History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880. Vol. 2 | Page 8

of 1787 by which slavery or
involuntary servitude was prohibited in the territory northwest of the
Ohio River. It was ordered by a convention presided over by Gen.
Harrison in 1802-3, that a memorial be sent to Congress urging a
restriction of the ordinance of 1787. It was referred to a select
committee, with John Randolph as chairman. On the 2d of March, 1803,
he made a report by the unanimous request of his committee, and the
portion referring to slavery was as follows:
"The rapid population of the State of Ohio sufficiently evinces, in the
opinion of your committee, that the labor of slaves is not necessary to
promote the growth and settlement of colonies in that region. That this
labor--demonstrably the dearest of any--can only be employed in the
cultivation of products more valuable than any known to that quarter of
the United States; that the committee deem it highly dangerous and
inexpedient to impair a provision wisely calculated to promote the
happiness and prosperity of the northwestern country, and to give
strength and security to that extensive frontier. In the salutary
operations of this sagacious and benevolent restraint, it is believed that
the inhabitants of Indiana will, at no very distant day, find ample
remuneration for a temporary privation of labor and of emigration."
After discussing the subject-matter embodied in the memorial from the
territory of Indiana, the committee presented eight resolves, one of
which related to the subject of slavery, and was as follows:
"Resolved, That it is inexpedient to suspend, for a limited time, the
operation of the sixth article of the compact between the original States
and the people and the States west of the river Ohio."
Congress was about to close its session, and, therefore, there was no
action taken upon this report. At the next session it went into the hands

of a new committee whose chairman was Cæsar Rodney, of Delaware,
who had just been elected to Congress. On the 17th of February, 1804,
Mr. Rodney made the following report:
"That taking into their consideration the facts stated in the said
memorial and petition, they are induced to believe that a qualified
suspension, for a limited time, of the sixth article of compact between
the original States and the people and States west of the river Ohio,
might be productive of benefit and advantage to said territory."
After discussing other matters contained in the Indiana petition, the
committee says, in reference to slavery:
"That the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787, which prohibited
slavery within the said territory, be suspended in a qualified manner for
ten years, so as to permit the introduction of slaves born within the
United States, from any of the individual States: provided, that such
individual State does not permit the importation of slaves from foreign
countries; and provided further, that the descendants of all such slaves
shall, if males, be free at the age of twenty-five years, and, if female, at
the age of twenty-one years."
The House did not take up and act upon this report, and so the matter
passed for the time being. But the original memorial, with several
petitions of like import, came before Congress in 1805-6. They were
referred to a select committee, and on the 14th of February, 1806, Mr.
Garnett, of Virginia, the chairman, made the following favorable
report:
"That, having attentively considered the facts stated in the said petitions
and memorials, they are of opinion that a qualified suspension for a
limited time, of the sixth article of compact between the original States
and the people and States west of the river Ohio, would be beneficial to
the people of the Indiana Territory. The suspension of this article is an
object almost universally desired in that Territory.
"It appears to your committee to be a question entirely different from
that between Slavery and Freedom; inasmuch as it would merely

occasion the removal of persons, already slaves, from one part of the
country to another. The good effects of this suspension, in the present
instance, would be to accelerate the population of that Territory,
hitherto retarded by the operation of that article of compact, as
slave-holders emigrating into the Western country might then indulge
any preference which they might feel for a settlement in the Indiana
Territory, instead of seeking, as they are now compelled to do,
settlements in other States or countries permitting the introduction of
slaves. The condition of the slaves themselves would be much
ameliorated by it, as it is evident, from experience, that the more they
are separated and diffused, the more care and attention are bestowed on
them by their masters--each proprietor having it in his power to
increase their comforts and conveniences, in proportion to the
smallness of their numbers. The dangers, too (if