The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 18, July 1914 - April, 1915 Page: 173
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First Session of the Secession Convention of Texas 173
1858 authorizing the Governor to. order an election of seven dele-
gates to a convention of the Southern states, if, in his opinion, the
situation should demand it. He sent the resolution, accompanied
by a letter to the governors of the other Southern states suggest-
ing the calling of a Southern convention for the purpose of dis-
cussing plans for common action. He said that in his opinion the
time had come for a calm deliberation of statesmen in a manner
permitted under the Constitution. He hoped that such a con-
vention might adopt measures for restoring harmony between the
two sections of the country.36 Houston then issued a proclamation
for the election of the Texan delegates on the first Monday in
February. For this effort at conciliation Houston was widely de-
nounced as a traitor to the South. Senator Wigfall said that Gov-
ernor Houston ought to be tarred and feathered and driven from
the state. Senator Iverson from Georgia, his old antagonist in
the Senate, said, "Some Texas Brutus may arise to rid his country
of this old, hoary-headed traitor."37
In order to understand all phases of the secession movement in
Texas, the existence of a secret order known as the Knights of
the Golden Circle must be noticed. It met a hearty welcome in
Texas in the summer of 1860, and much has been said about the
influence that it exerted over the events that rapidly followed in
the state during the winter and spring of 1860 and 1861. It
appears that the order was primarily formed for filibustering pur-
poses in order to perpetuate the institution of slavery. John C.
Calhoun is variously credited or blamed as the originator of the
order."" It has also been maintained that the Democratic leaders
"True Issue, December 6, 1860.
"A. M. Williams, gam Houston, 342.
"A writer in the Continental Monthly for January, 1862, says: "This
organization, which was instituted by John C. Calhoun, William C.
Porcher, and others, as far back as 1835, had for its sole object the dis-
solution of the Union and the establishment of a Southern Empire;
Empire is the word, not confederacy or Republic:-and it was solely by
means of its secret, but powerful machinery, that the Southern States
were plunged into revolution, in defiance of the will of a majority of
their voting population."
The evidence upon which the above statement is made in regard to
Calhoun is not known. Authentic Exposition of the Knights of the
Golden Circle, 1. In LTossing. Civil WaVr in America, I, 187, a footnote
reads, "It is authoritatively asserted that it [the order of the Knights
of the Golden Circlel was founded by John C. Calhoun and other South
Carolina conspirators, in the year 1835." But no authority is given.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 18, July 1914 - April, 1915, periodical, 1915; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101064/m1/179/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.