|
I wish, Mr. President, to express the feelings
with which I vote for the secession of Alabama from the Government of
the United States; and to state, in a few words, the reasons that impel
me to this act.
I feel impelled, Mr. President, to vote
for this Ordinance by an overruling necessity. Years ago I was convinced
that the Southern States would be compelled either to separate from the
North, by dissolving the Federal Government, or they would be compelled
to abolish the institution of African Slavery. This, in my judgment, was
the only alternative; and I foresaw that the South would be compelled,
at some day, to make her selection. The day is now come, and Alabama must
make her selection, either to secede from the Union, and assume the position
of a sovereign, independent State, or she must submit to a system of policy
on the part of the Federal Government that, in a short time, will compel
her to abolish African Slavery.
Mr. President, if pecuniary loss alone
were involved in the abolition of slavery, I should hesitate long before
I would give the vote I now intend to give. If the destruction of slavery
entailed on us poverty alone, I could bear it, for I have seen poverty
and felt its sting. But poverty, Mr. President, would be one of the least
of the evils that would befall us from the abolition of African slavery.
There are now in the slaveholding States over four millions of slaves;
dissolve the relation of master and slave, and what, I ask, would become
of that race? To remove them from amongst us is impossible. History gives
us no account of the exodus of such a number of persons. We neither have
a place to which to remove them, nor the means of such removal. They therefore
must remain with us; and if the relation of master and slave be dissolved,
and our slaves turned loose amongst us without restraint, they would either
be destroyed by our own hands-- the hands to which they look, and look
with confidence, for protection-- or we ourselves would become demoralized
and degraded. The former result would take place, and we ourselves would
become the executioners of our own slaves. To this extent would the policy
of our Northern enemies drive us; and thus would we not only be reduced
to poverty, but what is still worse, we should be driven to crime, to
the commission of sin; and we must, therefore, this day elect between
the Government formed by our fathers (the whole spirit of which has been
perverted), and POVERTY AND CRIME! This being the alternative, I cannot
hesitate for a moment what my duty is. I must separate from the Government
of my fathers, the one under which I have lived, and under which I wished
to die. But I must do my duty to my country and my fellow beings; and
humanity, in my judgment, demands that Alabama should separate herself
from the Government of the United States.
If I am wrong in this responsible act,
I hope my God may forgive me; for I am not actuated, as I think, from
any motive save that of justice and philanthropy!
|
Prelude to Civil War: The Nullification Controversy in South Carolina
Planters of S.C. went from a prosperous life to a world of economic distress, guilt over slavery, and apprehension of slave rebellion. Details of how this led the political leaders to states rights doctrines |
Why Confederates Fought: Family and Nation in Civil War Virginia
The Southern view of slavery as essential to the Southern economy is reiterated. Slavery was the great Southern irony, viewed as a foundation of white liberty. From that perspective, the Confederate soldier's choice was simply victory or death |
Political Culture and Secession in Mississippi: Masculinity, Honor, and the Antiparty Tradition, 1830-1860
A rich new perspective on the events leading up to the Civil War and will prove an invaluable tool for understanding the central crisis in American politics. |
A House Divided: The Antebellum Slavery Debates in America, 1776-1865
An excellent overview of the antebellum slavery debate and its key issues and participants. The most important abolitionist and proslavery documents written in the United States between the American Revolution and the Civil War |
The Missouri Compromise and Its Aftermath: Slavery and the Meaning of America
Go behind the scenes of the crucial Missouri Compromise, the most important sectional crisis before the Civil War, the high-level deal-making, diplomacy, and deception that defused the crisis. |
Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America
The life of the first citizen committed to absolute racial equality. His friendships in defiance of the culture around him, He turned his twenty children into a dedicated militia. He collaborated with black leaders such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Delany, and Harriet Tubman to overthrow slavery. |
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government
Whether we agree with Jefferson Davis or not, knowledge of his point of view is essential to understanding the causes of the Civil War. The forward by McPherson helps to give balance and explanation. |
Jefferson Davis: Unconquerable Heart
Shades of Blue and Gray
No scholar can fail to appreciate Allen's exhaustive research,, nor any layman fail to be amazed at her mass of fact and significant detail |