Atlanta And Its Builders, Vol. 1 - A Comprehensive History Of The Gate City Of The South. Thomas H. Martin
boycott or otherwise, that they would not patronize a Northern wholesaler who was not known to be a Southern sympathizer. A number of Atlanta businessmen signed an agreement to purchase goods from none but friends of the South, and to give Southern wholesalers and importers the preference in their purchase whenever possible.
In the midst of this political excitement a well-attended mass meeting of businessmen was held to take some action respecting what was regarded as the unjust discrimination of the railroads against Atlanta in the matter of freight tariffs. This meeting was held on the 24th of February, 1860. Dr. D. Young acted as chairman, and A. M. Eddleman, secretary. After a long and spirited discussion, in which the leading merchants participated, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:
"Whereas, All the undersigned, merchants and business men of Atlanta, believing it to be for our mutual interest and for the public good, do hereby form ourselves into a mercantile association for the purpose of strength and counsel, to build up the business of Atlanta, and to successfully compete with any city of the South, and for the purpose of remedying the present unjust discriminations against our city, in freights and the commerce of the city.
"Resolved, That by concerted action we will be better protected, not only as Southern men, but as merchants, and that we will feel ourselves in honor bound to impart such information to the association as may be useful to our section and the protection of our trade.
"Resolved, That we look upon the discrimination of Charleston and Savannah in favor of Nashville and other cities in freight as unjust and oppressive, and objectionable to our interests as a commercial city, and that we will treat all those cities fairly and honorably to get a reduction from those ports to Atlanta.
"Resolved, That we will, individually and collectively, use our best endeavors to make Atlanta a port of entry, believing it would be of benefit to ourselves, our state, and the general government.
"Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to form a constitution and by-laws for this association, and for other purposes, and to report at a meeting to be held on next Friday night."
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The committee appointed under the foregoing resolutions consisted of J. B. Peck, S. B. Robson, W. M. Williams, Dr. John L. Hamilton and Judge S. B. Hoyt. At the same meeting, another committee was appointed to look into the matter of freight discrimination, consisting of Sidney Root, William McNaught, William Herring, John R. Wallace, A. K. Seago, William H. Barnes, E. M. Seago, P. L. J. May, and Judge Hoyt.
This organization was quite active for a few weeks, but with the outbreak of the war came to naught. One of its secret purposes was to discriminate in favor of Southern wholesalers doing business in the North.
In common with her sister cities of the South Atlanta was much interested in the movement represented by the organization known as the Knights of the Golden Circle. "General" Bickley, the organizer and promotor of the movement, appeared in Atlanta with other leaders of the mysterious order, in the spring of 1860, and addressed a large mass meeting of Atlantans with the object of enlisting them in the chimerical scheme which was the ostensible object of the Knights of the Golden Circle. After the meeting, a number of citizens appointed an advisory committee to report on the desirability of effecting the organization of a lodge of the order in Atlanta. This committee made the following report:
"Impressed with the necessity of vigilance and determination in the defense of the constitutional rights of the Southern or Slave States, threatened with an irrepressible conflict by and through which these states are to be despoiled of those rights; warned by active aggressions, insurrectionary movements, murder most foul, and the advance onward to political power of the abolition sentiment, it is time to prepare for an ominous future, to guard all that which we constitutionally possess, and as far as in our power may be, to extend Southern sentiments. Southern institutions, and Southern civilization, therefore,
"Resolved 1. That we recognize in the aims of the Knights of the Golden Circle, as set forth by General Bickley, of Virginia, Major Henry Castilanos, of Louisiana, and Colonel N. J. Scott, of Alabama, a movement which we heartily commend, because the Slave States of this Union have in them their success guaranteed, not only for the continuance of the domestic institution of slavery in their midst, but also its extension south, with all other elements of Southern civilization.
"Resolved 2. That this meeting returns its warmest thanks to the distinguished General Bickley, Major Henry Castilanos and Colonel N. J. Scott, for the valuable information imparted to it, and do most cordially commend them and their course to the respectful and patriotic consideration and support of our fellow-citizens of Georgia and the South."
Subsequent meetings were held, and when he left Atlanta, Bickley left behind him the nucleus of a flourishing lodge, which was industrious in its efforts to raise the "sinews of war," which most deeply interested the prime movers of the Knights of the Golden Circle. A goodly sum of money was turned over to the state "central committee" for propaganda work in the South. Later Bickley was held up as a fraud by prominent Southern papers, but his movement had attracted a very large following by the breaking out of hostilities between North and South, and hundreds of deluded Southerners journeyed to the Rio Grande to mass for the movement on Mexico, which was the prime object of the organization fathered by Bickley, according to him. He proposed to send thousands of armed Southern young men to assist Juarez in establishing his authority in Mexico against Miramon's machinations to overthrow the republic and establish a dictatorship, which, once accomplished, would result in the establishment of negro slavery in Mexico and a political alliance between that republic and the Southern States for the perpetuation of the institution, and if need be, its defense against Abolition fanaticism in the North. Bickley prophesied eventually a great Southern slave republic, formed from the slave states of the United States and Mexico, strong enough to dictate terms to all Yankeedom, and rich enough and enterprising enough, with King Cotton as the basis of its prosperity, to control the commerce of the Western Hemisphere. It was a great scheme, but it dissolved like a child's soap bubble when the guns of Fort Sumter announced that the South had crossed the political Rubicon.
Stephen A. Douglas, the candidate of the Northern Democracy for president in the race against Abraham Lincoln, visited Atlanta while making his stumping tour of the Union, and delivered a public address in the city on October 30, 1860. Although among state's rights enthusiasts, a large audience heard the distinguished speaker respectfully. Before the meeting was held the following pertinent questions were propounded to the "Little Giant" by the executive committee of the Breckenridge and Lane party of Fulton county, with the request that he make categorical answer in his speech:
"1. Has not each state the sovereign right to decide for itself what shall be sufficient cause for withdrawal from the Union?
"2. If upon the election of Abraham Lincoln any of the Southern States, in sovereign convention assembled, should decide to withdraw from the Union, would the Federal government have a right to coerce her back into the Union, and would you assist the Federal government in so coercing her?
"If you answer that the right of secession is only the right of revolution inherent in the people, then would not the citizens of said state withdrawing, by exercising the right of revolution, be acting as rebels and traitors to the Federal government, and would you aid in their punishment as such?"
Judge Douglas took notice of the questions at the opening of his brilliant speech, but said they were impertinent, because the same questions had been put to Mr. Breckenridge. He contended, however, that in the very nature of it, the Union must be perpetual or liberty fall; that no adequate cause for the secession of any state could exist as the republic was organized, and that the talk of danger from foreign aggression was preposterous. His speech made a strong impression on his hearers, complimentary to his ability, but gained him few votes.
The day following Douglas's address, a "Minute Men Association" was organized at the armory of the Atlanta Grays, the object of which was "to organize in the city of Atlanta, and in Fulton county, men of all parties, not as partisans, but as true Southern men, a body to be known as the 'Minute Men of Fulton County,' to bind themselves to stand by the state rights of the South, their honor, their homes, and their firesides, against