The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3, June, 1851Various
History
The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3, June, 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
The South Carolina State Rights Convention assembled at Charleston on
the 5th of May. The Hon. J. P. Richardson, Ex-Governor of the State,
was appointed President. Forty district associations were represented,
and 431 Delegates took their seats. The President, in his opening
address, reviewed the present position of the South, and considered
that, under existing circumstances, Southern institutions could not
exist twenty years. He discussed at some length the want of affinity
between the two sections of the Union, and expressed his conviction
that those whom God and Nature have put asunder should not be joined
together. On the second day, a letter from the Hon. Langdon Cheves was
read, excusing his non-attendance. He deprecated separate State
action, believing that one State cannot stand alone in the midst of
her sister States.
A committee of twenty-one was appointed to prepare resolutions and an
address, which were adopted, after considerable discussion. The
following are the resolutions, which embody the sentiments of the
Convention:
1. _Resolved_, That in the opinion of this meeting the State of South
Carolina cannot submit to the wrongs and aggressions which have been
perpetrated by the Federal Government and the Northern States, without
dishonor and ruin; and that it is necessary for her to relieve herself
therefrom, whether with or without the co-operation of other Southern
States.
2. _Resolved_, That concert of action with one or more of our sister
States of the South, whether through the proposed Southern Congress,
or in any other manner, is an object worth many sacrifices, but not
the sacrifice involved in submission.
3. _Resolved_, That we hold the right of secession to be essential to
the sovereignty and freedom of the States of this confederacy; and
that the denial of that right would furnish to an injured State the
strongest additional cause for its exercise.
4. _Resolved_, That this meeting looks with confidence and hope to the
Convention of the People, to exert the sovereign power of the State in
defence of its rights, at the earliest practicable period and in the
most effectual manner, and to the Legislature, to adopt the most
speedy and effectual measures toward the same end.
Mr. Barnwell and two other members of the Committee presented a
minority Report, referring the whole matter to the action of the
Legislature. Judge Butler, U. S. Senator, also recommended a
postponement of any decisive step. The original Report, however, was
adopted, and the Convention adjourned _sine die_. The subject has
occasioned but little excitement out of South Carolina, and it is not
anticipated that any other State will pursue a similar course.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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