178 



CONGRESS, U. S. 



WASHINGTON CITY, January 28, 1861. 

 To the Senate of the United States : 



The undersigned has received official information 

 that, on the liith instant, a convention of the people 

 of Georgia, recently assembled, and now in session, 

 passed the following ordinance : 



" An ordinance to dissolve the union between the 

 State of Georgia and other States united with her 

 under a compact of government, entitled the ' Consti- 

 tution of the United States of America.' 



" We, the people of the State of Georgia, in conven- 

 tion assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby 

 declared and ordained, that the ordinance adopted by 

 the people of the State of Georgia in convention on 

 the 2d day of January, in the year of our Lord, 1788, 

 when the Constitution of the United States of America 

 was assented to, ratified, and adopted ; and also all 

 acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly of this 

 State, ratifying and adopting amendments of the said 

 Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded, and ab- 

 rogated. 



" We do further declare and ordain, that the Union 

 now subsisting between the States of Georgia and 

 other States, under the name of the United States of 

 America, is hereby dissolved ; and that the State of 

 Georgia is in the full possession and exercise of all 

 those rights of sovereignty which belong and apper- 

 tain to a free and independent State." 



The undersigned, recognizing the validity of said 

 ordinance, and the fact that the State which he, in 

 part, represents in the Senate of the United States, 

 has withdrawn from the Federal Union, and is now a 

 separate, sovereign, and independent State, does not 

 feel at liberty any longer to take part in the proceed- 

 ings of the Senate, and shall this day withdraw from 

 the body. Very respectfully, 



ALPEED IVERSON. 



Upon its being read, the Senator made a 

 brief address to the Senate, saying that peace 

 or war could follow as the remaining States 

 might choose. The first gun fired would cause 

 the withdrawal of all the slaveholding States, 

 and forever destroy all hope of reconstruction. 



A question next arose in the Senate re- 

 specting the effect which the act of this 

 Senator had upon his seat in that body. 

 After a lengthy discussion, the subject was 

 laid upon the table and passed over for the 

 time. 



At this time a movement was made on the 

 part of the State of Virginia, to accomplish a 

 peaceful settlement of the difficulties of the 

 country. Resolutions were adopted by the 

 Legislature of that State, recommending all 

 the States to appoint commissioners to a con- 

 vention, the object of which should be to ad- 

 just " the present unhappy controversies in the 

 spirit in which the Constitution was originally 

 formed." 



The convention was to meet at Washington 

 on the 4th of February ensuing. These resolu- 

 tions* were laid before Congress by President 

 Buchanan, accompanied with a message to each 



* Preamble and Resolution adopted by the General Assem- 

 bly of Virginia, January 19, 1861. 

 Whereas it is the deliberate opinion of the General As- 

 sembly of Virginia, that unless the unhappy controversy 

 which now divides the States of this Confederacy shall be 

 satisfactorily adjusted, a permanent dissolution of the Union 

 is inevitable; and the General Assembly, representing the 

 wishes of the people of the Commonwealth, is desirous of 

 employing every reasonable means to avert so dire a calami- 

 ty, and determined to make a final effort to restore the Union 



Ilouse, in which he thus expressed his gratifi- 

 cation upon the occasion, and his views of his 

 own position : 



" I confess I hail this movement on the part 

 of Virginia, with great satisfaction. From the 

 past history of this ancient and renowned Com- 

 monwealth, we have the fullest assurance that 

 what she has undertaken she will accomplish, 

 if it can be done by able, enlightened, and per- 

 severing efforts. It is highly gratifying to know 



and the Constitution, in the spirit in which they were estab- 

 lished by the fathers of the Republic : Therefore, 



Resolved, That on behalf of the Commonwealth of Vir- 

 ginia, an invitation is hereby extended to all such States, 

 whether slaveholding or non-slaveholding, as are willing to 

 unite with Virginia in an earnest effort to adjust the present 

 unhappy controversies in the spirit in which the Constitution 

 was originally formed, and consistently with its principles, 

 so as to afford to the people of the slaveholding States ade- 

 quate guarantees for the security of their rights, to appoint 

 commissioners to meet, on the 4th day of February next, in 

 the city of Washington, similar commissioners appointed by 

 Virginia, to consider, and, if practicable, agree upon some 

 suitable adjustment. 



Resolved, That ex-President John Tyler, "William C. 

 Kives, Judge John W. Brockenbrough, George W. Sum- 

 mers, and James A. Seddon are hereby appointed commis- 

 sioners, whose duty it shall be to repair to the city of Wash- 

 ington, on the day designated in the foregoing resolution, 

 to meet such commissioners as may be appointed by any 

 of the said States, in accordance with the foregoing reso- 

 lution. 



Resolved, That if said commissioners, after full and free 

 conference, shall agree upon any plan of adjustment requir- 

 ing amendments of the Federal Constitution, for the further 

 security of the rights of the people of the slaveholding 

 States, they be requested to communicate the proposed 

 amendments to Congress, for the purpose of haviug the 

 same submitted by that body, according to the forms of the 

 Constitution, to the several States for ratification. 



Resolved, That if said commissioners cannot agree on 

 snch adjustment, or, if agreeing, Congress shall refuse to 

 submit for ratification such amendments as may be pro- 

 posed, then the commissioners of this State shall imme- 

 diately communicate the result to the Executive of this 

 Commonwealth, to be by him laid before the convention of 

 the^>eople of Virginia and the General Assembly : Provided, 

 that the said commissioners be subject at all times to the 

 control of the General Assembly, or, if in session, to that of 

 the State Convention. 



Resolved, That in the opinion of the General Assembly 

 of Virginia, the propositions embraced in the resolutions 

 presented to the Senate of the United States by Hon. John 

 J. Crittenden so modified as that the first article proposed 

 as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 

 shall apply to all the territory of the United States now held or 

 hereafter acquired south of latitude 36 30', and provide that 

 slavery of the African race shall be effectually protected as 

 property therein during the continuance of the territorial 

 government, and the fourth article shall secure to the owners 

 of slaves the right of transit with their slaves between and 

 through the non-slaveholding States and Territories con- 

 stitute the basis of such an adjustment of the unhappy 

 controversy which now divides the States of this Con- 

 federacy, as would be accepted by the people of this Com- 

 monwealth. 



Resolved, That ex-President John Tyler is hereby ap- 

 pointed, by the concurrent vote of each branch of the 

 General Assembly, a commissioner to the President of the 

 United States; and Judge John Robertson is hereby ap- 

 pointed, by a like vote, a commissioner to the State of South 

 Carolina, and the other States that have seceded, or shall 

 secede, with instructions respectfully to request the Presi- 

 dent of the United States and the authorities of such States 

 to agree to abstain, pending the proceedings contemplated 

 by the action of this General Assembly, from any aud all 

 acts calculated to produce a collision of arms between the 

 States and the Government of the United States. 



Resolved, Thateopies of the foregoing resolutions be forth- 

 with telegraphed to the Executives of the several States, and 

 also to the President of the United States; and that the 

 Governor be requested to inform, without delay, tho 

 commissioners of their appointment by the foregoing reso- 

 lutions. 



A copy from tho rolls. 



WILLIAM F. GORDON, JR., 



C. H. D. and K. li. of Virginia. 



