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or any local authority, was submitted by
Mr. William L. Yancey, of
Alabama, in the following guise:
Resolved, That the doctrine of noninterference with the rights of property of any portion of the people of this confederacy, be it in the States or Territories thereof, by any other than the parties interested in them, is the true Republican doctrine recognized by this body.
The party was not yet ready for such strong meat, and this resolve was rejected: Nays 216; Yeas 36--South Carolina 9;
Alabama 9;
Georgia 9;
Arkansas 3;
Florida 3;
Maryland 1;
Kentucky 1;
Tennessee 1.
The Whig National Convention assembled in
Philadelphia, June 7th.
Gen. Zachary Taylor, of
Louisiana, had on the first ballot 111 votes for
President to 97 for
Henry Clay, 43 for
General Scott, 22 for
Mr. Webster, and 6 scattering.
On the fourth ballot (next day),
Gen. Taylor had 171 to 107 for all others, and was declared nominated.
Millard Fillmore, of New York, had 115 votes for
Vice-President, on the first ballot, to 109 for
Abbott Lawrence, of
Massachusetts, and 50 scattering.
On the second ballot,
Mr. Fillmore had 173, and was nominated.
No resolves affirming distinctive principles were passed; repeated efforts to interpose one affirming the principle of the
Wilmot Proviso being met by successful motions to lay on the table.
The
Buffalo or Free Soil Convention was as frank and explicit in its declaration of principles as its more powerful rivals had been ambiguous or reticent.
The following are its most material averments:
Resolved, That the Proviso of Jefferson, to prohibit the existence of Slavery after 1800, in all the Territories of the United States, Southern and Northern; the votes of six States and sixteen delegates, in the Congress of 1784, for the Proviso, to three States and seven delegates against it; the actual exclusion of Slavery from the Northwestern Territory, by the Ordinance of 1787, unanimously adopted by the States in Congress; and the entire history of that period, clearly show that it was the policy of the Nation not to extend, nationalize, or encourage, but to limit, localize, and discourage Slavery; and to this policy, which should never have been departed from, the Government ought to return.
Resolved, That our fathers ordained the Constitution of the United States, in order, among other great National objects, to “establish justice, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty;” but expressly denied to the Federal Government, which they created, all constitutional power to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due legal process.
Resolved, That, in the judgment of this Convention, Congress has no more power to make a slave than to make a king; no more power to institute or establish Slavery, than to institute or establish monarchy: no such power can be found among those specifically conferred by the Constitution, or derived by just implication from them.
Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal Government to relieve itself from all responsibility for the existence or continuance of Slavery, wherever the Government possesses constitutional authority to legislate on that subject, and it is thus responsible for its existence.
Resolved, That the true, and, in the judgment of this Convention, the only safe means of preventing the extension of Slavery into territory now Free, is to prohibit its extension in all such territory by an act of Congress.
In the event,
Gen. Taylor was chosen
President, receiving the votes of New York,
Pennsylvania, and thirteen other States, choosing 163 Electors.
The strong Free Soil vote for
Van Buren ensured to
Gen. Cass the votes of
Ohio, and of every other State North-west of the
Ohio, most of them by a plurality only over
Taylor.
Gen. Cass carried fifteen States, choosing 137 Electors.
Mr. Van Buren carried no Electors, but
