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Page 26
To give a satisfactory answer to this mighty question, it is
indispensable to have an accurate and thorough knowledge of the nature
and the character of the cause by which the Union is endangered. Without
such knowledge it is impossible to pronounce, with any certainty, by
what measure it can be saved; just as it would be impossible for a
physician to pronounce, in the case of some dangerous disease, with any
certainty, by what remedy the patient could be saved, without similar
knowledge of the nature and character of the cause which produced
it. The first question, then, presented for consideration, in the
investigation I propose to make, in order to obtain such knowledge, is:
What is it that has endangered the Union?
To this question there can be but one answer: That the immediate
cause is the almost universal discontent which pervades all the States
composing the southern section of the Union. This widely-extended
discontent is not of recent origin. It commenced with the agitation
of the slavery question, and has been increasing ever since. The
next question, going one step further back, is: What has caused this
widely-diffused and almost universal discontent?
It is a great mistake to suppose, as is by some, that it originated
with demagogues, who excited the discontent with the intention of aiding
their personal advancement, or with the disappointed ambition of certain
politicians, who resorted to it as a means of retrieving their fortunes.
On the contrary, all the great political influences of the section were
arrayed against excitement, and exerted to the utmost to keep the people
quiet. The great mass of the people of the South were divided, as in the
other section, into Whigs and Democrats. The leaders and the presses of
both parties in the South were very solicitous to prevent excitement and
to preserve quiet; because it was seen that the effects of the former
would necessarily tend to weaken, if not destroy, the political ties
which united them with their respective parties in the other section.
Those who know the strength of the party ties will readily appreciate
the immense force which this cause exerted against agitation, and in
favor of preserving quiet. But, great as it was, it was not sufficient
to prevent the wide-spread discontent which now pervades the section.
No; some cause, far deeper and more powerful than the one supposed, must
exist, to account for discontent so wide and deep. The question then
recurs: What is the cause of this discontent? It will be found in
the belief of the people of the Southern States, as prevalent as
the discontent itself, that they cannot remain, as things now are,
consistently with honor and safety, in the Union. The next question to
be considered is: What has caused this belief?
One of the causes is, undoubtedly, to be traced to the long-continued
agitation of the slavery question on the part of the North, and the many
aggressions which they have made on the rights of the South during the
time. I will not enumerate them at present, as it will be done hereafter
in its proper place.
There is another lying back of it--with which this is intimately
connected--that may be regarded as the great and primary cause. This is
to be found in the fact, that the equilibrium between the two sections,
in the Government as it stood when the Constitution was ratified and
the Government put in action, has been destroyed. At that time there was
nearly a perfect equilibrium between the two, which afforded ample means
to each to protect itself against the aggression of the other; but, as
it now stands, one section has the exclusive power of controlling
the Government, which leaves the other without any adequate means of
protecting itself against its encroachment and oppression. To place
this subject distinctly before you, I have, Senators, prepared a brief
statistical statement, showing the relative weight of the two sections
in the Government under the first census of 1790, and the last census of
1840.
According to the former, the population of the United States, including
Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, which then were in their incipient
condition of becoming States, but were not actually admitted, amounted
to 3,929,827. Of this number the Northern States had 1,997,899, and the
Southern 1,952,072, making a difference of only 45,827 in favor of the
former States.
The number of States, including Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, were
sixteen; of which eight, including Vermont, belonged to the northern
section, and eight, including Kentucky and Tennessee, to the
southern,--making an equal division of the States between the two
sections, under the first census. There was a small preponderance in the
House of Representatives, and in the Electoral College, in favor of the
northern, owing to the fact that, according to the provisions of the
Constitution, in estimating federal numbers five slaves count but three;
but it was too small to affect sensibly the perfect equilibrium which,
with that exception, existed at the time. Such was the equality of
the two sections when the States composing them agreed to enter into a
Federal Union. Since then the equilibrium between them has been greatly
disturbed.
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