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Effects on the Nation

EDITED AS OF 2/1/19:

  • The Jefferson Davis Resolutions were a declaration of southern democratic beliefs.

  • He made the resolutions to undermine Senator Douglass's Freeport Doctrine

  • These resolutions would hopefully form the basis of the Democratic platform in the 1860 election

    • They would also unite Southern Democrats behind pro-slavery ideals.

  • Douglass understood what these resolutions meant for him [and his Freeport Doctrine]--> He questioned the necessity of the Resolutions.

    • Tension builds between Douglass and Southern Democrats

  • Unfortunately, the resolutions alienated Northern Democrats and the party split.

  • Resolutions can be considered as "ultimatums" for the North.

    • If North and South could not agree, South would have no choice but to secede.

  • Due to Democratic Party split, Lincoln was able to secure the election, which directly caused SC and several other states to secede

  • Synopsis of Democratic Party Split.

    • First Democratic Convention meeting in Charleston.

      • Douglass seemed like a good pick, but Southerners didn't really like him since he wanted to limit slavery's expansion in western territories

      • Southerners from 10 states angrily left the committee.

        • The remaining members couldn't get a 2/3rds majority to nominate Douglass

    • Second Democratic Convention meeting in Baltimore

      • This time they were able to nominate Douglass, and decided they would base their platform on popular sovereignty

      • Southerners could not agree with this and formed their own convention where they nominated Breckenridge with a platform of unhindered expansion of slavery.

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     In November of 1860, republican Abraham Lincoln would win the election, even though he only won 40% of the popular vote. To put it another way, 60% of the people in the United States voted for someone who was NOT Lincoln. The the 1860 election should have been a for-sure win for the democratic party under normal circumstances. However, the election defied all expectation.

    

     As a response to Abraham Lincoln's victory in the election, several states seceded from the Union. When Davis's constituents in Mississippi seceded, he left the Senate.

 

     Even though his state was leaving the Union, he still fought for peace. In his farewell address, he says "I therefore feel that I but express their [my constituents'] desire when I say I hope, and they hope, for peaceful relations with you, though we must part... it only remains to me to bid you a final adieu."

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     The Jefferson Davis Resolutions can be seen as a failed attempt at stopping a sectionalist divide in America. Ultimately, Jefferson Davis would fail to peacefully unite both the north and the south with his resolutions. Just next year, the infamous American Civil War would break out over the differences he failed to keep under control. Some also say that his resolutions may have even affected the outcome of the 1860 presidential election, which when combined with other events were the breaking point for the country that ultimately threw it into war.

    

     In the months following, during the democratic national convention of 1860, the party would be forced to reconvene after several delegates withdrew from nominating a candidate. Davis would send a letter to the convention telling them to act quickly to stop the split in its tracks, where he says that "the endangering of the successful assertion of its [the party's] principles, compared with which the success of a single electoral struggle is unworthy of one moment's consideration."  However, despite his letter, the party ultimately split over its official stance on slavery for their platform. Southern democrats felt that their party no longer represented them, and they held their own convention separately where they nominated their own candidate.

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