Secession, Part 2

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VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English by the
Voice of America.

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South Carolina withdrew from the United States on December
twentieth, eighteen-sixty. It withdrew because a Republican, Abraham
Lincoln, had been elected president. The Republican Party wanted to
stop slavery from spreading into the western territories. Southern
states believed they had a constitutional right to take property,
including slaves, anywhere. They also feared that any interference
with slavery would end their way of life.

I'm Larry West. Today, Frank Oliver and I tell what happened
after South Carolina seceded from the Union.

VOICE TWO:

South Carolina faced several problems after it seceded. The most
serious problem was what to do with property owned by the federal
government. There were several United States forts in and around the
Port of Charleston. Fort Moultrie had fewer than seventy soldiers.
Castle Pinckney had only one. And Fort Sumter, which was still being
built, had none.

The commander of the forts asked for more men. Without them, he
said, he could not defend the forts. The army refused. It told the
commander to defend the forts as best he could. He was told to do
nothing that might cause South Carolina to attack. If South Carolina
attacked, or planned to attack, then he could move his men into the
fort that would be easiest to defend. That would probably be the new
one, Fort Sumter.

VOICE ONE:

The governor of South Carolina planned to stop any movement of
federal troops. He ordered state soldiers to stop every boat in
Charleston Harbor. They were to permit no United States troops to
reach Fort Sumter. If any boat carrying troops refused to stop, the
state soldiers were to sink it and seize the fort.

Six days after South Carolina seceded from the Union, the
commander of Charleston's forts decided to move his men to Fort
Sumter. They would move as soon as it was dark.

The federal troops crossed the port in small boats. The state
soldiers did not see them. The governor was furious when he learned
what had happened. He demanded that the federal troops leave Fort
Sumter. The commander said they would stay.

The governor then ordered state soldiers to seize the other two
forts in Charleston Harbor. And he ordered the state flag raised
over all other federal property in the city.

VOICE TWO:

President James Buchanan, who
would leave office in just a few months, was forced to deal with the
situation. His cabinet was deeply divided on the issue. The
southerners wanted him to recognize South Carolina and order all
federal troops out of Charleston Harbor. The northerners said he
must not give up any federal property or rights.

The President agreed to meet with three representatives from
South Carolina. They had come to Washington to negotiate the future
of federal property in their state. The Attorney General said the
meeting was a mistake.

"These gentlemen," he said, "claim to be ambassadors of South
Carolina. This is foolish. They cannot be ambassadors. They are
law-breakers, traitors, and should be arrested. You cannot negotiate
with them."

VOICE ONE:

The Attorney General and the Secretary of State threatened to
resign if President Buchanan gave in to South Carolina's demands.
The President finally agreed not to give in.

He said he would keep federal troops in Charleston Harbor. And he
said Fort Sumter would be defended against all hostile action. On
the last day of eighteen-sixty, he ordered two-hundred troops and
extra supplies sent to Fort Sumter.

The war department wanted to keep the operation secret. So the
troops and supplies were put on a fast civilian ship, instead of a
slower warship. It was thought that a civilian ship could get into
Charleston Harbor before state forces could act.

But a southern Senator learned of the operation. He warned the
governor of South Carolina. When the ship arrived in Charleston
Harbor, South Carolina soldiers were waiting.

VOICE TWO:

The soldiers lit a cannon and fired a warning shot. The ship
refused to stop. Other cannons then opened fire.

The commander of federal troops at Fort Sumter had a difficult
decision to make. He had received permission to defend the fort, if
attacked. But his orders said nothing about defending ships. He knew
that if he opened fire, the United States and South Carolina would
be at war.

The decision was made for him. South Carolina's cannons finally
hit the ship. The ship slowed, then turned back to sea. It returned
north with all the troops and supplies.

VOICE ONE:

The commander of Fort Sumter sent a message to the governor of
South Carolina.

"Your forces," he wrote, "fired this morning on a civilian ship
flying the flag of my government. Since I have not been informed
that South Carolina declared war on the United States, I can only
believe that this hostile act was done without your knowledge or
permission. For this reason -- and only this -- I did not fire on
your guns."

If, the commander said, the governor had approved the shelling,
it would be an act of war. And he would be forced to close the Port
of Charleston. No ship would be permitted to enter or leave.

The governor's answer came back within hours. He said South
Carolina was now independent. He said the attempt by the United
States to strengthen its force at Fort Sumter was clearly an act of
aggression. And he demanded that the commander surrender.

VOICE TWO:

During the crisis over Fort Sumter, Congress tried to find a
compromise that might prevent war. Lawmakers proposed a new line
across the country. South of the line, slavery would be permitted.
North of the line, slavery would be illegal.

Many Republicans supported the proposal, even though the
Republican Party opposed the spread of slavery into the western
territories.

One Republican, however, rejected
the idea completely. He was Abraham Lincoln, who would take office
as President in March. Lincoln said there could be no compromise on
extending slavery. "If there is," he said, "then all our hard work
is lost. If trouble comes, it is better to let it come now than at
some later time."

VOICE ONE:

The trouble would come soon. One by one, the states of the south
seceded.

By February first, eighteen sixty-one, six states had followed
South Carolina out of the Union. A few days later, representatives
from the states met in Montgomery, Alabama. Their job was to create
a new nation. It would be an independent republic called the
Confederate States of America.

The convention approved a constitution for the new nation. The
document was like the Constitution of the United States, but with
major changes. The southern constitution gave greater importance to
the rights of states. And it said there could be no laws against
slavery.

The convention named former United States Senator Jefferson Davis
to be president of the Confederate States of America.

Davis did not want civil war. But he was not afraid of it. He
said: "Our separation from the old Union is complete. The time for
compromise has passed. Should others try to change our decision with
force, they will smell southern gunpowder and feel the steel of
southern swords."

VOICE TWO:

Jefferson Davis left his farm in Mississippi to become President
of the Confederate States of America on February eleventh. On that
same day, Abraham Lincoln left his home in Illinois to become
President of the United States.

As Lincoln got on the train that would take him to Washington, he
said:

"I now leave, not knowing when -- or whether ever -- I may
return. The task before me is greater than that which rested upon
our first president. Without the help of God, I cannot succeed. With
that assistance, I cannot fail. Let us hope that all yet will be
well."

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VOICE ONE:

You have been listening to the Special English program, THE
MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Larry West and Frank Oliver.
Our program was written by Frank Beardsley.