The Life of Jefferson DavisAlfriend, Frank H. (Frank Heath)
History
The Life of Jefferson Davis
Alfriend, Frank H. (Frank Heath)
Confederate States of America; Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
"We have come here, then, with the twofold purpose of saving the
country and saving the Democracy; and if the Democracy will not lend
itself to that high, holy, and elevated purpose; if it can not elevate
itself above the mere question of how perfect shall be its mere
personal organization, and how wide-spread shall be its mere voting
success, then we say to you, gentlemen, mournfully and regretfully,
that, in the opinion of the State of Alabama, and, I believe, of the
whole South, you have failed in your mission, and it will be our duty
to go forth, and make an appeal to the loyalty of the country to stand
by that Constitution which party organizations have deliberately
rejected." [Applause.]
Mr. Yancey answers for himself. It was needless to go back to old letters.
Here were his remarks delivered before the convention, speaking to the
point in issue, and answering both as to his purposes and as to the
motives of those with whom he conferred and acted.
The Senator next cited the resolutions of the State of Alabama; and here
he seemed to rest the main point in his argument. The Senator said that
Alabama, in 1856, had demanded of the Democratic convention,
non-intervention, and that, in 1860, she had retired from the convention
because it insisted upon non-intervention. He read one of the resolutions
of the Alabama Convention of 1856; but the one which bore upon the point
was not read. The one which was conclusive as to the position of Alabama
then, and its relation to her position now, was exactly the one that was
omitted--I read from the resolutions of this year--was as follows:
"_Resolved, further_, That we re-affirm so much of the first
resolution of the platform adopted in the convention by the Democracy
of this State, on the 8th of January, 1856, as relates to the subject
of slavery, to-wit."
It then goes on to quote from that resolution of 1856, as follows:
"The unqualified right of the people of the slaveholding States to
the protection of their property in the States, in the Territories,
and in the wilderness, in which territorial governments are as yet
unorganized."
That was the resolution of 1856; and like it was one of February, 1848:
"That it is the duty of the General Government by all proper
legislation, to secure an entry into those Territories to all the
citizens of the United States, together with their property, of every
description; and that the same shall be protected by the United
States, while the Territories are under its authority."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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