Having so often pledged themselves not to endure the election of an anti-slavery President, they were now persuaded that, if they quietly submitted, they would thereby accept an inferior position in the government.

This assumed obligation of consistency stimulated them to rash action; for upon every consideration of prudence and wise forecast, they would have quietly accepted a result which they acknowledged to be in strict accordance with the Constitution.

The South was enjoying exceptional prosperity.
The advance of the slave States in wealth was more rapid then at any other period of their history.

Their staple products commanded high prices and were continually growing in amount to meet the demands of a market which represented the wants of the civilized world.

In the decade between 1850 and 1860 the wealth of the South had increased three thousand millions of dollars, and this not from an overvalution of slaves, but from increased cultivation of land, the extension of railways, and all the aids and appliances of vast agricultural enterprises.