1859 James Buchanan - Reopening Slave Trade

In the 1850's there was an effort in the South to reopen the African slave trade in America. The movement reached it's peak at an 1859 Southern commercial convention a resolution was passed advocating the reopening of African slave trade. A majority of Louisiana's delegates favored the reopening. Northern states took notice of this, and on March 25, 1859 the Chicago Tribune published an article entitled the "Reopening of Slave Trade". The tribune editor wrote "That the party favorable to the re-opening of the foreign slave trade is rapidly gaining ground at the South, we have not the slightest doubt. The measure is only the logical result of the doctrine, now almost universally proclaimed by Southern pulpits and presses, that slavery is in itself a right."

President Buchanan opposed this movement, and in his 1859 address to congress, set out to prove that it was not only unconstitutional but un-Christian. But today, his words sound condescending and downright racist (that is believing in the inferiority of a race). Buchanan wrote:

"All lawful means at my command have been employed, and shall continue to be employed, to execute the laws against the African slave trade ... Those engaged in this unlawful enterprise have been rigorously prosecuted, but not with as much success as their crimes have deserved ....Our history proves that the fathers of the Republic, in advance of all other nations, condemned the African slave trade ... These acts of Congress, it is believed, have, with very rare and insignificant exceptions, accomplished their purpose."

All good so far, but James Buchanan continued:

"During this period their advancement in civilization has far surpassed that of any other portion of the African race. The light and the blessings of Christianity have been extended to them, and both their moral and physical condition has been greatly improved. Reopen the trade and it would be difficult to determine whether the effect would be more deleterious on the interests of the master or on those of the native-born slave. Of the evils to the master, the one most to be dreaded would be the introduction of wild, heathen, and ignorant barbarians among the sober, orderly, and quiet slaves whose ancestors have been on the soil for several generations. This might tend to barbarize, demoralize, and exasperate the whole mass and produce most deplorable consequences.
The effect upon the existing slave would, if possible, be still more deplorable. At present he is treated with kindness and humanity. He is well fed, well clothed, and not overworked. His condition is incomparably better than that of the coolies which modern nations of high civilization have employed as a substitute for African slaves. Both the philanthropy and the self-interest of the master have combined to produce this humane result. But let this trade be reopened and what will be the effect? ... This would give the trade an impulse and extension which it has never had, even in its palmiest days. The numerous victims required to supply it would convert the whole slave coast into a perfect pandemonium, for which this country would be held responsible in the eyes both of God and man. Its petty tribes would then be constantly engaged in predatory wars against each other for the purpose of seizing slaves to supply the American market. All hopes of African civilization would thus be ended."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29500
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1859/03/25/page/2/article/reopening-of-the-slave-trade 

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/reopen-the-slave-trade.12651/