The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-11

we come to is the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. which was to let these two states decide for themselves whether they wished to enter the Union as slave states or not. This bill passed, al- though some parts of the Missouri Com promise, which had been passed years before, had to be repealed in order to do so.
 The United States Government pass ed Fugitive Slave Laws, which provid- ed for the arrest and return of slaves who escaped from their owners Into Free States. Many in the North refus- cd to obey these laws 50 they passed Personal Liberty laws in several of the states in direct opposition to the laws of the United States.
 These laws made in very hard for the officers who undertook to execute the United States laws. Many in the north were opposed to slavery but did not think that the Federal Government had a right to abolish it. Others be- iieved that slavery should be entirely abolished. These were called Aboli- tionists. Their most prominent leader was William Lloyd Garrison who form ed an anti-slavery society as early as 1881. For long time the Abolitionists were regardc>1 In the North with disfa- Vor, as a band of agitators endangeriug the peace and tranquility of the coun- try Their meetings were often broken up their halls burned to the ground, and their public speakers mobbed. In later years sectional disturbances and the passage of Fugitive Slave Laws and other laws caused many to join their ranks. In 1S4S the Abolotionists with certain anti-slavery clements of the Democratic and Whig parties formed themselves, into the Free Soil Party, C-sN speech, free labor and free men," In later years the Republican party. of which theis party had become part. elected Lincoln as president of the United States.
 During the time of all this trouble and excitement. novel entitled, Uncle Toms Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe, appeared and did much to in- crease the anti-slaEery excitement in the north ;and to embitter the feeling in the South; thus widening the breach between the two sections. This book contains false and exaggregated picture of slave. life in the South, but It was accepted as true by those people of the North who were ignorant of the slave life in the South a. 1t really was.
 A celebrated case known as the Dred Scott case that had been pending in the. Supreme Court of the United States, was decided in 1857. Dred Scott was slave who having been brought by his master into free territory, sued for his freedom The courts decided that slaves were property; that under the Constitution all property must be protected; that the taking of a slave into a free State or Territory did not forfeit his ownership and that Con-, gress did not have any power to forbid slavery in the Territories. The Aboli- tionists had denounced not only the Supreme Court for making this deeis- ion, but the Constitution itself. From these acts the people of the South had come to believe that the people of the North did not respect either the Con stitution or the law.
 / John Browns Raid into Virginia was one of the sectional -acts that caused great ill-feeling. Brown was one of the most fanatical of the AbOll- tion leaders. He created dissatisfac- tion among the slaves and helped them to escape into free States. He tried to nclte the slaves to insurrection.
 We sec that much ilI-reeling existed in the South and that they were seriously thinking of seeding but were awaiting the results of the elec- tg tion before making their final decision. As to the causes of the war there can be but little difference of opinion now. When the Union was formed it was the ueteEHiHdlloll ul VNA loi t- fathers that while many of the rights which would have been held by us as separate colonies should bo given up | vet there were other rights which must ever he held sacred and among these tho special privilege of conduct | ing our own affairs according to our will and pleasure.
 The Legislature of South Carolina remained in session to await the re- suit of the election. When the news of Lincoln's election was received. thav