Part 43 (1/2)
~1806, Dec. 15. Congress (House): Proposition on Slave-Trade.~
”A bill to prohibit the importation or bringing of slaves into the United States, etc.,” after Dec. 31, 1807. Finally merged into Senate bill. _Ibid._, House Bill No. 148.
~1806, Dec. 17. Congress (House): Sloan's Proposition.~
Proposition to amend the House bill by inserting after the article declaring the forfeiture of an illegally imported slave, ”And such person or slave shall be ent.i.tled to his freedom.” Lost. _Annals of Cong._, 9 Cong. 2 sess. pp. 167-77, 180-89.
~1806, Dec. 29. Congress (House): Sloan's Second Proposition.~
Illegally imported Africans to be either freed, apprenticed, or returned to Africa. Lost; Jan. 5, 1807, a somewhat similar proposition was also lost. _Ibid._, pp. 226-8, 254.
~1806, Dec. 31. Great Britain: Rejected Treaty.~
”Treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America.”
”Art. XXIV. The high contracting parties engage to communicate to each other, without delay, all such laws as have been or shall be hereafter enacted by their respective Legislatures, as also all measures which shall have been taken for the abolition or limitation of the African slave trade; and they further agree to use their best endeavors to procure the co-operation of other Powers for the final and complete abolition of a trade so repugnant to the principles of justice and humanity.” _Amer. State Papers, Foreign_, III. 147, 151.
~1807, March 25. [England: Slave-Trade Abolished.~
”An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.” _Statute 47 George III._, 1 sess. ch. 36.]
~1807, Jan. 7. Congress (House): Bidwell's Proposition.~
”Provided, that no person shall be sold as a slave by virtue of this act.” Offered as an amendment to -- 3 of House bill; defeated 60 to 61, Speaker voting. A similar proposition was made Dec. 23, 1806. _House Journal_ (repr. 1826), 9 Cong. 2 sess. V. 513-6. Cf. _Annals of Cong._, 9 Cong. 2 sess. pp. 199-203, 265-7.
~1807, Feb. 9. Congress (House): Section Seven of House Bill.~
-- 7 of the bill reported to the House by the committee provided that all Negroes imported should be conveyed whither the President might direct and there be indentured as apprentices, or employed in whatever way the President might deem best for them and the country; provided that no such Negroes should be indentured or employed except in some State in which provision is now made for the gradual abolition of slavery. Blank s.p.a.ces were left for limiting the term of indenture. The report was never acted on. _Annals of Cong._, 9 Cong. 2 sess. pp. 477-8.
~1807, March 2. United States Statute: Importation Prohibited.~
”An Act to prohibit the importation of Slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States, from and after the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight.” Bills to amend -- 8, so as to make less ambiguous the permit given to the internal traffic, were introduced Feb. 27 and Nov. 27.
_Statutes at Large_, II. 426. For proceedings in Senate, see _Senate Journal_ (repr. 1821), 9 Cong. 1-2 sess. IV. 11, 112, 123, 124, 132, 133, 150, 158, 164, 165, 167, 168; _Annals of Cong._, 9 Cong. 2 sess.
pp. 16, 19, 23, 33, 36, 45, 47, 68, 69, 70, 71, 79, 87, 93. For proceedings in House, see _House Journal_ (repr. 1826), 9 Cong. 2 sess.
V. 470, 482, 488, 490, 491, 496, 500, 504, 510, 513-6, 517, 540, 557, 575, 579, 581, 583-4, 585, 592, 594, 610, 613-4, 616, 623, 638, 640; 10 Cong. 1 sess. VI. 27, 50; _Annals of Cong._, 9 Cong. 2 sess. pp. 167, 180, 200, 220, 231, 254, 264, 270.
~1808, Feb. 23. Congress (Senate): Proposition to Amend Const.i.tution.~
”Agreeably to instructions from the legislature of the state of Pennsylvania to their Senators in Congress, Mr. Maclay submitted the following resolution, which was read for consideration:--
”_Resolved_ ..., That the Const.i.tution of the United States be so altered and amended, as to prevent the Congress of the United States, and the legislatures of any state in the Union, from authorizing the importation of slaves.” No further mention. _Senate Journal_ (repr.
1821), 10 Cong. 1 sess. IV. 235; _Annals of Cong._, 10 Cong. 1 sess. p.