Skip to comments.

Posted on 11/09/2001 11:58:31 AM PST by WhowasGustavusFox

Lincoln Was Not Elected and The Confederacy Was in the North

On November 6, 1860, John C Breckinridge of Kentucky was elected President of the United States by 46% of the voting public.

In December, one month later, Massachusetts seceded from the Union. They had tried it four times before, and this time got it right.

In its secession papers, they said that they feared that the newly elected Democrat government, whose campaign promises included opposition to child labor, would emancipate their children. The political class of Boston and the wealthy manufacturing owners knew that this meant the economy of the entire state was in jeopardy from those darn Southerners.

Because of massive industrial growth, helpless Northern children were being forced to work in the factories. Southern child labor abolitionists had said for decades that nine and ten year olds did not belong in the horrible conditions found in the coal mines, glass factories, steel mills, or textile sweat shops of the Northeast. Children labored 10-12 hours a day for a pittance.

If the new Democrat government succeeded in implementing their goals of legislating child labor out of existence, and substantially increasing the tariffs on Northern imported goods, the North would fall into depression, and the nice people would be unfairly deprived of fine wine, silver, lace, furniture, art, and collectables they deserved.

At his inauguration, President Breckinridge stated that he would preserve the Union whether he freed all, some, or none of the child laborers. After trying to figure out just what that meant, Congress set about to send to the states for ratification the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution had just been approved by Congress. This amendment would permanently legalize child labor throughout the country. President Breckinridge stated that he would not object to this amendment.

Sensing that his words were designed to obfuscate rather than to build trust, the Northern politicians realized that this was not a man of character, and not guided by the intent of the Constitution.

Believing that Massachusetts’ action was correct and a matter of economic self-defense, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois followed by seceding within the next 30 days. This was an act of solidarity and a collective effort to protect their manufacturing sector from Democrat backed legislation which would abolish child labor. Their rally cry was ‘we’re doing it for the children’.

Each of the states did not question their authority to withdraw from the Union. Most of these states had been threatening secession since the War of 1812. In fact, in 1814 a committee of the Massachusetts legislature had called for a secession convention, and that same year in New Haven, a meeting of several Northeastern states resulted in a document calling for secession of these states from the Union and formation of their own Union.

Secession had been widely accepted as a remedy for abuse, and it was known that states’ rights exceeded federal authority. Not only was this the intent of the framers of the Constitution, this was specifically outlined in the ratification documents of Rhode Island and New York. They had expressly reserved this right and delineated this as a condition of their acceptance of the US Constitution.

. The seceded states formed a new union, The Northern Alliance, and adopted their constitution. That constitution was essentially the same as that from which they had just seceded, with a few improvements. First, child labor would be permitted in all the states, essentially the same condition that would be permitted by the new 13th Amendment that was about to be ratified by the old Union. Secondly, the sovereignty of the states was specified in the preamble and therefore the concept of secession was protected from Federal hegemony. Finally, the president was given line item veto authority to eliminate excessive sectional spending by the legislators. Also the Congress would have to vote in super-majorities to authorize infrastructure spending. Thus by incorporating these changes, it was clear what led to Northern secession.

Southern Child Labor Abolitionists had been berating the North for decades. They had sent postcards to the children inviting them South. Southern abolitionists came to the North to try to get the kids to run away, even promising to get them to Mexico. They even sent up John Bubba Brown to incite the kids to mischief. The abolitionist fanatics made a political solution impossible. The Northern states made a clear case for their secession. They stated that the South had broken the Constitution by failing to enforce fugitive child laws, thereby allowing Southern states to nullify Federal law. Also, since the Southern controlled Union was not allowing child labor to spread to other states, again Constitutional guarantees were being violated.

Once the Northern Alliance ratified its new constitution with a very low tariff rate, Southern politicians and businessmen became extremely hostile, many openly calling for war on the North.

It was quite apparent that Northern states would now trade with Africa and South America and get all the cotton and tobacco it wanted, at prices much lower than the South would charge. Thus Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, sleepy little fishing towns, would take the massive trade from Charleston, Mobile, and New Orleans harbors.

Add to this the fact that the Southern controlled Congress had mistakenly made the entire US Treasury dependant upon tariffs on Northern Imports, which would no longer be available, and it is apparent why President Breckenridge was frantically looking for a way to force the Alliance back into the Union.

With Southern politicians, editorialists, and businessmen on his back, he concocted a scheme to force the North to fire the first shot. He secretly outfitted a naval armada, and sent the ships to Cape Cod, stating the intent of collecting taxes from the wealthy class whose homes dotted the coast. However, local militia opened cannon fire, and despite not hitting anything for a day and a half, President Breckenridge had the cause he had been seeking…they had fired on the flag.

This was enough to fan the flames of the people. Whereas child labor had not been a sufficient cause to send troops to the North, firing on the flag got the rednecks all in a dither.

There were a few cooler heads about, but the President just put them in jail. He also shut down 300 newspapers that were critical. He sent Federal troops to occupy Richmond and arrested the locals. He encouraged West Pennsylvania to secede from Pennsylvania. There was also some problem about something called habeas corpus. But our President just ignored the complaints, ordered a Supreme Court judge jailed, and scoffed at the audacity of Congress to bother him with a written reprimand.

However, there was one issue that remained a problem. The North was going to defend itself, and defend itself it did. Hundreds of thousands of troops clashed and died.

For centuries, warfare had been conducted army against army, leaving the city-states and the citizens out of harm’s way. In a major departure from this concept, and in violation of international agreements, President Breckenridge sent General Nathan Bedford Forrest on an approved campaign North to destroy everything. He captured New York and Boston, burning both to the ground. He did leave the gardens and personal farm animals untouched. He is quoted as saying “War is Hell, ain’t it y’all, but we are still gentlemen.”

At his dedication of the Chattanooga Battlefield, President Breckenridge gave a rousing speech that became known as the Chattanooga Address. During the address Breckenridge effectively affirmed that the obligation to protect the children superceded all other rights guaranteed in the Constitution.

This is why many of the participants and most historians came to believe that they were fighting to preserve the Union and eliminate the child labor. They have failed to reason that the saving of the Union meant the saving of the financial system that supported the government. This is why it was necessary that the North be defeated and not be allowed to compete with the South. This was subjugation of the individuals’ and states’ rights to the supremacy of the Federal government.

Had the President had the integrity of character to admit the wisdom of Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin when they warned of the dangers of sectionalism, political parties, and the growth of Federalism over Constitutional Law, 620,000 American lives would have been protected under the laws of the country instead of being wasted.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.