USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1 > Part 4
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Such has been the martial character and attitude of Pennsyl- vania, in the perilous days of the Republic; and yet no people are more ready, yea anxious, to return to peaceful pursuits, and the ordinary avocations of life. The teachings of the founder have not been lost upon the men who have come to occupy the land he gave to freedom, the land he loved so well, thought and labored for so earnestly, and for which he so devoutly prayed. They have at times been slow to move; but, like the giant, when aroused, making mighty strides. Though the State is traversed by immense mountain chains, which, like the vast billows of the sea, seem interminable, and by rugged rolling lands reaching out beyond, apparently locking the east from the west by any system of artificial water or rail communication, yet by the skill of her engineers, the faith of her capitalists, and the patient toil of her denizens, the canal has ploughed its way to her remotest bounds, and the locomotive has scaled even the summits of the Alleghenies. Trunk lines of railway, the equal if not the supe- rior of any in the land, extend from cast to west, from north to south. For coal and iron the whole country is tributary to her, and the products of her soil are unsurpassed. Nor are her ener- gies confined to the development of her material resources. Of her native born population of the present generation, few are unable to read or write, and her system of public instruction is universally acknowledged to possess unexampled vitality and power. The erudition of her bench, the purity of her pulpit, the elegance and refinement of her cultivated classes, and the social relations of her people throughout all her border, will compare favorably with an equal population selected in any part of the civilized world.
CHAPTER II.
ORIGIN OF REBELLION.
N the 15th of April, 1861, the State of Pennsylvania contained a population of three millions, sedulously devoted to the arts of peace, having no hatreds nor animosities towards the people of any other section of the common country, contented and happy under the common government, and unwilling to believe, 40. R. U.S. or even think, that the quiet which reigned would be disturbed. But on that day a proclamation from the Executive of the nation, declaring that a little body of seventy soldiers garrisoning a fort of the United States in Charleston Harbor had been attacked and forced to surrender, and calling for men to defend and preserve the national integrity, rung like a clarion note throughout its borders. So long as dif- ferences which arose were fairly discussed, and left to the peace- ful decision of the ballot-box, they were content. To that deci- sion, whether for them, or against them, they quietly. bowed. But when the flag of the nation, the emblem of freedom and justice, known and honored on every sea, in every land, under which was peace and prosperity and happiness, was fired upon, - the feeling of condemnation was aroused in every patriot breast.
What men were called, with alacrity went, and many more stood ready to follow at the lightest word. The torch fires of civil discord, once enkindled, spread with marvellous rapidity. Fields ran red with the blood of contending hosts. Herald after herald was sent forth, until 366,000 of Pennsylvania's bravest and best had gone. Death held high carnival, and for four long years the wasting and bloody work went on. Many a hearthstone was made desolate, and in every household were breasts wrung with anguish. The widow and the orphan
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mourned, and parents endured the bereavement of sons lost; and when, at length, a peace was conquered, but a frag- ment of all that host that went forth in strength and beauty returned.
What principle was involved in this mighty struggle ? What were the differences which enlightened statesmanship and the mild influences of Christianity were unable to settle ? What was the question at issue that demanded so costly a sacrifice ? At the beginning of the dispute it was thought impossible that a collision could occur. As it progressed, the civilized world stood amazed that the people of a common country could be led into a struggle so desperate.
When the American Colonies were first settled, they were entirely independent of each other, and were only subordinate to the Crown of England. The first idea of union originated in the necessity of protecting themselves against a common enemy in the French and Indians. At the suggestion of the English Government, that a system of taxation, uniform throughout all the colonies, should be adopted to provide for defence, a Congress was called to meet at Albany in 1754. Franklin was a delegate from Pennsylvania, and went with his pockets loaded down with a scheme of union, that he had, as usual, been cogitating in advance, which he offered, and which was adopted substantially as he presented it. It provided for the appointment of a Presi- dent General by the Crown, and a council of forty-eight delegates to be chosen by the colonies. It came to nothing, as it was distasteful to both parties, each desiring more power than it conferred. But the meeting had the effect of making known to each other the leading statesmen in the several colonies. and preparing the minds of the people for a general Congress
The next subject which secured united effort, was opposition to an act of Parliament to impose a uniform tax throughout the American Colonies. It was known as the Stamp Act, and a Congress was called, which met at New York in 1765, to protest against its imposition. The subject of taxing America continued at issue until 1774, when the first. Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, and after having framed suitable petitions and addresses, adjourned to meet again on the follow-
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ing year, provided the British Government refused to heed their requests. The king turned a deaf ear, and the meeting was held. In the meantime, war was opened upon the colonies, and at the session of the 4th of July, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted, which resulted in the final severance of the colonies from the mother country by the treaty of peace of 1783. The authority previously exercised by the crown passed in a measure to the Congress, with this difference, the king and parliament had power to enforce their edicts, but the Congress had none. It could pass acts, but unless they were approved by the Legislatures of all the colonies they had no effect; a single colony, even the most insignificant, having in its power to defeat the most important legislation. Congress in one instance endeavored to provide for the payment of the interest on the debt contracted in support of the Revolu- tionary armies, by laying moderate duties on imports, which the voice of Rhode Island defeated. While the war continued, this inconvenience and weakness was less felt, as the people were united in the feeling of patriotism, and the consent of all to wholesome legislation for meeting a common enemy was easily obtained. But when peace was secured and the varied interests of the several States came in collision, the articles of Confederation, adopted by Congress in 1777, but not approved by all the States until 1781, were seen to be entirely inadequate to the govern- ment of the new nation. Indeed, with the exception of a few subjects, over which Congress was supreme, there were thirteen independent nationalities.
To remedy this, the present Constitution of the United States was framed by a convention of delegates which met in Phila- delphia in 1787. That convention was called to revise the old Articles of Confederation ; but so defective were they found to be that an entirely new frame of government, providing for execu- tive, legislative, and judical departments, independent of the States and supreme over all, was framed and submitted for ratification. In nearly every State it encountered violent opposi- tion. It was objected, that the individual States would be shorn of their sovereignty, if this Constitution were adopted, and the National Government, thus set up, would be supreme. The pre-
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amble of the Constitution, which sets forth the object of the instru- ment, opens with the expression, "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union." In the Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry opposed the adoption, in the most determined manner, and with his characteristic impassioned elo- quence. "That this is a consolidated Government," he said, "is demonstrably clear. ... But, sir, give me leave to demand what right had they to say 'We, the people ?' ... Who authorized them to speak the language of 'We, the people,' instead of 'We, the States?' States are the characteristics and soul of a Confederation. If the States be not the agents of this compact, it must be one great, consolidated, National Government of the people of all the States. . Have they made a proposal of a compact between States ? If they had, this would be a Confederation : it is, otherwise, most clearly a consolidated Government. The whole question turns, sir, on that poor little thing, the expression, 'We, the people,' instead of, 'the States of America.'"
The opponents of a consolidated Government clearly perceived that the only remedy for the establishment of such a power was in the rejection of this Constitution; that when it was once adopted, it became the supreme law of the land, and could never be revoked or broken up, save by revolution. But the friends of the new code, in order to sugar-coat the pill which they found distasteful to its opponents, suggested that, in case the rights of a State were infringed, that State could recall its delegated powers, and thus become once more sovereign. "We will assemble in convention," said Mr. Pendleton, the President of the Virginia Convention, "wholly recall our delegated powers, or reform them so as to prevent such abuse, and punish our servants." This was the first breathing of the doctrine of Secession, in 17SS, before the Constitution itself had been adopted. But Mr. Henry scouted the idea that a State, when once this Constitution was accepted, could recall its delegated powers, and showed, most clearly, that the language of the instrument gives no such authority, and that, on the contrary, it provides, in the most ample manner, for meeting such a contingency. " What resistance," he exclaimed, " could be made ? The attempt would be madness."
The theory of Secession, founded upon the idea that a State
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had the ability to withdraw the powers delegated to the National Government after the adoption of the Constitution, and again become sovereign, was from time to time revived. The Alien and Sedition Laws-the former empowering the President to send out of the country foreigners who were found endeavoring to draw the nation into European complications, and violate the principles of neutrality which the Government had adopted, and the latter providing for the prosecution and punishment of persons found publishing matter abusive of the members of the Government- were both strongly opposed, and gave rise to the noted resolves of 1798. These resolves were first passed by the Kentucky Legis- lature, and subsequently reaffirmed, in substance, by Virginia, and asserted that these laws are unauthoritative, void, and of no force, and concluded by calling on the other States of the Union to " concur in declaring these acts void and of no force, and each take measures of its own, in providing that neither these acts, nor any others of the General Government, not plainly and inten- tionally authorized by the Constitution, shall be exercised within their respective territories." "None of the States," says Victor, " responded favorably to the resolutions; but, on the contrary, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Con- necticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Ver- mont, disavowed the doctrine set up, of a right in the State Legis- latures to decide upon the validity of acts of Congress." These resolutions embodied the doctrines of Secession in a more com- pact and imposing form than they had ever before assumed, and constitute nearly the entire faith of the disciples of that school since.
The Embargo Act of 1809, and later, the Declaration of War against Great Britain, the alleged neglect of the General Govern- ment to protect certain sections, and the devises adopted for rais- ing men to fill the ranks in the War of 1812, all excited strong opposition. The discontent culminated in the Hartford Conven- tion, whose utterances were similar in tone to the resolutions of 1798. " In cases of deliberate, dangerous, and palpable infractions of the Constitution," is the language of the report, " affecting the sovereignty of a State and the liberties of the people, it is not only the right, but the duty of such State, to interpose its authority
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ORIGIN OF REBELLION.
for the protection in the manner best calculated to secure that end." As in the case of the Kentucky resolutions, the several States were invited to unite in enforcing the principles enunciated. To this call no State responded, and the proceedings were re- garded with marked disfavor by the mass of the people, even in that section where the convention had originated. So strong was the almost universal regard for the Union, that no greater odium could attach to a man than that of having been a member of the Hartford Convention, or of having countenanced its proceedings. The Richmond Enquirer, of November 1st, 1814, said, in noticing this Convention : " No man, no association of men, no State or set of States, has a right to withdraw itself from the Union of its own account."
The tariff laws of 1828, which Pennsylvania and the other middle States had been instrumental in enacting, were the next subjects of opposition. Louisiana, on account of the protection afforded to the production of sugar, favored a tariff. But the cotton States opposed it; and the New England States, especially those upon the seaboard, being largely engaged in foreign com- merce, regarded with disfavor any policy which should encourage home manufactures. The principal opposition to this measure, however, came from the politicians of South Carolina. The Legis- lature of that State issued a manifesto, known as the South Caro- lina Exposition, which asserted the unconstitutionality of a pro- tective tariff, and claimed Nullification as a reserved right of the State. This document became the text of that memorable discussion in which those Titans of eloquence, Calhoun, Hayne, and Webster wielded the bolts of argument. The whole debate hinged upon the question, if the National Government should enact a law that the Legislature of a State should declare to be unconstitutional, could it be enforced ? Mr. Hayne argued that it could not, because the State would be robbed of its sovereignty. Mr. Webster by an ingenious illustration, drawn from the very measure in dispute, showed the futility of this position. "Sir," he said, " the human mind is so constituted, that the merits of both sides of a controversy appear very clear and very palpable to those who respectively espouse them; and both sides usually grow clearer as the controversy advances. South Carolina seos 4
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unconstitutionality in the tariff; she sees oppression there also ; and she sees danger. Pennsylvania, with a vision not less sharp, looks at the same tariff and sees no such thing in it; she sees it all con- stitutional, all useful, all safe. The faith of South Carolina is strengthened by opposition, and she now not only sees, but resolves, that the tariff is palpably unconstitutional, oppressive, and danger- ous ; but Pennsylvania, not to be behind her neighbors, and equally willing to strengthen her own faith by a confident asseveration, re- solves also, and gives to every warm affirmative of South Carolina a plain, downright Pennsylvania negative. South Carolina, to show the strength and unity of her opinion, brings her assembly to a unanimity, within seven voices. Pennsylvania, not to be out- done in this respect, any more than in others, reduces her dissen- tient fraction to a single vote. Now, sir, again I ask the gentle- man, What is to be done ? Are these States both right? If not, which is in the wrong ? or, rather, which has the best right to de- cide ? And if he, and if I, are not to know what the Constitution means, and what it is, till those two State Legislatures, and the twenty-two others, shall agree in its construction, what have we sworn to when we have sworn to maintain it ?"
In addition to the absurdity of allowing twenty-four separate arbitors, which was the number of States at that time, to construe and pass upon acts of the General Government, he pointed to the provision of the Constitution itself, which explicitly describes the manner in which the disputed validity of law should be decided: " The Constitution," he says, "declares that the laws of Congress, passed in pursuance of the Constitution, shall be the supreme law of the land. No construction is necessary here .. It declares also, with equal plainness and precision, that the judicial power of the United States shall extend to every case arising under the laws of Congress. This needs no construction. Here is a law then which is declared to be supreme; and here is a power established which is to interpret that law."
On the 19th of April, 1832, a convention of the people of South Carolina passed an ordinance declaring the tariff laws of the General Government void, and prohibited the payment of duties to United States revenue officers. This ordinance was to be con- firmed by the State Legislature, and if the national authorities
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should attempt forcibly to collect the revenues, a further provision was made that, " The people of the State would thenceforth hold themselves absolved from all further obligation to maintain or preserve their political connection with the people of the other States, and will forthwith proceed to organize a separate govern- ment, and do all other acts and things which sovereign and inde- pendent States may of right do." Andrew Jackson, who was then President, perceiving that forcible resistance to the laws would be attempted, quietly ordered General Scott to Charleston Harbor accompanied by a military and naval force, with instructions to assist the regular agents of the Government, if necessary, in col- lecting the revenues, and then issued his famous proclamation showing the futility of the doctrine of Nullification, commanding all persons to obey the laws of the General Government, and expressing his determination to execute them. In the iron hand of Jackson, Nullification, which was another word for Secession, was crushed.
The final attempt to thwart the General Government in the exercise of its powers, and to break up the Union, occurred in 1860-61. It was undertaken under the specious name of Secession, because it was easier to carry the masses of the people into the mad scheme with this plea, than by the direct and real designa- tion of revolution, which was its true character. The enact- ment of no objectionable law, as in former cases, was awaited; but the election of a President, legally and rightfully chosen, the principles of whose supporters were distasteful, was seized as the occasion. The real cause, however, lay far back of that event.
When the colonies were originally settled, that section which was occupied by the States that joined in the Rebellion had a prospect of predominance. While the North, and especially New England, had a thin and rockbound soil, which yielded its increase only after patient and well-directed toil, and lay beneath a cold, bleak sky, icebound for nearly half the year, the sunny South, the land of the cane and the cotton, possessed of a deep, luxuriant soil, and a soft, balmy atmosphere, produced plentiful harvests with little labor. For a time that predominance was maintained. At the opening of the American Revolution the population of Virginia was nearly double that of either of the
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other Colonies .* When the Articles of Confederation were adopted, and later, when the Constitution was framed, there seemed a certain prospect that the South would remain in the ascendancy. The census of 1790 showed that its population was considerably above that of the North, the former being 2,618,901, and the latter only 1,968,455. The exports and imports of Maryland and Virginia alone, at that period, were many times greater than those of all the New England States, and for nearly fifty years, commencing with 1797, were larger than those of all the Northern States combined. Of the first five Presidents four, each for two terms, a period of thirty-two years, were from Vir- ginia, while only one, for a period of four years, was from the North.
But the two sections finally settled down into the employment of widely diverse systems of labor. In the North, manual labor was performed by instructed, white freemen; in the South, by ignorant, negro slaves. In the North, the laboring man could in time become a freeholder, acquire an independent competence, and his son, perchance, arrive at fortune and eminence. In the South, the slave was sold in the shambles, like a beast of burden, with often a hard lot for the present, and no hope of betterment for the future.
The effect of these two systems upon society was soon appa- rent. Free labor stimulated enterprise. Success in husbandry, which was at first the occupation of the greater portion of the inhabitants, could only be attained by the practice of the strictest habits of temperance, industry, and economy. The habits imposed by the necessities of the soil were carried into . other avocations, and were everywhere the fruitful elements of success. To their quickening influence is due the rapid rise of commerce and manu- factures, and the vast proportions which they have subsequently assumed. It extended even to letters. The same enterprise which gave triumph to the husbandman, to the merchant, to the manufacturer, rewarded the scholar. It originated systems of
* New Hampshire, 80,000 ; Massachusetts, 360,000; Rhode Island, 50,000; Connecticut, 200,000; New York, 180,000; New Jersey, 130,000; Pennsylvania, 300,000; Delaware, 40,000; Maryland, 220,000; Virginia, 560,000; North Carolina, 260,000; South Carolina, 180,000; Georgia, 30,000 .- Tucker's United States, vol. i. p. 96.
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public instruction which are the marvel of the age which pro- duced them. It founded colleges and professional schools, gave birth to a literature that has won the favor of the learned in every country, and nurtured a statesmanship, which, tried by the standard of success, must place it in the very front rank, the nation under its guidance having come, in a comparatively short time, to be a first-class power.
The system of slave labor, whose products could in no way enrich or contribute to the happiness of the laborer, was one of drudgery, eked out under the eye of a taskmaster. With a soil of unsurpassed fertility, abundant harvests were secured with the most indifferent and unskilled labor. But slavery did little towards repairing the wastes engendered by repeated harvests. To secure the largest present return was the most that was antici- pated. Skilled husbandry was unattempted, and its improved implements were unsought. When old fields were worn out, new ones were turned to. The most fertile lands were gradually absorbed by the most prosperous planters, and the increase in the number of slaves kept pace with that of domain. The staple products of the soil brought large income, and there was, conse- quently, little inducement to engage in manufactures, where labor was unskilled, and where ventures would be hazardous; nor was there greater encouragement to tempt the seas in the pursuit of commerce. Little or no attention was given to popular education. Ignorance was considered a prime quality in a slave, and was secured by law. The poor white population were so scattered, except in the towns, that a public system was for the most part impracticable, and this class came in time to set little value upon mental culture. The children of the planters were instructed by the governess and the family tutor, and were often sent to the boarding-schools and colleges of the North.
Of the effect of Slavery upon society, Mr. George M. Dallas, Vice-President of the United States in the administration of Mr. Polk, and one of the most worthy and esteemed of the sons of Pennsylvania, in a speech delivered in the Senate, on the 27th of February, 1832, said : " I refer, sir, to the character of Southern labor, in itself, and in its influence on others. Incapable of adaptation to the ever-varying changes of human society and
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