The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 17, July 1913 - April, 1914 Page: 138
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The Southwestern Ilistorical Quarterly
The admission of California into the Union as a free state did not,
in the opinion of the ultra pro-slavery faction, preclude the possi-
bility of securing a part of its territory for the "peculiar institu-
tion" of the south. The question of state division which had come
up in the constitutional convention was again agitated. The advo-
cates of division hoped to cut off from the southern part, territory
enough, for a new state The ostensible purpose of division was kept
concealed. The plea of unjust taxation was made prominent.
The native Californians who under Mexican rule paid no taxes on
their land were given to understand that they were bearing an
undue proportion of the cost of government, while the mining coun-
ties, paying less tax, had the greater representation. The native
Californians were opposed to slavery, an open advocacy of the real
purpose would defeat the division scheme.4
Tuthill, in his hTistory of California, makes the statement: "As
early as 1852, the Chivalry had unsuccessfully attempted a con-
vention with the secret purpose of dividing the State and erecting
the southern half into Slave Territory."' A recent article says,
"The Gwin party hoped to divide California into two states and
hand the southern over to slavery";6 while another writer has
asserted that "From the adoption of the state constitution in 1849
to 1861, the southern wing of that party [the Democratic] did
everything in their power to divide the State, their purpose being
to make a Slave State out of the southern portion of it."7
A study of the history of the state division movement, however,
does not indicate that the pro-slavery motive had the preponder-
ating influence in the movement which these writers have attributed
to it. In fact, it shows that there is small basis for their assertions.
In the first place, their statements concerning the purposes of
slavery advocates in the constitutional convention are incorrect.
A recent writer, by an analysis of the votes taken in the consti-
tutional convention on the crucial question of the eastern boundary,
has shown conclusively the baselessness of the repeated assertions
concerning an alignment of northern and southern men, and of
slavery and anti-slavery forces, with reference to the boundary
question, and has demonstrated that the repeated charges that
southerners were manipulating and working in that convention
4Guinn, A History of California, and an Extended History of Its Southern
Coast Counties, I, 204.
IP. 576.
6Article on "California," Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
'Carr, Pioneer Days in California, 346.138
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 17, July 1913 - April, 1914, periodical, 1914; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101061/m1/142/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.