Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1860-12-29
THE REASONS FOR SECESSION

The idea very generally prevails here at the
North that the Cotton States desire to secede
from the Union because they believe that the
triumph of the Republican party in the election
of Mr. Lincoln, will induce cncroachmcnts upon
their constitutional rights which will tend to
decrease the security and value of their slave
property. We are constrained to believe that
this idea is entirely fallacicus, and that it has
been advanced only as a cover to more daring
and dangerous pretexts. Our reasons for thus
believing are;
All the representative men from the disunion
States declare that the repeal of all the personal
liberty bills of the Northern States, and the
execution of the fugitive slave law, will not sat
isfy the demands of the South nor avert their
desire for secession. This statement has been
substantially made by Senators Davis of Mis-
sissippi, Iverson and Toombs of Georgia, and
several of the most prominent men of South
Carolina.
Mr. Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, in a speech
recently made in the Senate, says:
what is the reason Of disunion? Because our man
,cds not eiected'
The National hteiiigencey, always candid and
cautious and mildly pro-slavcry without any
faint of disunionism, expresses the decided
opinion that
"The reasons given for secession Mt dhe South arc
fictitious, and that the most influential motive is a de-
sire to revive the slave trade. which is kept out OF
sight now from motives of prudence
a letter from South Carolina, published in
the Washington Constitution, which is the organ
of the present administration admits that tho
election Of Lincoln is only the pretcxt, not the
reason, for secession, as follows:
"Tlis State is the natural bulwa,k Of slavcrv-she
is wide awake to all the cursed plans Of her enemies.
and she is determined to be beforehand with them
She has waited ardently for her sister Southern States
to view the matter in the same light with herself and
happily The election of Lincoln has girtn her The octd.
sion, and with exultaton She commences the revolu.
ton. Any attempt ut coercion would only further
her designs, since II spirit Of universal sympathy would
spring up here that would he invincible."
Such is but a fair sample of the evidence in
the case. The fact seems to be fully established
that South Carolina has been desirous of getting
out of the Union for thirty years, and that the
Calhoun doctrines Of State sovereignty were
only temporarily allaycd by the indomitable will
of Andrew Jackson, backed by the unanswcra.
BILE logic and forensic ability of Daniel Webster
In all the other Cotton States there have beer
and are disciples of Calhoun,-men who would
willingly see the Union destroyed if thereby tho
slave trade could be revived and "niggeis'
made plenty and cheap. Added to this, is the
rapid and inevitable loss of prestige and power
as indicated in the census rcturns of 1850 and
1860, and eliminating in the election of Abra.
ham Lincoln last November. Their name i.
'Ichabod" for their glory has departed. Cal
houn laid the foundation, and the census ha.
completed the edifce of disunion!
Understanding these facts the Republicans
--"s ~ r. A. -----i- II '.-~ - =.
have recently gained to their opponents. They
justly decline giving up their most solemn and
dearly cherished convictions of duty and Of
right; and they are fully justified in refusing
even to entertain the arrogant assumptions and
demands Of the slave power--that slavery shall
be nationalized and made legal throughout our
entire jurisdiction.