tf Vu£.-% \XdY£*ftof Library of The University of North Carolina COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA ENDOWED BY JOHN SPRUNT HILT, of the Class of 1889 Cp 3 70,71- 1/3*3-1 Digitized by the. Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/messagefromhisexnort tp zioji - o r^ar { 14tJljl ) {UXECUTIVE Doc. 15.] MESSAGE FROM HIS EXCELLENCY, GOV. DAVID S. REID, Transmitting Communications from THE GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE NASHVILLE CONVENTION. RALEIGH: Thos. J. Lemaj, Printer to the State. 1831. House Coms. Jan. 3rd, 1851. [Read and ordered to be sent to the Senate.] Senate, Jan. 4th, 1851. [Ordered to be printed.] Executive Office, ) January 2nd, 1851. I To the Honorable, The General Asseihbly of the Stale of North Carblina; I have the honor herewith to transmit a communication received from his Excellency the Governor of South Caro- lina, enclosing an act passed r>v the Legislature of that State to provide for calling a Southern Convention, &c And al- so, a communication from the President of the Nashville Convention, in relation to the Shivery question, and the rights of the States. DAVID S. REID [The Communications referred to are marked A and;: and follow in the order in which they are mentioned in foregoing letter from the Governor.] [A.] COMMUNICATION From the Governor of South Car olina. Executive Department, ) Columbia, So. Ca. 21 Deer. 1850. ^ To His Excellency, David S. Reid, Governor of the State op North Carolina: Dear Sir, — By direction of the Legislature of the State of South Carolina, I send you the Act passed at its late sit- ting, which is herewith enclosed. I need scarcely remind your Excellency that the common dangers with which onr Institutions are threatened, call loudly upon the South to be united, that they may be averts ed. The course pursued towards us by our Northern breth ren, if not checked, must involve notor.ly our Institutions, but ourselves, in ruin. The history of the legislation ot Congress for the last few years, is such as to prove that ag gressions upon the South will not cease, but move onward. The Constitution is, in my humble judgment, entirely disre garded, and the only hope we can possibly have that our liberties or our Institutions can be permanent, is to be deriv- ed from ourselves. I have little doubt but that your Ex- cellency will agree with me, that the interests of the States over which we have the honor to preside are the same, and this induces me earnestly to request your o-operation in carrying out the objects indicated in the Act. I have the honor to be, with distinguished consideration, your Excellency's obedient servant, J. H. MEANS. ii il STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA. •it a General Assembly begun and holden at Columbia oi the fourth Monday in November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and from thence •I continued by divers adjournments to the twentieth day of December, in the same year. AN ACT ■fo provide for the appointment of Deputies to a Southern 1 Congress, and to call a Convention of the people of this State. Whereas, the Convention of the slave-holding States late- nt assembled at Nashville, have lecommended to the said tates to meet in Congress or Convention, to be held at such me and place as the States desiring to be represented may esignate •, to be composed of double the number of their enators and Representatives in the Congress of the United tates, entrusted with full power and authority to deliberate, nth the view and intention of arresting further aggressions, nd, if possible, of restoring the Constitutional rights of the outh, and if not, to recommend due provision for their fu- uo safety and independence. Sec. 1, Beit enacted by the Senate and llou$eofHepre- midlives, noiv met and silting in General Assembly, and y the authority of the same, That eighteen deputies shall a appointed in the manner hereinafter provided, who are ereby authorized, as deputies from the- Slate, to meet such eptities as may be appointed and authorized by any other ave-liolding State in Congress or Convention as above re- Dmmended, and to join with thern in discussing and de- ising such measures, as in their opinion may be adequate to •>t.ain the objects proposed by the said Convention at Nash- LUe, and in reporting such measures to the said several s-'av- Holding States, as when agreed to and lully confirmed by them, or any of them will effectually provide for the same. Sec. II. Four of the said deputies shall be elected by joint ballot of the General Assembly at its present session, and the qualified voters in each Congressional District in this State shall elect two, at such time as is hereinafter prescribed. Sec. III. The Governor of this State shall issue writs ot election to the Managers of Election, requiring them to hold elections in their respective Congressional Districts on the second Monday in October next, and the day following', for two deputies to the said Congress, in each Congressional dis- trict; aud the said Managers shall thereupon advertize and hold such elections, and make due return thereof to the Gov- ernor. Sec. IV. That the Governor shall duly commission all the said deputies, so to be elected by the General Assembly and by the people; and shall, in concert with the Governors or other proper authorities of other States joining in such Congress, appoint the time and pace of maeting, and give due notice thereof; and any of the deputies on the part of this State, who may attend at such time and place, shall have full power to represent the State, as hereinbefore pro- vided. Sec. V. And us it further enacted hy the authority ajore- said, That a Convention of the people of the State of South Carolina is hereby ordained to be assembled in the Town of Columbia, as hereinafter provided, for the purpose, in the first place, of taking into consideration the proceedings and recommendations of a Congress of the slaveholding States, if ihe same shall meet and be held: and for the further purpose if taking into consideration the general welfare of this State in view of her relations to the laws and Government of the United Slates, and thereupon, to take care that the Common- wealth of South Carolina shall suffer no detriment. Sec. VI. Jlndbeit further enactedb tj the authority afore- said. That on the second Monday in February next, and on the day following, the managers of elections for the several I 9 Districts in this State shall, after giving public notice, as in ,;ases of elections for Members of the Legislature, open the Dolls and hold elections in their respective Districts lor Def- lates to the said Convention, in all respects in the same (manner and form ana at the same places, as elections are low conducted fjr Members of the Legislature. And all )ersons who are qualified and entitled, by the Constitution ind laws of this State, to vote for Members of the Legislature, ihail be qualified and entitled to vote for said Delegates to said Donvenlion; and in case of any vacancy occurring by death, esignation, removal from the State, of refusal to serve, of any >erson elected a Delegate to the said Convention, the presi- ling officer of the said Convention shall issue his writ aut- horizing and requiring the managers of elections, iri he election district in which such vacancy may have 'CCUTed, after giving due notice thereof, to open a poll ,nd hold an election to fill such vacancy, as in cases for the election of Members of the Legislature. Sec. VII. And be it further enacted by the authority foresaid, That each election district throughout the State hall be entitled to elect and send to the said Convention, a mmber of Delegates equal to the whole number of Senators nd Representatives which such District is now entitled to end to the Legislature; and the Delegates to the said Con- ention shall be entitled to the same freedom of arrest in go- ng to, returning from, and whilst in attendance on said Con- dition, as is extended to the Members of the Legislature. Sac. VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority foresaid; That all free white male citizens of this State, of :ie age of twenty-one years and upwards, shall be eligible to seat in said Convention. ! Sec. IX. And be it further enacted by the authority a- brcsaid, That the Governor be and is hereby requested, orthwirh, after the passage of this Act, to communicate an lithe n tic copy ot the same to the Executive of each of the laveholding States of the Union, and to urge upon the said uthoriiies, in such manner as he may deern best, the desire [Sig. 2, Ex. Dor. 15.] 10 of the State of South Carolina that the said slaveholding States do send duly commissioned deputies, to meet the dep- uties herein provided to be elected, at the city of Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, on the 2nd day of January, Anno Domino, 1852. Sec. X. And be it further enacted by the authority 0- Joresaid, That it shall be the duty of his Excellency, the Governor of the State, by his Proclamation, to call together said Convention, and appoint the time for the meeting there- of, whenever or at any period, before the next session of this General Assembly, the conjuncture of a Southern Congress, contemplated Li the purpose of this Act,, shall have happen- ed : Provided, That in case the Governor shall not assemble the Convention anterior to the next session of this Legisla- ture, this general Assembly shall, by a majority of votes, fix the time lor the meeting of said Convention. That the said Convention may be continued by adjourn- ment from time to time, so long as may be necessary for the purposes aforesaid : Provided, however, that unless sooner dissolved by their own authorily, the said convention shall cease and determine twelve months from the day on which the said Convention shall first assemble. In the Senate House, the twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and in the seventy fifth year of the Sovereignty and Inde- pendence of the United States of America. R. F. W. ALLSTON, President of Senate. JAMES SIMONS, Speaker of the House of Representatives. A true copy. B. V. Welts, Sec'ty Executive Department. [B.] COMMUNICATION From the President of the Nash- ville Convention. Marietta, Geo., / 2nd Dec, 1850. \ Sir : — I have the honor to forward to you a copy o-f the preamble and resolutions, adopted by the Southern Conven- tion, at its late session in Nashville. You will perceive that it was the expectation of the Convention that this document would be laid betore your Legislature, at as early a day as it may suit your Excellency's convenience, with ihe hope that their proceedings may produce harmony of action, a- mong the States interested in the subject to which they re- late. I have the honor to be, Yeiy respectfully, Your obedient servant, CHARLES McDONALP, To Governor Reid, OF THE SOUTHERN CONTENTION. Southern Convention, ) November \8lh, 1S50. ) The following Preamble and Resolutions were reported by the Committee on Resolutions, and adopted by the Con- vention : , We, the delegates assembled from a portion of the States of this Confederacy, make this exposition of the causes which have brought us together, and of the rights which the States we represent are entitled to under the compact of union. We have amongst us two races, marked by such distinc- tions of color, and pysical and moral qualities, as forever for- bid their living together on terms of social and political e- quality. The black race have been slaves from the earliest settle- ment of our country, and our relations of master and slave have grown up from that time. A change in those relations must end in convulsion, and the entire ruin of one or both races. When the constitution was adopted, this relation of mas- ter and slave, as it exists, was expressly recognized and guarded in that instrument. It was a great and vital inter- est, involving our very existence as a separate people, then as well as now. The States of this Confederacy acceded to that compact each one for itself, and ratified it as States. 14 If the non-slaveholding Stales, who are parties to that; compact, disregard its provisions, and endanger our peace j and existence by united and deliberate action, we have a' right, as Slates, there beit»g no common arbiter, to secede. The object of those who are urging on the Federal Gov- ernment in its aggressive policy upon our domestic institu-; tions, is, beyond all doubt, finally to overthrow them, and] abolish the existing relation between master and slave, We? feel authorized to assert this from their own declarations, and from the history of events in this country for the last few years. To abolish slavery or the slave trade in the District of Columbia — to regulate the saleand transfer of slaves between the States — to exclude slaveholders with their property from the territories — to admit California under the circumstances of the case, we hold to be all parts of the same system of measures, and suborninate to the same end they have in view, which is openly avowed to be, the total overthrow of the institution. We make no aggressive move. We stand upon the de- fensive. We invoke the spirit of the Constitution, and claim itsguranties. Our rights — our independence — the peace and existence of our families — depend upon the issue. The Federal Goveinment has within a few years acquir- ed, by treaty and by triumphant war, vast territories. This has been done by the councils and the arms of all, and the benefits and rights belong alike and equally to all the States. The Federal Government is but the common agent of the States united, and represents their conjoined sovereignty over subject matter granted and defined in the compact. The authority it exercises over all acquired territory, must, in good faith, be exercised for the equil benefit of all the parlies. To prohibit our citizens from settling there with the most valuable part of our property, is not only degrading to us as equals, but violates oui highest constitutional rights. Restrictions and prohibitions against the slaveholding States it would appear, are to be the fixed and settled policy 15 of the Government— and those States that are hereafter U admitted into the Federal Union from their extensive terri* lories will but confirm and increase the power of the major- ity; and he knows little of history who cannot read our destiny in. the future if we fail* to do ow duty now, as free people. We have been harrassed and insulted by those who ought to have been our brethren in their constant agitation of a sub- ject vital to us an J the peace of our families. We have been outraged by their gross misrepresentations- of our moral and social habits, and by the manner in which they have de- nounced us before the world. We have had our property enticed off and the means of recovery denied us by our co- States. We have been denied out right? in the Territories of the Union, which we were entitled to as political equals un- der the constitution. Our peace has been endangered by in- cendiary appeals. The Union instead of being considered a fraternal bond, has been used as the means of striking at our vita! interests. Theadmision of California, under the circumstances of the case confirms an unauthorized and revolutionary seizure of public domain, and the exclusion of near half the Slates of the Confederacy from equal lights therein — destroys the .line of 36 30 which was originally acquiesced in as a mat- ter of compromise and peace r and appropriates to the North- ern States 120,000 square miles below that line, and is so gross and palpable a violation of the principles of justice and , equality as to shake our confidence in any security to be .given by that majority who are now clothed with power to govern the future destiny of this confederacy. The rec'ent purchase of territory by Con gress from Texa-s,.. ] as low down as 32 degrees on the IJio Grande,., also indicate that the boundaries of the slaveholding Stales are fixed, 1 , andJ our doom proscriped, so far as it depends upon the will of a> 'dominant majority, and nothing now can save us from a de- graded destiny bu: the spirit of freemen who know their « rights and are resolved to maintain them, be the consequence, s what they may. We have no powers that are binding upon the States we represent. But in order to produce system and ec ncerted action, we recommend the following resolutions, viz: Resolved, That we have ever cherishe.!, and do now cher- ish a cordia! attachment to the constitutional Union of the States and that to preserve and perpetuate that Ueiob unkn- paired, this Convention originated and has now re-assembled. Resolved, That the Union of the Slates is a Union of e- qual and independent sovereignties, and that the powers del- egated to tire Fed-era 1 Government, can be resumed by the several States, whenever it may seem to- them proper and necessary. Resolved, That all the evils anticipated by the Sonth, and' which occasioned* this Convention to assemble have been realized, by the faiinie to extend the Missouri line of Corn- promise to the Pacific Ocean; By the admission of California ;is ,a Stfite; 8y the organization of Territorial Governments for Uutband New Mexico, without giving adequate protec- tion tot.e property of the South; By ihe dismemberment of Texas; By the iHoliiion of the s-!ave' trade and -the emancipa- tion of slaves earned into the District of Columbia for sale. Resolved, Thit we earnestly recommend to all parties in the slav -holding St.Jes, to refuse to go into, or countenance any National (Vnvention, whose object may be to nominate candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the U- nited States, under any party denomination whatever, until our constitutional rights are secured. Resolved, That in view of these aggressions, and of those threatened and impending, we earnestly recommend to the slaveholding States, to meet in< a Congress or Convention, to he held at such lime and place as the States desiring to be represented, may designate, to be composed of double the number of their Senators and K'epresentati ves in the Con- gress of the United Statss, entrusted with full power and authority to deliberate and act with the view and intention ot arresting farther aggression, and if possible, of restoring ihe Consiiiutional rights of the South, and if not to provide for their future safety and independence. R solved. That the President of this Convention be "re- quested to forward copies o' the foregoing preamble and res- olutions to- the Governors ol each of the slaveholding States of the Union, to be laid before their icspective Legislatures at their eailicst assembling. CHAKLES J. McDCNALD, President. BRUBtiN CHAPMAN, Vice President. E. G\ Eastman, Secretary. Photomount Pamphlet Binder Gaylord Bros. Makers Syracuse, N. Y. PAT. M 21, 1808 UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00032722830 FOR USE ONLY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION Form No. A-368