Georgia Platform
Encyclopedia
The Georgia Platform was a statement executed by a Georgia
Convention in response to the Compromise of 1850
. Supported by Unionists
, the document affirmed the acceptance of the Compromise as a final resolution of the sectional slavery issues while declaring that no further assaults on Southern rights by the North would be acceptable. The Platform had political significance throughout the South. In the short term it was an effective antidote to secession
, but in the long run it contributed to sectional solidarity and the demise of the Second Party System
in the South.
, were reawakened with the debate over Texas Annexation and the Mexican War. Texas Annexation
was the major issue in the national elections of 1844, but, despite some signs of a sectional split, the election was resolved along the established party lines. Opposition to the Mexican War and, especially, opposition to acquiring new territory, also split largely along party lines.
It was only with the introduction of the Wilmot Proviso
in August 1846 that the national debate began to split along sectional lines. During the "prolonged deadlock of 1846-50" the idea of secession as a possible solution to Northern threats against slavery began to take root among more and more Southerners. In December 1849 Congressman Alexander Stephens
, the future vice-president of the Confederacy, wrote to his brother, "I find the feeling among the Southern members for a dissolution of the Union – if the antislavery [measures] should be pressed to extremity – is becoming more general than at first."
In the United States Congress the issues dividing North and South were debated ferociously, leading to the Compromise of 1850
that was intended to address all outstanding issues relating to slavery. After an early failure to pass a single omnibus bill, in September 1850 President Fillmore signed the five separate bills that made up the compromise.
Around the same time, radicals within the South pursued their own solution, leading to the Nashville Convention
in June 1850 that some hoped would become a secessionist convention. The convention denounced the proposed compromise, but rejected secession over any territorial restrictions on slavery in favor of extending the Missouri Compromise line to the west coast.
In Alabama, the state divided along sectional lines. In the north of the state the pro-compromise Union Party had its greatest strength while Democrats in the south organized the Southern Rights Party.
In Mississippi, Governor John Quitman and Jefferson Davis
led the Southern rights group, while Senator Henry S. Foote, who had lost status in the state over his support for the compromise, was the most visible face of the Union Party.
Georgia had a strong Whig Party led by Alexander Stephens and Robert Toombs
. They had already led a Whig revolt against President Zachary Taylor
although they ended up supporting the compromise (although both voted against the bill abolishing the slave trade in the District of Columbia). They were joined in their state efforts to form the Constitutional Union Party by moderate Democrat Howell Cobb
. Their opposition came from Democratic Governor George Towns and Hershel V. Johnson and fellow Whig John Berrian.
After the final approval of the bills making up the Compromise of 1850, the radicals acted. In Mississippi, Governor Quitman called for a special legislative session in November to discuss the state’s reaction to the compromise. The Nashville Convention reconvened in November, but it was poorly attended and accomplished nothing. In South Carolina, there was already a regular legislative session scheduled for November, and Governor Whitemarsh Seabrook was persuaded not to take any special actions that might evoke the memories of South Carolina extremism during the Nullification Crisis. However, the most significant action would occur in Georgia.
Robert Barnwell Rhett from South Carolina and William Lowndes Yancey
from Alabama joined local Georgians in supporting the Southern Rights party to the "extent of ruining the state Democratic Party". Stephens, Toombs, and Cobb transversed the state in opposition with Stephens alone estimating that he traveled over 3,000 miles in the campaign.
Unionists outpolled their opponents by 46,000 to 24,000 in the election to the convention, which included a 10 to 1 ratio of delegates committed against secession. Stephens and Toombs were delegates to the convention and used it to officially organize the state Constitutional Union Party. Meanwhile in Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina the Georgia election results, along with the inaction of the Nashville Convention, put a damper on secessionists.
The task of the convention became the creation of a position that both supported the Compromise of 1850 as the final solution to the sectional disputes over slavery while maintaining a strong position for protecting traditional Southern rights. They did this by approving what came to be known as the Georgia Platform. The document in full is as follows:
In a very neat package, the platform offered support for both union and compromise, identified specific future violations of southern rights which would not be tolerated, and kept alive the possibility of secession as a future remedy. Many Southerners felt that the Compromise of 1850 had been shaped more towards Northern interests; the Georgia Platform made it clear that the future of the nation depended on the North strictly adhering to the Compromise.
The state elections of 1851 reflected the popularity of the Unionist position. In Georgia, Cobb was elected governor, Stephens was reelected to the House of Representatives, and Toombs was appointed to the United States Senate. In Mississippi, Foote defeated Jefferson Davis for the United States Senate seat. In the elections to the House of Representatives, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, returned 14 Unionists and only 5 Southern Rights candidates. In the rest of the South, the Whigs generally gained seats in Congress.
In South Carolina, there was basically only one political party, and it was divided between those advocating that South Carolina act alone and those that wanted action only in cooperation with other states. The South Carolina legislature called for both a state convention and another Southern Congress in early 1852 in Memphis. However the election turnout for the convention was very light, and the victories of Unionists elsewhere insured that the Memphis convention never occurred.
The Union Parties, despite the hopes and efforts of Stephens and others, did not become a national party. Cooper wrote:
Ultimately the very success of the Georgia Platform meant that it soon became a basic part of Democratic Party policy. Neither the isolated Union Parties nor the remaining Whigs in other states were able to offer an effective counter to the Democrats who now appeared to offer the best protection for Southern rights. This contributed to the dissolution of the Second Party System within the South.
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
Convention in response to the Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
. Supported by Unionists
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
, the document affirmed the acceptance of the Compromise as a final resolution of the sectional slavery issues while declaring that no further assaults on Southern rights by the North would be acceptable. The Platform had political significance throughout the South. In the short term it was an effective antidote to secession
Secession in the United States
Secession in the United States can refer to secession of a state from the United States, secession of part of a state from that state to form a new state, or secession of an area from a city or county....
, but in the long run it contributed to sectional solidarity and the demise of the Second Party System
Second Party System
The Second Party System is a term of periodization used by historians and political scientists to name the political party system existing in the United States from about 1828 to 1854...
in the South.
Background
Sectional tensions over the issue of the westward expansion of slavery, previously resolved by the Missouri CompromiseMissouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30'...
, were reawakened with the debate over Texas Annexation and the Mexican War. Texas Annexation
Texas Annexation
In 1845, United States of America annexed the Republic of Texas and admitted it to the Union as the 28th state. The U.S. thus inherited Texas's border dispute with Mexico; this quickly led to the Mexican-American War, during which the U.S. captured additional territory , extending the nation's...
was the major issue in the national elections of 1844, but, despite some signs of a sectional split, the election was resolved along the established party lines. Opposition to the Mexican War and, especially, opposition to acquiring new territory, also split largely along party lines.
It was only with the introduction of the Wilmot Proviso
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso, one of the major events leading to the Civil War, would have banned slavery in any territory to be acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War or in the future, including the area later known as the Mexican Cession, but which some proponents construed to also include the disputed...
in August 1846 that the national debate began to split along sectional lines. During the "prolonged deadlock of 1846-50" the idea of secession as a possible solution to Northern threats against slavery began to take root among more and more Southerners. In December 1849 Congressman Alexander Stephens
Alexander Stephens
Alexander Hamilton Stephens was an American politician from Georgia. He was Vice President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He also served as a U.S...
, the future vice-president of the Confederacy, wrote to his brother, "I find the feeling among the Southern members for a dissolution of the Union – if the antislavery [measures] should be pressed to extremity – is becoming more general than at first."
In the United States Congress the issues dividing North and South were debated ferociously, leading to the Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
that was intended to address all outstanding issues relating to slavery. After an early failure to pass a single omnibus bill, in September 1850 President Fillmore signed the five separate bills that made up the compromise.
Around the same time, radicals within the South pursued their own solution, leading to the Nashville Convention
Nashville Convention
The Nashville Convention was a political meeting held in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 3 – 11, 1850. Delegates from nine slave holding states met to consider a possible course of action if the United States Congress decided to ban slavery in the new territories being added to the country as a...
in June 1850 that some hoped would become a secessionist convention. The convention denounced the proposed compromise, but rejected secession over any territorial restrictions on slavery in favor of extending the Missouri Compromise line to the west coast.
Unionists versus Southern Rights Parties
Secessionist strength was strongest in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. In the first three of these states there arose local Union or Constitutional Parties to counter the radical Southern Rights parties which were forming. In South Carolina the Southern Rights agenda was already the dominant force in the state, and its leaders were already pressing the other states for secession. The new Union parties attracted the overwhelming majority of Whigs in the three states. In Alabama and Mississippi the Whigs had been weak, and the creation of the Union parties revitalized the opposition to the dominant state Democratic Parties.In Alabama, the state divided along sectional lines. In the north of the state the pro-compromise Union Party had its greatest strength while Democrats in the south organized the Southern Rights Party.
In Mississippi, Governor John Quitman and Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
led the Southern rights group, while Senator Henry S. Foote, who had lost status in the state over his support for the compromise, was the most visible face of the Union Party.
Georgia had a strong Whig Party led by Alexander Stephens and Robert Toombs
Robert Toombs
Robert Augustus Toombs was an American political leader, United States Senator from Georgia, 1st Secretary of State of the Confederacy, and a Confederate general in the Civil War.-Early life:...
. They had already led a Whig revolt against President Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...
although they ended up supporting the compromise (although both voted against the bill abolishing the slave trade in the District of Columbia). They were joined in their state efforts to form the Constitutional Union Party by moderate Democrat Howell Cobb
Howell Cobb
Howell Cobb was an American political figure. A Southern Democrat, Cobb was a five-term member of the United States House of Representatives and Speaker of the House from 1849 to 1851...
. Their opposition came from Democratic Governor George Towns and Hershel V. Johnson and fellow Whig John Berrian.
After the final approval of the bills making up the Compromise of 1850, the radicals acted. In Mississippi, Governor Quitman called for a special legislative session in November to discuss the state’s reaction to the compromise. The Nashville Convention reconvened in November, but it was poorly attended and accomplished nothing. In South Carolina, there was already a regular legislative session scheduled for November, and Governor Whitemarsh Seabrook was persuaded not to take any special actions that might evoke the memories of South Carolina extremism during the Nullification Crisis. However, the most significant action would occur in Georgia.
Georgia Acts
Governor Towns of Georgia, acting under the instructions of the state legislature, called for a special election to a state convention. The convention, scheduled for November, was intended to determine the appropriate response to the Compromise of 1850.Robert Barnwell Rhett from South Carolina and William Lowndes Yancey
William Lowndes Yancey
William Lowndes Yancey was a journalist, politician, orator, diplomat and an American leader of the Southern secession movement. A member of the group known as the Fire-Eaters, Yancey was one of the most effective agitators for secession and rhetorical defenders of slavery. An early critic of...
from Alabama joined local Georgians in supporting the Southern Rights party to the "extent of ruining the state Democratic Party". Stephens, Toombs, and Cobb transversed the state in opposition with Stephens alone estimating that he traveled over 3,000 miles in the campaign.
Unionists outpolled their opponents by 46,000 to 24,000 in the election to the convention, which included a 10 to 1 ratio of delegates committed against secession. Stephens and Toombs were delegates to the convention and used it to officially organize the state Constitutional Union Party. Meanwhile in Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina the Georgia election results, along with the inaction of the Nashville Convention, put a damper on secessionists.
The task of the convention became the creation of a position that both supported the Compromise of 1850 as the final solution to the sectional disputes over slavery while maintaining a strong position for protecting traditional Southern rights. They did this by approving what came to be known as the Georgia Platform. The document in full is as follows:
In a very neat package, the platform offered support for both union and compromise, identified specific future violations of southern rights which would not be tolerated, and kept alive the possibility of secession as a future remedy. Many Southerners felt that the Compromise of 1850 had been shaped more towards Northern interests; the Georgia Platform made it clear that the future of the nation depended on the North strictly adhering to the Compromise.
Repercussions
Mississippi and Alabama joined Georgia in embracing the Georgia Platform. As a political ploy, the Platform thoroughly undermined any effective response from the Southern Rights parties. Generally the Compromise was popular throughout the South, and historian William Cooper Jr. made the point that, "Although the confrontation was not in fact a union-disunion one anywhere, the successful Unionist onslaught made it seem like one." Historian David Potter stated that the Georgia Platform "became the cornerstone of southern policy for several years."The state elections of 1851 reflected the popularity of the Unionist position. In Georgia, Cobb was elected governor, Stephens was reelected to the House of Representatives, and Toombs was appointed to the United States Senate. In Mississippi, Foote defeated Jefferson Davis for the United States Senate seat. In the elections to the House of Representatives, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, returned 14 Unionists and only 5 Southern Rights candidates. In the rest of the South, the Whigs generally gained seats in Congress.
In South Carolina, there was basically only one political party, and it was divided between those advocating that South Carolina act alone and those that wanted action only in cooperation with other states. The South Carolina legislature called for both a state convention and another Southern Congress in early 1852 in Memphis. However the election turnout for the convention was very light, and the victories of Unionists elsewhere insured that the Memphis convention never occurred.
The Union Parties, despite the hopes and efforts of Stephens and others, did not become a national party. Cooper wrote:
Ultimately the very success of the Georgia Platform meant that it soon became a basic part of Democratic Party policy. Neither the isolated Union Parties nor the remaining Whigs in other states were able to offer an effective counter to the Democrats who now appeared to offer the best protection for Southern rights. This contributed to the dissolution of the Second Party System within the South.
External links
- Georgia Platform
- Georgia Platform, Journal of the State Convention, 1850 from the collection of the Georgia Archives.