The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1912-02-23
WHY GEORGIA Seeded
FROM the UNION
Miss Josephine Clark S
Prize Essay. A Good
Explanation.

step.
In the year 1860 the dark shadow
of an approaching calamity was
slowly gathering upon the horizon
of Georgia, to eclipse the bright
sunshine of her former happiness
and prosperity. For some time
slavery agitations in Congress and
in the Northern States had kept the
people of Georgia in apprehension
of future trouble. Distinct avowels
at the northern political meetings
OF the purpose to abolish slavery in
the South without the consent of
her people kept Georgians in a rest
less political condition. The Per
lsonal Liberty Laws" which were
passed between 1850 and 1860 by
fourteen of the Northern States, to
protect negroes claimed as runaway
slaves greatly aggravated the PEG.
pie of the State. They regarded
the position taken by the North as
a direct infringement upon their
personal rights and violation of
the Constitution.
! Unfortunately he Southern
States could not agree upon the
best method of resisting the aggres-
sions of the North, SO there was a
division in the Democratic party.
Georgia had two electoral tickets in
the field All through the summer
in different towns through Georgia,
there were SPLENDID speeches made
by prominent men, who notwith-
standing to which faction they be-
longed had only the interest of
Georgia at heart.
When Abraham Lincoln was
elected President, the most intense
excitement arose throughout the
State, as well as throughout the
whole South. Georgia considered
this election as an expression of the
settled purpose of the North, under
control of the Abolitionists to con-
tinue their breach of faith with the
South and to centralize the govern
ment of the United States. County
meetings were held in all parts of
The State. The Legislature called
convention of the people to meet
on the 18th of the following Janua-
ry, 1851, to decide upon the best
course to pursue in the present
crisis.
In the meantime the burning
questions of the day were discussed
throughout the State. Secession
was the theme of conversation in
every city, town and village
On the appointed day the con-
vention of Georgia assembled, with
George W. Crawford as president.
The delegates were the ablest men
in the State, representing every
opinion for and against secession.
Among the prominent men who
stood for it were Robert Toombs,
Thomas Cobb, Eugenius Nesbet,
and Francis S. Barlow. On the
anti-secession side were Alexander
Stephens, Benjamin Hill, and Her.
schel V. Johnson. On the 10Th of
January, 1861, the vote was taken
on the motion of Judge Nesbet, and
carried amidst high excitement.
An ordinance of Secession was pre-
pared and signed by all the mem
bers but six, and these declared
their purpose to yield to the will
of the majority of the people OF the
State, as expressed by their repre-
sentatives." Georgia now became
a free and independent State. She
was the fifth State to withdraw from
the Union. The effect upon the
people was electrical. Enthusiasm
prevailed everywhere, meetings were
held. and fiery speeches delivered.
Georgia's right to withdraw from
the political union of the states
rested upon her treaty with Great |
Britain at the close OF the Revolu-
ticnary War; in this treaty Georgia
was distinctly recognized by King
George III under her own name, as |
a sovereign power, and was not con.
sidered as part of a group. Also |
in the Declaration of Independence
the right was claimed for any peo-
pie to change their government
whenever, in their judgment, their
interests demanded it. Certainly |
now, in their opinion, their inter-
ests did demand it.
Why then did Georgia secede
from the Union? In few words, Il
to escape from what she firmly
believed to be injustice and the
exercise of unconstitutional powers
by the north, and tc secure the
rights and freedom especially due
her as a sovereign state. Secession
was not a conspiracy of leaders, as
has been asserted by some writer's;