1861, Jan. 23.  Congress (House):  Proposition to Amend Constitution.

Resolution of Mr. Morris of Pennsylvania:—­“Neither Congress nor a Territorial Legislature shall make any law respecting slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime; but Congress may pass laws for the suppression of the African slave trade, and the rendition of fugitives from service or labor in the States.”  Mr. Morris asked to have it printed, that he might at the proper time move it as an amendment to the report of the select committee of thirty-three.  It was ordered to be printed. Ibid., p. 527.

1861, Feb. 1.  Congress (House):  Proposition to Amend Constitution.

Resolution of Mr. Kellogg of Illinois:—­

Sec. 16.  “The migration or importation of persons held to service or involuntary servitude into any State, Territory, or place within the United States, from any place or country beyond the limits of the United States or Territories thereof, is forever prohibited.”  Considered Feb. 27, 1861, and lost. Ibid., pp. 690, 1243, 1259-60.

1861, Feb. 8.  Confederate States of America:  Importation Prohibited.

Constitution for the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, Article I. Section 7:—­

“1.  The importation of African negroes from any foreign country other than the slave-holding States of the United States, is hereby forbidden; and Congress are required to pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the same.

“2.  The Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of slaves from any State not a member of this Confederacy.”  March 11, 1861, this article was placed in the permanent Constitution.  The first line was changed so as to read “negroes of the African race.” C.S.A.  Statutes at Large, 1861-2, pp. 3, 15.

1861, Feb. 9.  Confederate States of America:  Statutory Prohibition.

“Be it enacted by the Confederate States of America in Congress assembled, That all the laws of the United States of America in force and in use in the Confederate States of America on the first day of November last, and not inconsistent with the Constitution of the Confederate States, be and the same are hereby continued in force until altered or repealed by the Congress.” Ibid., p. 27.

1861, Feb. 19.  United States Statute:  Appropriation.

To supply deficiencies in the fund hitherto appropriated to carry out the Act of March 3, 1819, and subsequent acts, $900,000. Statutes at Large, XII. 132.

1861, March 2.  United States Statute:  Appropriation.

To carry out the Act of March 3, 1819, and subsequent acts, and to provide compensation for district attorneys and marshals, $900,000. Ibid., XII. 218-9.

1861, Dec. 3.  President Lincoln’s Message.