The Country in Conflict: Executives and Events During the American Civil War

By Bob Navarro

After only 72 years in existence as an independent country, the United States succumbed to a civil war in 1861. President James Buchanan did very little to stem the tensions leading to the conflict, and the task fell to President Abraham Lincoln to save the Union from destruction. President Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy of seceded states fought an unsuccessful war against the Union based on maintaining states rights. When President Abraham Lincoln was murdered at the wars end in 1865, President Andrew Johnson inherited the job of readmitting the states involved in the rebellion back into the Union.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 24, 2008
• ISBN: 9781462821518

Bob Navarro

Espy and Robert Navarro are est graduates who first took the est training in August 1975. From several hundred hours of participation in various est seminars, they share the power, value and significance of the content and context of these consciousness raising events of the 1970’s. Twenty-six years later, they continue to benefit from this life-altering experience.

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Copyright © 2008 by Bob Navarro.

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Contents

The Greatest Internal Conflict

James Buchanan

The Single Term of James Buchanan

James Buchanan: Later Years

Vice President John C. Breckinridge

Abraham Lincoln

The First Term of Abraham Lincoln

The Emancipation Proclamation

The Gettysburg Address

The Income Tax

The Homestead Act

Education Land Grant Act

The Interrupted Term of Abraham Lincoln

The Assassination of President Lincoln

Vice President Hannibal Hamlin

Formation of the Confederate Government

Jefferson Davis

The Confederate Term of Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis: Later Years

Alexander Hamilton Stephens

The Civil War—1—The Context

The Civil War—2—Cause and Effect

The Civil War—3—1861—

The Beginning

The Civil War—4—1862—

Confederate Resistance

The Civil War—5—1863—

The Tide Turns

The Civil War—6—1864—

Year of Destruction

The Civil War—7—1865—

The End of the War

The Civil War—8—Aftermath

Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson:

Completion of President Lincoln’s Term

Andrew Johnson: Later Years

The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

The Thirteenth Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment

The Fifteenth Amendment

Survival of the Union

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

This book is dedicated to Espy, my angel and mate, and to my father-in-law, Isidro Montoya Mizquez, who is a source of inspiration for me.

The Greatest Internal Conflict

The Survival of the Nation

The Great Crisis

Perhaps the greatest challenge that can befall a nation is a conflict that results in a civil war. The United States, after barely being in existence as a constitutional government for only 72 years, experienced such an event in 1861. The reasons for the division between the North and the South centered on the slavery question and its economic effects, the tariffs—which mostly affected the South—and the unresolved issue of states’ rights1. The boiling point did not happen overnight, but instead was a buildup by a series of long-standing disputes that had simmered since the congressional debates on the Missouri Compromise of 1820. By the time that tensions boiled over, President James Buchanan remained mostly silent and inactive although he did attempt to make an effort towards conciliation and compromise.

The outcome of the1860 presidential and congressional elections—with Abraham Lincoln being elected as President—affected the Southern states enough that South Carolina seceded from the Union, with five other states following shortly. By the time the Civil War was underway, a total of eleven states had seceded from the Union to form a separate government under the Confederate States of America, with Jefferson Davis being elected as President of the Confederacy. The general expectation on both sides was that if a conflict started, a very short war would ensue—probably no more than three months duration. However, the dogged determination of both sides to win transformed the conflict into an all-reaching action that led to very fierce battles—and to the bloodiest war in American history2.

The American Civil War, which occurred between 1861 and 1865, remains as the most violent time in the history of the United States. More than 620,000 men lost their lives in fighting for their side in this war3. It was a conflict that produced modern innovations in weaponry, and which involved the entire population and economic resources of the belligerents as much as that of the soldiers4. The war lasted for four years despite huge losses on both sides as the North was determined to win at all costs, while the Southern strategy was one of inflicting severe damage and many casualties in an attempt to stalemate the conflict5. Eventually, the economic power of the North prevailed, and after a long and costly war, the conflict was effectively ended in April 1865, with the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s army at Appomattox. However, no formal peace agreement was ever signed by the Confederacy.

Unfortunately, the end of the war did not end the problems stemming from the bad relationship that existed between the North and the South. Instead, the aftermath created new problems, especially with regard to Reconstruction efforts. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln changed the leadership guidance and strength even though his successor, President Andrew Johnson, tried to implement the program that had been laid down by President Lincoln. The primary reason for this state of affairs resulted from the ill will created in the South because of the shift of political power to the North. The devastation inflicted on the South by the Union armies as the war was ending also led to a rise of bitter feelings. Finally, the administration of the Reconstruction program that was instituted in the South by the United States after the end of the war became plagued with graft, corruption, resistance, racial conflict and political chicanery, and gave rise to a further division of feelings.

The war left a long-lasting resentment by the South against the North, which in its extreme gave rise to the Ku Klux Klan. The healing process has taken decades, and much political strife has been generated through various attempts to keep the status quo in the southern states. Unfortunately, after almost 150 years from the time that the Civil War began in April 1861, there are still remnants of these grudges stemming from slavery days that exist to this day. These have been handed down through time by stories, attitudes and propaganda that have acted to keep the divisiveness and discriminatory behaviors alive.

Endnotes

1   In its wider scope the causes of the American Civil War encompassed the issues of politics, slavery, territorial expansion, southern culture, economics, and states’ rights. Although slave owners controlled the politics, only five percent of southern whites owned any slaves. After the Mexican War, the issue of whether slavery would be allowed in the new territories became a divisive factor. The South developed into a divergent cultural society from the North, being dominated by a plantation system—with very little industrial growth. The financial Panic of 1857 and the economic difficulties leading up to it also heightened sectional tensions, especially when the South was blamed for instituting low tariffs by its congressional members—an action that was blamed for the depression. The states’ rights issue was based on the South’s position that the federal government was encroaching upon the delegated powers reserved to the states by the Constitution.

2   The war created a great strain on existing medical facilities. However, it produced an advance in drugs and painkillers, in surgical techniques, and medical care—with both sides building large military hospitals. Dorothy Dix organized a corps of nurses and Clara Barton used her war experience to found the Red Cross.

3   This figure represents more lives lost in one war than in all wars and conflicts combined before and after this period for the United States. Almost one in every fifty Americans died during the four-year conflict. Towards the end, the Confederacy was using soldiers as young as 16 years of age as well as hundreds of children for fifers and drummers—many of whom were killed.

4   The December 1861 edition of Scientific American summed up a year’s progress in stimulating industry and invention in the North—even as the war was greatly impoverishing the South. Sixty-six new inventions relating to engines, implements and articles of warfare were mentioned as having been illustrated in the columns of the magazine throughout the year. This included new varieties of cannon (Rodman, DeBrame, Winslow), howitzers (Dahlgren), repeating rifles, machine guns, shells, shot, land mines, tents, kits and many other wartime items. Over 160 other non-destructive implements were also noted as having come into existence by the impetus created by the war. In addition, this was the first war in which photojournalism was used and more than 1,000,000 photographs were taken during the four years by 2,000 professional cameramen. The telegraph was also used extensively to relay orders and other communications although in the field documents were bundled and tied in a red ribbon—the origin of the expression red tape.

5   The strategy included the use of trenches, which were dug on a wide scale as a means of defense—and which foreshadowed trench warfare that would be common in World War I. The Northern strategy of a naval blockade of the Confederate coast was also very decisive in preventing the South from obtaining supplies. In addition, the war revolutionized naval warfare with battles being fought between steam-powered, iron-armored ships equipped with shell-firing guns, and by the use of submarines and underwater mines (torpedoes) to sink ships. And, the experience of amphibious operations became the basis for all American activities during World War II.

James Buchanan

The Last Hope for Peace

Background

James Buchanan was born in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania on April 23, 1791. His father, who was also named James Buchanan, had come to America from County Donegal, Ireland, and had become a storekeeper and investor of farmlands in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania. His mother was Elizabeth Speer who came from a family that lived between Chambersburg and Gettysburg in Virginia. The family moved to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania where Buchanan attended an academy and was educated in arithmetic, reading, writing and classical studies in Latin and Greek.

Buchanan entered the junior class of Dickinson College in 1807, and studied debate and law. He was almost expelled after his first year for disorderly conduct, but Dr. John King, a trustee at the college, interceded on his behalf, and Buchanan was able to finish his studies by graduating in 18091. He studied law for three more years at Lancaster, Pennsylvania as a clerk in the law office of James Hopkins, and was admitted to the bar in 1812.

Buchanan argued against the War of 1812 until the British burned Washington, D.C. in 1814. Then he raised volunteers to march toward Baltimore, Maryland as a company of Pennsylvania dragoons. The company served under Major Charles Sterret Ridgely for several weeks before it was discharged.

Pennsylvania Politics

Because of his knowledge of the law and his skill for oratorical presentation, Buchanan became a very successful lawyer, but was not able to acquire a considerable amount of wealth. To increase his income, he entered politics by winning a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1814. Although he had opposed a war with Great Britain for the first two years, he supported President James Madison’s administration in the War of 1812. However, Buchanan spoke out against the impropriety of the conscription bill, which he asserted affected the poorer parts of the state. The bill ran into a deadlock and was dropped when the war came to an end.

In 1815, Buchanan was re-elected to the Pennsylvania State House, and devoted himself to the protection of banks by opting to delay the return to specie payments. He was also a firm opponent of a United States Bank because he felt that it put too much power into a few hands. Nevertheless, a Second Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816, despite his opposition and that of federal officials, including President Madison and Senator Daniel Webster. In his final action as a state representative, he successfully defended a federal judge against impeachment charges.

Buchanan served until the end of his term in 1816, when he decided to return to his law practice where this time he did begin to earn a considerable income. In 1819, he was engaged to be married to Anne Coleman. However, the young lady broke the engagement in 1819—as a result of a quarrel stemming from an indiscretion by Buchanan. She died shortly thereafter, and Anne’s father cut off all communication with Buchanan, including denying Buchanan from attending the funeral for her. Buchanan was so sorrowful that he fled Lancaster, Pennsylvania and his law practice for several weeks, eventually returning to a world that he now viewed as empty. A friend suggested that he run for Congress, and Buchanan turned to politics for consolation—but he vowed never to marry.

House of Representatives

In 1820, Buchanan was elected by Pennsylvania to the United States House of Representatives where he served for five consecutive terms until 1831. During this time he supported President James Monroe, opposed President John Quincy Adams and supported President Andrew Jackson. He also opposed slavery, which he thought was a moral and political evil. In addition, he was against a measure that would cover all cases of insolvency. Moreover, he fought against government funding for public roads.

In 1829, he became Chairman of the Judiciary Committee in Congress, and was involved in the impeachment proceedings against Judge Peck from Missouri. He also saved the appellate jurisdiction of the United States Supreme Court based on writs of error that he uncovered to the state courts in cases where the Constitution, treaties and laws of the United States were drawn into question. As chairman, he introduced a bill to amend and extend the judicial system of the United States by creating six new districts in the circuit court system, and by increasing the number of judges in the Supreme Court to nine. He chose not to run again and finished his last term in 1831.

Minister to Russia

In 1831, Buchanan accepted a position as Minister to Russia that had been offered to him by President Jackson. He sailed aboard the steamship Silas Richards from New York for Liverpool, England. He then sailed aboard a steamship to Hamburg, Germany and then took a ship from there, arriving in Petersburg, Russia in June 1832. His mission was to negotiate two treaties with Russia: one was a commercial treaty, and the other was to safeguard American maritime rights. He was able to obtain the first treaty, but not the second.

In the spring of 1833, he received permission from President Jackson to return home. He traveled from the port of St. Petersburg, Russia aboard the steamship Alexandria, then went to Paris, France and finally to London, England from where he sailed back to America, arriving in November 1833.

The Senate

Buchanan was elected by the Pennsylvania legislature to the United States Senate in 1834 to succeed Senator Wilkins who had been appointed as Minister to Russia. He supported the policies of both President Andrew Jackson and President Martin Van Buren. In 1839, he was offered the position of Attorney General by President Van Buren, but he declined it because he preferred to remain in the Senate. As Senator, he opposed slavery, but saw no practical solution to the problem, and based on the Constitution’s protection of slavery he opposed any interference in the affairs of the South. Thus, he denounced the abolitionist movement, supported the censorship of abolitionist literature from the mails and upheld the gag rule against introducing anti-slavery petitions in Congress.

In 1843, Buchanan was reelected as Senator for the third time. As a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign relations, he did not support the annexation of Texas because he considered it as a province of Mexico. Thus, he opposed the resolution that admitted Texas by a vote of 27 to 25. He was also against the banking bills and against bankruptcy for individuals. In all of his legislative efforts he was mindful of states’ rights. He served in the Senate until 1845 when he became Secretary of State.

Secretary of State

Buchanan was a candidate for the 1844 presidential election, and was instrumental in the defeat of Martin Van Buren at the Democratic national convention in which James K. Polk was selected. When he became President, James Polk selected Buchanan as his Secretary of State in 1845. Through his suggestion, President Polk sent John Slidell, a friend of Buchanan, to negotiate with Mexico for the acquisition of territory—with specific instructions from Buchanan as to tactics. But, Buchanan wavered on how much territory should be annexed from Mexico as a result of the Mexican War.

Buchanan also wavered on the issue of acquiring all of the Oregon Territory although he was able to conclude a treaty with the British ambassador, which finally settled the issue at the 49th parallel. Buchanan did influence President Polk to reassert the Monroe Doctrine in an effort to stop Great Britain from any attempt at colonizing California—although Britain moved into the Central American coast in Guatemala and Nicaragua despite President Polk’s second statement asserting the Monroe Doctrine.

In other issues, Buchanan favored the acquisition of Cuba, opposed the Wilmot Proviso, sought to prohibit slavery from any territory acquired from Mexico, and advocated the extension of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 line all the way to the Pacific Coast. At the end of the Polk administration in 1849, Buchanan retired to private life to settle at his Wheatland Estate near Lancaster, Pennsylvania that he had purchased in 1848.

Minister to Great Britain

In 1848, Buchanan was once again unsuccessful in his bid for the presidential nomination. He tried again to get another bid in the 1852 presidential nomination, but lost out to Franklin Pierce. In 1853, Buchanan was appointed as Minister to Great Britain by President Franklin Pierce. He left for Liverpool, England aboard the steamship Atlantic in August 1853. He had three major problems to resolve with England:

•   reciprocal trade and the adjustment of tariffs

•   fisheries, especially on the Atlantic coast

•   the situation in Latin America.

Buchanan was not able to do much with the three major issues while he was in England. His most notable achievement was the drafting of the Ostend Manifesto that declared that Cuba was vital to American interests, and that if Spain did not sell it, then it should be forcibly seized by the United States. In April 1856, Buchanan resigned his post and returned to the United States to seek the presidential nomination one more time.

Election of 1856

In the Democratic Convention of 1856, his two main rivals for the nomination were Franklin Pierce, the incumbent, and Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Both Pierce and Douglas had been politically hurt by the negative events stemming from the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Therefore, the convention turned to Buchanan as a compromise candidate because he had been out of the country, and thus had not been associated with the Kansas controversy. In addition, Buchanan supported the South in their struggle. He also recognized that the Union was in serious danger. On the eleventh ballot, Buchanan was chosen unanimously as the Democratic nominee for President.

In 1856, the question of slavery was the primary political issue before the American people. During the campaign, the South threatened to secede if the Republicans won the presidential election. Although the Republicans won the Northern vote, the Democrat Buchanan was able to win by a plurality of the vote by carrying all of the slaveholding states in a three-way contest against the Republican candidate James Fremont and the third-party opponent, ex-President Millard Fillmore who ran on the ticket of the Know Nothing Party. In the Electoral College, Buchanan received 174 votes to Fremont who got 114 votes while Fillmore was only able to get 8 votes2. James Buchanan set out for Washington, D.C. in February 1857, and assumed office in March 1857, and came under almost immediate attack.

Endnotes

1   Although Buchanan outstripped all others in scholarship, he was not awarded honors because the professors excluded him due to his disrespect for the traditions of the college.

2   In the Electoral College vote for Vice President the results were the same: John C. Breckenridge with 174, William I. Dayton with 114 and Anthony J. Donelson with 8.

The Single Term of James Buchanan

Troubled Times: The Impending Storm

Presidential Term: 1857-1861

Inaugural Address

Buchanan’s inaugural address condemned the agitation over slavery, but supported a policy of noninterference with slavery in the states. It also supported the notion of popular sovereignty, in terms of the formation of a state constitution, with regard to slavery in the territories. He stated that the question of slavery was one that should be decided by the United States Supreme Court in the pending Dred Scott case. He also wanted to maintain equal representation for slave and non-slaveholding states. Above all, he stated that the most important thing was to maintain the Union and the Constitution.

He recommended the construction of a national railroad extending to the Pacific Ocean. He stood for a balanced economy and for payment of the public debt. And, he wanted to appropriate the surplus in the Treasury to increase the size of the Navy, and to grant public lands to settlers at reasonable prices. Under the war-making power of the Congress, he wanted to appropriate money toward the construction of military roads and to support the army—as a protection against foreign invasion. Finally, he desired that foreign diplomacy be conducted to avoid entangling alliances.

Executive Branch

The Secretary of State was Lewis Cass who served until he resigned in December 1860. Jeremiah S. Black then became Secretary of State until March 1861. The Secretary of the Treasury was Howell Cobb who served until he resigned in December 1860. He was succeeded by Phillip F. Thomas in 1860, and then by John A. Dix in January 1861, after Thomas resigned. The Secretary of War was John B. Floyd who served until he resigned in December 1860. He was succeeded by Joseph Holt in 1861.

The Attorney General was Jeremiah S. Black who served until December 1860, and then took over the office of Secretary of State. He was replaced by Edwin M. Stanton in 1860. The Postmaster General was Aaron V. Brown who served until he died in March 1859. He was replaced by Joseph Holt in 1859, who in turn was replaced by Horatio King

in 1861.

The Secretary of The Navy was Isaac Toucey who served the entire term between 1857 and 1861. The Secretary of the Interior was Jacob Thompson who served from 1857 until he resigned in January 1861.

Events: 1857

March 1857

President Buchanan called a special session of the Senate. They dealt with issues of the Pennsylvania and Indiana Senatorial elections, and also elected Thomas J. Rusk as President pro tempore of the Senate.

Governor John W. Geary resigned from office in Kansas, and President Buchanan replaced him with Robert J. Walker.

In one of the most famous court decisions in American history, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney handed down a ruling in the case of Dred Scott1 v. Sandford. This decision, which affirmed the constitutionality of the fugitive slave law, was essentially a tacit endorsement of slavery by implying that Congress must act to protect slavery in a territory.

May 1857

Secretary of State Lewis Cass advised envoy William B. Reed to work for peaceful cooperation with France and England2.

Robert J. Walker became the new Governor in the strife-torn territory of Kansas, and replaced Governor Geary who had resigned in March 1857. A free-state legislature was subsequently elected in October 1857.

Massachusetts adopted a literacy test as a requirement for voting.

June 1857

Edmund Ruffin3 wrote his first article in defense of slavery, which appeared in De Bow’s Review, under the title of Consequences of Abolition Agitation4.

The United States signed an agreement with Japan to allow ships from America to trade in the port of Nagasaki.

August 1857

The financial panic of 1857 began with the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company branch in New York City. A total of more than 4,900 businesses subsequently failed that year, and approximately 8,000 more by 18595, primarily as the result of overspeculation in real estate and railway securities.

October 1857

The Lecompton constitutional convention met at Lecompton, Kansas and prepared a proslavery document for the territory of Kansas.

December 1857

President Buchanan requested troops to calm Mormon disturbances in Utah6.

The first session of the Thirty-Fifth Congress convened.

John L. Orr was elected as Speaker of the House.

Benjamin Fitzpatrick was chosen as President pro tempore of the Senate in the absence of Vice President John C. Breckenridge.

Kansas approved the Lecompton constitution, which was a pro-slavery document, but Senator Stephen Douglas led the opposition in Congress against it.

Events: 1858

January 1858

A revote by Kansas in January 1858, rejected the Lecompton constitution by a margin of 10,226 to 4,162.

February 1858

President Buchanan requested statehood for Kansas as a slave state, with admittance being granted under its Lecompton constitution—even though the document had been rejected.

March 1858

Benjamin Fitzpatrick was chosen as President pro tempore of the Senate when Vice President John C. Breckenridge had to leave to care for his family back home.

The House voted to resubmit the Lecompton constitution of Kansas to a popular vote.

The Senate—led by Jefferson Davis—voted to accept Kansas into the Union under the Lecompton constitution.

April 1858

The House amended the Kansas statehood bill with the Crittenden-Montgomery Amendment in order to provide a revote for the Lecompton constitution.

May 1858

Minnesota was admitted into the Union as the 32nd state—as a free state.

The Young America faction of the Democratic Party proclaimed the right of the United States to annex Mexico to complete the manifest destiny of the nation.

A compromise bill was submitted in the House by Representative William B. English, and was passed by Congress. The English Bill had a provision that would admit Kansas to the Union if the Lecompton constitution was ratified by Kansas.

June 1858

Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous speech, A House Divided, at the Republican State Convention held at Springfield, Illinois. He argued that a house divided against itself cannot stand—a reference that the government could not endure as a permanent nation that was half slave and half free.

The United States signed an agreement with China for a treaty of peace, friendship and commerce.

Benjamin Fitzpatrick was chosen as President pro tempore of the Senate.

The first session of the Thirty-Fifth Congress adjourned.

President Buchanan called a special session of the Senate. The Senate dealt with British aggression on American vessels in the Gulf of Mexico before adjourning once again.

July 1858

The United States signed an agreement with Japan for additional trading ports, residence rights for American citizens, and the establishment of diplomats at the capitals of each country. This treaty became the model for all of Japan’s trade relations with other nations for the rest of the century.

August 1858

The first underwater cable message across the Atlantic Ocean was sent from Queen Victoria of England to President Buchanan.

The Lecompton constitution was rejected by Kansas by a wide margin of 11,812 to 1,926, and its hope for immediate statehood as a slave state ended.

The famous debates between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln began in their quest for a seat from the state of Illinois in the United States Senate7.

October 1858

In a speech given at Rochester, New York Senator William H. Seward warned of an irrepressible conflict that would dissolve the Union, making it either all free or all slave.

The Overland mail stage service completed its first two trips to and from St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California.

December 1858

The second session of the Thirty-Fifth Congress convened.

President Buchanan delivered a message to Congress asking for the authority to purchase Cuba from Spain, and for establishing a temporary protectorate over the northern part of Mexico.

Events: 1859

January 1859

The House discussed the acquisition of Cuba at the request of President Buchanan. The importance of acquiring Cuba was deemed to be primarily an economic matter8 since militarily the development of new motive power for naval vessels had eclipsed its defensive strategic location value. The House led by Northerners mostly ignored the request to acquire Cuba, citing it as a scheme for the expansion of slavery.

February 1859

Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state—as a free state.

March 1859

A resolution of protest against the Fugitive Slave Law was approved by the Wisconsin legislature. It represented a policy of nullification and extreme state sovereignty based on a personal liberty law that had been passed in Wisconsin in 1857. This law was passed in defiance of the United States Supreme Court after its decision in the Dred Scott case9.

The second session of the Thirty-Fifth Congress adjourned.

President Buchanan called the Senate into a special session. He requested that negotiations be started with Spain to acquire the rights to settle blacks in Central and South America as part of a colonization plan. In response, Senator Henry Clay requested an accounting of all money expended by the government in the colonization of blacks who had been sent to Liberia.

Benjamin Fitzpatrick was appointed as President pro tempore of the Senate.

The Senate adjourned from its special session.

May 1859

The annual Southern Commercial Convention held at Vicksburg, Mississippi voted to approve a resolution calling on the federal government to be in the role of protecting slavery. They also voted that all laws—either state or federal—prohibiting the slave trade should be repealed. In particular, Jefferson Davis and William L. Yancey called for the repeal of the 1820 slave importation act that had been passed by Congress because they considered it to be unconstitutional.

July 1859

The Kansas constitutional convention convened at Wyandotte, Kansas and drafted an antislavery constitution.

The first electric home lighting demonstration was given by Professor Moses G. Farmer in his home at Salem, Massachusetts.

August 1859

The first producing oil well in the United States began to flow at a rate of 20 barrels a day in Titusville, Pennsylvania.

September 1859

The first railroad sleeping car converted from a coach by George M. Pullman made its first run.

October 1859

Kansas voted to ratify the Wyandotte constitution, which was an anti-slavery document.

John Brown led a group of 20 men in a raid on a federal arsenal at Harpers’ Ferry, Virginia to obtain weapons with which to arm slaves10.

November 1859

Great Britain signed a treaty with the United States to give up its land in Central America, ceding the Bay islands to Honduras and the Mosquito Coast to Nicaragua.

December 1859

The first session of the Thirty-Sixth Congress convened.

President Buchanan addressed the Congress and opposed increasing the foreign slave trade—although he also pledged to support ships from the United States against detention and search.

Georgia made an effort to maintain its slave population by passing two laws. One law prevented a will or deed from granting freedom to slaves after the death of their owner. The other declared that any black who was indicted for vagrancy could then be sold as a slave.

24 ballots were taken in the House to vote for a Speaker without any results.

A tariff bill was considered by the House because there was no money in the Treasury. A total of $3,000,000 in Treasury Notes to be issued by the government was requested in a bill proposed before the House.

Six resolutions were referred to the House Committee of Thirty-Three to resolve the crisis between the slaveholding states and the non-slaveholding states. An inquiry in the House was made as to the status of the federal forts in Charleston Harbor. A resolution to make every attempt to resolve the impending crisis was adopted by a vote 116 to 44 in the House.

The Senate voted to approve the appointment of a committee to investigate Brown’s financial backers—an action that failed but which nonetheless served to further inflame the passions of anger and the move towards disunion.

A sum of $211,000 that was in reserve in the Treasury for claims by Mexico was appropriated by the Senate since all claims had reportedly been paid.

An Amendment was proposed by Senator Johnson of Tennessee to change the method of electing the President.

Events: 1860

January 1860

19 more ballots were taken in the House for the election of a Speaker without any result.

February 1860

Jefferson Davis introduced a set of resolutions in the Senate to affirm that the Federal Government could not prohibit slavery and should thus protect slaveholders in the territories11. These resolutions were adopted by the Senate in May 1860, and started an extensive debate in the Senate on the issue of slavery.

The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives was finally chosen on the 44th ballot: William Pennington. He was chosen with the bare minimum necessary—117 votes out of a total of 233, but only after the other leading candidate, John Sherman, withdrew from the contest12. However, the House had difficulty in electing a printer and went through 17 ballots without anyone being selected.

March 1860

The House finally elected a printer on the 18th ballot.

Representative Covode introduced a resolution into the House that called for an investigation of the conduct of President Buchanan as a plan to try to impeach him. President Buchanan responded by transmitting a strong protest against the indignity of the secret investigation of his official acts, which was rejected by the House.

April 1860

The Pony Express began as a mail-carrying relay system. This mail system operated between St. Louis, Missouri and Sacramento, California with a route that followed the Oregon-California Trail. The system proved to be limited and very expensive to maintain, and thus came to an abrupt end 18 months later with the opening of the transcontinental telegraph.

Lieutenant Tunis Augustus Macdonough Craven, commander of the United States Steamer Mohawk, captured the slave barque Wildfire off the coast of Cuba with 530 African blacks on board. He brought the ship into Key West, Florida and delivered the blacks to the custody of Fernando J. Moreno who was the marshal for the southern district of Florida.

May 1860

The Constitutional Party was formed in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Morrill Tariff Bill that was intended to open an era of protectionism for American industry was passed by the House. The tariff, which regulated imports, became law in March 1861.

The slave barque William was captured off the coast of Cuba by the United States Steamer Wyandotte that was commanded by Lieutenant Fabius Maximum Stanly. The William was towed into Key West, Florida where 513 African blacks were delivered to the custody of Marshal Moreno.

The slave barque Bogota was captured off the coast of Cuba by the United States Steamer Crusader. The Bogota was taken to Key West, Florida where 411 African blacks were delivered to the custody of Marshal Moreno13.

June 1860

Congress passed the Homestead Bill, but President Buchanan vetoed it on the grounds that Congress did not have the power to give land to individual citizens. He based his veto on the grounds that Congress did not have the power to donate public lands to the states for their domestic purposes.

The Government Printing Office was established by Congress14.

The Indian Appropriation Bill consisting of 74 amendments was given a non-concurrence by the House.

The House dropped the investigation of President Buchanan since it could not find any evidence of misbehavior.

Senator Benjamin Franklin Wade asked that the bill to admit Kansas be taken up by the Senate. The motion for the bill was not approved by a vote of 32 to 26.

The Senate concluded its report on the Harper’s Ferry invasion by John Brown by stating that it was a lawless act perpetrated by ruffians who were not under the sanction of any public or political authority.

The Sioux Indians were given $1.25 per acre by the Senate for their lands in Minnesota, which were appropriated by a treaty with the United States.

The first session of the Thirty-Sixth Congress adjourned.

The Senate held a special session at the request of President Buchanan. It dealt with the business at hand, and elected Benjamin Fitzpatrick as President pro tempore of the Senate. The Senate then adjourned from its special session.

September 1860

William Walker made a filibustering expedition to Honduras where he was caught and executed by a firing squad.

October 1860

General Winfield Scott wrote to President Buchanan that if Lincoln were to be elected President, there would be a move in the South to secede. Therefore, he suggested that nine southern federal forts be strengthened with larger garrisons to prevent their capture and a civil war—but President Buchanan ignored his view because he did not want to announce a policy of force.

November 1860

Republican Party candidate Abraham Lincoln was elected President by getting 180 Electoral College votes—all of them from the 18 free states. His main opponent John C. Breckenridge, a southern Democrat, polled 72 Electoral College votes15. Hannibal Hamlin was elected as Vice President with 180 Electoral votes also, with his primary opponent, Joseph Lane receiving 72 Electoral College votes16.

December 1860

The second session of the Thirty-Sixth Congress convened. The Senate was able to have a quorum even though 16 Senators were absent from the initial meeting.

President Buchanan sent Caleb Cushing to Charleston, South Carolina to persuade Governor Pickens against seceding from the Union.

South Carolina held a state convention and by a vote of 169 to 0 from the attending delegates became the first state to secede from the Union—as a direct consequence of Abraham Lincoln being elected as President of the United States. They did so by voting to repeal the Ordinance of 1788, by which the state had ratified the Constitution of the United States. Their position was that South Carolina had voluntarily joined the Union, and that now they were choosing to withdraw from the Union because the direction of the nation threatened the basic rights of the people of South Carolina.

President Buchanan noted the impending disruption of the Union in his last address to Congress, and said that states had no right to secede—but took no action to prevent the southern states from seceding. He had previously conferred with his Attorney General Jeremiah Black who had informed President Buchanan that the power to decide what action might be taken rested with Congress, and that the President was not authorized to send troops into any state—nor to wage war against any state.

A resolution was offered in the House to be voted on declaring that there was nothing that had occurred to justify the dissolution of the United States. Four other resolutions were proposed by the House as a compromise solution for the North-South stalemate on slavery. The Speaker of the House also established the Committee of Thirty-Three for the purpose of proposing legislation to maintain the Union. A thirteen-part resolution regarding the Constitution and the slavery issue was submitted by the citizens of Madison, Indiana and was referred to the Committee of Thirty-Three. Representative Moore of Kentucky introduced a bill in the House to enforce the delivery of fugitive slaves; the bill was also referred to the Committee of Thirty-Three.

Representative Florence from Pennsylvania presented a resolution for an amendment to the Constitution recognizing the right of property in slaves, and that no law be passed to prevent that right in any territory of the United States. Representative Crawford also offered a similar resolution to reaffirm

•   that the Constitution recognized property in slaves

•   that Congress had passed laws for recapturing slaves

•   that the Supreme Court had decided that black slaves were not regarded as citizens.

Crawford’s resolution was defeated in the House by a vote of 92 to 89.

Representative McKean presented a resolution to the House, which stated that the Union was formed by the people of the United States—and not the states—and that the United States was comprised of the people—and not the 33 states—in perpetuity. However, objections were raised against its introduction into the House for any further discussion.

A resolution to appropriate $900,000 for the President to carry out acts in suppression of the slave trade was passed by a vote of 108 to 60 in the House.

Senator Jefferson Davis and a group of other Senators and Representatives from nine Southern states signed an address entitled To Our Constituents in which they stated that the independence of the Southern people required the organization of a Southern Confederacy, which was to be obtained by individual state secession. Nevertheless, Davis was still reluctant to leave the Union and hoped that some compromise could be worked out. Even so, a motion to even print the President’s message was argued against in the Senate, especially by Senator Davis who denounced President Buchanan’s message. However, the President’s message relating to the grievances between the slaveholding and non-slaveholding states was agreed to be referred to a committee of thirteen.

The resolution for statehood for Kansas was brought up for discussion in the Senate, with an agreement to discuss it in the near future.

A compromise plan consisting of six items to settle the North-South issue on slavery was proposed by Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky. Senator Johnson of Tennessee proposed an amendment to limit the power of the federal government, and to leave to the states the authorities, rights and liberties appertaining to them. Senator Lane proposed a constitutional convention to deal with the urgent issues affecting the country.

Five members of President Buchanan’s Cabinet quit to protest his actions concerning the problem of sectionalism, and all except for Cobb for his refusal to reinforce the Union garrison at Fort Sumter. These included Secretary of State Lewis Cass, Secretary of the Interior Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury Philip Thomas who had succeeded Cobb, and Secretary of War John B. Floyd.

President Buchanan met with three commissioners from South Carolina, but insisted that he was seeing them as private parties—and not as representatives from the state. The three commissioners insisted that Fort Sumter would have to be evacuated by federal troops before any discussions could take place—a move that President Buchanan rejected.

General Winfield Scott advised President Buchanan to reinforce the forts in Charleston Harbor, which President Buchanan refused to do. Subsequently, South Carolina seized Fort Moultrie, the post office and the customs office, and forced every federal official in Charleston to resign his post.

Events: 1861

January 1861

President Buchanan sent reinforcements aboard the steamer Brooklyn to Fort Sumter. The steamer Star of the West attempted to discharge 200 troops at Charleston Harbor, but was fired upon under orders by Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens, and withdrew.

South Carolina sent an emissary to Washington, D.C. with an offer to buy Fort Sumter, which President Buchanan rejected.

Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union. Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana followed suit by also seceding from the Union, making a total of six states that were now separated from the United States.

Two more members of President Buchanan’s cabinet resigned: Secretary of the Interior Jacob Thompson and Secretary of the Treasury Philip F. Thomas.

The proceedings of the Ashtabula, Ohio meeting regarding the Union crisis were referred to the House Committee of Thirty-Three. The resolution of South Carolina to secede was presented to the House—the one that declared the compact between the Union and South Carolina as having been dissolved.

Representative Florence submitted another resolution as a compromise between the North and the South17. Florence later submitted another compromise proposition consisting of 17 articles18.

Senator Polk presented six amendments for consideration by the Senate19. A petition from the citizens of Michigan for resolution of the nation’s crisis was presented to the Senate20.

Jefferson Davis announced the separation of Mississippi from the United States, noted the common heritage of the North and South, pleaded for peace between the two sections, and bade a farewell in his last address to the Senate of the United States.

The motion for Senator Crittenden’s proposal of compromise21 was rejected by the Senate by a vote of 27 to 24.

Senators and Representatives from the seceded states formally resigned and left Washington, D.C.

Kansas was admitted as the 34th state into the Union—as a free state—but only after some of the Southerners had departed from Congress. The vote was 36 to 16 in favor in the Senate while in the House the vote was 119 to 41 in the affirmative.

Tennessee submitted a plan of adjustment for amendments to the Constitution to resolve the nation’s crisis22.

Congress passed the Morrill Tariff Bill for the purpose of protecting American products.

February 1861

The Committee of Thirty-Three made two proposals to the House, which were both adopted—although neither one had an agreement on the issue of slavery in the territories.

The Peace Convention proposed by the Virginia legislature and headed by ex-President John Tyler met secretly in Washington, D.C. in a futile attempt to save the Union. The delegates from 21 states called on President-elect Lincoln for a frank exchange of views, but could not agree upon an acceptable compromise.

Delegates from the six states that had seceded met at Montgomery, Alabama and formed the provisional government of the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis was elected as President and Alexander Hamilton Stephens as Vice President. Both were inaugurated in February 1861.

Texas became the seventh state to secede from the Union.

Representative Vallandigham submitted a resolution to propose three new amendments to the Constitution23. Representative Craig submitted a resolution to avoid war by having the United States acknowledge the independence of the Confederate government, and to receive an envoy from the Confederacy to discuss and adjust matters of dispute between the two governments. Representative Ferry introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution to forbid the withdrawal of any state from the Union without the consent of two-thirds of both houses in Congress, the approval of the President, and the consent of all states. Representative McKean introduced a resolution for the emancipation of slaves in the Border States to prevent these states from seceding from the Union.

A Thirteenth Amendment was proposed by the Committee of Thirty Three to not interfere with slavery in the United States24. The House approved this amendment by a vote of 120 to 61. Representative Corwin then proposed an alternative version of the Thirteenth Amendment25, but the House voted against it by a margin of 123 to 71. In a later vote, the House approved Corwin’s version by the required two-thirds majority: 133 to 65.

Senators Ben Fitzpatrick, S.R. Malloy and John Slidell proposed that President Buchanan correspond with South Carolina on matters concerning the national crisis.

March 1861

President Buchanan received a message from United States Major Robert Anderson that it would take 20,000 reinforcements to hold Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina against any Confederate assault26.

An act for the rendition of fugitives from labor was introduced by Representative Vallandigham into the House, but was defeated by a vote of 104 to 73.

Senator John J. Crittenden made a plea to the Senate for the preservation of the Union. Although he was unsuccessful, it did persuade his home state of Kentucky not to secede.

The Senate took final votes on resolutions that had been presented to alleviate the national crisis. All of them were voted down by substantial margins. Included in the rejections was a compromise to save the Union by allowing slavery in the New Mexico Territory.

The Territory of Utah was divided into two sections: Nevada and Dakota.

The second session of the Thirty-Sixth Congress adjourned.

The official Confederate flag named The Stars and Bars was adopted by the South27.

Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States.

Endnotes

1   Dred Scott was a black slave who had been taken by his owner to Illinois, a state where slavery had been forbidden since the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Scott was then taken to the Wisconsin Territory, which was another area where slavery had been made illegal by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Scott remained there from 1834 to 1838, and in 1846, he sued for his liberty in a Missouri court. He based his claim on the time spent in these areas by which he maintained had enabled him to become a free man. The case involved some fundamental issues: 1) whether Scott was a citizen, and therefore could sue in a federal court, 2) whether his stay in free areas had legally made him a free man, and 3) the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The majority ruling held that Scott—and hence all slaves and their descendants—were not citizens. The ruling also declared that his status in a free territory did not affect his status in Missouri where slavery was legal. Thus, the Supreme Court declared the Missouri Compromise of 1820 as being unconstitutional on the basis of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, and because Congress had no authority to exclude slavery from the territories. The Dred Scott decision was subsequently nullified by the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865 and the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868.

2   This action was to counter the proposal of Great Britain and France of an aggressive policy toward China in response to the Taiping Rebellion, which was interfering with commercial trade in the Far East. A treaty was subsequently negotiated by Reed in 1857, which served as the basis of American policy in China until 1867.

3   Ruffin was an agriculturist and author from Virginia who was a strong advocate of states’ rights. He was also a staunch defender of slavery. For many years before the Civil War actually started, he argued for the merits of secession and of establishing an independent Southern nation based on the slave system of labor. In 1860, he published Anticipation of the Future in which he expressed these ideas. In April 1861, as a member of the Confederate Palmetto Guard volunteers, he fired the first shot against the North at Fort Sumter. When the Confederacy collapsed in 1865—and with it his dream—he committed suicide.

4   Ruffin’s views were very similar to those of another Virginian, George Fitzhugh, who published Cannibals All! Or Slaves Without Masters in 1857. This work defended slavery as a positive good and denounced the North as a society that professed liberty, but that actually reduced white workers to the level of slavery by its economic policies. Both Ruffin and Fitzhugh were undoubtedly influenced by Robert Barnwell Rhett who was referred to as the Father of Secession. Rhett was a United States Representative from 1837 to 1849, and a Senator between 1850 and 1852 from South Carolina who was a firm proponent of seceding from the Union. When the Southern states seceded, he received no office in the Confederacy, and thus sharply criticized the policies of Confederate President Jefferson Davis during the Civil War.

5   As the financial panic continued, people turned to religion in the hopes that it would change the economic problems. A religious revival that began in New York City and Philadelphia swept the whole country, and in New York City it led to the construction of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

6   This was after John D. Lee, a Mormon fanatic who was upset over President Buchanan’s order to remove Brigham Young as Governor of Utah, started causing trouble. Lee had influenced Indians to massacre 120 emigrants bound for California at Mountain Meadow, Utah.

7   Douglas argued for the adherence to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1857, and to retain the status quo. Lincoln posited that blacks were entitled to the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence. Douglas defeated Lincoln for the Senate seat, but in the process Lincoln acquired a national reputation that enabled him to win the presidency in 1860.

8   Its value was estimated to be $500,000,000 annually—including calculations based on the existing slave labor force.

9   The events arose from the arrest of Sherman M. Booth, editor of the Wisconsin Free Democrat. Booth had first been arrested in 1854 on charges of violating the Fugitive Slave Law. He was released by the Wisconsin State Supreme Court on the basis that the federal law was void and unconstitutional. Booth was then tried and convicted in a federal court, but the state supreme court released him again. United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney then obtained jurisdiction in the case, and had Booth arrested again under the ruling made in Ableman v. Booth in March 1859. Effectively, the Supreme Court denied the right of a state to interfere in a federal case. Booth, who had been apprehended by United States Marshall Ableman was finally pardoned by President Buchanan in 1861.

10   A detachment of 100 marines commanded by Colonel Robert E. Lee was sent to subdue Brown and his men. Brown was arrested, indicted for treason, tried and convicted. Brown was executed by hanging in December 1859.

11   The specific resolutions submitted by Davis were as follows:

•   No state had the right to interfere with the domestic institutions of other states

•   Any attack on slavery within the slave states was a violation of the Constitution

•   The Senate had a duty to oppose all discriminatory measures against persons or properties in the territories

•   Congress—nor any territorial legislature—was not empowered to impair the right to hold slaves in the territories

•   That territories could decide on the question of slavery at the time of their admission into the Union

•   All state legislation that interfered with the recovery of fugitive slaves was inimical

12   Sherman withdrew after he had had enough because of attacks by Southerners.

13   Other slave ships that were captured by the United States Navy between 1859 and 1860 include the Cygnet, Toccoa, Mary J. Kimball, Wilhamer, Echo, Huntress, Joven Antonio, Lyra and Sultana. The freed slaves were housed in baracoons, and were then processed for transportation to northern ports. In May 1860, President Buchanan suggested to Congress that the disposition of these blacks was to send them to the East coast of Africa to provide a home for them there—in agreement with the aims of the Colonization Society.

14   Today it is the largest printing establishment in the world.

15   Also getting votes for President were John Bell, the Constitutional Union Party candidate, with 39, and Stephen A. Douglas, the Democratic candidate, with 12.

16   Also getting votes for Vice President were Edward Everett, the Constitutional Union Party candidate, with 39, and Herschel V. Johnson, the Democratic candidate, with 12.

17   These were as follows:

•   No slavery would exist north of the 36040' latitude

•   Congress would have no power to abolish slavery in places under its jurisdiction or in states allowing slavery

•   Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia

•   Congress shall have no power to prohibit or hinder the transportation of slaves from one state to another

•   Congress would have the power to pay the owner of a slave in all cases where the marshal was prevented from doing his duty in returning the slave

•   No future amendments would affect the preceding articles

18   These articles were as follows:

•   All slaves may be taken into any territory of the United States south of the 36030' latitude line

•   Any state shall be admitted to the Union—whether free or slave

•   The regulation of slaves is the exclusive right of each state

•   Only Maryland will have the power to regulate or abolish slavery in the District of Columbia

•   No state shall pass any law to interfere with the recovery of fugitive slaves

•   The right of transit for slaves will be unimpaired

•   All fugitive slaves are subject to recovery

•   All traffic in slaves with Africa is prohibited, but no slaves can be declared as citizens

•   All attempts to incite insurrection by slaves will be considered penal offenses

•   An owner will be compensated for all slaves who are rescued and not returned

•   No slaves will be taken into United States territory above the 36030' latitude line

•   Fugitive slaves may have a trial by jury from their state of origin

•   A fugitive slave accused of a crime will be returned to the state of origin

•   Citizens doing business with slaves in other states shall not be subject to violence or punishment

•   No state shall secede from the Union unless three-fourths of the other states consent for it to do so

•   The power is reserved for three-fourths of the states to call and form a constitutional convention

•   Articles dealing with traffic in slaves, attempts to incite insurrection and compensation for owners can never be altered without the consent of all states

19   These were as follows:

•   Express the unequivocal recognition of the right of property in slaves

•   A similar recognition of the right of a slave owner to take his slaves into the common territory of the United States

•   That Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in states that permit it

•   That Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia

•   That Congress shall have no power to prohibit or hinder the transportation of slaves from one state to another

•   That a slave owner be compensated whenever he is prevented from retaking his fugitive slave

20   These propositions were as follows:

•   An amendment of the fugitive slave law to prevent kidnappings

•   The repeal of the personal liberty laws of the states

•   Non-interference by Congress with slavery in the slave states

•   The non-abolition of slavery by Congress in the District of Columbia

•   The division of territories between free and slave areas to be marked at the 36030' latitude line

21   Senator Crittenden’s Compromise had been introduced in December 1860, and consisted of 6 Amendments to the Constitution and 4 changes to the Fugitive Slave Law:

•   Amendments:

32494-NAVA-layout.pdf    Slavery would be prohibited in all territory of the United States above the latitude of 360 30'

32494-NAVA-layout.pdf    Congress would be forbidden to abolish slavery in places under its jurisdiction in a slave state

32494-NAVA-layout.pdf    Congress would not abolish slavery in the District of Columbia

32494-NAVA-layout.pdf    Congress could not prohibit or interfere with the interstate slave trade

32494-NAVA-layout.pdf    Congress would provide compensation to owners of rescued fugitive slaves

32494-NAVA-layout.pdf    No future Amendment could change the above amendments

•   Fugitive Slave Law modifications:

32494-NAVA-layout.pdf    All fugitive slave laws were constitutional

32494-NAVA-layout.pdf    All state laws that impeded the operation of fugitive slave laws were unconstitutional

32494-NAVA-layout.pdf    The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 should be modified with regard to fees, powers of marshals and return or release of fugitive slaves

32494-NAVA-layout.pdf    The laws for suppression of the external slave trade should be enforced

22   The plan consisted of eight articles as follows:

•   That slaves be recognized as property

•   That all territory south of the 36030' latitude line be recognized as protected

•   Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery within states that permitted slavery

•   Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in Washington, D.C.

•   Congress shall have no power to prohibit the transportation of slaves

•   That owners of slaves be compensated whenever a fugitive slave was not returned

•   No further amendment shall affect any of the above articles

•   That slave property be rendered secure while in transit in non-slaveholding areas

23   These three proposed amendments were as follows:

•   Article XIII:

o   That the United States be divided into four sections

o   A vote on demand by one-third of any of the Senators in any section for any bill, act, resolution or vote to be taken, with a majority being necessary for passage

o   Two of the Electors for President and Vice President shall be appointed by each state through its legislative branch

o   The President and Vice President shall hold their office for a term of six years, and limited to a single term unless two-thirds of all Electors or states approve