The Northern Delusion
New Orleans Daily Crescent,
March 2, 1861
We have, on several occasions, noticed the strange misconception by the Northern
people of the temper and spirit of the South, in respect of a reconstruction
of the Union. They continue to assert that the Southern movement is
but a temporary frenzy which will soon pass away and be forgotten. They
declare, and perhaps believe, that the secession of the Southern States
was accomplished by a coup d’etat, a few bold leaders overriding
the people, and hurrying them out of the Union before they had time
to consider what they were doing. And, reasoning upon this belief, they
declare that time and opportunity only are needed to develop the latent
Union sentiment of the South, and restore the Gulf States to their former
position in the Old Confederacy.All this is a delusion, and a most fatal
one. But we are inclined to the belief that the Northern people are
not so much to be blamed for making this mistake as we at first supposed
them to be. We believe, in many cases, they have reached this conclusion
from wrong information given to them from the South! In other
words, we have reason to suspect that there are people in the South—in
this very city, perhaps—who are constantly writing letters to
the North and to the Border Slave Sates, misrepresenting Southern sentiment,
and creating wrong impressions with regard to the true state of affairs
among us. These letters are handed about and circulated privately, and
in some cases extracts from them are published in the papers. We refer
to no particular instance, nor do we assert positively, of our own knowledge,
that it is a deliberate design to misrepresent. It is merely a suspicion
with us, but it is a suspicion corroborated by such circumstances as
lead almost to absolute conviction.
The evil effects of this are apparent. The Washington correspondent
of the Charleston Mercury states that a leading member of the Peace
Conference from a slave State, and a true Southern man, told him that
if Congress would adopt the Crittenden proposition, the Gulf States
would be satisfied and would return to the Union. The gentleman undoubtedly
believed it, and his belief was founded, no doubt, on representations
of the sort we have alluded to—representations made by correspondents
from Southern States who, either through ignorance or design, have so
wrongly interpreted Southern sentiment. It can hardly be wondered at,
under these circumstances, that the Border Slave States should cherish
the idea of reconstruction—a thing utterly impossible now, if
not forever.
This State, more especially, is looked to as being the most anxious to return
to the Union, needing only a decent pretext for so doing. How mistaken
an idea this is, we need not say. The ordinance of secession passed
the Convention by a vote nearly unanimous. It was accepted, all over
the State, with feelings of eager satisfaction and relief. Thus far
there has been no symptom of dissatisfaction, except here and there
in individual cases. No public meetings have been held—no organized
expression of hostility to the movement has been heard. The people of
this State are free and brave; and it is an insult to them to say that
they are living under a “reign of terror,” and dare not
give utterance to their honest convictions. If there were such a party
here, of any consequence, it would soon make itself heard and felt.
And the people here have an undoubted right to complain if popular sentiment,
as we think is the case, is misrepresented by letters scattered over
the North, and written by submissionists, some of whom, of course, are
to be found in every Southern community.We claim for our own opinions
no more consideration than is accorded to those of other people. Our
assertion, therefore, will go only for what it is worth, when we say
that a large majority of the people of Louisiana would not agree that
the State should now reenter the Union, under any circumstances whatever.
To talk about Crittenden’s proposition, or anybody else’s
proposition, or of anything else that looks to a reconstruction of the
Union, is the sheerest nonsense and a waste of words. While the Border
Slave States are anxiously looking to the Peace Conference at Washington,
a large majority of the people of Louisiana feel no more interest in
that Conference than they do in the proceedings of the London Board
of Aldermen. They believe that it was gotten up for a patriotic purpose,
but that the Northern States saw in it a chance for delay, and have
merely kept it going until Lincoln could be inaugurated.The Northern
people, and the people of the Border Slave States, instead of relying
upon the representations of correspondents, would gain a clearer insight
into the condition of things here by watching the Southern press and
by noting the proceedings of our Legislative Assemblies and Conventions.
If there has been any indication, in any quarter of the seceded States,
of a disposition to return to the Union on the Crittenden or any other
proposition, we have yet to see it. The President of the Confederate
States has declared that, in his opinion, the separation ought to be
final and perpetual, and every representative man of Southern sentiment
has said the same thing. Nearly the entire press of the South says the
same thing. Now, then, if people at a distance choose to discard evidence
of this sort, and rely upon the loose statements of correspondents,
who merely give opinions without showing any basis for them, they may
go ahead in their delusion. That’s all.
