Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1866-03-16
The Origin of Secession.

The Origin of Secession.
That sectionalism and the doctrine Of seces-
sion are of Northern, and more particularly
of New England origin, is truth which, as
we had occasion to remark few days ago, l.
known to every one at all versed in the political
history Of this country. The great representa-
tive man Of New England at the beginning o.
the century, JOSIAH QUINCT, maintained the
right Of States TO secede, and, upon the acqui-
sition of the Territory of Orleans, declared
that the time had come for the enforcement Of
that right. The assertion Of the State-right,
and secession theory by leading New England
Statesmen and authoritative representative
bodies may be traced continuously back TO the
formation of the Constitution. Any one who
has ever read the debates Of the Convention
that framed the Constitution knows that the
spirit of sectiOnalism was rife there amOnt
Northern delegates. But, the explorer must g
even farther back than the Convention Of 1881
for the hidden head Of this political Nile-the
source of all our woe" In his second volume
of the Life of MADISON, just published, Mr..
R1vEs brings to light some facts bearing upon the
subject, and not hitherto generally known. Mr..
JAY, in 1885, had a project Of permitting Spain
certain privileges in the navigation Of the Mis-
sissippi. The measure was opposed by the
Southern States, and favored by the New Eng
land States, and finally by three Of the Middle
States. Partisan and geographical heats ran
hsrh 10 han hafv hn Norfh md
the South, and the New England States threat
ened secession because their project was op-
posed. The archives of the Historical Society
of Virginia contain a letter from Mr.. MONROE,
written from New York on the 18th of August,
1856, as one of the delegates Of Virginia in
Congress, to PATRICK henry, then Governor
of the State, in which he says Certain it i,
that committees are held in this town Of East
a. rn men, and others OF this State, upon the
subject of a dismembsrment Of the States
- East of the Hudson from the Union, and the
creation of them into separate government.
sc To what length they have gone 1 know not !;
e but have assurances Of the truth Of the above
position, with this addition to it-sthat the
" miliarly, and is supposed to have originated
"there. The plan Of the Government,
"in all its notifications, has even
" been contemplated by them" Mr.. MONROE
wrote TO- Mr.. MADISON the Sd Of September, 1856,
upon the same subject. He then claimed thai
they, the Southern men, had done nothing
save under the Constitution, and spoke as l.
their great purpose was to preserve the COnsti-
tuition in all its integrity. He says, in that
letter, "To engage the leading men Of New
'' Jersey and Pennsylvania is now their object.
' consider the party, especially JAY and the
"prIncipal advocates, as having gone too far to
retreat. They must either carry the meas
" ure or be disgraced, and sooner than suffer
" this they will labor to break the Union. l,
"a therefore, suspect they have been already in
trguing with the principal men in these
"a States to effect that end in the last resort
" They have even sought a ACKNOWLEDGMENT 10
&" the Potomac and those Of the party here
." have been sounding those in Office thus far. p
He goes on to say that, in the event Of the
worst extremity, they must prepare the Penn
sylvania men for a union with the Southern
States, and that knowledge that she was OF
the side of the South would blow the whole in
trigue into thin air that if Acknowledgement
took place, Pennsylvania "must not be added
" to the Eastern scale and that it were as well
"to use force to prevent it as TO defend them
- selves afterwards"
This seed of sectionalism, which was planted
in New England before the Federal eonstitu-
ton was formed, has never been eradicated,
but has grown and strengthened and spread
ever since. The sectionalsm that arose inall!
and by slow degrees in the South, was de-
fensiye movement, prompted and compelled by
the existence of that spirit and its aggressiy,
tendencies in the North. We do not know
when, if ever, the doctrine of the right Of Sc
cession was abandoned by New England. Il
was asserted by the Hartford Convention, ana
it was reasserted by Massachusetts,, the heaO
and centre of the political corporation known
as New England, as late as upon the occasion
of the annexation OF Texas while the doctrine
Of the sovereignty Of the States was the very
essence Of the Personal Liberty bills that stood
upon the statute books Of most Of the Northern
States when Mr.. LINCOLN was elected.
We do not refer to this matter now to re-
yive controversy, but to keep history right, and
TO awaken the reflection in the Northern mind
whether, under these circumstances, it does
not become the people of that section TO be q
little more indulgeua and forbearing.