Vi.
The African slave-trade had been carried on by slave-pirates under the protection of the flag of the United States. To extirpate from the seas that inhuman traffic, and to vindicate the sullied honor of the nation, the Administration early entered into treaty stipulations with the British Government for the mutual right of search within certain limits; and the 37th Congress hastened to enact the appropriate legislation to carry the treaty into effect.The slave-holding class, in the pride of power, persistently refused [492] to recognize the independence of Hayti and Liberia; thus dealing unjustly towards those nations, to the detriment of the commercial interests of the country: the 37th Congress recognized the independence of those republics by authorizing the President to establish diplomatic relations with them.
By the provisions of law, White male citizens alone were enrolled in the militia. In the Amendment to the acts for calling out the militia, the 37th Congress provided for the enrolment and drafting of citizens, without regard to color; and, by the Enrolment Act, Colored persons, free or slave, are enrolled and drafted the same as White men. The 38th Congress enacted that Colored soldiers shall have the same pay, clothing, and rations, and be placed in all respects upon the same footing, as White soldiers. To encourage enlistments, and to aid emancipation, the 38th Congress decreed that every slave mustered into the military service shall be free forever; thus enabling every slave fit for military service to secure personal freedom.
By the provisions of the fugitive-slave acts, slave hunters could hunt their absconding bondmen, require the people to aid in their recapture, and have them returned at the expense of the nation. The 38th Congress erased all fugitive-slave acts from the statutes of the Republic.
The law of 1807 legalized the coastwise slave-trade: the 38th Congress repealed that act, and made the trade illegal.
The courts of the United States receive such testimony as is permitted in the States where the courts are holden. Several of the States exclude the testimony of Colored persons. The 38th Congress made it legal for Colored persons to testify in all the courts of the United States.
Different views are entertained by public men relative to the reconstruction of the governments of the seceded States, and the validity of the President's Proclamation of Emancipation. The 38th Congress passed a bill providing for the reconstruction of the governments of the Rebel States, and for the emancipation of the slaves of those States; but it did not receive the approval of the President.
Colored persons were not permitted to carry the United States mails: the 38th Congress repeated the prohibitory legislation, and made it lawful for persons of Color to carry the mails.
Wives and children of Colored persons in the military and naval service of the United States were often held as slaves; and, while husbands and fathers were absent fighting the battles of the country, [493] these wives and children were sometimes removed and sold, and often treated with cruelty: the 38th Congress made free the wives and children of all persons engaged in the military or naval service of the country.
