POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, ETC. 57 CHAPTER I. THE EFFECT OF MR LINCOLN'S ELECTION IN THE SOUTH-POLITICAL On the 6th of November, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was chosen 'President of the United States, receiving the votes of seventeen States, or of one hundred and eighty electors out of three hundred and three. As soon as the unwelcome intelligence was conveyed by telegraphic flashes to South Carolina and Georgia, an ebullition of intense indignation and disgust instantly burst forth throughout the length and breadth of those ancient communities. How quickly and promptly they were prepared to assume the attitude of rebels against the Federal Government, was demonstrated by the significant fact, that, on the very day after the one on which the general election was held, resolutions were adopted by both branches of the Legislature of South Carolina, then assembled at Columbia, in favor of calling a convention of the people of the State to act upon the question of secession, to re-organize the militia, and to prepare for military operations. There seemed to be so settled a determination among the politicians and representatives of that State to assume the part which they afterward enacted, that very little preliminary deliberation was necessary to fit them for decisive measures. Nor were the leaders of popular opinion in South Carolina much in advance of their confederates in the neighboring State of Georgia. On the 8th of November a large meeting of the prominent citizens of Savannah was held in that city, who adopted resolutions admitting the necessity and commending the policy of secession. Great enthusiasm prevailed in the assembly, which passed, without a dissenting voice, a series of resolutions which set forth, that the election of Lincoln and Hamlin was an outrage which "ought not and will not be submitted to;" that a petition be sent to the Legislature, then in session at Milledgeville, desiring them to co-operate with the Governor of the State in calling a convention of the people to determine on measures of redress; that the Legislature be requested to pass laws to meet the commercial crisis which impended, and organize and arm the forces of the Commonwealth; and that the Senators and Representatives of Georgia in the Federal Congress be duly informed of these transactions. The spirit of rebellion and disaffection spread with the utmost rapidity throughout the State. The ancient colonial flag of Georgia was unfurled, and flung to the breeze at Savannah; and an immense assemblage, convened at Augusta on the same day, commenced active operations by enrolling a corps of minute men. Notwithstanding these spirited measures elsewhere the city of Charleston seemed determined to achieve and to retain the first place in the inglorious enterprise of secession. On the 8th of November the timehonored Stars and Stripes, which had so long waved in graceful splendor over the Federal edifices in Charleston, were displaced; and the Palmetto flag substituted in their stead. The leading officers of the Federal Government, the District Attorney, the Collector of the Port, and the Deputy Collector, resigned their several positions, and duly notified Mr. Buchanan, who still occupied the White House, of that important and calamitous event. Their example was soon followed by less insignificant personages. On the 10th of the month Mr. Chesnut resigned his seat in Congress, as Senator from South Carolina. The Legislature then adopted a resolution appointing the sixth of the ensuing December as the period for the election of delegates to the convention, which was to determine the future action of the state in reference to Secession; and they designated the 17th of December as the date of its assembling. These events were the natural and necessary preliminaries to the great revolutionary movement which was destined soon to follow. But it is worthy of remark, that at this early period of the process, the politicians of South Carolina, and the citizens of that State whom they controlled so despotically, either by fear, or by conviction, or by delusion, were unanimous in their support of the policy of rebellion; whereas no such unanimity existed at that time in the other seceding States. Thus, on the 10th of November, a conservative meeting was held at Augusta, Georgia, composed of very respectable citizens, and presided over by the Mayor; which adopted resolutions setting forth that, living as the people did under a government of law and order, it was their duty, if they felt that they suffered from the infliction of grievances, to seek redress from them only by legal and constitutional means. But their words of prudence and monition were like the voice of one calling in the wilderness; or rather like the sound of a gentle whisper amid the roar and thunder of a furious tempest sweeping over the deep, unheard and unheeded by those around them. The feeling in favor of secession gradually became predominant throughout the States of South Carolina and Georgia; and it was confidently asserted, that, before the period arrived for the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Texas, would have united their fortunes with those of the two leading States. The latter had already EXCITEMENT IN CHARLESTON. 59 gone too far to recede; they felt that the confidence and respect of the Union were now lost to them; and they had but one course left, to persevere to the end in the ignominious career they had begun. At this stage of the rebellion there was much doubt in the minds of several distinguished statesmen of Georgia as to the propriety and policy of secession. The most eminent of these was Alexander H. Stephens, who then held a high place in the estimation of the whole nation, for his undoubted talents, and his prudent, conservative disposition. At this period he opposed Secession with earnestness; and stated his solemn conviction, that the act would be injurious and pernicious to the South in every respect. He contended that the advocates of slavery would be able to protect their rights much more efficiently while in the Union than when out of it; and of the veracity and wisdom of this opinion there could be no possible doubt. But soon it became known that he had begun to waver in his position; and the hope was entertained by the secessionists that he might be won over to their cause. Whether it was the bribe of the proffered office of the Vice Presidency of the new Confederacy about to be created, or whether it was the result of further and deeper research into the supposed interests of the South; or whether he had become convinced that it was useless to resist the overwhelming tide which he saw rushing around him on every hand, we pretend not to say. But it was soon announced that the ablest statesman of Georgia, who had spoken so clearly, decisively and boldly in defence of the Union, had at length abandoned that honorable position, and had declared himself in doubt on the subject of secession. This event greatly elated and encouraged those who had at one time despaired of his co-operation, and had feared his resistance to their enterprise. Further acts of hostility to the General Government continued to be perpetrated at Charleston. On the 13th of November, a company of South Carolina troops took possession of the United States Arsenal near that city. At Columbia the Legislature passed a bill authorizing the organization of ten regiments, containing a thousand men each, for defence against the forces of the Federal Government, should the latter attempt to coerce the State into obedience to Federal authority. Soon afterward a public meeting was held in Institute Hall, in Charleston, for the purpose of receiving the members of the State Legislature who had returned from Columbia. An immense crowd assembled; resolutions were passed commending these functionaries for their conduct in reference to secession; and addresses were delivered by leading citizens in favor of the policy of withdrawing from the Union. The enthusiasm became still more intense when it was announced that Messrs. Toombs, Iverson, Howell Cobb, and Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, had made known their determination to aid the cause of disunion. Meetings were then held in all the districts and parishes of South Carolina, in which the justice and necessity of secession were earnestly defended by popular speakers, who thus impressed that doctrine more fully and deeply upon the minds of the people. At this period the attention of the citizens of South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, was chiefly occupied in the selection of delegates to the conventions, who were to decide the action of those States in reference to the subject of secession. The ablest men in the community were chosen for that important function-in South Carolina, Senators Hammond and Chesnut, Messrs. Rhett, Barnwell, Memminger, Keitt; in Georgia and Alabama, Messrs. Toombs, Cobb, William L. Yancey, and T. H. Watts. The prevalent feeling among the great majority of those chosen by all these States was in favor of secession; so that little doubt existed in the public mind in reference to the policy which they would ultimately adopt when they met and acted in an official capacity. Meanwhile, financial difficulties began to oppress the mercantile community. As soon as the other portions of the National Confederacy discovered the prevalence of the secession sentiment, they lost confidence in the integrity and capability of those who advocated it. No longer were the drafts of the merchants of the seceding States honored at the North; no longer were their bank notes received as a circulating medium beyond their own borders, except at a heavy and ruinous discount. Already did the secessionists commence to feel the injurious effects of the loss of public confidence. The banks of those States were constrained to suspend the payment of specie; and business of all descriptions became more depressed and stagnant than had ever been the case before. This was, however, but the beginning of evils, which did not in the least degree diminish the treasonable and suicidal zeal of the secessionists. The convention who were selected by the people of South Carolina to determine upon the question of secession, met at Columbia on the 17th of December, 1860. It is recorded that, at the moment when this body assembled, several signs of indignant nature were exhibited, which an ancient Greek or Roman would have asserted, superstitiously, to have indicated and foreboded the wrath of the gods at the act about to be perpetrated. A heavy fog of unusual dampness and thickness hung over the city, enveloping every thing in gloom and darkness. At the same time, the fearful ravages of the small-pox struck terror into the hearts both of strangers and citizens. Undeterred, however, by these sinister omens, the convention assembled at noon; General Jamison was chosen temporary chairman; the names of the delegates were enrolled, and the convention was organized. At a subsequent election for permanent officers, the same gentleman was again elected President. So overpowered was he by his feelings of gratitude, when he rose to thank the convention for the exalted honor conferred upon him, that, having uttered a few incoherent and absurd remarks, he concluded by declaring, with perfect truth: I can't say any thing; I can't express my feelings "-and resumed his PRELIMINARY ACTS AND EVENTS. 61 seat amid the sympathy of the audience. One of the first and most prudent acts of the convention was to remove its sessions from Columbia to Charleston, in consequence of the prevalence and virulence of the smallpox. Hon. Howell Cobb was present as Commissioner from Alabama; Messrs. Elmore and Hooker were the Commissioners from Mississippi. When the convention re-assembled at Charleston on the 18th of December, its first achievement was to appoint a committee to prepare and report a Secession Ordinance, together with a Declaration of Independence. Lawrence M. Keitt, one of the most violent and rabid of southern agitators, was selected as the chairman of this committee. At the same time Mr. Rhett offered a resolution, which was adopted with great unanimity, to the effect that a committee be appointed to provide for the assembling of a convention of all the seceding States, for the purpose of forming a constitution, and establishing a new confederacy. It was on the 20th of December that South Carolina consummated her treason and her disgrace by finally adopting the Ordinance of Secession.* When the ballot was taken upon the passage of this ordinance, it was sustained and approved by an unanimous vote. Out of one hundred and sixty-nine members, not a single dissenting voice was heard in favor of the glorious and time-honored Union. As soon as the action of the convention was communicated to the populace in the streets, loud and long acclamations rent the air. It was ordered by the convention that the momentous and decisive act which had just been performed should. be communicated by telegraph to the Representatives of South Carolina in Congress; and provision was made for engrossing the ordinance, and for its signature by all the members of the convention, with great pomp and ceremony, at Institute Hall. Subsequent to the passage of this memorable act, a discussion ensued in the convention in reference to the new position and responsibilities thus assumed by South Carolina. It was asserted that, by the adoption of that ordinance, no person within the limits of the State possessed, or could exercise, any authority which he had previously derived from the Federal Government. There was no collector of the port, no postmaster, no United States judge, or attorney, or marshal; and it would become *This document was as follows: "An Ordinance to Dissolve the Union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the compact entitled the Constitution of the United States of America: "We, the people of the State of South Carolina, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance adopted by us in convention, on the 23d day of May, in the year of our Lord 1788, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly of this State ratifying the amend ments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, and that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States under the name of the United States of America is hereby dissolved." |
