Speech of Mr. Miner, of Pennsylvania

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Excerpt from Speech of Mr. Miner, of Pennsylvania: Delivered in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 6 and 7, 1829, in the District of Columbia Mr. Miner offered the following preamble and resolutions: Whereas the Constitution has given to Congress, within the District of Columbia, the power of "exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever." And whereas the laws in respect to slavery within the District have been almost entirely neglected, from which neglect, for nearly thirty years, have grown numerous and gross corruptions. Slave-dealers, gaining confidence from impunity, have made the seat of the Federal Government their head quarters for carrying on the domestic slave trade. The public prisons have been extensively used perverted from the purposes for which they were erected) for carrying on the domestic slave trade. Officers of the Federal Government have been employed, and derived emoluments from carrying on the domestic slave trade. Private and secret prisons exist in the District for carrying on this traffic in human beings. The trade is not confined to those who are slaves for life, but persons having a limited time to serve are bought by the slave-dealers, and sent where redress is hopeless. Others are kidnapped, and hurried away before they can be rescued. Instances of death, from the anguish of despair, exhibited in the District, mark the cruelty of this traffic. Instances of maiming and suicide, executed or attempted, have been exhibited, growing out of this traffic within the District. Free persons of color, coming into the District, are liable to arrest, imprisonment, and sale into slavery for life, for jail fees, if unable, from ignorance, misfortune, or fraud, to prove their freedom. Advertisements, beginning "We will give cash for one hundred likely young negroes of both sexes, from eight to twenty-five years old, " contained in the public prints of the City, under the notice of Congress, indicate the openness and extent of the traffic. Scenes of human beings exposed at public vendue are exhibited here, permitted by the laws of the General Government, a woman having been advertised "to be sold at Lloyd's tavern, near the Centre Market House, " during all the month of December. A Grand Jury of the District has presented the slave trade as a grievance. A writer in a public print lathe District has set forth "that to those who have never seen a spectacle of the kind (exhibited by the slave trade) no description can give an adequate idea of its horrors." To such extent had this trade been carried, in 1816, that a member of Congress from Virginia introduced a resolution in the House, "That a committee be appointed to inquire into the existence of an inhuman and illegal traffic in slaves carried on in and through the District of Columbia, and report whether any, and what, measures are necessary for the putting a stop to the same." The House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, at their last session, by an almost unanimous vote, expressed the opinion that slavery within the District of Columbia ought to be abolished. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or miss