R Chapter XXVIII SECESSION OF THE SOUTHERN STATES 1860-1861 EUBEN DAVIS, a member of Congress from Mississippi in 1860, relates that when the news of Lincoln's election reached Washington members from the South purchased long-range rifles to take home with them, and some rejoiced that the end was near.1 In all the cotton States the political leaders at once made ready to carry out the secession threats which they had uttered during the presidential campaign. As was to be expected, South Carolina took the initiative. As early as 1852 she had, through a convention, declared emphatically in favor of the constitutional right of a State to withdraw from the Union at will without hindrance or molestation from any authority whatsoever.2 Of all the slave States her people were the most enthusiastic in favor of a Southern Confederacy, and her statesmen were the most pronounced advocates of disunion. The State legislature, which had assembled at Columbia the day before the election for the purpose of choosing presidential electors, remained in session, upon the advice of the governor, to await the news of the result, so as to be ready to take such action as the situation demanded. When the news of Lincoln's election came, the populace broke forth in cheers for a Southern Confederacy, the Federal judge and the Federal attorney for the District of South Carolina promptly telegraphed their resignations to Washington and a meeting of enthusiastic citizens at Charleston memorialized the legislature to order a State convention for the purpose of considering South Carolina's relations with the United States. The legislature promptly complied with the popular mandate by a unanimous vote, and its action was followed by a remarkable outburst of enthusiasm upon the part of the citizens of the State. At Charleston, in particular, fireworks and illuminations, the display of palmetto flags, the raising of liberty poles, 1 Davis, "Recollections of Mississippi," p. 389. 2 See Cluskey, "Political Text-Book," p. 554, for copy of the ordinance. 1860 torchlight processions, booming cannon and martial music, all gave evidence of the popular endorsement of the action of the legislature in calling a convention. The resignation, at this juncture, of South Carolina's senators in Congress contributed further to the general rejoicing. There seems to have been but one sentiment in the State on the all-absorbing question of the hour, and that was the immediate duty of the people to prepare for secession. No other course, it was declared, was consistent with the honor and welfare of the commonwealth, and if there were any who believed otherwise their views were not made known. On December 17 the convention met at Columbia, but soon adjourned to Charleston, on account of a smallpox epidemic. The convention was composed of the most distinguished men of the State, ex-governors, judges, lawyers, business men, and wealthy planters. On the 20th it adopted, by a unanimous vote, an ordinance repealing the ordinance of South Carolina of 1788, by which the Federal Constitution was adopted, and dissolving the "union now subsisting between South Carolina and the other States, under the name of the United States of America." The popular demonstrations which had followed the action of the legislature in calling the convention were tame as compared with those which now took place. As the news spread, the city went wild with delight. Bells pealed forth the glad tidings and the echoes of booming cannon filled the air. Soon the streets were alive with thronging multitudes, who cheered until they were hoarse, and men thanked God that South Carolina was at last an independent republic. Cockades and palmetto flags appeared everywhere and signs of rejoicing were almost without limit. Apparently not a voice of dissent was raised by any living soul. So far as South Carolina was concerned, it was a spontaneous, enthusiastic and unanimous movement, and certainly no one can say, as was said of the secession movement in some of the other States, that it was not a reflection of the popular will.3 After passing the ordinance of secession, the convention adopted resolutions authorizing the governor to appoint customs officers and postmasters for the State, and prescribing the form of an official oath of allegiance to the constitution of the State. A "Declaration of the causes which justify the secession of South * For a good account of the popular enthusiasm, see Rhodes, "History of the United States," vol. iii. p. 199. 1860 Carolina from the Federal Union " was then adopted. This declaration asserted that the Union being a compact in which there was no common arbiter in cases of dispute, and the States of the North having, in the judgment of South Carolina, failed to keep their part of the agreement, she was left free to withdraw from the compact at will. Fifteen States, the declaration continued, had for years past deliberately refused to fulfill their constitutional obligations by passing laws which prevented the rendition of fugitive slaves and by placing every obstacle in the way of the enjoyment of the South of her constitutional rights. "These States," it continued," have assumed the right of deciding upon the propriety of our domestic institutions; they have denied the rights of property established in fifteen of the States and recognized by the Constitution; they have denounced as sinful the institution of slavery; they have permitted the open establishment among them of societies whose avowed object is to disturb the peace and destroy the property of the citizens of other States; they have encouraged and assisted thousands of our slaves to leave their homes; and those who remain have been incited by emissaries, books, and pictures to servile insurrection." The declaration further asserted that the agitation against slavery had continued with increasing bitterness for twenty-five years, "until at last the agitators had succeeded in electing a President whose opinions and purposes were hostile to slavery and who had publicly declared that the Union could not endure permanently half slave and half free." 4 66 On the same day on which the declaration of grievances was adopted the convention adopted an address to the people of the slave-holding States, declaring that all confidence in the North was past, and inviting them to join South Carolina in forming a confederacy of the slaveholding States. On the same day also the governor issued a proclamation declaring South Carolina to be a separate, sovereign, free, and independent State," with the right to levy war, conclude peace, negotiate treaties, and do all acts whatsoever that rightfully appertain to a free and independent State. Ordinances were then adopted by the convention for the dispatch of commissioners to the other slaveholding States, to invite their coöperation in the formation of a Southern Confederacy; for transferring to the legislature the powers formerly exercised by Congress, and to the State courts the former jurisdiction of the 4" Appleton's Annual Cyclopædia," for 1861, p. 651. 1860-1861 Federal courts; for authorizing the governor to appoint and receive ambassadors and ministers, and for making provisional arrangements for the administration of the customs service. The convention adjourned on January 5. During all this time the legislature had continued in session, but transacted no business of importance until after the adjournment of the convention. Now that the latter had dissolved, the legislature proceeded to put the State on a war footing, adopted a flag for the State, unanimously passed a resolution declaring that any attempt by the Federal government to reenforce the forts in Charleston harbor would be considered an act of hostility, and passed an act to stay the collection of all debts due from citizens of South Carolina to citizens of the non-slaveholding States. It was clear from these proceedings that the secession movement had passed beyond the stage of bluster and threat. The thoroughness and unanimity with which the South Carolinians had gone about their work created a profound impression in the North, while it received the general approval of the people of the States of the far South. 5 Hardly behind South Carolina in the secession movement was Mississippi. The events of the last ten years had marked the almost total disappearance of the strong Union sentiment which, as we have seen, had led the State convention of 1851 to declare that the alleged right of secession was wholly unsanctioned by the Constitution. Shortly after Lincoln's election the governor called an extraordinary session of the legislature, which promptly ordered the election of delegates to a convention to be held at Jackson, January 7, for the purpose of adopting "such measures for vindicating the government of the State and the protection of its institutions as shall appear to be demanded." The legislature at the same time authorized the governor to appoint commissioners to visit the other slave States and inform them of the action of Mississippi and to invite their coöperation in the adoption of efficient measures for their defense and safety. These commissioners at once proceeded to the various Southern capitals, where they were formally received by the legislatures and executives. To the legislatures in joint session they delivered their messages and made stirring appeals for the united action of all the slave States in the great revolution which was about to be inaugurated. The convention which met at Jackson, January 7, was practically unani 3 Claiborne's “Life of John A. Quitman,” vol. ii. ch. xii. 1860-1861 mous in favor of secession, although about one-third of the delegates favored making the operation of the ordinance of secession contingent upon the joint coöperation of a certain number of other slave States. As against the North, they were all united and in favor of resistance, differing among themselves only as to the expediency of acting without the coöperation of the other States. On January 9 an ordinance similar to that of South Carolina was adopted by a vote of 84 to 15. A few days later the Mississippi senators and representatives in Congress took formal leave of their respective houses and returned to Mississippi; the United States district judge for Mississippi forwarded his resignation to the President, and the Mississippians in the army of the United States surrendered their commissions and returned home to enter the service of the State. United States marshals, postmasters, and land officers were requested by the convention to continue in the discharge of their duties and to render an account to the sovereign State of Mississippi. Although the people of the State were not given an opportunity to vote for or against the ordinance of secession, it seems to have met the general approval of the entire commonwealth. On the night following the adoption of the ordinance the State capital was brilliantly illuminated and "the Bonnie Blue Flag" was sung for the first time in a Jackson theater by its author, who had witnessed the drama of secession. One of the returning members of Congress relates that the rejoicing was so great that he was rarely out of the sound of booming cannon from the time he entered the State until he reached his journey's end. In the other slave States the procedure of withdrawal was essentially the same as in South Carolina and Mississippi, although in hardly any of them was the unanimity of sentiment so great. In Georgia, in particular, a strong Union feeling existed and an energetic effort was made by some of the old Whig leaders to stay the secession movement. The leader of this sentiment was Alexander H. Stephens, long a representative in Congress, one of the leaders of the Georgia bar, and soon to become the Vice President of the Southern Confederacy. He made a speech before the legislature of Georgia in which he declared that the grievances of the Southern people were not such as to justify the disruption of the Union which our fathers had established; he asserted that since the establishment of the Republic Southern men had held a • “Convention Journal,” p. 16. |