which he claimed to act, and continued to exercise supreme control at intervals, until June, 1863, when they dissolved, after the adoption of an ordinance for gradual emancipation.76 A rump of less than a quorum of the Legislature met in extra session at the summons of the deposed governor, October 21st, 1861, under the protection of the Confederate army, away from the capital of the State. They voted an ordinance of secession, which the Confederate government recognized as valid, and on November 28th the form of an admission of Missouri into the Confederacy was transacted. Missouri was represented in the Congress and the Electoral College of the Union throughout the war. Delaware, which was bounded by the free States of Pennsylvania on the north and east and the slave State of Maryland on the west and south, remained loyal throughout. Under the plea that the State law did not vest him with such authority, Governor Burton ordered no militia to aid in the invasion of the South, but recommended the formation of companies of volunteers to aid the President in the defence of Washington and the support of the Constitution and laws of the United States.78 The loss of the slave State of Maryland, which separated the national capital from the free States, would have been irreparable to the North. Governor Hicks refused, in November, 1860, to call a special session of the Legislature at the request of a number of citizens of the State who desired to aid the South; and December 19th, in answer to the commissioner from Mississippi, declined to assist in secession.79 his purpose "to act in full concert 76 Poore's Charters and Constitutions, pp. 1123-1136. 77 Nicolay and Hay, Lincoln, vol. iv, pp. 206-226. For the Confederate view of these proceedings, see Davis, Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, vol. i, pp. 410-432. 78 McPherson, History of the Rebellion, p. 114. On Jan. 3, 1861, the legislature passed a resolution stating that, "having extended to the Hon. H. Dickinson, the Commissioner of Mississippi, the courtesy due him, as the Representative of a Sovereign At the same time he declared with the other border States." State of the Confederacy, as well as to the State he represents, we deem it proper, and due to ourselves and the people of Delaware, to express our unqualified disapproval of the remedy for existing difficulties suggested by the Legislature of Mississippi" (Stephens, Constitutional View of the War between the States, vol. i, p. 370). 79 McPherson, History of the Rebellion, p. 8. Stephens, Constitutional View of the War between the States, vol. ii, p. 368. The State's representatives in the Peace Conference and Congress voted for the concessions demanded by the South; and in the meantime a political campaign for and against secession was in active progress through the State. On April 18th, 1861, the gov ernor informed the people by a proclamation, "that no troops will be sent from Maryland, unless it may be for the defence of the capital." On April 19th, a mob attacked the Union troops on their march through Baltimore. On the following day the common council appropriated five hundred thousand dollars for the defence of the city; and an informal understanding was had with the Federal and railroad authorities, that no troops should be marched through the city if it were practicable to bring them to Washington by another route.80 The Legislature met April 26th, and on the following day passed a bill ratifying the Baltimore ordinance by a vote lacking only one of unanimity.81 On April 29th, the legislature voted against secession; in one house unanimously, in the other by a majority of more than three-fourths.82 May 14th, they passed resolutions "to register this her solemn protest against the war which the Federal government has declared upon the Confederate States of the South, and our sister and neighbor Virginia, and to announce her resolute determination to have no part or lot directly or indirectly in its prosecution." "That the State of Maryland desires the peaceful and immediate recognition of the independence of the Confederate States, and hereby gives her cordial consent thereto as a member of the Union, entertaining the profound conviction that the willing return of the Southern people to their former federal relations is a thing beyond hope, and the attempt to coerce them will only add slaughter and hate to impossibility;" and "That under existing circumstances it is inexpedient to call a sovereign convention of the State at this time or to take any measures for the immediate organization of the militia." The resolutions also protested against the military occupation of the State as "a flagrant violation of the Constitution." 83 80 Davis, Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, vol. i, pp. 331, 332; Butler's Book, p. 181. 81 McPherson, History of the Rebellion, p. 396. 82 McPherson, History of the Rebellion, pp. 8, 9. 83 McPherson, History of the Rebellion, p. 397. During the discussion of these resolutions, General B. F. Butler took military possession of Baltimore on May 13th.84 In the same month, an attempt was made to pass a bill to appoint a Board of Public Safety, with authority to spend two million dollars in the defence of the State against the Federal army. This, however, was finally defeated. On June 10th, the Legislature instructed the representatives of the State in Congress "to urge and vote for a speedy recognition of the Independence of the Government of the Confederate States of America." 86 the Legislature reassembled in September, its adoption of an ordinance of secession was prevented by the arrest of nineteen members under the order of the Secretary of War; and by military force the State was retained in the Union with regular representation in Congress and the Electoral College, while the South sought consolation in the song of "Maryland, my Maryland.” 87 When The trial of the wager of battle lasted more than five years.88 The dispute as to the construction of the Constitution was too mighty to be decided in a court of justice. The South had appealed to the final argument. In imitation of the Gallic Brennus, she had thrown her sword into the scale. To her surprise, the North, less timid than the Romans, followed her example, and the weapon of the latter proved the heavier. The result determined the character of the Constitution for all time, and compelled the conquered to consent to amendments which eradicated the evil that had been the cause of the fraternal discord. No amendment which disclaimed the right of secession was written into the great charter. express what had been stamped * Butler's Book, pp. 228-231. $5 McPherson, History of the Rebellion, pp. 9, 398. 86 Ibid., p. 398. 87 Ibid., pp. 152, 153. Message of Governor Hicks, Dec. 3, 1861, quoted by Davis, Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, vol. i, p. 336; Rhodes, History of the United States, vol. iii, pp. 553, 554. Lincoln had refused to authorize such a proceeding in April (Nicolay and Hay, Lincoln, Pen and paper were not needed to upon it by blood and iron.89 vol. iv, pp. 167, 168). The subject of military arrests is discussed later. 88 The war closed August 20, 1866. See proclamation of President Johnson of that date; U. S. v. Anderson, 9 Wallace, 56, 70; The Protector, 12 Wall., 600; Adgers v. Alson, 15 Wall., 560; Burke v. Miltenberger, 19 Wall., 519, 525. 89 A few State Constitutions adopted after the outbreak of the Civil War expressly repudiate the right of seces § 37. Constitutional History of the Southern Confederacy. Slavery was the corner-stone1 of the Confederate Constitution, but the doctrine of State rights lay also at its foundation, and the latter was more dangerous to its advocates than its opponents. § 37. 1 This was frankly admitted by the Vice-President of the Confederacy, Alexander H. Stephens, in his speech of March 21, 1861, where he said: "Many governments have been founded upon the principle of the subordination and serfdom of certain classes of the same race; such were, and are in violation of the laws of nature. Our system commits no such violation of nature's laws. With us, all of the white race, however high or low, rich or poor, are equal in the eye of the law. Not so with the Negro. Subordination is his place. He, by nature, or by the curse against Canaan, is fitted for that condition which he occupies in our system. The architect, in the construction of buildings, lays the foundation with the proper material- the granite; then comes the brick or the marble. The substratum of our society is made of the material fitted by nature for it, and by experience we know that it is best, not only for the Superior, but for the Inferior race, that it should be so. It is, indeed, in conformity with the ordinance of the Creator. It is not for us to inquire into the wisdom of his ordinances, or to question them. For his own purposes, he has made one race to differ from another, as he has made one star to differ from another star in glory.' The great objects of humanity are best attained when there is conformity to his laws and decrees in the formation of governments as well as in all things else. Our Confederacy is founded upon principles in strict conformity with these laws. This stone which was rejected by the first builders, 'is become the chief of the corner' — the real corner-stone' in our new edifice" (Stephens, Constitutional View of the War between the States, vol. ii, pp. 86, 521). In the case of Johnson v. Tomkins, 1 Baldwin, 271; S. C. Fed. Cases, No. 7416, Mr. Justice Baldwin of the Supreme Court had said of the United States: "The foundations of this Government are laid, and rest on the rights of property in slaves, and the whole fabric must fall by disturbing the corner-stone." Jefferson Davis, after the war, repudiated this metaphor (Davis, Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, vol. i, p. 261). sion. In Alabama, Art. I, Sec. 35, reads: "The people of this State accept as final the established fact that from the Federal Union there can be no secession of any State." In South Carolina, Art. I, Sec. 5: "This State shall ever remain a member of the American Union, and all attempts, from whatever source, or upon whatever pretext, to dissolve the said Union, shall be resisted with the whole power of the State." In North Carolina, Art. I, Sec. 4: "That this State shall ever remain a member of the American Union; that the people thereof are a part of the American nation; that there is no right on the part of the State to secede, and that all attempts, from whatever source or upon what On February 4th, 1861, a congress of delegates appointed by the conventions of the seceded States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, met at Montgomery, Alabama. They prepared and adopted, on February 8th, the "Constitution for the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America." This vested all legislative powers therein "delegated" in the Congress now assembled, until otherwise or ever pretext, to dissolve said Union, or to sever said Nation, ought to be resisted with the whole power of the State." And Art. I, Sec. 5: "That every citizen of this State owes paramount allegiance to the Constitution and government of the United States, and that no law or ordinance of the State in contravention or subversion thereof can have any binding force." In Mississippi, Art. 1, Sec. 7: "The right to withdraw from the Federal Union on account of any real or supposed grievance, shall never be assumed by this State, nor shall any law be passed in derogation of the paramount allegiance of the citizens of this State to the government of the United States." In Virginia, Art. I, Sec. 2: "That this State shall ever remain a member of the United States of America, and that the people thereof are a part of the American nation, and that all attempts, from whatever source or upon whatever pretext, to dissolve said union or to sever said nation are unauthorized, and ought to be resisted with the whole power of the State." Art. I, Sec. 3: "That the Constitution of the United States and the laws of Congress passed in pursuance thereof, constitute the supreme law of the land, to which paramount allegiance and obedience are due from every citizen, anything in the Constitution, ordinances or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding." In West Virginia, Art. I, Sec. 1: "The State of West Virginia is, and shall remain, one of the United States of America. The Constitution of the United States of America, and the laws and treaties made in pursuance thereof, shall be the supreme law of the land." In Texas, Art. I, Sec. 1: "Texas is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, and the maintenance of our free institutions and the perpetuity of the Union depend upon the preservation of the right of local self-government unimpaired to all the States." In Missouri, Art. II, Sec. 3: "That Missouri is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States; and as the preservation of the States and the maintenance of their governments are necessary to an indestructible Union, and were intended to coexist with it, the Legislature is not authorized to adopt, nor will the people of this State ever assent to, any amendment or change of the Constitution of the United States which will in anywise impair the right of local self-government belonging to the people of this State." In California, Art. I, Sec. 3: "The State of California is an inseparable part of the American Union, and the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land." In North Dakota, Art. I, Sec. 3: "The State of North Dakota is an inseparable part of the American Union, |