Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/230

 226 CONFEDERATE STATES difficulties, or concessions to unreasonable de- mands. That all attempts to dissolve the pres- ent Union, or overthrow or abandon the pres- ent constitution, with the hope or expectation of constructing a new one, are dangerous, illu- sory, and destructive ; that, in the opinion of the senate of the United States, no such recon- struction is practicable, and therefore to the maintenance of the existing union and consti- tution should be directed all the energies of all the departments of the government, and the efforts of all good citizens." These resolutions expressed substantially the position of the re- publicans in congress, who had become the majority in both houses by the resignation of the democratic senators and representatives from the seceded states; About the time that they were adopted, the legislature of Virginia passed resolutions recommending each of the states to appoint commissioners to a convention, the object of which should be "to adjust the present unhappy controversies." This propo- sition was approved by the president, and most of the loyal states promptly responded by ap- pointing delegates. None appeared from the seceded states. The convention assembled at Washington, Feb. 4, 1861, and chose John Ty- ler of Virginia as chairman. After a session of three weeks the convention laid before congress a series of proposed amendments to the constitu- tion, to the following effect: 1, prohibiting sla- very north of lat. 36 30' in territories, but tol- erating it in states, and forbidding all congres- sional or territorial legislation against slavery south of that line ; 2, prohibiting any future ac- quisition of territory without the concurrence of a majority of senators both from slave and free states; 3, prohibiting congress from regulating, abolishing, or controlling slavery within any state, from interfering with or abolishing sla- very in the District of Columbia or other places under exclusive federal jurisdiction, and from taxing slaves at a higher rate than land; 4, authorizing the states to enforce the rendition of fugitive slaves ; 5, prohibiting the foreign slave trade. Another section provided for the payment from the United States treasury of the value of a fugitive slave whose rendition was prevented by mobs or by any violence or intimidation. The first, third, and fifth of these sections were to be permanent parts of the constitution, not to be abolished or amended without the consent of all the states. These propositions were rejected by congress, which had long had under consideration a variety of similar i^asures, all of which failed to secure a sufficient number of votes. The following amendment to the constitution was however recommended by the house by a two-thirds vote of 133 to 65: " No amendment shall be made to the constitution which will authorize or give to congress the power to abolish or in- terfere within any state with the domestic in- stitutions thereof, including that of persons held to service or labor by the laws of said state." While these discussions were going on in congress, the cabinet of President Buchanan was disturbed and perplexed on the subject of reenforcing the forts in Charleston harbor, a measure opposed by Mr. Floyd, the secretary of war, and insisted upon by Gen. Cass, the secretary of state, who on Dec. 14 resigned his office in consequence of the president's refusal to order reinforcements. Four days before, Howell Cobb, the secretary of the treasury, had resigned and returned to his residence in Georgia, where he immediately took an active part in the secession movement. His place was filled by Philip F. Thomas of Maryland, while Mr. Black, the attorney general, was ap- pointed temporary secretary of state. Shortly afterward, on the unexpected movement of Major Anderson from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, and the president's refusal to comply with Mr. Floyd's demand for the entire with- drawal of the garrison from Charleston harbor, the latter resigned, and Joseph Holt, who had been appointed postmaster general on the death of Aaron V. Brown in 1859, was authorized to administer the affairs of the war department. Mr. Floyd's services to the cause of secession by supplying the southern states with arms from northern arsenals had been of the highest value, and he was soon made a brigadier gene- ral in the army of the seceded states. On Dec. 29 commissioners from South Carolina, who had recently arrived in Washington, endeav- ored to open negotiations with the president for the surrender to South Carolina of the United States forts and other national proper- ty within her borders. The president declined to receive them as commissioners, or to surren- der or evacuate Fort Sumter, and permitted his cabinet to make an attempt to send reen- forcements to Major Anderson by the steamer Star of the West, which left New York Jan. 5, 1861, and arrived off Charleston on the morn- ing of the 9th ; but she was fired at from bat- teries manned by the forces of the state, and compelled to retire without effecting her pur- pose. This led to the immediate resignation of Jacob Thompson, secretary of the interior, and his return to Mississippi, from the revolu- tionary government of which he had while still in office received and acted upon a com- mission to visit and promote the secession of North Carolina. A few days later Mr. Thomas, also disapproving of the attempt to reenforce Fort Sumter, withdrew from the treasury de- partment, and was succeeded by John A. Dix of New York, who was in favor of vigorous measures for maintaining the authority of the government. The legislatures of New York, Ohio, and Massachusetts at this time offered the whole military power of those states to the president, while the South Carolina legislature declared that any attempt to reenforce Fort Sumter would be an act of war. No further attempt, however, was made at reenforcement during the administration of President Buchan- an, which came to an end March 4, 1861. On that day Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated at