700 



UNITED STATES. 



forts in the harbor of Charleston, had evidently 

 been, under consideration in the Cabinet, but was 

 deferred or delayed by the action of Secretary 

 Floyd. On the other hand, fears of these re- 

 enforcements were entertained by the author- 

 ities of that State, and on the 9th of December, 

 a part of the delegation in Congress gave their 

 assurances to the President that there would 

 be no immediate attempt to possess them. (See 

 page 654 for copy of their statement.) 



Assurances were given by the President, as it 

 is stated, that there should be no change in the 

 position of the troops at Charleston. 



On the 10th of December, the Secretary of 

 the Treasury, Ho well Cobb, resigned his office 

 and immediately left Washington for his resi- 

 dence in Georgia, where he was soon after elected 

 a member of the State Convention, and subse- 

 quently chosen, as a delegate to the Confederate 

 Congress, and appointed a brigadier-general 

 in the Confederate army. This resignation was 

 followed four days afterwards by that of the 

 Secretary of State, Lewis Cass. The explanation 

 given in the official paper was in these words : 



" To avoid all misconstruction or misstate- 

 ment of the reasons which caused this event, 

 we have taken pains to ascertain the true 

 cause. It is not that General Cass differed from 

 the President in regard to any portion of his 

 late Message. On the great question of coercing 

 a State to remain in the Union by military 

 force, the President and General Cass were per- 

 fectly united in opinion. The difficulty arose 

 from the fact that General Cass insisted that 

 a naval and military force should be sent im- 

 mediately to Charleston to reenforce the forts in 

 that harbor ; and that the President was of 

 opinion that there was no necessity for any such 

 measure, in order to secure the forts against 

 attack. This being the President's conviction, 

 he would not sanction a movement which 

 might lead to collision and bloodshed in the 

 present excited state of feelings in South Caro- 

 lina and other Southern States, and at a time 

 when every friend of the Union is using his 

 best efforts to prevent its dissolution, or, if that 

 be not possible, to avert the adoption of any 

 measure which would render its reconstruction 

 hopeless." 



General Cass was the oldest member of the 

 Cabinet. In early life, he emigrated from his 

 native State, New Hampshire, to Ohio, and 

 subsequently rose to distinction as Governor 

 of the Northwestern Territory, which became 

 the State of Michigan. He was subsequently 

 a member of the Cabinet of President Jackson, 

 a minister to Paris, senator from the State of 

 Michigan, and democratic candidate for the 

 Presidency in 1848. He was succeeded as Sec- 

 retary of State, by Attorney-General Black. 

 The office vacated by Mr. Cobb was filled by the 

 appointment of Philip F. Thomas, of Maryland. 



The question which arose between the Presi- 

 dent and General Cass was doubtless the most 

 difficult one ever before the Cabinet. At this 

 time the State Convention of South Carolina had 



not assembled. No overt act had been commit- 

 ted, no official step had been taken except the 

 passage of an act by the Legislature calling a 

 State Convention, which had often been done 

 in nearly all the States. Immediately upon 

 the opening of the session of Congress, meas- 

 ures had been introduced into each House for 

 the purpose of stopping the progress of the 

 secession movement, and healing the difficulties 

 of the country. The propositions of Mr. Crit- 

 tenden were before the Senate, and a flood of 

 measures of reconciliation, so far as it could 

 be done by a declaration of sentiments, was 

 brought forward in the House. Meantime the 

 people began to move in every Northern, Mid- 

 dle, and the upper tier of the Southern States, 

 in favor of a settlement of the difficulties. It 

 was an indisputable fact, at this time, that the 

 vote cast for Mr. Douglas, numbering 1,365,976, 

 and that cast for Mr. Bell, numbering 590,631, 

 and the vote for Mr. Breckinridge in the free 

 States, numbering 284,422, making a total of 

 2,241,029, was unanimously in favor of a peace- 

 able and reasonable settlement of all difficulties 

 with any of the Southern States. The vote for 

 Mr. Lincoln was 1,857,610, of which at least 

 one-fourth would have approved of such a 

 peaceable settlement of the difficulties as might 

 have been satisfactory to all the Southern 

 States, whose complaints were founded upon 

 questions connected with slavery. Of the vote 

 given to Mr. Breckinridge in the slaveholding 

 States, numbering 563,531, more than one- 

 fourth of it desired a peaceable settlement upon 

 such terms as would have been satisfactory to 

 the friends of conciliation and compromise in 

 the Northern States. Thus the voice of the 

 people of the country at this time was over- 

 whelmingly in favor of conciliation, forbear- 

 ance, and compromise. The remainder of those 

 who voted for Mr. Breckinridge were deter- 

 mined iipon secession if it could be accom- 

 plished, and a portion of those who voted for 

 Mr. Lincoln were determined that there should 

 be no concession, on the ground that the Consti- 

 tution and the laws were sufficient for the emer- 

 gency. This state of public sentiment con- 

 tinued for some time, and those in favor of 

 an adjustment indicated a decided opposition 

 to coercive measures against the Southern 

 States. The view which they then entertained 

 of coercion was subsequently expressed in the 

 emphatic words of Mr. Douglas : " You must 

 do one of two things : either settle the 

 difficulty amicably, or by the sword. An ami- 

 cable settlement is a perpetuation of the Union. 

 The use of the sword is war, disunion, and 

 separation, now and forever." Meantime the 

 Government, in its endeavors to act in con- 

 formity to these views of the country, mani- 

 fested the most extreme forbearance, even in 

 the presence of acts which, if proceeding from 

 a foreign power, would, by common consent, 

 have resulted in immediate war. 



On the 20th of December, 1860, the ordi- 

 nance of secession was passed by the State 





