It was but a natural step after 1833 to com bine the inherent Anglo-Saxon idea of local au tonomy with the economic interest of this group of States. And the almost universal resort to agricultural pursuits caused the operation oistbe national tariff to appear sectional, favoring tfib., manufacturers of other sections at the expense of the cotton growers, who, having no competi tors in the world's markets, could not ask for protection as did the industrialists of the North and East. The tariff became the object of the Southerner's most determined opposition. In Virginia college students formed anti-tariff clubs, taking vows not to wear tariff-favored clothing. And it required but little invention to combine these ideas with those older ideas of State supremacy which had been so preva lent immediately after the Revolution. Nulli fication became secession and all the more rap idly since the great nullifier, John C. Calhoun, soon gave up the former for the latter constitu tional doctrine.
All these forces tended to build up a peculiar civilization, a peculiar social system south of the famous Mason and Dixon's line. Heads of families became patriarchs with numberless de pendents looking up to them for their daily bread, and these chiefs naturally assumed the leading roles in State and local government. Government itself became a social affair and office-holding remained the badge of honor. These masters at home undertook quite as naturally the representation of their States in the national congresses and cabinet. And since three negroes out of every five were counted in the apportionment of representation in Con gress, the owner of 500 slaves was equal in political power to 301 voters in the North. This had secured to the South a preponderance of influence in national legislation until about 1830, when the West and Northwest began to loom large on the horizon of the future.
Texas, embracing an area of 270,000 square miles, declared her independence in 1836. Mex ico.was unable to suppress the revolution. The great majority of Texans were from the South ern States; they were also slaveholders. A new State — Texas — entered the family of nations. It applied, however, for admission into the United States in 1837. This meant an expan sion of the territory of the South. It might serve as a check-mate to the West should it fail, as was clearly evident, to co-operate with the. South in party policy. But admission of the new State was opposed by the Northern representatives. After a struggle of several years the new State was finally admitted in 1845. This controversy embittered the sections
of,the country and threats of secession had been freely and boldly made in the South during the campaign of 1844 in case the new Territory should not be admitted.
Admission of Texas meant a declaration of war on the part of Mexico and war with that feeble and rather decrepit nation exposed a vast region of country stretching from Santa Fe to San Francisco to American conquest. In the war that ensued everything that could be de sired was won. But not being content simply to despoil a weak neighbor the United States offered, by way of conscience salving, to pay for the territory so ruthlessly seized. When the bill authorizing the payment of a portion of the money came up in the House of Representatives David Wilmot of Pennsylvania offered his ta-. mous proviso (see WILMOT Paoviso), prohibit ing the introduction of slavery into the country to be acquired. This aroused the ire of the Southern leaders, as was to•have been expected. From 1847 to 1850, the date of the second series of compromises on slavery, the South was agi tated as never before and in every State strong secession parties arose.
The South was ripening for a revolution. William L. Yancey (q.v.) of Alabama, had rec ognized this; he had given up his seat in the na tional House. of Representatives in 1846 and from that time forth appealed to the people of his State to yield nothing whatsoever to North ern sentiment concerning slavery. He de manded that all territory to be acquired from Mexico should be kept open to slave settlement, and a failure to protect slaveholders in their rights he declared to be a violation of the na tional compact. Yancey was a fiery orator not inferior in the control of popular passion to Wendell Phillips; he was in fact the Southern counterpart of Phillips. In 1848 he prevailed on the Alabama State Democratic Convention to adopt his ideas which soon became known to the country as the °Alabama Platform? At the National Democratic Convention of that year Yancey presented resolutions embodying the Alabama platform; they were rejected and Yancey withdrew from the convention. Lewis Cass was nominated for the Presidency on an evasive platform. Yancey canvassed Alabama urgihg rejection of Cass. Gen. Zachary lor, the Whig candidate, was elected President. In 1850 when the agitation came to an issue in Congress on the question of the admission of California, Yancey advocated the secession of all slave-holding States.