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This webpage reproduces a chapter of
The Secession Movement 1860‑1861

by
Dwight Lowell Dumond

in the
Negro Universities Press edition,
New York, 1968

The text is in the public domain.

This page has been carefully proofread
and I believe it to be free of errors.
If you find a mistake though,
please let me know!

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This site is not affiliated with the US Military Academy.

 p273  Bibliography

Primary Sources

United States Government Publications

Congressional Globe, 31 Cong., 1 Sess.; 33 Cong., 1 Sess.; 35 Cong., 1 Sess.; 35 Cong., 2 Sess.; 36 Cong., 1 Sess.; 36 Cong., 2 Sess.; 37 Cong., 1 Sess.

House Executive Documents, 36 Cong., 2 Sess., IX, Docs. 61, 72, 79.

Resolutions relative to the state of the Union and proposed constitutional amendments by the Kentucky legislature. Documents concerning the collection of customs duties and post-office revenues, the seizure of the New Orleans mint, and important correspondence relating to Fort Sumter.

House Miscellaneous Documents, 36 Cong., 2 Sess., Docs., 15, 19, 21, 22, 23, 26, 30, 31, 32, 33, 38, 41.

Resolutions of the several state legislatures relative to the advisability of constitutional amendments and a national convention, stating the nature of acceptable amendments; and petitions of various workingmen's organizations urging the adoption of the Crittenden proposals.

House Reports, 36 Cong., 2 Sess., III, Reps. 31, 85, 88.

Journal of proceedings and the several reports from the special Committee of Thirty-three appointed under the Boteler resolution of December 4, 1860. Report of committee on military affairs, on forts, arsenals, and arms. Report of select committee on naval affairs, showing the strength of squadrons, and touching upon resignations. Report of special committee relative to correspondence between President Buchanan and the South Carolina commissioners. Report of select committee of five on seizure of federal property.

 p274  Senate Reports, 36 Cong., 2 Sess., Rep. 288.

Journal of the proceedings and report of the Committee of Thirteen, appointed under the Powell resolution of December 18, 1860, in relation to the distracted condition of the country.

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. 70 vols., Washington, 1880‑1901.

Series I, Vols. I, III, LIII, and Series IV, Vol. I, contain many documents relating to the work of the interstate commissioners, the controversies over federal forts, and correspondence between President Buchanan and various state officials. This collection cannot be relied upon as being complete. Other sources are indicated below.

State Publications

Addresses delivered by Hon. Fulton Anderson, Commissioner from Mississippi, Hon. Henry L. Benning, Commissioner from Georgia, and Hon. John S. Preston, Commissioner from South Carolina, before the Virginia State Convention, February 1861. Charleston, 1861.

A rare and valuable collection of superior expositions. Preston's address is inimitable among the many delivered by interstate commissioners. A member of the convention said of it: "It was perhaps the finest address I ever listened to. It will doubtless read well, but cannot carry the same force as when delivered, accompanied as the delivery was with grace and other attributes of the most finished oratory."

Communication from the Hon. Peter B. Starke, as Commissioner to Virginia, to his Excellency, J. J. Pettus, with accompanying Documents. Jackson, 1860.

A collection of documents apparently not preserved in the originals. Together with the Memminger correspondence and address in Capers, Life and Times of C. G. Memminger, they furnish the story of attempted coöperation among the Southern states during the early months of 1860.

 p275  Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Alabama, 1861. Ordinances of the State of Alabama, with the Constitution of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America. Montgomery, 1861.

None of the convention journals contains more than a bare record of proceedings. The debates were partially preserved in the following newspapers: New Orleans Bee, Jackson Mississippian, Montgomery Daily Advertiser, Charleston Mercury, Richmond Examiner, and Missouri Republican.

Journal of the public and secret Proceedings of the Convention of the People of Georgia, held in Milledgeville and Savannah in 1861, together with the Ordinances adopted. Milledgeville, 1861.

Especially valuable for the collection of letters, speeches, and reports of Georgia's interstate commissioners.

Journal of the Mississippi State Convention, and Ordinances and Resolutions adopted in January, 1861, with an Appendix. Jackson, 1861.

Contains most of the letters and reports of Mississippi's interstate commissioners. Some were not published and are preserved in the Department of Archives and History, State of Mississippi, in Official Correspondence of Governor John J. Pettus, 159‑1860. Others were printed in the Weekly Mississippian.

Journal and Proceedings of the Missouri State Convention, held at Jefferson City and St. Louis, March, 1861. St. Louis, 1861.

Journal of the public Proceedings of the Convention of the People of South Carolina, held in 1860‑61, together with the Ordinances adopted. Charleston, 1860.

Journal of the Convention of the People of North Carolina, held on the 20th of May, 1861. Raleigh, 1862.

Journal of the Secession Convention of Texas, 1861. Austin, 1861.

Journal of the Acts and Proceedings of a general Convention of the State of Virginia, assembled at Richmond, on the thirteenth day of February, 1861. Richmond, 1861.

 p276  Official Journal of the Proceedings of the Convention of the State of Louisiana, 1861. New Orleans, 1861.

Smith, William R.

The History and Debates of the Convention of the People of Alabama, begun and held in the City of Montgomery on the seventh Day of January, 1861; in which isº preserved the Speeches of the secret Sessions, and many valuable State Papers. Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, and Atlanta, 1861.

The most complete account of debates in any of the state conventions. Also contains the letters, reports and speeches of Alabama's interstate commissioners. Rare and exceedingly valuable.

Other Primary Materials

Address of the Democracy of Alabama to the National Democratic Convention at Baltimore, January 18, 1860. Montgomery, 1860.

Auchampaugh, Philip Gerald.

James Buchanan and His Cabinet on the Eve of Secession. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1926.

Chittenden, L. E., ed.

A Report of the Debates and Proceedings in the Secret Sessions of the Conference Convention, for proposing Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. New York, 1864.

Crallé, Richard, ed.

The Works of John C. Calhoun. 6 vols. New York, 1853‑1855.

Douglas, Stephen A.

"The Dividing Line Between Federal and Local Authority," in Harper's Monthly Magazine, XIX, 519‑537.

Halstead, Murat.

Caucuses of 1860. A history of the National Political Conventions of the current Presidential Campaign: being a complete Record of the Business of all the Conventions; with Sketches of distinguished Men in Attendance upon them, and Descriptions of the most characteristic Scenes and Memorable Events. Columbus, 1860.

 p277  Journal of the Democratic State Convention held at Montgomery, Alabama, February 14, 1848. Montgomery, 1848.

Journal of the Southern Rights Convention, held in the City of Montgomery, February 10, 1851; and the Address of The Committee. Montgomery, 1851.

Moore, John Bassett, ed.

The Works of James Buchanan, comprising his Speeches, State Papers, and private Correspondence. 12 vols. Philadelphia and London, 1908‑1910.

Official Journal of the Conference Convention, held at Washington City, February 1861. Washington, 1861.

Official Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention in 1860, at Charleston and Baltimore. Cleveland, 1860. John G. Parkhurst, Recording Secretary, ed.

The proceedings as published by the Douglas Democratic party. Intentionally deleted to the disparagement of the opposition, but accurate as to details included.

Official Proceedings of the Democratic and Anti-Know‑Nothing State Convention of Alabama, held in the City of Montgomery, January 8 and 9, 1856. Montgomery, 1856.

Phillips, Ulrich Bonnell.

"The Correspondence of Robert Toombs, Alexander H. Stephens, and Howell Cobb," in American Historical Association, Annual Report, 1911II. Washington, 1913.

Proceedings of the Conventions at Charleston and Baltimore. Published by order of the National Democratic Convention (Maryland Institute, Baltimore), and under the supervision of the National Democratic Executive Committee. Washington, 1860.

Proceedings of the Delegates Who Withdrew from the National Democratic Convention at Charleston, in April, 1860.

Proceedings of the Democratic State Convention, held in the City of Montgomery, commencing Wednesday, January 11, 1860. Montgomery, 1860.

Proceedings of the Democratic State Convention of Alabama, held in the City of Montgomery on the 4th Day of June, 1860. Baltimore.

 p278  Proceedings of the first three Republican National Conventions of 1856, 1860, and 1864, including Proceedings of the Antecedent National Convention held at Pittsburg, in February 1856, as reported by Horace Greeley. Minneapolis, 1893.

Walmsley, James Elliott. "The Change of Secession Sentiment in Virginia in 1861," in The American Historical Review, XXXI, 82‑101.

Campaign Documents

Blair, Frank P.

Speech of, at the Cooper Institute, New York City, Wednesday, January 25, 1860.

Breckinridge, John C.

Speech of, at Ashland, near Lexington, Kentucky, September 5, 1860. Jackson, 1860.

Brown, Albert G.

Speech of, at Crystal Springs, Copiah County, Mississippi, September 6, 1860. Jackson, 1860.

Clay, James B.

Speech of, at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, August 1, 1860. Louisville, 1860.

Douglas, Stephen A.

Letter of, in reply to the Speech of Dr. Gwin at Grass Valley, California. Reprint from the Daily National, San Francisco, September 16, 1859.

Drake, Charles F.

Speech of, at Victoria, Jefferson County, Missouri, August 25, 1860. St. Louis, 1860.

Freliegh, J. H.

The true Position, Interests, and Policy of the South. Union or Secession: which is best? Memphis, 1861.

Griffin, E. C.

Speech of, at the City Hall, October 30, 1860, in reply to the Address of William Yancey, delivered at Corinthian Hall, October 17, 1860. Rochester, 1860.

Hallett, Benjamin F.

Speech of, in Washington City, June 25, 1860. Washington, 1860.

 p279  Important Political Pamphlet for the Campaign of 1860. Compiled by the Montgomery Advertiser.

Johnson, Reverdy.

Speech of, before the political Friends of Stephen A. Douglas at a Meeting in Faneuil Hall, Boston, June 7, 1860. Baltimore, 1860.

McCabe, James D.

Facts Versus Fancies. Fanaticism and its Results. Baltimore, 1860.

Minority Report of Stephens, Delegate from Oregon, showing the Ground upon which the regular Southern Delegations were entitled to Seats in the Convention at the Front Street Theater, Baltimore.

Reed, William B.

Speech of, on the Presidential Question, delivered before the National Democratic Association. Philadelphia, 1860.

Republican State Central Committee of Illinois.

Political Record of Stephen A. Douglas on the Slavery Question. Chicago, 1860.

Schurz, Carl.

Douglas and Popular Sovereignty. Speech in Hampden Hall, Springfield, Massachusetts, January 4, 1860. Washington, 1860.

Slidell, John.

Address of, to the People of Louisiana, September 25, 1860. Bonnet Carré, 1860.

Stephens, Alexander H.

Speech of, delivered in the City Hall Park, Augusta, Georgia, Saturday Evening, September 1, 1860. Augusta, 1860.

The Conspiracy to Break up the Union. Breckinridge and Lane the Candidates of a Disunion Party. Washington, 1860.

Wigfall, Louis T.

Speech of, on the pending Political Issues; delivered at Tyler, Smith County, Texas, September 3, 1860. Washington, 1860.

Who are the Disunionists? Breckinridge and Lane the true Union Candidates. Washington, 1860.

 p280  Yancey, William Lowndes.

Speech in the Democratic Meeting at Marion, Perry County, May 19, 1860. Montgomery, 1860.

Speech of, delivered in the Democratic State Convention of the State of Alabama, held at Montgomery on the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th of January, 1860. Montgomery, 1860.

Speech of, delivered at Memphis, Tennessee, August 14, 1860, on the Issues involved in the Presidential Contest. Frankfort, Kentucky, 1860.

Constitutional Rights Space of, at Wieting Hall, Syracuse, New York, October 15, 1860. Syracuse, 1860.

Newspapers

Breckinridge Democrat

The Daily Delta, New Orleans.

Arkansas True Democrat, Little Rock.

Kentucky Yeoman, Frankfort.

Southern Kentucky Register, Madisonville.

The Charleston Mercury.

The Daily South Carolinian, Columbia.

The Examiner, Gallatin, Texas.

Nashville Union and American.

Montgomery Weekly Advertiser.

The Florence Gazette.

Natchez Free Trader.

The Wilmington Journal.

North Carolina Standard, Raleigh.

Richmond Semi-Weekly Examiner.

Richmond Enquirer.

Weekly Mississippian, Jackson.

Daily Courier, Louisville.

Constitutional Unionist

The Daily Picayune, New Orleans.

New Orleans Daily Crescent.

The New Orleans Bee.

Frankfort Commonwealth.

Louisville Daily Journal.

Daily Nashville Patriot.

 p281  Republican Banner, Nashville.

Brownlow's Knoxville Whig.

Vicksburg Daily Whig.

Montgomery Post.

The Savannah Republican.

Daily Chronicle and Sentinel, Augusta.

The Daily Herald, Wilmington.

Richmond Whig and Public Advertiser.

The Review, Charlottesville.

Douglas Democrat

The Daily True Delta, New Orleans.

Weekly Montgomery Confederation.

Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis.

The Daily Constitutionalist, Augusta.

Louisville Democrat.

The Southern Advocate.

Secondary Authorities

Ambler, Charles Henry.

Sectionalism in Virginia from 1776 to 1861. Chicago, 1910.

Avery, I. W.

The History of the State of Georgia from 1860 to 1881, embracing the three important Epochs: the Decade before the War of 1861 to 1865; The War; the Period of Reconstruction, with Portraits of the leading Men of the Period. New York, 1881.

Botts, John Miner.

The great Rebellion: its secret History, Rise, Progress, and Disastrous Failure. New York, 1866.

Boyd, William Kenneth.

"North Carolina on the Eve of Secession," in American Historical Association, Annual Report, 1910, 165‑178.

Brown, William Garrott.

The Lower South in American History. New York, 1903.

Brownlow, William Gannanway.

Sketches of the Rise, Progress, and Decline of Secession; with a Narrative of personal Adventures among the Rebels. Philadelphia, 1862.

 p282  A vivid contemporary account of the struggle in Eastern Tennessee by an anti-secession exile, compiled for consumption by the North during the early days of the war. May be used cautiously.

Callahan, James Morton.

Semi-Centennial History of West Virginia. Morgantown, 1913.

Capers, Henry D.

The Life and Times of C. G. Memminger. Richmond, 1893.

Claiborne, John Francis Hamtramch.º

Life and Correspondence of John A. Quitman, Major General, U. S. A., and Governor of the State of Mississippi. 2 vols. New York, 1860.

Corwin, Edward Samuel.

"Dred Scott Decision," in The American Historical Review, XVII, 52‑69.

Coulter, Ellis Merton.

The Civil War and Readjustment in Kentucky. Chapel Hill, 1926.

Cox, Samuel Sullivan.

Union-Disunion-Reunion. Providence, 1888.

A contemporary account by a politician who favored conciliation but drifted with the popular current.

Crane, William Carey.

Life and select literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas. 2 vols. Dallas, 1884.

Davis, Jefferson.

The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. New York, 1881.

Davis, Reuben.

Recollections of Mississippi and Mississippians. New York, 1889.

An account of Mississippi politics during the troublous years by a strong Southern-rights man, written when age had tempered the bitterness and perhaps dimmed the memory.

Du Bose, John Witherspoon.

"Yancey: A Study," in Gulf States Magazine, I, 211‑235.

The Life and Times of William Lowndes Yancey. A  p283 History of Political Parties in the United States, from 1834 to 1864; especially as to the Origin of the Confederate States. Birmingham, 1892.

A collection of reminiscences. Valuable when used in connection with Yancey's many speeches, which have been preserved in pamphlet form.

Eckenrode, H. J.

Jefferson Davis: President of the South. New York, 1923.

Fertig, James Walter.

The Secession and Reconstruction of Tennessee. Chicago, 1898.

Fielder, Herbert.

A Sketch of the Life and Times and Speeches of Joseph E. Brown. Springfield, 1883.

Fite, Emerson David.

The Presidential Campaign of 1860. New York, 1911.

Formsby, John.

The American Civil War. A concise History of its Causes, Progress, and Results. London, 1910.

Garner, James Wilford.

"The First Struggle over Secession in Mississippi," in the Mississippi Historical Society, Publications, IV, 89‑105.

Gerson, Armand J.

"The Inception of the Montgomery Convention," in American Historical Association, Annual Report, 1910, 179‑188.

Giddings, Joshua Reed.

History of the Rebellion; its Causes and Authors. New York, 1864.

A leading abolitionist's memoirs.

Gordon, Armstead Shepard.

Jefferson Davis. New York, 1918.

Greeley, Horace.

The American Conflict. 2 vols. Chicago, 1864‑66.

An indispensable account by the Whig-Republican editor of the New York Tribune, which enjoyed an exceptionally large circulation in the Northwest.

 p284  Helper, Hinton Rowan.

The Impending Crisis of the South; how to meet it. New York, 1857.

Styled the Republican Bible by Southerners. Circulated by thousands as a campaign document.

Hodgson, Joseph.

The Cradle of the Confederacy. Mobile, 1876.

Howe, Daniel Wait.

Political History of Secession. New York, 1914.

Hunnicutt, James W.

The Conspiracy unveiled. The South sacrificed; or the Horrors of Secession. Philadelphia, 1863.

This account is by a Virginia preacher, unconditional Unionist, and self-imposed exile. Valuable for the Virginia story.

King, Horatio.

Turning on the Light. A dispassionate Survey of President Buchanan's Administration from 1860 to its Close. Philadelphia, 1895.

Konkle, Burton Alva.

John Motley Morehead and the Development of North Carolina. Philadelphia, 1922.

McElroy, Robert McNutt.

Kentucky in the Nation's History. New York, 1909.

McPherson, Edward.

The political History of the United States of America, during the Great Rebellion. Washington, 1876.

Mumford, B. B.

Virginia's Attitude toward Slavery and Secession defined. New York, 1909.

Pendleton, Louis

Alexander H. Stephens. Philadelphia, 1908.

Phillips, Ulrich Bonnell.

"The Literary Movement for Secession," in Studies in Southern History and Politics. New York, 1914.

The Life of Robert Toombs. New York, 1913.

Pollard, Edward Albert.

The Lost Cause: A new Southern History of the War of the Confederates. New York, 1866.

 p285  Ramsdell, Charles William.

"The Frontier and Secession," in Studies in Southern History and Politics. New York, 1914.

Reed, John Calvin.

The Brother's War. Boston, 1905.

Regan, John.

Memoirs, with special Reference to Secession and the Civil War. New York, 1906.

Rhodes, James Ford.

History of the United States, 1850‑1896. 7 vols. New York, 1904.

Russell, R. R.

"Economic Aspects of Southern Sectionalism. 1840‑1861," in University of Illinois, Studies in the Social Sciences, XI, Numbers 1 and 2.

Shotwell, Walter Gaston.

The Civil War in America. 2 vols. New York, 1923.

Snead, Thomas Lowndes.

The Fight for Missouri from the Election of Lincoln to the Death of Lyon. New York, 1888.

Steiner, Bernard Christian.

Life of Roger Brooke Taney. Baltimore, 1922.

Stephens, Alexander Hamilton.

A Constitutional View of the late War between the States; its Causes, Character, Conduct, and Results. 2 vols. Philadelphia.

Stephenson, Nathaniel Wright.

The Day of the Confederacy, in Chronicles of America Series. (Alvin Johnson, ed.), XXX. New Haven, 1903.

Temple, Oliver Perry.

Notable Men of Tennessee from 1833 to 1875, their Times and Their Contemporaries. New York, 1912.

Tyler, Lyon Gardiner.

The Letters and Times of the Tylers. 2 vols. Richmond, 1865.

Villard, Oswald Garrison.

John Brown, 1800‑1859. A biography Fifty Years After. Boston.

 p286  Warren, Charles.

The Supreme Court in United States History. 3 vols. Boston, 1922.

Wilson, Henry.

History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America. 3 vols. New York, 1862.

Woods, Henry.

"A Sketch of the Mississippi Secession Convention of 1861, its Membership and Work," in Mississippi Historical Society, Publications, VI, 91‑110.


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