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ANTISLAVERY MEASURES IN CONGRESS.

CHAPTER I.

SLAVES USED FOR INSURRECTIONARY PURPOSES MADE FREE.

SLAVES USED IN THE REBEL FORCES.- MR. TRUMBULL'S PROPOSITION TO FREE SLAVES USED FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. MR. TRUMBULL'S SPEECH. MR. BRECKINRIDGE'S SPEECH. MR. WILSON'S SPEECH. MR. BRECKINRIDGE'S REPLY. MR. M'DOUGALL'S SPEECH. MR. TEN EYCK'S SPEECH. — MR. PEARCE'S SPEECH. ADOPTION OF MR. TRUMBULL'S AMENDMENT FREEING SLAVES USED FOR MILITARY PURPOSES.

SUBSTITUTE REPORTED BY THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE. SUBSTITUTE REJECTED. — MR. BINGHAM'S SPEECH. MR. BURNETT'S SPEECH. MR. CRITTENDEN'S SPEECH.-MR. KELLOGG'S SPEECH. MR. COX'S MOTION TO LAY THE BILL ON THE TABLE.— MR. PENDLETON'S SPEECH. — MR. STEVENS'S SPEECH. — MR. DIVEN'S SPEECH. MR. PENDLETON'S MOTION TO RECOMMIT THE BILL CARRIED.- BILL REPORTED BACK WITH AN AMENDMENT. — MR. HOLMAN'S MOTION TO LAY THE BILL ON THE TABLE.PASSAGE OF THE BILL.

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T the opening of the Rebellion, slaves were used by their masters for insurrectionary purposes. Wherever armed rebels gathered, officers, and in many instances privates, brought their slaves with them as servants. Slaves were put at work on fortifications, and employed by thousands as laborers in various capacities in the rising forces of the insurgents. They were used in the erection of the works in the harbor of

Charleston, on which were planted the batteries whose fires demolished Sumter, and kindled the devastating flames of civil war. In Virginia, where the rebel forces were massing for the contest, the labor of slaves lightened the toils of rebel soldiers, and augmented the powers of rebel armies.

In the Senate, on the 20th of July, 1861, Mr. Trumbull (Rep.) of Illinois, Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, reported, by order of that committee, a bill to confiscate the property used for insurrectionary purposes. The bill provided, that if during the present or any future insurrection against the Government of the United States, after the President shall have declared by proclamation that the laws of the United States are opposed, and the execution obstructed, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, any person or persons, his, her, or their agent, attorney, or employé, shall purchase or acquire, sell or give, any property, of whatsoever kind or description, with intent to use or employ the same, or suffer the same to be used or employed, in aiding, abetting, or promoting such insurrection, or any person or persons engaged therein; or if any person or persons, being the owner or owners of any such property, shall knowingly use or employ, or consent to the use or employment of, the same, all such property is to be declared to be lawful subject of prize and capture wherever found.

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Mr. Fessenden (Rep.) of Maine thought it a very important bill, that had better be postponed for consideration. Mr. Trumbull did not care to have the bill considered at that time; but he would like to offer an

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