In 1819, as secretary of a mass-meeting called to oppose the Missouri Compromise, he had declared that Congress possessed the clear and indisputable power to prohibit the admission of slavery in any State or territory thereafter to be formed.
This statement emphasizes the belief in Congress's authority to regulate slavery in new territories, showcasing a historical perspective on the issue.
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This reckless claim amazed his friends as much as it aroused his enemies, and he at once became the object of most cutting reproaches.
Indeed, he went a step farther in the way of irreconciliation, preferring Hoffman and Tammany, he said, to "the reckless, red-radicalism which rules the present Congress....
I discerned also unmistakable evidences of stern integrity, earnest patriotism, and unswerving fidelity.
This is the spirit in which I have determined for myself to come up to this great question, and to pass through it.
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