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University of MississippieGroveMississippi Territorial Documents General Special Collections12-29-1815Report of the Committee to which was referred, onthe 6th instant, the memorial of the Legislature ofthe Mississippi Territory, praying for admission intothe Union as an independent stateUnited States. Congress. HouseFollow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/msterrdocsThis Book is brought to you for free and open access by the General Special Collections at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in MississippiTerritorial Documents by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact egrove@olemiss.edu.Recommended CitationUnited States. Congress. House, "Report of the Committee to which was referred, on the 6th instant, the memorial of the Legislatureof the Mississippi Territory, praying for admission into the Union as an independent state" (1815). Mississippi Territorial Documents.12.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/msterrdocs/12[ 9 ] REPORT Of the Committee to 'Which 'Was referred, on the 6th instant, the Memorial of the Legislature of the Mississippi Territory, praying fm' admission into the Union, as an independent State . • . ; December 29, 1 S 1.5. • Read and ordered to be printed. ,. The committee to whom were referred, on the 6th instant, the memorial of the legislative council and house of representatives of the Mississippi Ter-ritory, praying for the admission of said Territory into the Union, as a State; and, on the 14th instant, the petitions of sundry inhabitants east of Pearl River in the same territory, praying that provision may be made for taking a census of its citizens previolls to ~uch admission, respectfully submit the following report: By the articles of agreement and cession be-tween the United States and the State of Georgia, it is provided "That the territory thus ceded, (now Mississippi Territory,) shall form a State, and -be admitted as such into the Union, as soon as it shall contain sixty thousand free inhabitants, or at an earlier period if Congress shall think it expedi-ent, on the same conditions and restrictions, with • -<) --[ 9 ] the same privileges, and in the same manner, as is provided in the ordinance of Congress, of the] 3th da,L()f .T uly, 1787, for the government of the 'Vest-ern "Territory of the United Sta tes, which ordinance shall, in .all its parts, extend to the territory con-tained in the present act of cession, that article on-ly excepted which forbids slavery." The memorialists, after slating the number of persons taken under the last general census, which was forty thousand three hundred and fifty-two, of all descriptions, and adverting to the accession of population produced by the annexa,. 1io11 of a part of 'V e,st-F lQrida, and by subsequent emigrations, conclude, that the territory contained, at that time, (December, 1814,) the number re-quired by the agreement referred to above, to en-title it to admission on an equal footing with the oJ'if';inal States. As this, however, was a matter of corijecture and uncertainty, they solicit admission as an act of courte~y on the part of the United States, Yom' committee possess no means of forming any thing like a satisfactory estimate of the pre-sent population of the territory in question; but they conceive that, unless it be the determination of Congress to defer its admission until it can be claimed in strict conformity to the compact with Georgia, there is no good reason for a further delay on the score of a deficiency of numbers, as sllch de-ficiency, if not now questionable, will not probably much longer exist. 'Vithout taking into consider-ation the recent settlers, who are subject to the late proclamation under the" act to prevent settle-ment being made," &c. the presumption is not un-reasonable that, if any considerable part of the lands obtained fram the Creeks, is prepared for a. legal !;lettlcment within the time cont~mplated, tlle [ 9 ] • territory will contain more than the number rc· quired, before it can be finally erected into a State. It is known to your committee that the consent • of Georgia to a division of this territory, has been asked and obtained, and should it be divided be· fore it is admitted, the admission of either part would, from a want of numbers, be subject to ad~ ditional objection and further delay. But doubts may be entertained, whether the ter-ritory can, with strict propriety, be divided, with-out the consent of its inhabitants, as well as that of Georgia and of the United States. Although the people of the territory had no agency in the agree'-ment above quoted, they were the object of it, and as such, became a third party to it, and vested bv itof a right which is explicitly defined. This agre~­ment provides, "that the territory thus ceded, shall form a State, (not one or more States,) and shall be admitted as such into the Union, as soon as it shall contain sixty thousand free inhabitants." If, then, admission shall be deferred, in con seq tlence of division, the expectation of the inhabitants will be disappointed, and their right impaired. It is chieflv to avoid such a result that your committee have declined recommending a division of the ter-ritory, which otherwise might be expedient to les-sen the inconveniences which, ,vith or without di-vision, the local government will, for a long time at least, have to sustain. In relation to the simple question of admission, as presented by the memorialists, precedents are not wanting, either to encourage their applica-tion, or to grant their request. The State of Ohio was admitted before it possessed the number which the ordinance required, and Louisiana did not come in as to time or numbers, in virtue of a strict and insuperable claim. It is not improbable that • , [ 9 ] the 1\Iissi;:;sippi Territory may contain, at this time, a greater population than either of those States did when they were admitted; and it is believed, that its state of political minority and probation, has been oflonger duration than that of any of the adoJ?ted States. H~ then, after fifteen years of re-stramt, the people of this country should evince even an impatient desire for enlargement, it is but just to ascribe it to that sense of independence which is common to the nation, and which should be rather encouraged than depressed. It is a po-licy worthy of a government, which is constituted and maintained by the public will, to foster, throughout the Union, tLose feelings which give energy to the national character, and to extend to every portion of it, those rights which conduce to the general good. N or could a period more pro-pitiolls to these ends be selected than the present, when all American citizens have new cause to ap-prove of their principles, to confide in their institu-tions, and to be proud of their name. So far, your committee have considered this sub-ject, as though an immediate admission of the ter-'ritory were desired by all of its inhabitants; but they are not prepared to say tbat such is the fact. )Vbilst it is true that such admission has been rc- . peatedly solicited, for a succession of years; it is also true that about four years ago, a small mino-rity of the representative branch of the territorial legislature protested against it; and that about a year' thereafter, a considerable number of the peo-ple themselves petitioned that all proceedings in Congress, on the subject,. might be postponed. It was on these two occaSIOns, only, as your com-mittee believe, that any indisposition to a State go-vernment has been f'xpre ssed to the national legis-lat~m.), by any of the people of the territory, or oC t [ 9 ] 5 their representatives in their behalf. Nor is it un-derstood, or believed, that the reluctance manifest-ed by a portion of those people, arose from a want of a due and equal appreciation of the rights and advantao-es of an independent State. The causes of oppo~ition, so far as any opposition has been shown, seem to have been, in part, an unwilling-ness to incur additional expense in supporting a State government, whilst under a peculiar pressure from the war; but chiefly, an apprehension that a State government, with its insp.parable appendage, a federal district court, would be immediately fol-lowed by a great number of expensive and danger-ous, if not ruinous, law suits for lands, which would grow out of (what are called) the Yazoo and British claims. The war however is now at an end, and the Yazoo claims may be considered as quieted: but the British claims still exist, and constitute the subject of several petitions now be-fore Congress, on which it is not the province of your committee to speak. The petitions of sundry inhabitants, east of Pearl River, in the same territorv, which also have 01 been referred to your committee, as having rela-tion to the question which has been considered, state that the eastern parts of said territory have not an equal share of representation with the wes-tern, in the territorial legislature, sug!test an ap-prehension tbat such inequality may c~ntjnue un-der a State government-and pray that provision may be made for taking a census of the people of the territory, for the pumose of securing to all a r~presentation .accordil!g~ to numbers and equal fights. If the mterposltlOn of Congress be neces-sary to effect what the petitioners seem to have prin-cipa lly in view, nameiy, a filiI' representafion in the convention which will be eJectcd to form a cnnsti -[ 9 ] tution, some general provision to this end, win properly belong to the act authorizing the conven· tion to be chosen; and should it nevertheless af· terwards appear to the satisfaction of Congress, that any part of the territory has not had its due proportion of representation in such convention, they will no doubt use the corrective which they possess, in rejecting the constitution which may be formed. Upon a full view of the whole subject which has been referred to the consideration of your com-mittee, they are of opinion that it is expedient to admit the Mississippi Territory into the Union as prayed for by the memorialists, and have ·pre-pared a bill for this purpose, ,,,hieh they ask leaw to report. • • • • 

Report of the Committee to which was referred, on the 6th instant, the memorial of the Legislature of the Mississippi Territory, praying for admission into the Union as an independent state

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Report of the Committee to which was referred, on the 6th instant, the memorial of the Legislature of the Mississippi Territory, praying for admission into the Union as an independent state

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