are known to be great), severs all the ties of affection (and they are close and enduring), which have bound her to the Union; and thus divesting herself of every benefit, taking upon herself every burden, she claims to be exempt from any power to execute the laws of the United States within her limits.

* *

*

"It has been a conviction of pressing necessity, it has been a belief that we are to be deprived in the Union of the rights which our fathers bequeathed to us, which has brought Mississippi into her present decision. She has here proclaimed the theory that all men are created free and equal, and this made the basis of an attack on her social institutions; and the sacred Declaration of Independence has been invoked to maintain the position of the equality of the races. Had the Declaration announced that the negroes were free and equal, how was it [George III.] was to be arraigned for stirring up insurrection among them? And how was this to be enumerated among the high crimes which caused the colonies to sever their connection with the mother country? When our Constitution was formed the same idea was rendered more palpable, for there we find provisions made for that very class of persons as property; they were not to be upon the footing of equality with white men- not even upon that of paupers and convicts, but so far as representation was concerned, were discriminated against as a lower caste.

"Then, Senators, we recur to the principles upon which our government was founded; and when you deny them and when you deny the

right to us to withdraw from a government which,

thus perverted, threatens to be destructive of our rights, we but tread in the path of our fathers when we proclaim our independence and take the hazard. This is done, not in hostility to others, not to injure any section of the country, not even for our own pecuniary benefit, but from a high and solemn motive of defending and protecting the rights we inherited and which it is our duty to transmit unshorn to our children."

In its public manifestations secession had all the marks of a popular

*For the entire speech see The South in the Building of the Nation, vol. ix., pp. 412-417; Congressional Globe, 36th Congress, 2d session, p. 487. See also Davis, Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, vol. i., p. 220; Mrs. Jefferson Davis, Memoir of Jefferson Davis, vol. i., p. 69.

467

uprising, though it was not the unanimous choice of the people. In Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana there was a large falling off of the vote from that of the preceding Presidential election. According to Stephens, a violent storm on election day cost the conservative party 10,000 votes.* In the conventions of Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana propositions to submit the secession ordinance to popular verdict were voted down. In the same States motions looking toward secession and redress of grievances in the Union (the adoption of which would have caused the postponement of secession) failed to pass by a considerable vote. In Georgia Herschel V. Johnson moved for a a convention of the slave States and the independent republics " of South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi to be held in Atlanta on February 16. But as Johnson's motion specified that Georgia's paramount grievance was the personal liberty laws and contained an intimation that she would remain in the Union if these were repealed, the motion was lost by a vote of 164 to 133.† In this

*Johnston and Browne, Life of Stephens, p.

378.

Stephens, War between the States, vol. ii., p.

300 et seq.; Johnston and Browne, Life of Stephens, p. 380. Stephens says: "The matter of slavery, so called, which was the proximate cause of these irregular movements on both sides, and which ended in the general collision of war, was of infinitely less importance to the seceding States than the recognition of the great principle of constitutional liberty. Even the

two thousand miilion dollars invested in the rela

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*

connection the remarks of Stephens are noteworthy. "My judgment," said he, "is against secession for existing causes. I have not lost hope of securing our rights in the Union and under the Constitution. I have been and am still opposed to secession as a remedy against anticipated grievances on the part of the Federal Executive or Congress. I have held and do now hold that the point of resistance should be the point of aggression." Davis and Toombs are always classed among the conspirators, yet Davis by letters and telegrams to every Southern State endeavored to postpone action;* and Toombs, in spite of his vehement talk, was neither in favor of immediate action nor definite postponement, but hoped for redress in the Union.† tions thus established between private capital and the labor of this class of population, under the system, was but as the dust in the balance, compared with the vital attributes of the rights of independence and sovereignty on the part of the several States.". War Between the States, p. 539.

Immediately connected with the passage of the secession ordinance another step was taken. The governors of the seceding States sent troops to take possession of the military strongholds and depots in the cotton States, and soon all these posts except Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, Fort Pickens in Pensacola Harbor, Fort Taylor at Key West, and Fort Jefferson on Tortugas Island, were in the hands of the secessionists. One notable exception was Fort Barrancas near Pensacola, Florida. On January 5 the governor of Florida had seized the arsenal at Appalachicola, Fort Marion and the arsenal depot at St. Augustine on the 7th, and the schooner belonging to the Coast Survey. In the arsenal there were no arms, but 500,000 musket cartridges, 300,000 rifle cartridges, and 300,000 pounds of gunpowder were seized. On the 8th the governor ordered the seizure of the navy yard and unoccupied forts at Pensacola. Near the

Rhodes, United States, vol. iii., p. 215. On the other hand Garrison, in the Liberator, of January 4, 1861, said: “All Union saving efforts are simply idiotic. At last the covenant with death' is annulled, and the "agreement with hell" broken at least by the action of South Carolina, and ere long by all the slave-holding states, for their doom is one." Garrison proposed the organization of an independent free-State government for, he said, " to think of whipping the South into subjection, and extorting allegiance from four millions of people at the cannon's mouth is utterly chimerical. True, it is in the power of the North to deluge her soil with blood, and inflict upon her the most terrible sufferings; but not to break her spirit or change her determination."— See Swift, Life of Garrison, pp. 318–319.

Barrancas, built for a garrison of 250 men, but occupied only by a nominal garrison of 46 men under Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer. Near Fort Barrancas was Fort McRee, built for a garrison of 650 men, but occupied by a single ordnance sergeant; and on Santa Rosa Island was Fort Pickens, built for a garrison of 1,260 men, but now entirely empty. On January 3, 1861, Scott directed Slemmer to prevent the seizure of these forts by surprise or assault. Believing that Fort

Pickens was better fitted to withstand attack than Barrancas, Slemmer spiked the guns of Barrancas, destroyed the remaining powder in that fort and Fort McRee, and transferred his men with all available supplies to Fort Pickens. He was not a moment too soon, for on the 10th the Florida convention passed an ordinance of secession, and on the 12th a regiment of Florida and Alabama volunteers appeared at the navy yard gate and demanded its surrender. After some formalities this act was consummated, and the navy yard and the two abandoned forts were occupied by the secessionists. Slemmer's promptness, however, had saved Fort Pickens, the steamer Wyandotte of 6 guns, and the store ship Supply.*

*

Meanwhile, as we have seen, the messengers from Governor Pickens and General Anderson at Charleston had arrived at Washington on January 14, and were received by President Buchanan. The President insisted that the transactions must be in writing, whereupon Hayne gave notice that he had a letter from Governor Pickens demanding the surrender of Fort Sumter. As the Southern Senators and Representatives were encouraged by the language of the President to suppose that no reinforcements would be sent to Sumter, the revolutionary Senators interfered because they thought that Pickens'

469

rashness would precipitate hostilities and rouse the North. At a meeting on January 5* the extremist Senators had determined that the States should secede at once, while they themselves should remain in Congress till March 4 "to keep the hands of President Buchanan tied" and to defeat hostile legislation. Accordingly ten of the Senators from Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, and Texas requested Hayne to delay the delivery of the governor's letter in the hope that

66

an arrangement will be agreed upon between you and the President at least till the 15th of February next, by which time your and our states may in Convention devise a wise, just, and peaceful solution of existing difficulties. If not clothed with power to make such an arrangement, then we trust that you will submit our suggestions to the governor of your state for his instructions. Until you have received and communicated his response to the President, of course your state will not attack Fort Sumter and the President will not offer to reinforce it." ‡

On the 17th Hayne replied that, if the Senators could obtain satisfactory assurance that no reinforcements would be sent to Fort Sumter and that the public peace would not be disturbed by any act of hostility toward South Carolina, he would refer their communication to the authorities. In this case the Senators could assure the President that no attack would be made on Fort Sumter till a response had been received from the governor

154.

Nicolay and Hay, Life of Lincoln, vol. iii., p.

Senator Yulee to Finegan, January 7, 1851, Official Records, vol. i., p. 443.

‡ House Report 91, 36th Congress, 2d session,

P. 58.

470

*

of South Carolina and communicated to him. The correspondence between the Senators and Colonel Hayne was sent to the President, who, on January 22, instructed Secretary Holt to reply that no such arrangement could be entered into and that, if Anderson needed them, reinforcements would certainly be sent. Holt's letter was sent to Colonel Hayne, who on January 24 referred the entire matter to Governor Pickens. The governor wrote his instructions and reply on the 26th, but they were not received by Hayne until January 30, and on the next day Hayne, in a letter to Buchanan, renewed his demand for possession of Fort Sumter. Nearly a week later (February 6), the President replied to Hayne through Secretary Holt, asserting that the title to Fort Sumter rested absolutely and incontestably in the United States, that the general Government had absolute jurisdiction over the fort, and that he would not surrender it. This seems to have closed the argument on the subject, but a few days later Hayne sent an insulting reply addressed directly to the President, and then left the city. The President, however, refused, because of the character of the

*House Report 91, p. 60.

Official Records, vol. i., p. 150. All the correspondence may be found in House Report 91, 36th Congress, 2d session, p. 58 et seq.

The letter will be found in House Report 91, 36th Congress, 2d session, pp. 64-68. An extract is given in Nicolay and Hay, Life of Lincoln, vol. iii., pp. 170-171.

|| Official Records, vol. i., pp. 166-167. See also Rhodes, United States, vol. iii., p. 222; Nicolay and Hay, Life of Lincoln, vol. iii., pp. 171–172.

letter, to receive it, and directed that it be returned by the first mail.*

Buchanan was disposed to regard sacredly the quasi truce between Anderson and Pickens, in spite of the pressure exerted upon him by Black, Stanton, Holt and Dix. Undoubtedly he was encouraged in his position by the fact that dispatches from Anderson had not favored the reinforcement of the garrison at Sumter.† On January 10 and 16 Holt wrote to Anderson directing him to act strictly on the defensive, but that whenever, in his judgment, additional supplies or reinforcements were necessary for safety or the successful defence of the fort, prompt and vigorous efforts would be made to forward them.‡ Anderson did not ask for reinforcements "because I know that the moment it should be known here that additional troops were coming, they [the secessionists] would assail me and thus inaugurate civil war."|| Nevertheless, the President ordered a reinforcing expedition to be prepared in New York with orders to sail upon telegraphic notice from the Secretary of War. But these orders were not sent, as Virginia had made efforts to heal the breach between the two sections which resulted in the peace convention. One succoring expedition, how

* Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion, p. 205. The letter is printed in Crawford, Genesis of the Civil War, p. 231.

See the letters in Official Records, vol. i., pp. 133, 139, 159.

Ibid, pp. 137, 140.

Crawford, Genesis of the Civil War, p. 290.