Neither of these
obligations was violated or neglected by the Southern States in their
secession.
[Footnote 104: Ray's "Louisiana Digest," vol. i, p. 24.]
CHAPTER XIV.
Early Foreshadowings.--Opinions of Mr. Madison and Mr. Rufus
King.--Safeguards provided.--Their Failure.--State
Interposition.--The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.--Their
Endorsement by the People in the Presidential Elections of 1800
and Ensuing Terms.--South Carolina and Mr. Calhoun.--The
Compromise of 1833.--Action of Massachusetts in
1843-'45.--Opinions of John Quincy Adams.--Necessity for
Secession.
From the earliest period, it was foreseen by the wisest of our statesmen
that a danger to the perpetuity of the Union would arise from the
conflicting interests of different sections, and every effort was made
to secure each of these classes of interests against aggression by the
other. As a proof of this, may be cited the following extract from Mr.
Madison's report of a speech made by himself in the Philadelphia
Convention on the 30th of June, 1787:
"He admitted that every peculiar interest, whether in any class
of citizens or any description of States, ought to be secured as
far as possible. Wherever there is danger of attack, there ought
to be given a constitutional power of defense. But he contended
that the States were divided into different interests, not by
their difference of size, but by other circumstances; the most
material of which resulted from climate, but principally from
the effects of their having or not having slaves.
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