| [374] | See Richmond Enquirer, March 9th, 1861. |
| [375] | Richmond Dispatch, March 13th, 1861. |
XXXIX
The Contest in the Virginia Convention for and
against Secession
For nearly a month and a half after President Lincoln's inauguration, the struggle in the Virginia Convention between the advocates and opponents of secession continued—a contest in which the champions of opposing sides living beyond the state sought to make their influence effective. Mr. Rhodes says: "It is easy to understand why both Davis and Lincoln were so anxious for the adhesion of Virginia. Her worth was measured by the quality as well as the number of her men."[[376]]
COERCION THE PIVOTAL FACT
Henry Wilson records in his Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America:
"There was no state concerning whose course there was greater doubt or more anxious solicitude than Virginia. Her size, position, traditional influence and past leadership, with the knowledge that in whichever side of the scale her great weight should be thrown, the fortunes of the threatened conflict would be seriously affected thereby, intensified the anxiety felt."[[377]]