 | The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise |  |
“I know that Northern freemen might
Upon one platform all unite,
And freedom's banner there unfurl,
And through the ballot-boxes hurl
Me from my proud and lofty station,
And send throughout this mighty nation
A grand and glorious jubilee,
Which would the wretched captive free:
They might construe the Constitution
So as to crush my institution;
So as to break the iron bands
From every human chattel's hands.
The power of Congress regulates
Commercial acts between the States,
And, hence, can with the utmost ease
Confine me wheresoe'er they please.
Were I forbidden to migrate
From place to place, from State to State,
I soon should lack sufficient room,
Which would accelerate my doom.
I'm so much like a roving herd,
That it is perfectly absurb
To think to tarry in one place,
Deprived of new and ample space.
Without new fertile territory,
I soon must part with all my glory.
Upon one platform all unite,
And freedom's banner there unfurl,
And through the ballot-boxes hurl
Me from my proud and lofty station,
9
A grand and glorious jubilee,
Which would the wretched captive free:
They might construe the Constitution
So as to crush my institution;
So as to break the iron bands
From every human chattel's hands.
The power of Congress regulates
Commercial acts between the States,
And, hence, can with the utmost ease
Confine me wheresoe'er they please.
Were I forbidden to migrate
From place to place, from State to State,
I soon should lack sufficient room,
Which would accelerate my doom.
I'm so much like a roving herd,
That it is perfectly absurb
To think to tarry in one place,
Deprived of new and ample space.
Without new fertile territory,
I soon must part with all my glory.
| The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise | |