The Six Seceding States and date of their Separation--Organization of the
Southern Congress--Names of Members--Election of President and Vice
President, and Sketch of their Lives--The New Constitution--The City of
Montgomery, &c., &c.
On Saturday, February 9, 1861, six seceding States of the old Union
organized an independent government, adopted a constitution, and elected a
President and Vice President. These States passed their respective
ordinances of dissolution as follows:--
STATE. DATE. YEAS. NAYS.
South Carolina Dec. 20, 1860 169 --
Mississippi Jan. 9, 1861 84 15
Alabama Jan. 11, 1861 61 39
Florida Jan. 11, 1861 62 7
Georgia Jan. 19, 1861 228 89
Louisiana Jan. 25, 1861 113 17
Only two of the seceding States--South Carolina and Georgia--were original
members of the confederacy. The others came in in the following order:--
Louisiana April 8, 1812
Mississippi Dec 10, 1817
Alabama Dec 14, 1819
Florida March 3, 1845
Texas Dec 29, 1845
The Convention which consummated this event assembled on the 4th of
February, at Montgomery, Alabama. Hon. R. M. Barnwell, of South Carolina,
being appointed temporary chairman, the Divine blessing was invoked by
Rev. Dr. Basil Manly.
We give this first impressive prayer in the Congress of the new
Confederacy below, and further add, as an illustration of the religious
earnestness by which the delegates were one and all animated, that the
ministers of Montgomery were invited to open the deliberations each day
with invocations to the Throne of Grace:--
Oh, Thou God of the Universe, Thou madest all things; Thou madest man
upon the earth; Thou hast endowed him with reason and capacity for
government. We thank Thee that Thou hast made us at this late period
of the world; and in this fair portion of the earth, and hast
established a free government and a pure form of religion amongst us.
We thank Thee for all the hallowed memories connected with our past
history. Thou hast been the God of our fathers; oh, be Thou our God.
Let it please Thee to vouchsafe Thy sacred presence to this assembly.
Oh, Our Father, we appeal to Thee, the searcher of hearts, for the
purity and sincerity of our motives. If we are in violation of any
compact still obligatory upon us with those States from which we have
separated in order to set up a new government--if we are acting in
rebellion to and in contravention of piety towards God and good faith
to our fellow man, we cannot hope for Thy presence and blessing. But
oh, Thou heart searching God, we trust that Thou seest we are
pursuing those rights which were guaranteed to us by the solemn
covenants of our fathers and which were cemented by their blood. And
now we humbly recognise Thy hand in the Providence which has brought
us together. We pray Thee to give the spirit of wisdom to Thy
servants, with all necessary grace, that they may act with
deliberation and purpose, and that they will wisely adopt such
measures in this trying condition of our affairs as shall redound to
Thy glory and the good of our country. So direct them that they may
merge the lust for spoil and the desire for office into the patriotic
desire for the welfare of this great people. Oh God, assist them to
preserve our republican form of government and the purity of the
forms of religion, without interference with the strongest form of
civil government. May God in tender mercy bestow upon the deputies
here assembled health and strength of body, together with calmness
and soundness of mind; may they aim directly at the glory of God and
the welfare of the whole people, and when the hour of trial which may
supervene shall come, enable them to stand firm in the exercise of
truth, with great prudence and a just regard for the sovereign rights
of their constituents. Oh, God, grant that the union of these States,
and all that may come into this union, may endure as long as the sun
and moon shall last, and until the Son of Man shall come a second
time to judge the world in righteousness. Preside over this body in
its organization and in the distribution of its offices. Let truth
and justice, and equal rights be secured to our government. And now,
Our Father in Heaven, we acknowledge Thee as our God--do Thou rule in
us, do Thou sway us, do Thou control us, and let the blessings of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon this assembly now and forever.
Amen.
A. R. Lamar, Esq., of Georgia, was then appointed temporary secretary, and
the deputies from the several seceding States represented presented their
credentials in alphabetical order, and signed their names to the roll of
the Convention.
The following is the list:--
ALABAMA.
R. W. Walker,
R. H. Smith,
J. L. M. Curry,
W. P. Chilton,
S. F. Hale Colon,
J. McRae,
John Gill Shorter,
David P. Lewis,
Thomas Fearn.
FLORIDA.
James B. Owens,
J. Patten Anderson,
Jackson Morton, (not present.)
GEORGIA.
Robert Toombs,
Howell Cobb,
F. S. Bartow,
M. J. Crawford,
E. A. Nisbet,
B. H. Hill,
A. R. Wright,
Thomas R. R. Cobb,
A. H. Kenan,
A. H. Stephens.
LOUISIANA.
John Perkins, Jr.
A. Declonet,
Charles M. Conrad,
D. F. Kenner,
G. E. Sparrow,
Henry Marshall.
MISSISSIPPI.
W. P. Harris,
Walter Brooke,
N. S. Wilson,
A. M. Clayton,
W. S. Barry,
J. T. Harrison.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
R. B. Rhett,
R. W. Barnwell,
L. M. Keitt,
James Chesnut, Jr.
C. G. Memminger,
W. Porcher Miles,
Thomas J. Withers,
W. W. Boyce.
THE HALL OF THE SOUTHERN CONVENTION.
The following description is from a Southern paper:--
"On the extreme left, as the visitor enters the Hall, may be seen a
list of the names of the gallant corps constituting the Palmetto
regiment of South Carolina, so distinguished in the history of the
Mexican War; next to that is an impressive representation of
Washington delivering his inaugural address; and still farther to the
left, a picture of South Carolina's ever memorable statesman, John C.
Calhoun; and next to that, an excellent portrait of Albert J.
Pickett, "the historian of Alabama." Just to the right of the
President's desk is the portrait of Dixon H. Lewis, a representative
in Congress from Alabama for a number of years. Immediately over the
President's desk is the portrait of the immortal General George
Washington, painted by Stuart. There are a few facts connected with
the history of this portrait which are, perhaps, deserving of special
mention. It was given by Mrs. Custis to General Benjamin Smith, of
North Carolina. At the sale of his estate it was purchased by Mr.
Moore, who presented it to Mrs. E. E. Clitherall (mother of Judge A.
B. Clitherall, of Pickens), in whose possession it has been for forty
years. It is one of the three original portraits of General
Washington now in existence. A second one, painted by Trumbull, is in
the White House at Washington, and is the identical portrait that
Mrs. Madison cut out of the frame when the British attacked
Washington in 1812. The third is in the possession of a gentleman in
Boston, Massachusetts. Next to the portrait of Washington is that of
the Old Hero, Andrew Jackson; next in order is an excellent one of
Alabama's distinguished son, Honorable W. L. Yancey; and next, a
picture of the great orator and statesman, Henry Clay; and next to
that, a historical representation of the swamp encampment scene of
General Marion, when he invited the British officer to partake of his
scanty fare; and on the extreme right of the door, entering into the
Hall, is another picture of General Washington, beautifully and
artistically wrought upon canvas by some fair hand."
The deputies having handed in their credentials, on motion of Mr. Rhett,
of South Carolina, Honorable Howell Cobb, of Georgia, was chosen President
of the Convention, and Mr. J. J. Hooper, Secretary. Thus permanently
organized, the Convention proceeded with the usual routine of business.
A committee was appointed to report a plan for the Provisional Government
upon the basis of the Constitution of the United States, and after
remaining in secret session the greater part of the time for five days,
the "Congress"--the word "Convention" being entirely ignored on motion of
Honorable A. H. Stephens, of Georgia--at half past ten o'clock, on the
night of February 8, unanimously adopted a provisional constitution
similar in the main to the constitution of the old Union.
The vital points of difference are the following:--
1. _The importation of African negroes from any foreign country other
than the slaveholding States of the Confederated States is hereby
forbidden, and Congress is required to pass such laws as shall
effectually prevent the same._
2. _Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of
slaves from any State not a member of this Confederacy._
The Congress shall have power--
1. _To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, for
revenue necessary to pay the debts and carry on the government of the
Confederacy, and all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform
throughout the Confederacy._
_A slave in one State escaping to another shall be delivered up on
the claim of the party to whom said slave may belong by the Executive
authority of the State in which such slave may be found; and any case
of any abduction or forcible rescue full compensation, including the
value of slave, and all costs and expenses, shall be made to the
party by the State in which such abduction or rescue shall take
place._
2. _The government hereby instituted shall take immediate steps for
the settlement of all matters between the States forming it and their
late confederates of the United States in relation to the public
property and public debt at the time of their withdrawal from them,
these States hereby declaring it to be their wish and earnest desire
to adjust everything pertaining to the common property, common
liabilities, and common obligations of that Union upon principles of
right, justice, equity and good faith._
In several other features the new constitution differs from the original.
The old one commences with the words--"We the people of the United
States," &c. The new--"We the deputies of the sovereign and independent
States of South Carolina," &c., thus distinctly indicating their sovereign
and independent character, and yet their mutual reliance.
Again, the new constitution reverentially invokes "the favor of Almighty
God." In the old, the existence of a Supreme Being appears to have been
entirely ignored.
In the original, not only was the word "slave" omitted, but even the idea
was so studiously avoided as to raise grave questions concerning the
intent of the several clauses in which the "institution" is a subject of
legislation, while in the new, the word "slaves" is boldly inserted, and
the intention of its framers so clearly defined with reference to them
that there is hardly a possibility of misapprehension.
Again, contrary to the expectation of the majority of the Northern people,
who have _persistently urged that the object of the South in establishing
a separate government was to re-open the African slave trade, the most
stringent measures are to be adopted for its suppression_.
All this was done with a unanimity which indicated the harmony of
sentiment that prevailed among the people of the seceding States, and
among the delegates by whom they were represented in the Southern
Congress.
THE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT.
The constitution having been adopted, the sixth day's proceedings of the
Southern Congress, on Saturday, February 9, were characterized by unusual
interest, the galleries being crowded with anxious and enthusiastic
spectators.
During the preliminary business several model flags were presented for
consideration--one being from the ladies of South Carolina; and a
committee was appointed to report on a flag, a seal, a coat of arms and a
motto for the Southern confederacy. There were likewise appointed
committees on foreign affairs, on finance, on military and naval affairs,
on postal affairs, on commerce and on patents.
The Congress then proceeded to the election of a President and Vice
President of the Southern confederacy, which resulted, by a unanimous
vote, as follows:--
_President_--Honorable Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi.
_Vice President_--Honorable Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia.
This announcement was received with the grandest demonstrations of
enthusiasm. One hundred guns were fired in the city of Montgomery in honor
of the event, and in the evening a serenade was given to the Vice
President elect, to which he eloquently responded. Messrs. Chesnut and
Keitt, of South Carolina, and Conrad, of Louisiana, likewise made
appropriate speeches.
A resolution was adopted in Congress appointing a committee of three
Alabama deputies to make arrangements to secure the use of suitable
buildings for the use of the several executive departments of the
Confederacy.
An ordinance was also passed, continuing in force, until repealed or
altered by the Southern Confederacy, all laws of the United States in
force or use on the first of November last.
The Committee on Finance were likewise instructed to report promptly a
tariff for raising revenue for the support of the government. Under this
law a tariff has been laid on all goods brought from the United States.
The appointment of a committee was also authorized for the purpose of
reporting a constitution for the permanent government of the Confederacy.
These are some of the measures thus far adopted by the new government. The
legislation has been prompt, unanimous, and adapted to the exigency of the
moment, and there is little doubt that when all the necessary laws have
been passed, a strong, healthy, and wealthy confederation will be in the
full tide of successful experiment.
The Southern Cabinet is composed of the following gentlemen:--
Secretary of State Robert Toombs.
Secretary of Treasury C. S. Memminger.
Secretary of Interior Vacancy.
Secretary of War L P. Walker.
Secretary of Navy John Perkins, Jr.
Postmaster General H. T. Ebett.
Attorney General J. P. Benjamin.
HON. JEFFERSON DAVIS, OF MISSISSIPPI, PRESIDENT.
Few men have led a life more filled with stirring or eventful incidents
than Jefferson Davis. A native of Kentucky, born about 1806, he went in
early youth with his father to Mississippi, then a Territory, and was
appointed by President Monroe in 1822 to be a cadet at West Point. He
graduated with the first honors in 1828 as Brevet Second Lieutenant, and
at his own request was placed in active service, being assigned to the
command of General (then Colonel) Zachary Taylor, who was stationed in the
West. In the frontier wars of the time young Davis distinguished himself
in so marked a manner that when a new regiment of dragoons was formed he
at once obtained a commission as first lieutenant. During this time a
romantic attachment sprang up between him and his prisoner, the famous
chief Black Hawk, in which the latter forgot his animosity to the people
of the United States in his admiration for Lieutenant Davis, and not until
his death was the bond of amity severed between the two brave men.
In 1835 he settled quietly down upon a cotton plantation, devoting himself
to a thorough and systematic course of political and scientific education.
He was married to a daughter of Gen. Taylor.
In 1843 he took the stump for Polk, and in 1845, having attracted no
little attention in his State by his vigor and ability, he was elected to
Congress. Ten days after he made his maiden speech. Soon the Mexican war
broke out, and a regiment of volunteers having been formed in Mississippi,
and himself chosen Colonel, he resigned his post in Congress, and
instantly repaired with his command to join the _corps d'armee_ under
General Taylor. At Monterey and Buena Vista he and his noble regiment
achieved the soldiers' highest fame. Twice by his coolness he saved the
day at Buena Vista. Wherever fire was hottest or danger to be encountered,
there Colonel Davis and the Mississippi Rifles were to be found. He was
badly wounded in the early part of the action, but sat his horse steadily
till the day was won, and refused to delegate even a portion of his duties
to his subordinate officers.
In 1848 he was appointed to fill the vacancy in the Senate of the United
States occasioned by the death of General Speight, and in 1850 was elected
to that body almost unanimously for the term of six years.
In 1851 he resigned his seat in the Senate to become the State Rights
candidate for Governor, but was defeated by Governor Foote.
In 1853 he was called to a seat in the Cabinet of President Pierce, and
was Secretary of War during his administration. In 1857 he was elected
United States Senator from Mississippi for the term of six years, which
office he held until his resignation on the secession of Mississippi from
the Union.
Personally, he is the last man who would be selected as a "fire-eater." He
is a prim, smooth looking man, with a precise manner, a stiff, soldierly
carriage and an austerity that is at first forbidding. He has naturally,
however, a genial temper, companionable qualities and a disposition that
endears him to all by whom he may be surrounded. As a speaker he is clear,
forcible and argumentative; his voice is clear and firm, without tremor,
and he is one in every way fitted for the distinguished post to which he
has been called.
HON. ALEXANDER H. STEVENS, OF GEORGIA, VICE PRESIDENT.
This gentleman is known throughout the Union as one of the most prominent
of Southern politicians and eloquent orators. His father, Andrew B.
Stephens, was a planter of moderate means, and his mother (Margaret Grier)
was a sister to the famous compiler of Grier's almanacs. She died when he
was an infant, leaving him with four brothers and one sister, of whom only
one brother survives.
Mr. Stephens was born in Georgia on the 11th of February, 1812. When in
his fourteenth year his father died, and the homestead being sold, his
share of the entire estate was about five hundred dollars. With a
commendable Anglo-Saxon love of his ancestry Mr. Stephens has since
repurchased the original estate, which comprised about two hundred and
fifty acres, and has added to it about six hundred more. Assisted by
friends he entered the University of Georgia in 1828, and in 1832
graduated at the head of his class. In 1834 he commenced the study of the
law, and in less than twelve months was engaged in one of the most
important cases in the country. His eloquence has ever had a powerful
effect upon juries, enforcing, as it does, arguments of admirable
simplicity and legal weight. From 1837 to 1840 he was a member of the
Georgia Legislature. In 1842 he was elected to the State Senate, and in
1843 was elected to Congress. He was a member of the whig party in its
palmiest days, but since its dissolution has acted with the men of the
South, and such has been the upright, steadfast and patriotic policy he
has pursued, that no one in the present era of faction, selfishness or
suspicion has whispered an accusation of selfish motives or degrading
intrigues against him. In the House he served prominently on the most
important committees, and effected the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill
through the House at a time when its warmest friends despaired of success.
He was subsequently appointed chairman of the Committee on Territories,
and was also chairman of the special committee to which was referred the
Lecompton constitution. By his patriotic course on various measures, he
has, from time to time, excited the ire of many of the Southern people,
but he has always succeeded in coming out of the contest with flying
colors, and his recent elevation is a mark of the profound respect
entertained for his qualities as a man and a statesman.
Mr. Stephens is most distinguished as an orator, though he does not look
like one who can command the attention of the House at any time or upon
any topic. His health from childhood has been very feeble, being afflicted
with four abscesses and a continued derangement of the liver, which gives
him a consumptive appearance though his lungs are sound. He has never
weighed over ninety-six pounds, and to see his attenuated figure bent over
his desk, the shoulders contracted and the shape of his slender limbs
visible through his garments, a stranger would never select him as the
"John Randolph" of our time, more dreaded as an adversary and more prized
as an ally in a debate than any other member of the House of
Representatives. When speaking he has at first a shrill, sharp voice, but
as he warms up with his subject the clear tones and vigorous sentences
roll out with a sonorousness that finds its way to every corner of the
immense hall. He is witty, rhetorical and solid, and has a dash of keen
satire that puts an edge upon every speech. He is a careful student, but
so very careful that no trace of study is perceptible as he dashes along
in a flow of facts, arguments and language that to common minds is almost
bewildering. Possessing hosts of warm friends who are proud of his regard,
and enlightened Christian virtue and inflexible integrity, such is
Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice President elect of the Southern
confederacy.
THE NEW CONFEDERACY.
At this particular juncture it will also be interesting, in view of coming
legislation, to note some of the statistics of the several seceding States
with reference to their population, State debt, &c. They are as follows:--
POPULATION IN 1860. STATE DEBT
FREE SLAVE. IN 1859.
South Carolina 308,186 407,185 $6,192,743
Georgia 615,336 467,400 2,632,722
Alabama 520,444 435,473 5,888,134
Mississippi 407,051 479,607 7,271,707
Louisiana 354,245 312,186 10,703,142
Florida 81,885 63,800 158,000
--------- ---------
2,287,147 2,165,651
2,287,147
---------
Total 4,452,798
This is a population exceeding by 522,926 that of 1790, at the close of
the Revolutionary war of the whole United States.
1850. 1860.
Total population of free States 13,454,169 18,950,759
Do. do. slave States 9,612,969 12,433,409
Do. do. Territories 120,901 262,701
---------- ----------
Total population of the United States 23,191,876 31,646,869
Increase in ten years 8,454,993
THE CITY OF MONTGOMERY--THE PROVISIONAL CAPITAL OF THE NEW CONFEDERACY.
The city of Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, has assumed such a sudden
importance as the capital of the Southern Confederacy and the seat of the
federal operations of the new government, that we give below a brief
sketch of its locality and surroundings. It is situated on the left bank
of the Alabama River, 331 miles by water from Mobile, and 830 miles from
Washington, D. C. It is the second city in the State in respect to trade
and population, and is one of the most flourishing inland towns of the
Southern States, possessing great facilities for communications with the
surrounding country. For steamboat navigation the Alabama River is one of
the best in the Union, the largest steamers ascending to this point from
Mobile. The city is also the western termination of the Montgomery and
West Point Railroad. It contains several extensive iron foundries, mills,
factories, large warehouses, numerous elegant stores and private
residences. The cotton shipped at this place annually amounts to about one
hundred thousand bales. The public records were removed from Tuscaloosa to
Montgomery in November, 1847. The State House was destroyed by fire in
1849, and another one was erected on the same site in 1851. The present
population of the city is not far from 16,000, and it is probable that,
with all its natural advantages, the fact of its present selection as the
Southern capital, will soon place it in the first rank of Southern cities.
THE EFFECT OF THE SOUTHERN CONGRESS.
The united front and united action of the six States which have thus
formed themselves into the pioneer guard, as it were, of the remaining
nine, is an earnest that no one of them, in its sovereign capacity, will
undertake a conflict with the old United States without the assent of its
brethren. What they have thus far done "in Congress assembled," they have
done soberly and after mature consideration; and in their past action we
may find assurance that no future movements will be undertaken--especially
those of a nature likely to involve them in a civil war--without equal
deliberation, calmness, and a just regard for the common welfare. If there
should be, it will be the fault of the aggressive policy of some of the
Legislatures of the North.
It will be observed that, notwithstanding Texas had already passed the
ordinance of secession, as that act had not yet been endorsed by the
people, at the time of the sitting of the Convention, she was not regarded
as one of the new confederacy, and consequently was unrepresented. North
Carolina also sent three Commissioners to deliberate with the delegates of
the seceding States--namely, Messrs. D. L. Swain, J. L. Bridgers and M. W.
Ransom.
The entire movement bears upon its face all the marks of a well developed,
well digested plan of government--a government now as independent as were
the old thirteen States after the Fourth of July, 1776, and possessing
what our ancestors of that date did not fully have--the wealth, ability
and power to meet almost any contingency that may arise. Meanwhile,
judging from the disposition of republicans in Congress and throughout
the country, the ball thus set in motion will not stop. The States already
united will undoubtedly remain so, and form the nucleus around which will
gather others. The new Union will grow in strength as it grows in age.
According to our recent intelligence from England and France, these two
nations will rival each other in endeavoring to first secure the favor of
the new Power. With them cotton will be the successful diplomat. Ministers
and agents will be appointed, postal facilities will be re-arranged, a new
navy will spring into existence, prosperity will begin to pour into the
newly opened lap, and we shall witness at our very side the success of a
people who, by the pertinacity of the selfish political leaders and the
political domination of the North, have been driven to measures of defence
which are destined to redound to their benefit, but to our cost and
national shame.--_New York Herald, Feb. 11, 1861._