Democratic and Republican Platforms

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The Democratic party denies the power of Congress to establish slavery, and also its converse - that they can prohibit it; the Republican party, admit, nay invoke, the power of Congress to prohibit it, and 'hence, admit also -the power of Congress to establish it, and therefore on their own principle, the South may invoke Congress to establish it. 3d' It is not true as this plat form implies, that the Abolitionists maintained the Missouri Compromise. On the contrary, Whigs and Democrats only maintained it, till driven by Abolitionists to substitue for it another principle. These are the facts respecting free Territory and that Compromise. In 1783, slaveholding Virginia' gave to the Old Confederation, the whole Territory Northwest of'the Ohio, and being all North of 36(deg) for the com mon benefit of all the States; and in 1787 they unanimously engaged to exclude slavery therefrom. By Article V. Of the Constitution of the United States, all engagements entered into by the old States were made valid, hence the 1st Congress continued this compact, excluding slavery. They made no new prohibition, or law on that subject.