Jefferson Davis: Resolutions to the U.S. Senate on the Relations of States

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Slavery and its expansion into the territories were at the center of political discourse in the United States for much of the 1850s. Tensions between the North and the South were enhanced by numerous factors, including the enforcement of a more stringent Fugitive Slave Act, enacted in 1850; the 1857 Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case, which held that Congress had no constitutional power to exclude slavery in the territories; and the raid on Harpers Ferry by John Brown in October 1859.

The resolutions offered by Davis in the Senate in February 1860 were not an attempt to make law, nor did they suggest any legislative action. As the preeminent spokesperson of southern Democrats, Davis sought to firmly state the position of the South on key issues, most important of which was congressional protection of slavery in the territories, in anticipation of the upcoming presidential election. Davis's position contradicted that of the Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas, the prospective presidential nominee of the northern wing of the Democratic Party, who supported popular sovereignty, or the right of residents of the territories to make their own decisions about slavery. Critics accused Davis of attempting to dictate the platform for the upcoming Democratic Party convention, but it could also be argued that Davis was seeking to prevent Douglas and his followers from precipitating conditions that would cause the South to secede.

The resolutions clearly demonstrate the division between northern and southern Democrats over slavery, including slavery in the territories; in many ways they sounded the death knell for Democratic Party unity in the 1860 election. Although they were subsequently debated and minor revisions made, the resolutions did not come to a vote in the Democratic caucus until after the Democratic National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina, held from April 23 to May 3, 1860. As front-runner, Douglas failed to receive the needed two-thirds majority, and the convention adjourned. On May 25 the resolutions were passed by a Democratic majority in the Senate. The convention reconvened in June in Baltimore, Maryland. With many delegates storming out in protest, Douglas ultimately received the nomination of the party. The southern wing of the Democratic Party met separately and nominated John C. Breckenridge, adopting many of the tenets of Davis's resolutions. This split in the Democratic Party virtually assured the election of the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln.

The first resolution asserts the validity of the compact theory of the union, arguing that by accepting statehood the several states did not abandon their sovereignty and that if the states found the actions of the federal government unacceptable, they could secede. It goes on to state that any interference by other states, the federal government, or individuals with “domestic institutions”—a euphemism for slavery—is a violation of the provisions of the Constitution and could result in the breakup of the Union. The second resolution states that Negro slavery is a vital institution in fifteen slaveholding states and that no matter what northerners thought about the institution, their opinions and feelings did not justify an attack on slavery. This was a direct attack on the abolitionist movement in the North.

At the heart of the document is the proposition set forth in the fourth resolution, which states that neither Congress nor a territorial legislature possesses the power under the Constitution to deprive a citizen of the right to take his property in slaves into federal territory. It proposes that if the judicial and executive branches of government fail to protect the property rights of slave owners, which southerners saw as guaranteed by the Constitution, it was incumbent on the Congress to pass appropriate legislation to do so. Finally, the resolution declares that the so-called personal liberty laws passed by a number of northern states that attempted to subvert the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 violated the Constitution and were abhorrent to the South.

An understanding of the resolutions is important to an appreciation of the political climate that led up to the election of 1860. The resolutions show Davis's political influence outside the Senate and his involvement in party politics and demonstrate not only his importance as a spokesperson for the South but also the uncompromising position of the South regarding the maintenance of the institution of slavery, which was so vital to its economic and social existence.