And on the 28th February, 1823, the House of Representatives, by a
majority of 131 to 9, passed a resolution to the following effect:
_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested to
enter upon and prosecute from time to time such negotiations with the
several maritime powers of Europe and America as he may deem expedient
for the effectual abolition of the African slave trade and its ultimate
denunciation as piracy under the law of nations, by the consent of the
civilized world.
By the act of Congress above referred to, whereby the most effectual
means that could be devised were adopted for the extirpation of the
slave trade, the wish of the United States was explicitly declared, that
all nations might concur in a similar policy. It could only be by such
concurrence that the great object could be accomplished, and it was by
negotiation and treaty alone that such concurrence could be obtained,
commencing with one power and extending it to others. The course,
therefore, which the Executive, who had concurred in the act, had to
pursue was distinctly marked out for it.
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