A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the

Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union. 181

....Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the
greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which
constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the
earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical
regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear
exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the
world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow
has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its
consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates
of abolition, or a dissolution of the nion, whose principles had been
subverted to work out our ruin...
A Declaration of the Causes which Impel the State of !e"as to Secede
from the Federal Union# Fe$ruary %# 181
...in this free government !all white men are and of right ought to be entitled to
e"ual civil and political rights! #emphasis in the original$% that the servitude of
the &frican race, as existing in these 'tates, is mutually beneficial to both
bond and free, and is abundantly authorized and (ustified by the experience of
mankind, and the revealed will of the &lmighty )reator, as recognized by all
)hristian nations% while the destruction of the existing relations between the
two races, as advocated by our sectional enemies, would bring inevitable
calamities upon both and desolation upon the fifteen slave-holding states....
&ir'inia (rdinance of Secession# April 1)# 181
*The people of +irginia in their ratification of the )onstitution of the nited
'tates of &merica, adopted by them in convention on the twenty-fifth day of
,une, in the year of our -ord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight,
having declared that the powers granted under said )onstitition were derived
from the people of the nited 'tates and might be resumed whensoever the
same should be perverted to their in(ury and oppression, and the .ederal
/overnment having perverted said powers not only to the in(ury of the people
of +irginia, but to the oppression of the 'outhern slave-holding 'tates.
Corner Stone Speech# A. *. Stephens +&ice,-resident of the
Confederacy.# March %1# 181
*The constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the
institution while it should last, and hence no argument can be (ustly urged
against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common
sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They
rested upon the assumption of the e"uality of races. This was an error. It was
a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the *storm
came and the wind blew.* Our new government is founded upon exactly the
opposite idea% its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great
truth that the negro is not e"ual to the white man% that slavery subordination to
the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new
government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great
physical, philosophical, and moral truth...*
South Carolina Declaration of Causes of Secession Dec# %/#180
The people of the 'tate of 'outh )arolina, in )onvention assembled, on the
0d day of &pril, &.1. 2340, declared that fre"uent violations of the )onstitution
of the nited 'tates of &merica by the .ederal /overnment, and it5s
encroachment upon the reserved rights of the 'tates, fully (ustified this 'tate
in their withdrawal from the .ederal nion% but in deference to the opinions
and wishes of the other 'laveholding 'tates, she forbore at that time to
exercise this right. 'ince that time these encroachments have continued to
increase, and the forbearance ceases to be a virtue.
&nd now the 'tate of 'outh )arolina having resumed her separate and e"ual
place among nations, deems it due herself, to the remaining nited 'tates of
&merica, and to the nations of the world, that she should declare the
immediate causes that lead to this act6
7e affirm that these ends for which this /overnment was instituted have
been defeated, and the /overnment itself has been destructive of them by the
action of the nonslaveholding 'tates. Those 'tates have assumed the right of
deciding upon the propriety of our domestic institutions% and have denied the
rights of property established in fifteen of the 'tates and recognized by the
)onstitution% they have denounced as sinful the institution of 'lavery% they
have permitted the open establishment among them of societies whose
avowed ob(ect is to disturb the peace and to eloign the property of the citizens
of other 'tates. They have encouraged and assisted thousands of our slaves
to leave their homes% and those who remain have been incited by emissaries,
books, and pictures to servile insurrection.
.or twenty-five years this agitation has been steadily increasing, until it has
now secured to its aid the power of the common /overnment. Observing the
forms of the )onstitution, a sectional party has found within that article
establishing the 8xecutive 1epartment, the means of subverting the
)onstitution itself. & geographical line has been drawn across the nion, all
the 'tates north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high
office of 9resident of all the nited 'tates whose opinions and purposes are
hostile to 'lavery. :e is to be entrusted with the administration of the common
/overnment, because he has declared that /overnment cannot endure
permanently half slave, half free, and that the public mind must rest in the
belief that slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction6
On the ;th of <arch next this party will take possession of the /overnment. It
has announced that the 'outh shall be excluded from the common territory,
that the ,udicial Tribunal shall be made sectional, and that a war must be
waged against 'lavery until it shall cease throughout the nited 'tates.
The guarantees of the )onstitution will then no longer exist% the e"ual rights of
the 'tates will be lost. The 'laveholding 'tates will no longer have the power
of self-government, or self-protection, and the .ederal /overnment will have
become their enemy6
7e, therefore, the people of 'outh )arolina, by our delegates in convention
assembled, appealing to the 'upreme ,udge of the world for the rectitude of
our intentions, have solemnly declared that the nion heretofore existing
between this 'tate and the other 'tates of =orth &merica is dissolved, and
that the 'tate of 'outh )arolina has resumed her position among the nations
of the world, as a separate and independent state, with the full power to levy
war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all
other acts and things which independent 'tates may of right do. *