as slavery is + concerned) of as much of it as protects the internal legislation of each + State from the control of Congress; who aim at abolishing slavery wherever + it exists, by force if need be, but certainly by some other power than the + constituted authorities of the Slave States. The Republican party neither + aim nor profess to aim at this object. And when we consider the flood of + wrath which would have been poured out against them if they did, by the + very writers who now taunt them with not doing it, we shall be apt to + think the taunt a little misplaced. But though not an Abolitionist party, + they are a Free-soil party. If they have not taken arms against slavery, + they have against its extension. And they know, as we may know if we + please, that this amounts to the same thing. The day when slavery can no + longer extend itself, is the day of its doom. The slave-owners know this, + and it is the cause of their fury. They know, as all know who have + attended to the subject, that confinement within existing limits is its + death-warrant. Slavery, under the conditions in which it exists in the + States, exhausts even the beneficent powers of nature. So incompatible is + it with any kind whatever of skilled labor, that it causes the whole + productive resources of the country to be concentrated on one or two + products, cotton being the chief, which require, to raise and prepare them + for the market, little besides brute animal force. The cotton cultivation, + in the opinion of all competent judges, alone saves North American + slavery; but cotton cultivation, exclusively adhered to, exhausts in a + moderate number of years all the soils which are fit for it, and can only + be kept up by travelling farther and farther westward. Mr. Olmsted has + given a vivid description of the desolate state of parts of Georgia and + the Carolinas, once among the richest specimens of soil and cultivation in + the world; and even the more recently colonized Alabama, as he shows, is + rapidly following in the same downhill track. To slavery, therefore, it is + a matter of life and death to find fresh fields for the employment of + slave labor. Confine it to the present States, and the owners of slave + property will either be speedily ruined, or will have to find means of + reforming and renovating their agricultural system; which cannot be done + without treating the slaves like human beings, nor without so large an + employment of skilled, that is, of free labor, as will widely displace the + unskilled, and so depreciate the pecuniary value of the slave, that the + immediate mitigation and ultimate extinction of slavery would be a nearly + inevitable and probably rapid consequence. + </p> + <p> + The Republican leaders do not talk to the public of these almost certain + results of success in the present conflict. They talk but little, in the + existing emergency, even of the original cause of quarrel. The most + ordinary policy teaches them to inscribe on their banner that part only of + their known principles in which their supporters are unanimous. The + preservation of the Union is an object about which the North are agreed; + and it has many adherents, as they believe, in the South generally. That + nearly half the population of the Border Slave States are in favor of it + is a patent fact, since they are now fighting in its defence. It is not + probable that they would be willing to fight directly against slavery. The + Republicans well know that if they can reëstablish the Union, they gain + everything for which they originally contended; and it would be a plain + breach of faith with the Southern friends of the Government, if, after + rallying them round its standard for a purpose of which they approve, it + were suddenly to alter its terms of communion without their consent. + </p> + <p> + But the parties in a protracted civil war almost invariably end by taking + more extreme, not to say higher grounds of principle, than they began + with. Middle parties and friends of compromise are soon left behind; and + if the writers who so severely criticize the present moderation of the + Free-soilers are desirous to see the war become an abolition war, it is + probable that if the war lasts long enough they will be gratified. Without + the smallest pretension to see further into futurity than other people, I + at least have foreseen and foretold from the first, that if the South were + not promptly put down, the contest would become distinctly an antislavery + one; nor do I believe that any person, accustomed to reflect on the course + of human affairs in troubled times, can expect anything else. Those who + have read, even cursorily, the most valuable testimony to which the + English public have access, concerning the real state of affairs in + America—the letters of the <i>Times'</i> correspondent, Mr. Russell—must + have observed how early and rapidly he arrived at the same conclusion, and + with what increasing emphasis he now continually reiterates it. In one of + his recent letters he names the end of next summer as the period by which, + if the war has not sooner terminated, it will have assumed a complete + anti-slavery character. So early a term exceeds, I confess, my most + sanguine hopes; but if Mr. Russell be right, Heaven forbid that the war + should cease sooner; for if it lasts till then, it is quite possible that + it will regenerate the American people. + </p> + <p> + If, however, the purposes of the North may be doubted or misunderstood, + there is at least no question as to those of the South. They make no + concealment of <i>their</i> principles. As long as they were allowed to + direct all the policy of the Union; to break through compromise after + compromise, encroach step after step, until they reached the pitch of + claiming a right to carry slave property into the Free States, and, in + opposition to the laws of those States, hold it as property there; so + long, they were willing to remain in the Union. The moment a President was + elected of whom it was inferred from his opinions, not that he would take + any measures against slavery where it exists, but that he would oppose its + establishment where it exists not,—that moment they broke loose from + what was, at least, a very solemn contract, and formed themselves into a + Confederation professing as its fundamental principle not merely the + perpetuation, but the indefinite extension of slavery. And the doctrine is + loudly preached through the new Republic, that slavery, whether black or + white, is a good in itself, and the proper condition of the working + classes everywhere. + </p> + <p> + Let me, in a few words, remind the reader what sort of a thing this is, + which the white oligarchy of the South have banded themselves together to + propagate and establish, if they could, universally. When it is wished to + describe any portion of the human race as in the lowest state of + debasement, and under the most cruel oppression, in which it is possible + for human beings to live, they are compared to slaves. When words are + sought by which to stigmatize the most odious despotism, exercised in the + most odious manner, and all other comparisons are found inadequate, the + despots are said to be like slave-masters, or slave-drivers. What, by a + rhetorical license, the worst oppressors of the human race, by way of + stamping on them the most hateful character possible, are said to be, + these men, in very truth, are. I do not mean that all of them are hateful + personally, any more than all the Inquisitors, or all the buccaneers. But + the position which they occupy, and the abstract excellence of which they + are in arms to vindicate, is that which the united voice of mankind + habitually selects as the type of all hateful qualities. I will not bandy + chicanery about the more or less of stripes or other torments which are + daily requisite to keep the machine in working order, nor discuss whether + the Legrees or the St. Clairs are more numerous among the slave-owners of + the Southern States. The broad facts of the case suffice. One fact is + enough. There are, Heaven knows, vicious and tyrannical institutions in + ample abundance on the earth. But this institution is the only one of them + all which requires, to keep it going, that human beings should be burnt + alive. The calm and dispassionate Mr. Olmsted affirms that there has not + been a single year, for many years past, in which this horror is not known + to have been perpetrated in some part or other of the South. And not upon + negroes only; the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>, in a recent number, gave the + hideous details of the burning alive of an unfortunate Northern huckster + by Lynch law, on mere suspicion of having aided in the escape of a slave. + What must American slavery be, if deeds like these are necessary under it?—and + if they are not necessary and are yet done, is not the evidence against + slavery still more damning? The South are in rebellion not for simple + slavery; they are in rebellion for the right of burning human creatures + alive. + </p> + <p> + But we are told, by a strange misapplication of a true principle, that the + South had a <i>right</i> to separate; that their separation ought to have + been consented to, the moment they showed themselves ready to fight for + it; and that the North, in resisting it, are committing the same error and + wrong which England committed in opposing the original separation of the + thirteen colonies. This is carrying the doctrine of the sacred right of + insurrection rather far. It is wonderful how easy and liberal and + complying people can be in other people's concerns. Because they are + willing to surrender their own past, and have no objection to join in + reprobation of their great-grandfathers, they never put themselves the + question what they themselves would do in circumstances far less trying, + under far less pressure of real national calamity. Would those who profess + these ardent revolutionary principles consent to their being applied to + Ireland, or India, or the Ionian Islands. How have they treated those who + did attempt so to apply them? But the case can dispense with any mere <i>argumentum + ad hominem</i>. I am not frightened at the word rebellion. I do not + scruple to say that I have sympathized more or less ardently with most of + the rebellions, successful and unsuccessful, which have taken place in my + time. But I certainly never conceived that there was a sufficient title to + my sympathy in the mere fact of being a rebel; that the act of taking arms + against one's fellow-citizens was so meritorious in itself, was so + completely its own justification, that no question need be asked + concerning the motive. It seems to me a strange doctrine that the most + serious and responsible of all human acts imposes no obligation on those + who do it of showing that they have a real grievance; that those who rebel + for the power of oppressing others, exercise as sacred a right as those + who do the same thing to resist oppression practised upon themselves. + Neither rebellion nor any other act which affects the interests of others, + is sufficiently legitimated by the mere will to do it. Secession may be + laudable, and so may any other kind of insurrection; but it may also be an + enormous crime. It is the one or the other, according to the object and + the provocation. And if there ever was an object which, by its bare + announcement, stamped rebels against a particular community as enemies of + mankind, it is the one professed by the South. Their right to separate is + the right which Cartouche or Turpin would have had to secede from their + respective countries, because the laws of those countries would not suffer + them to rob and murder on the highway. The only real difference is that + the present rebels are more powerful than Cartouche or Turpin, and may + possibly be able to effect their iniquitous purpose. + </p> + <p> + Suppose, however, for the sake of argument, that the mere will to separate + were in this case, or in any case, a sufficient ground for separation, I + beg to be informed <i>whose</i> will? The will of any knot of men who, by + fair means or foul, by usurpation, terrorism, or fraud, have got the reins + of government into their hands? If the inmates of Parkhurst Prison were to + get possession of the Isle of Wight, occupy its military positions, enlist + one part of its inhabitants in their own ranks, set the remainder of them + to work in chain gangs, and declare themselves independent, ought their + recognition by the British Government to be an immediate consequence? + Before admitting the authority of any persons, as organs of the will of + the people, to dispose of the whole political existence of a country, I + ask to see whether their credentials are from the whole, or only from a + part. And first, it is necessary to ask, Have the slaves been consulted? + Has their will been counted as any part in the estimate of collective + volition? They are a part of the population. However natural in the + country itself, it is rather cool in English writers who talk so glibly of + the ten millions (I believe there are only eight), to pass over the very + existence of four millions who must abhor the idea of separation. + Remember, <i>we</i> consider them to be human beings, entitled to human + rights. Nor can it be doubted that the mere fact of belonging to a Union + in some parts of which slavery is reprobated, is some alleviation of their + condition, if only as regards future probabilities. But even of the white + population, it is questionable if there was in the beginning a majority + for secession anywhere but in South Carolina. Though the thing was + pre-determined, and most of the States committed by their public + authorities before the people were called on to vote; though in taking the + votes terrorism in many places reigned triumphant; yet even so, in several + of the States, secession was carried only by narrow majorities. In some + the authorities have not dared to publish the numbers; in some it is + asserted that no vote has ever been taken. Further (as was pointed out in + an admirable letter by Mr. Carey), the Slave States are intersected in the + middle, from their northern frontier almost to the Gulf of Mexico, by a + country of free labor—the mountain region of the Alleghanies and + their dependencies, forming parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, + Georgia, and Alabama, in which, from the nature of the climate and of the + agricultural and mining industry, slavery to any material extent never + did, and never will, exist. This mountain zone is peopled by ardent + friends of the Union. Could the Union abandon them, without even an + effort, to be dealt with at the pleasure of an exasperated slave-owning + oligarchy? Could it abandon the Germans who, in Western Texas, have made + so meritorious a commencement of growing cotton on the borders of the + Mexican Gulf by free labor? Were the right of the slave-owners to secede + ever so clear, they have no right to carry these with them; unless + allegiance is a mere question of local proximity, and my next neighbor, if + I am a stronger man, can be compelled to follow me in any lawless vagaries + I choose to indulge. + </p> + <p> + But (it is said) the North will never succeed in conquering the South; and + since the separation must in the end be recognized, it is better to do at + first what must be done at last; moreover, if it did conquer them, it + could not govern them when conquered, consistently with free institutions. + With no one of these propositions can I agree. + </p> + <p> + Whether or not the Northern Americans will succeed in reconquering the + South, I do not affect to foresee. That they <i>can</i> conquer it, if + their present determination holds, I have never entertained a doubt; for + they are twice as numerous, and ten or twelve times as rich. Not by taking + military possession of their country, or marching an army through it, but + by wearing them out, exhausting their resources, depriving them of the + comforts of life, encouraging their slaves to desert, and excluding them + from communication with foreign countries. All this, of course, depends on + the supposition that the North does not give in first. Whether they will + persevere to this point, or whether their spirit, their patience, and the + sacrifices they are willing to make, will be exhausted before reaching it, + I cannot tell. They may, in the end, be wearied into recognizing the + separation. But to those who say that because this may have to be done at + last, it ought to have been done at first, I put the very serious question—On + what terms? Have they ever considered what would have been the meaning of + separation if it had been assented to by the Northern States when first + demanded? People talk as if separation meant nothing more than the + independence of the seceding States. To have accepted it under that + limitation would have been, on the part of the South, to give up that + which they have seceded expressly to preserve. Separation, with them, + means at least half the Territories; including the Mexican border, and the + consequent power of invading and overrunning Spanish America for the + purpose of planting there the "peculiar institution" which even Mexican + civilization has found too bad to be endured. There is no knowing to what + point of degradation a country may be driven in a desperate state of its + affairs; but if the North <i>ever</i>, unless on the brink of actual ruin, + makes peace with the South, giving up the original cause of quarrel, the + freedom of the Territories; if it resigns to them when out of the Union + that power of evil which it would not grant to retain them in the Union—it + will incur the pity and disdain of posterity. And no one can suppose that + the South would have consented, or in their present temper ever will + consent, to an accommodation on any other terms. It will require a + succession of humiliation to bring them to that. The necessity of + reconciling themselves to the confinement of slavery within its existing + boundaries, with the natural consequence, immediate mitigation of slavery, + and ultimate emancipation, is a lesson which they are in no mood to learn + from anything but disaster. Two or three defeats in the field, breaking + their military strength, though not followed by an invasion of their + territory, may possibly teach it to them. If so, there is no breach of + charity in hoping that this severe schooling may promptly come. When men + set themselves up, in defiance of the rest of the world, to do the devil's + work, no good can come of them until the world has made them feel that + this work cannot be suffered to be done any longer. If this knowledge does + not come to them for several years, the abolition question will by that + time have settled itself. For assuredly Congress will very soon make up + its mind to declare all slaves free who belong to persons in arms against + the Union. When that is done, slavery, confined to a minority, will soon + cure itself; and the pecuniary value of the negroes belonging to loyal + masters will probably not exceed the amount of compensation which the + United States will be willing and able to give. + </p> + <p> + The assumed difficulty of governing the Southern States as free and equal + commonwealths, in case of their return to the Union, is purely imaginary. + If brought back by force, and not by voluntary compact, they will return + without the Territories, and without a Fugitive Slave Law. It may be + assumed that in that event the victorious party would make the alterations + in the Federal Constitution which are necessary to adapt it to the new + circumstances, and which would not infringe, but strengthen, its + democratic principles. An article would have to be inserted prohibiting + the extension of slavery to the Territories, or the admission into the + Union of any new Slave State. Without any other guarantee, the rapid + formation of new Free States would ensure to freedom a decisive and + constantly increasing majority in Congress. It would also be right to + abrogate that bad provision of the Constitution (a necessary compromise at + the time of its first establishment) whereby the slaves, though reckoned + as citizens in no other respect, are counted, to the extent of three + fifths of their number, in the estimate of the population for fixing the + number of representatives of each State in the Lower House of Congress. + Why should the masters have members in right of their human chattels, any + more than of their oxen and pigs? The President, in his Message, has + already proposed that this salutary reform should be effected in the case + of Maryland, additional territory, detached from Virginia, being given to + that State as an equivalent: thus clearly indicating the policy which he + approves, and which he is probably willing to make universal. + </p> + <p> + As it is necessary to be prepared for all possibilities, let us now + contemplate another. Let us suppose the worst possible issue of this war—the + one apparently desired by those English writers whose moral feeling is so + philosophically indifferent between the apostles of slavery and its + enemies. Suppose that the North should stoop to recognize the new + Confederation on its own terms, leaving it half the Territories, and that + it is acknowledged by Europe, and takes its place as an admitted member of + the community of nations. It will be desirable to take thought beforehand + what are to be our own future relations with a new Power, professing the + principles of Attila and Genghis Khan as the foundation of its + Constitution. Are we to see with indifference its victorious army let + loose to propagate their national faith at the rifle's mouth through + Mexico and Central America? Shall we submit to see fire and sword carried + over Cuba and Porto Rico, and Hayti and Liberia conquered and brought back + to slavery? We shall soon have causes enough of quarrel on our own + account. When we are in the act of sending an expedition against Mexico to + redress the wrongs of private British subjects, we should do well to + reflect in time that the President of the new Republic, Mr. Jefferson + Davis, was the original inventor of repudiation. Mississippi was the first + State which repudiated, Mr. Jefferson Davis was Governor of Mississippi, + and the Legislature of Mississippi had passed a Bill recognizing and + providing for the debt, which Bill Mr. Jefferson Davis vetoed. Unless we + abandon the principles we have for two generations consistently professed + and acted on, we should be at war with the new Confederacy within five + years about the African slave-trade. An English Government will hardly be + base enough to recognize them, unless they accept all the treaties by + which America is at present bound; nor, it may be hoped, even if <i>de + facto</i> independent, would they be admitted to the courtesies of + diplomatic intercourse, unless they granted in the most explicit manner + the right of search. To allow the slave-ships of a Confederation formed + for the extension of slavery to come and go free, and unexamined, between + America and the African coast, would be to renounce even the pretence of + attempting to protect Africa against the man-stealer, and abandon that + Continent to the horrors, on a far larger scale, which were practised + before Granville Sharp and Clarkson were in existence. But even if the + right of intercepting their slavers were acknowledged by treaty, which it + never would be, the arrogance of the Southern slave-holders would not long + submit to its exercise. Their pride and self-conceit, swelled to an + inordinate height by their successful struggle, would defy the power of + England as they had already successfully defied that of their Northern + countrymen. After our people by their cold disapprobation, and our press + by its invective, had combined with their own difficulties to damp the + spirit of the Free States, and drive them to submit and make peace, we + should have to fight the Slave States ourselves at far greater + disadvantages, when we should no longer have the wearied and exhausted + North for an ally. The time might come when the barbarous and barbarizing + Power, which we by our moral support had helped into existence, would + require a general crusade of civilized Europe, to extinguish the mischief + which it had allowed, and we had aided, to rise up in the midst of our + civilization. + </p> + <p> + For these reasons I cannot join with those who cry Peace, peace. I cannot + wish that this war should not have been engaged in by the North, or that + being engaged in, it should be terminated on any conditions but such as + would retain the whole of the Territories as free soil. I am not blind to + the possibility that it may require a long war to lower the arrogance and + tame the aggressive ambition of the slave-owners, to the point of either + returning to the Union, or consenting to remain out of it with their + present limits. But war, in a good cause, is not the greatest evil which a + nation can suffer. War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: + the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks + nothing worth a war, is worse. When a people are used as mere human + instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and + for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to + protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice; a war to give + victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, + carried on for an honest purpose by their free choice—is often the + means of their regeneration. A man who has nothing which he is willing to + fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his + personal safety, is a miserable creature, who has no chance of being free, + unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. As + long as justice and injustice have not terminated <i>their</i> ever + renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must + be willing, when need is, to do battle for the one against the other. I am + far from saying that the present struggle, on the part of the Northern + Americans, is wholly of this exalted character; that it has arrived at the + stage of being altogether a war for justice, a war of principle. But there + was from the beginning, and now is, a large infusion of that element in + it; and this is increasing, will increase, and if the war lasts, will in + the end predominate. Should that time come, not only will the greatest + enormity which still exists among mankind as an institution, receive far + earlier its <i>coups de grâce</i> than there has ever, until now, appeared + any probability of; but in effecting this the Free States will have raised + themselves to that elevated position in the scale of morality and dignity, + which is derived from great sacrifices consciously made in a virtuous + cause, and the sense of an inestimable benefit to all future ages, brought + about by their own voluntary efforts. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Contest in America, by John Stuart Mill + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONTEST IN AMERICA *** + +***** This file should be named 5123-h.htm or 5123-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/2/5123/ + +Produced by Curtis A. 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