Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 07 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 07 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
So the amendment was agreed to, and the proposition of Mr.
Clark was substituted for that of Mr. Crittenden.
This important result, by which the Crittenden Compromise
received a heavy blow, was a surprise, brought about by
the Senators of the Gulf States,--Iverson of Georgia, Clay
and Fitzpatrick of Alabama, Brown and Jefferson Davis of
Mississippi, Benjamin and Slidell of Louisiana, Mallory and
Yulee of Florida, Hemphill and Wigfall of Texas, and Johnson of
Arkansas,--who were in attendance, but withheld their votes.
The two Senators of South Carolina, Hammond and Chesnut, also
Toombs of Georgia, had not appeared in their seats during the
session. Three of these Senators voting against the substitute,
it could not have been carried, and the original propositions
would have been still before the Senate. The adoption of the
substitute was used by them to inflame their constituents.
Their conduct on this occasion showed a “foregone conclusion.”
Nothing but Disunion would satisfy them,--not even the
Crittenden Compromise, so full of surrender.
Then ensued a comedy. Immediately after the adoption of the
substitute, a reconsideration of the vote was moved by Mr.
Cameron, of Pennsylvania, at the request of Mr. Crittenden,
which on a subsequent day was carried. The question was then
allowed to sleep on the table, until, unexpectedly, on the last
legislative day of the session, just before the expiration
of the Congress, and after the withdrawal of the Southern
Senators, it was called up by Mr. Mason, of Virginia, when
Mr. Clark again offered his substitute, which was lost by a
vote of 22 nays against 14 yeas, several Senators expressing a
desire to vote directly on the original propositions. On these
propositions the final vote stood, yeas 19, nays 20, as follows.
_Yeas_,--Messrs. Bayard, Bigler, Bright, Crittenden,
Douglas, Gwin, Hunter, Johnson of Tennessee, Kennedy, Lane,
Latham, Mason, Nicholson, Polk, Pugh, Rice, Sebastian,
Thomson, Wigfall,--19.
_Nays_,--Messrs. Anthony, Bingham, Chandler, Clark, Dixon,
Doolittle, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Harlan,
King, Morrill, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson,
Wilson,--20.
So the joint resolution of Mr. Crittenden, with its various
propositions, was rejected. The final withdrawal of the
Senators from seceding States obviously aided this result.
As the session was coming to a close, a joint resolution was
received from the House of Representatives proposing yet
another amendment to the Constitution, as follows.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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