Battle of Fort Sumter.
There are two distinct classes of people in South Carolina,—the lowlanders and the uplanders. The settlers of the lowlands were emigrants from England and France, gentlemen with aristocratic ideas. The settlers of the uplands, in the western counties, were pioneers from Virginia and North Carolina,—small farmers, cultivating their own lands. During the Revolutionary war the uplanders were Whigs, the lowlanders Tories. The lowlanders had wealth, the uplanders were poor. When the Constitution was formed, organizing a State government, the lowlanders took care of their own interests. The lowlands in Colonial times were divided into parishes, and with the forming of the Constitution each parish was to have a Senator. The uplands, not being parishes, were districts of much larger territorial area, hence political power fell into the hands of a few individuals along the coast. As white population increased in the districts, and decreased or remained stationary in the parishes, the up-country men tried to emancipate themselves from political serfdom, but there was no remedy except by an amendment to the Constitution, through a Convention called by the Legislature; and as the lowlanders had control of that body, there was no redress. The State, therefore, became an engine of political power, managed and worked by a few men from Charleston, Beaufort, St. Helena, Edisto, Colleton, and other parishes along the sea-coast.
Nature gave South Carolina sunny skies and a genial clime. The sea contributed an atmosphere which gained for Edisto and St. Helena islands the monopoly in the world's markets for cotton of finest fibre. Wealth increased with the gathering in of each new crop, and with wealth came additional power. Superiority of political privilege made the few impatient of restraint and ambitious not only to control State, but national affairs. South Carolina attempted defiance of national law in 1832, and was defeated.
The parishes governed the State solely in the interests of slavery. It gave them power, to perpetuate which they made slavery aggressive. Here is exposed the root from which Secession sprung. Free labor in the North was a plant of vigorous growth. Slavery was slow. It left worn-out lands in its track. Hard work, brutality, and sin sent its victims to an early grave. Freedom was gaining ground. Slavery must be carried into the Territories and secure a foothold in advance of free labor. So the struggle began, and through pride, passion, and malignant hatred of the North Secession was at last accomplished.
Upon the assembling of the Legislature for the choice of Presidential electors, the President of the Senate, W. D. Porter, of Charleston, said to his fellow-legislators:—
"All that is dear and precious to this people,—life, fortune, name, and history,—all is committed to our keeping for weal or for woe, for honor or for shame. Let us do our part, so that those who come after us shall acknowledge that we were not unworthy of the great trusts devolved upon us, and not unequal to the great exigencies by which we were tried.... No human power can withstand or break down a united people, standing upon their own soil and defending their own firesides."[79]
They made their election. They thought it to be weal, but under God's providence it proved to be woe.
A Senator said:—
"We have two ways before us,—in one, whether we will or not, we must tread; for, in the event of this issue, there would be no repose. In both lie dangers, difficulties, and troubles, which no human foresight can foreshadow or perceive; but they are not equal in magnitude. One is beset with humiliation, dishonor, emeutes, rebellion,—with submission in the beginning to all, and at all times, and confiscation and slavery in the end. The other, it is true, has its difficulties and trials, but no disgrace. Hope, duty, and honor shine along the path. Hope beacons you to the end.... For himself he would unfurl the Palmetto flag, fling it to the breeze, and with the spirit of a brave man determine to live and die as became our glorious ancestors, and ring the clarion notes of defiance in the face of an insolent foe."[80]
When assembled in Hibernia Hall, in Charleston, since called Secession Hall, the delegates gave free utterance to their sentiments.