February 1856

Amazon | 1892, 1978, 1995 | Frederick Douglas, Don E. Fehrenbacher, David Herbert Donald

[henkster]

Wassamatter, officer? Can’t detect sarcasm? Or is the Dunkin Donuts closed?

I was mainly referring to the Deep South, which contained the bulk of slave holding estates, the heart of the cotton production, and naturally the first to secede. It’s interesting that there is a fair amount of cotton production in southeast Missouri (having driven through there a time or two). I’m not sure if it was a cotton producing area in 1860. But where you described slavery as naturally dying out, is where cotton was not grown. So but for Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, the rest of the south may have gone as well.

Not that I’m a fan of Smithsonian Magazine (it’s way left-leaning, and every article is required to pay some homage to “climate change”) but my 91 year old mom renews my subscription every year for Christmas. A few months ago, there was an interesting article about the internal migration of slaves from Virginia down to the deep south cotton, sugar and rice plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana. Perhaps as many as a million slaves took part in this migration, and this made Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas staunch secessionist states.

[henkster]

Whistling in the dark.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

They had a leap year n 1856

I'm pretty sure they're having one in 2016, too.

[BroJoeK]

Thanks for a great find and beautiful post.

I would add to that impressive list the Hartford Convention of 1814, during which New England's Federalists aired beefs against President Madison, and discussed recommendations for secession.
Madison, in the manner of Washington during the Whiskey Rebellion, moved US Army troops from the Niagara frontier with Canada to Albany, NY, in case they were needed to put down rebellion.

As in other cases, they were not needed in 1815.
Jackson's victory at New Orleans and the peace treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812 and any further discussions of secession.
Indeed, Madison's victory was so complete it ended the old Federalist Party as a viable political force, ushering in what is called the Era of Good Feelings, 1816 - 1825.

[BroJoeK]

henkster: "Wassamatter, officer? Can’t detect sarcasm? Or is the Dunkin Donuts closed?"

Hmmmmm... let's see... radio in good order, check.
Radar detector in good order, check.
What about this here sarcasm detector... hmmmm... maybe if I bump it, it'll come back up... nope, d*mn thing's busted.
Sorry about that. ;=)

henkster: "...internal migration of slaves from Virginia down to the deep south cotton, sugar and rice plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana"

What an odd choice of words, "internal migration"!
Those poor folks weren't "migrating", they were being, sometimes literally, sold down the river.
Combined with even greater numbers of Europeans and Northerners migrating into Border States, it was changing their demography, making slavery less and less viable there, and their commitment to Union strong enough to prevent Border State secessions in 1861.

henkster: "It’s interesting that there is a fair amount of cotton production in southeast Missouri (having driven through there a time or two).
I’m not sure if it was a cotton producing area in 1860."

This map shows Missouri's 1860 population, according to the percentage of slaves (red=high, green=low):

[colorado tanker]

Here is another source, Robert Toombs' speech to the Georgia Legislature. He makes no bones about it, the issue is slavery and the election of that Republican Lincoln who is opposed to it.

http://civilwarcauses.org/toombs.htm

Toombs was later appointed CSA Secretary of State, but he resigned to join the Army. He was a brigade commander at Antietam. I asked our guide about him, remarking that if I remembered correctly he was a real fire breather. The guide didn't respond. Maybe they are not supposed to be overtly Northern or Southern. Or maybe he didn't know who Toombs was apart from being another Confederate General.

[colorado tanker]

That area in Central Missouri, mostly north of the Missouri River, is or was known as Little Dixie. It really was the only part of Missouri conducive to raising the kind of crops plantation agriculture and slaves could produce.

Most of that "bootheel" area in the S.E. is across the Mississippi from Tennessee, a Deep South State.

That is why I shake my head wondering why the South and Missouri in particular thought they could make Kansas a slave state. Geography and climate limited that kind of agriculture. The best they could do was to push so many pro-slavery men into the Territory to temporarily support a voting majority, but it couldn't last.

[henkster]

In the end, the south sought to preserve slavery instead of the Union.

Again, I ‘m getting ahead of things, but I wonder how the Southern legislators and Governors squared secession with their oath under Article VI to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

[BroJoeK]

Colorado tanker: "That is why I shake my head wondering why the South and Missouri in particular thought they could make Kansas a slave state."

By 1856 slavery was hugely prosperous and growing in seven Deep South cotton states, but was correspondingly fading from the four Border States (Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland & Delaware).
That was a matter of concern to Southerners who wanted to maintain slavery's long term viability.
They saw the failure of slavery anywhere as potential problems for slavery everywhere, especially its political influence in the US Federal Government.

So the loss of Kansas would mean fewer congressmen, fewer electoral votes and fewer federal judges.
That's why they tried to compete in Kansas, but learned the numbers of Southerners willing to take slaves there was far fewer than Northerners and immigrants opposed to slavery.

Slavery's ultimate failure in Kansas helped convince Southerners that Fire Eaters' demands for secession were not just reasonable, but necessary.

[BroJoeK]

henkster: "...I wonder how the Southern legislators and Governors squared secession with their oath..."

Oh, rest assured, there are a good many FR posters who, in due time, will explain that in great and colorful detail.
Does the name "Ape Lincoln" mean anything to you?

[colorado tanker]

I have ancestors who lived in North Carolina at the onset of the Civil War. No one has ever been able to explain to me how some convention could legally strip them of their U.S. citizenship and rights under the Constitution.

They were opposed to slavery and joined a Union regiment. After the war for obvious reasons they migrated to Indiana. So, at the end of the day they kept their citizenship but lost their homes.

[BroJoeK]

Colorado tanker: "I have ancestors who lived in North Carolina at the onset of the Civil War."

Important to remember they were far from alone.
Huge regions and large numbers throughout the South opposed slavery and supported the Union, during the war.
Many of them received reparations from the Federal Government after the war for damages suffered in their support of the Union.

According to this site, the total number of Union troops from slave-states was circa 365,000 -- enough to replace every Northern soldier killed in the war.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks. Interesting stuff.