Secession and the Theories of the Union.-In severing their relations with the union,the seceding states denied every point in the Northern theory of the Constitution.That theory,as every one knows,was carefully formulated by Webster and elaborated by Lincoln.According to it,the union was older than the states;it was created before the Declaration of Independence for the purpose of common defense.The Articles of Confederation did but strengthen this national bond and the Constitution sealed it forever.The federal govern-ment was not a creature of state governments.It was erected by the people and derived its powers directly from them."It is,"said Webster,"the people's Con-stitution,the people's government;made for the people;made by the people;and answerable to the people.The people of the United States have declared that this Constitution shall be the supreme law."When a state questions the lawfulness of any act of the federal government,it cannot nullify that act or withdraw from the union;it must abide by the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States.The union of these states is perpetual,ran Lincoln's simple argument in the first inaugural;the federal Constitution has no provision for its own termination;it can be destroyed only by some action not provided for in the instrument itself;even if it is a compact among all the states the consent of all must be necessary to its dissolution;therefore no state can lawfully get out of the union and acts of violence against the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary.This was the system which he believed himself bound to defend by his oath of office "registered in heaven."
All this reasoning Southern statesmen utterly rejected.In their opinion the thirteen original states won their independence as separate and sovereign powers.
The treaty of peace with Great Britain named them all and acknowledged them "to be free,sovereign,and independent states."The Articles of Confederation very explicitly declared that "each state retains its sovereignty,freedom,and independence."The Constitution was a "league of nations"formed by an alliance of thirteen separate powers,each one of which ratified the instrument before it was put into effect.They voluntarily entered the union under the Constitution and voluntarily they could leave it.Such was the constitutional doctrine of Hayne,Calhoun,and Jefferson Davis.In seceding,the Southern states had only to follow legal methods,and the transaction would be correct in every particular.So conventions were summoned,elections were held,and "sovereign assemblies of the people"set aside the Constitution in the same manner as it had been ratified nearly four score years before.Thus,said the Southern people,the moral judgment was fulfilled and the letter of the law carried into effect.
The Formation of the Confederacy.-Acting on the call of Mississippi,a congress of delegates from the seceded states met at Montgomery,Alabama,and on February 8,1861,adopted a temporaryplan of union.It selected,as provisional presi-dent,Jefferson Davis of Mississippi,a man well fitted by experience and moderation for leader-ship,a graduate of West Point,who had rendered distinguished service on the field of battle in the Mexican War,in public office,and as a member of Congress.
In March,a permanent constitution of the Confederate states was drafted.It was quickly ratified by the states;elections were held in November;and the government under it went into effect the next year.This new constitution,inform,was very much like the famous instrumentJefferson Davisdrafted at Philadelphia in 1787.It provided for a President,a Senate,and a House of Representatives along almost identical lines.In the powers conferred upon them,however,there were striking differences.The right to appropriate money for internal improvements was expressly withheld;bounties were not to be granted from the treasury nor import duties so laid as to promote or foster any branch of industry.The dignity of the state,if any might be bold enough to question it,was safeguarded in the opening line by the declaration that each acted "in its sovereign and independent character"in forming the Southern union.
Financing the Confederacy.-No government ever set out upon its careerwith more perplexing tasks in front of it.The North had a monetary system;the South had to create one.The North had a scheme of taxation that produced large revenues from numerous sources;the South had to formulate and carry out a financial plan.Like the North,the Confederacy expected to secure a large revenue from customs duties,easily collected and little felt among the masses.To this expectation the blockade of Southern ports inaugurated by Lincoln in April,1861,soon put an end.Following the precedent set by Congress under the Articles of Confederation,the Southern Congress resorted to a direct property tax apportioned among the states,only to meet the failure that might have been foretold.
