by Alan Sewell
“Is it really that bad, John?” Lincoln asked. “After all, you’re from Charleston, the very center of the Southern Rights movement. You weren’t deceived by their anti-Negro propaganda.”
“That was another era, Abe. When I was a young cub Charleston was a Federalist City, no different in outlook than Philadelphia. It was a commercial city. There were free Negroes in abundance. We believed that Abolition was inevitable. It was only later on that Charleston, like the rest of the state, became hardline on slavery. Don’t you see, gentlemen, that this is where we’re headed as a country! The Supreme Court has ruled that slaves may be carried into any state! My heavens, who would have believed just a few years ago that any court in the land would commit such an outrage? Now Davis and Douglas are in the White House with the power to appoint territorial governors and federal judges. They are going to turn this entire country against us. We won’t even be secure in the North, at least not anywhere other than New England.”
“So, what are you suggesting we do, John?” asked Congressman Sherman. “You might as well come right out and say it.”
Fremont said, very quietly so that no one outside the room could hear: “Gentlemen, the ultimate question before us is really nothing more or less than whether the Free States will remain free by combining together into a separate national sovereignty.” The men appeared relieved that Fremont had spoken what they were all thinking.
“We can’t answer that question now,” Fremont continued. “But we can let the people know that we’ve raised it so they can begin to consider it. We should send the resolutions that Garrison and I have drafted to the Free State legislatures for their consideration. That will fire the hearts of our Free State citizens with the idea that the time may come when the Free States must join together to preserve our rights as free men. We also should establish a permanent character for this convention so that Douglas and Davis will not view it as a temporary expression lacking in substance. I propose that the delegates from each state here assembled should elect one delegate from their state who will stay on as our permanent coordinating committee. The coordinating committee will have authority to reconvene this full convention at a later date if conditions warrant.” Fremont looked at Lincoln to gauge his reaction.
Lincoln rubbed his chin and closed his eyes. The foundations of his political views were the histories he had read of George Washington urging the states to set aside their differences and unite under a common national government. He envisioned a future United States united in prosperity and freedom, slavery extinguished by the consent of its people. He believed that subdividing the Union would be treasonous. Yet he began to see that a suffocating government might be imposed upon them by the Confederate Union. Perhaps the light of liberty would be snuffed out in the Free States before it could illuminate the Slave States.
This involves more than just slavery. Douglas has said in his inaugural address that the Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Negroes, and all other “inferior races” are destined to be forever excluded from citizenship and civil rights. He says we are to become a racially organized nation with the Whites on top and the colored peoples on bottom. He wants to conquer Mexico and convert it into a New South peopled by white plantation owners, Negro slaves, and Mexican peons. His Democratic Party will be busy in the North indoctrinating every immigrant workingman to despise Negroes, Mexicans, and all those other ‘inferior races.’ Under his administration the United States will recede from the Civilized Nations. It will become an isolated and belligerent power imposing slavery on free nations. I will have no part of it!
He opened his eyes and sat upright. Then he folded his hands together, leaned forward towering over the table, and said, “In light of John’s persuasive arguments, I withdraw my objection to this convention going on record with the resolutions that he and Garrison have proposed. I also have no objection to establishing a permanent character to the coordinating committee as he proposes.”
14
Charleston, South Carolina, April 11, 1861
“Douglas got his wings clipped, but good this time.” William Yancey laughed gleefully. “The old double-crossing buzzard will never fly again.” He waved the front page of the latest edition of The New York Tribune to reach Charleston:
European Proclamation on Containment of Slavery!
From London, England, March 26. The foreign ministers of the governments of Great Britain, France, and Spain have today issued a Joint Proclamation on Containment of Slavery warning that any intervention by the Slave-Holding States of America into Mexico will be met with a joint declaration of war. Britain’s foreign minister also declined the request by President Douglas to enter into discussions for the sale of its North American Possessions.
Republican Free State Convention to Issue Resolutions
From Cleveland, O., March 29. The Platform Committee of the Second Free State Convention is drafting resolutions to be voted on by the full Convention and, if approved, to be recommended to the Free State Legislatures.
Said John C. Fremont, President of the Convention:
“The citizens of the Free States will be guided by President Douglas’ very own Doctrine of Popular Sovereignty declaring that in regard to slavery the citizens of each locality shall determine for themselves which Acts of Congress and Supreme Court Rulings that they shall be bound to comply with. We will contribute neither manpower nor financial support to the reckless misadventures of the Douglas / Davis Administration in seeking to spread slavery into Mexico. Nor will we allow the Supreme Court to graft slavery onto the Free States by its excessive ruling in Dred Scott vs. Sanford.”
Robert Barnwell Rhett, publisher of the influential Charleston Mercury guffawed. “He damn well got his tail feathers shorn too, by both the Europeans and the Free Staters. You’d think he’d of learned by now that the Free Staters are going to keep turning his crazy ideas on Popular Sovereignty against him.”
Yancey and Rhett sat in the sloppy clutter of Rhett’s editorial office. Like newspaper offices everywhere, every nook and cranny was stuffed with faded yellow papers from years past.
“That’s not even anywhere near the worst of it,” replied Yancey, continuing to read from the newspaper account. “The Free Staters are coordinating with the British. Judging by the date of the European Proclamation the British knew weeks in advance that Fremont was going to stand with them against our acquisition of Mexico. Making common cause with a foreign power is treason in my book.”
“It certainly is,” agreed Rhett, sitting back lazily and throwing his feet over the footstool. “I don’t think the Europeans would have been so bold if Fremont hadn’t told them that the Free States were with them. You know, I’m generally well disposed toward the Brits, but I’m not sure I like them telling us what we can and can’t do on our own continent. Can’t say as I blame them for wanting to keep the Canadas, but Mexico is in our bailiwick. They sure as shootin’ turned the Monroe Doctrine against us on that one.”
Yancey threw down the paper. “I wonder how Davis feels now about being tricked into throwing in with Douglas. If he’d listened to us he’d be president of our Southern Republic now, not sitting with his pants down in Douglas’ outhouse.”
Rhett rolled his eyes. “About all we can hope for now is that Douglas kicks the bucket, and then maybe we’ll be able to talk some sense into Davis. I don’t fancy sitting here on our rear ends, counting the days until that old buzzard dies….hell, he might live ‘til the Second Coming for all we know.”
Yancey drew a sly smile as the conversation moved in the direction he anticipated. “Bob, now’s the time for me to let you in on a project I’ve been brewing since late last year. I would have told you about it sooner, but I didn’t know for sure if it was going to be worth pursuing until now. It makes perfect sense now, with the British and French checkmating Douglas, and with the Free States agitating in his rear.”
Rhett perked up in his chair. “What do you have under your hat this time?”
“I’m thinking of sending Jeff Buford and a couple dozen of his best men into Michigan to recover some runaway slaves. I’ve purchased title to the slaves, so legally they’re mine. I’ve given him a plan to ferry the slaves across Lake Michigan into Indiana then get them down the Wabash to Kentucky. The Yankees will be looking for him everywhere except in that direction, so he’s got a fair chance of getting back across the Ohio. I’d appreciate your help in financing this venture, if you think it’s something you’d like to participate in.”
“Hell, yes!” cried Rhett. “I’ll write you a check faster than a bell clapper in a goose’s ass. You know how much I’d love to tweak the Yankees by taking those Niggers out from under them. How much do you need?”
“I’ve committed thirty thousand dollars.”
Yancey thought that the tight-fisted newspaper editor was about to have a heart attack. Rhett gulped but proved true to his word. “How about if I front you five thousand? I’ll ask my subscribers to kick in the rest when your men get back with the Niggers. Hell, they’ll probably commit enough coin to fund this raid plus several more.”
“Bet they will!” Yancey laughed. “I am much obliged.” He leaned back and relaxed, much relieved that the financing would be shared. “This raid is going to make the Yankees madder’n a wet hen in a tote sack. They’ll likely try to declare their independence from our Confederate Union. One of two things will happen then. Douglas and Davis will either let them go, which means we’ll be rid of them for good and all, or else they’ll try to reclaim them. If they do we’ll go up there and kick their tails. We’ll put our men in control of those states. We’ll reconstruct them so that they’ll never bother us again. Doesn’t matter to me which way it pans out, as long as we get the Republicans and Abolitionists out of our hair.”
Rhett picked up on the thought. “I reckon the raid will be well worth our investment. With the Republicans and Abolitionists suppressed we’d be able to regain control of the West. We’d be able to bring our slaves into Kansas, Colorado, and Nevada. We could split California, like we should have done in 1850. There’s good land in California that we could turn into slave plantations. We could put a lot of Niggers to work on those gold and silver mines. Put ‘em to work building railroads too. There’d be a lot of money to be made, that’s for sure.”
“Exactly,” said Yancey. “Then, after we’ve taken the West, we’ll be strong enough to stare down the European meddlers in Mexico. Hell, now that I think about it, I don’t know if I even want Mexico any more, not if I can get our own Far West and California. Mexico’s too full of Greasers. We go in there and our boys will be marrying the senoritas. Next thing you know and we’ll be mongrelized.”
“The senoritas are liable to turn our boys into Catholics too,” Rhett theorized, “and the Catholics are worse than Yankees when it comes to opposing slavery. We’ve had problems with a few of ‘em agitating against slavery right here in Charleston.”
“So maybe we better let the Greasers keep their country…..for now,” Yancey agreed. “We’ll take the West, all of it, away from the Yankees and then we’ll figure a way to convince Spain that it ought to sell us Cuba. The Brits can’t very well object to us bringing slavery into a colony that already has it. We’ll decide what to do about Mexico later on.”
Rhett smirked. “Looks like that’ll keep everybody happy. Let the French have Mexico for the time being. The British can keep their icebox in the Canadas. We’ll get the West and then work on Cuba and maybe Mexico after that. Everybody’ll be happy with that deal.”
Yancey snorted. “Everybody ‘cept the Damn Yankees!”
15
Cass County, Michigan, May 6, 1861
Eddie Bates came into the kitchen smiling at his wife Emma. The smell of her cooking bacon and eggs on the stove mixed with the fragrance of spring from the budding plants outside the open window. The sun was just below the horizon and the deep purple of pre-dawn rimmed the horizon.
Part of Eddie’s cheer derived from the latest edition of the North Star Liberator.
“The 2nd Cleveland Convention done passed some powerful-sounding resolutions and sent them on to the Free State Legislatures for ratification,” he told Emma. “You know, they kept those resolutions secret for thirty days so’s the Free State Legislatures could consider them out of the public eye, but now the cat is out of the bag. Here they are:”
We, the citizens of the United States of Free America, in order to restore our country to its founding principle that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, do hereby solemnly and jointly declare the following resolutions:
1. Resolved, that all residents of the Free States are now and forever shall be free.
2. Resolved, that the so-called Fugitive Slave Laws are rendered nugatory by the application of Popular Sovereignty, the doctrine our current President defines as granting to each citizen the right to decide for himself whether to uphold or ignore the laws governing slavery. No citizen may be coerced into assisting with the return of any Free State resident to slavery.
3. Resolved, that citizens of the Free States may commit themselves to actively protecting Free State residents, including those of Color, and to resist by all means their kidnapping and return to slavery by the agents of the Slave Power.
4. Resolved, that the citizens of the Free States will resist any and all attempts by the Slave Power to expand its territory through the instigation of wars of aggression against foreign nations, including, but not limited to, Mexico, Cuba, and the other Nations of the Caribbean and Central America.
“There’s more, but those are the important ones.”
Emma was still in her nightclothes. She was expecting to stay home and clean house as there was no need to accompany Eddie into the bakery they ran in Cassopolis today. The dogs in the yard started howling.
“Dogs barking up a storm,” Emma said.
“Guess that ol’ fox is back to making his mornin’ rounds,” Eddie replied.
Then the door burst open. Jefferson Buford and four of his men swarmed in.
Eddie’s voice pitched high. He jumped up and shouted, “What do you mean bustin’ in….” Before he could finish the men knocked him off his feet, rolled him over and cuffed his hands and feet with shackles.
“Shut up, Nigger,” one of the men said. “You holler out again and I’ll knock your candle out.” He stuffed a rag in Eddie’s mouth and tied it around his head.
For some reason which she could not explain, Emma remained calm. Something inside her told her that she must not lose her temper or appear to be frightened of these men. “Who are you men? What do you want with us?” she asked in a matter-of-fact voice.
Her calmly polite manner threw Buford off his stride. A practiced slave catcher would have bound and gagged Emma before she had a chance to open her mouth. But Buford had not captured runaway slaves before and his heart had not hardened to the task. He was torn between the ancient Southern dilemma of whether to regard slaves as property or human beings. Moreover Emma was a woman, and a light-skinned one at that. Buford wondered if she had ever tried to “pass” herself as white. She could probably do so with slight effort to lighten her skin and bleach her hair. Instinctively he answered Emma with the courtesy he would use in speaking to a white woman.
“We are here to recover runaway slaves, ma’am. I regret to say that this includes you and your husband. There is no question about your being runaways. I have the papers proving it and if need be will use them to compel the sheriffs and federal marshals in these parts to assist me with your return to your lawful owner. Now please come along with us peaceably. We can hardly bear to think of using force on a woman, but the law allows it if we have to. Please don’t make it necessary.”
Eddie’s stomach churned at these words. He had been walking on air with the breath of freedom that the Cleveland Convention had blown across the North, and now he was destined to return to the life of degradation his father had brought
him away from! And Emma was to be returned to slavery too. Eddie felt for the first time the slave’s ultimate humiliation of being unable to protect his family. He and Emma might be sold to separate masters, might never see each other again. With a mind-numbing shock of recognition Eddie understood that his recurring nightmares of being returned to slavery had not been idle dreams.
Amidst this calamity Emma felt herself steadied by a power larger than herself.
“Well, sirs, if that’s the way it has to be, then that’s the way it has to be,” she replied cordially. “Law’s on your side. I’ll come with you and won’t make no fuss. Only thing is, I’m in my nightclothes. Please allow me a few minutes to get dressed, if’n you will. You don’t want to bring back a woman who’s caught pneumonia, I don’t reckon. While I’m changing you men help yourselves to the breakfast that’s cooking. No use letting it go to waste.”
“Much obliged ma’am,” said Buford, thankful for the cooperation. “Please be quick.”
“This is one Nigger wench that talks sense,” agreed one of his men. “Let’s get our breakfast. I’m hungry.” He opened the door and called to the other men who had been watching outside to come in.
The men enjoyed their helpings of bacon and coffee. After a few minutes Buford noticed that Emma had not come out of her room. He knocked on her door. No answer. He knocked again and then shouted for her to come out. Then with a sinking feeling he opened the door. In the darkness he did not see her. Nor did he see the door to the walk-through closet that led outside. By that time Emma was a half mile away, riding toward Sheriff Parker’s office on the horse she had quietly let out of the barn.
