irginia
there had grown up a party which favoured the establishment of a
separate southern confederacy. By the action of South Carolina all such
schemes were now nipped in the bud. Of the states south of Mason and
Dixon's line, three had now ratified the Constitution, so that any
separate confederacy could now consist only of Virginia and North
Carolina. The reason for this short-lived separatist feeling in Virginia
was to be found in the complications which had grown out of the attempt
of Spain to close the Mississippi River. It will be remembered that only
two years before Jay had actually recommended to Congress that the right
to navigate the lower Mississippi be surrendered for twenty-five years,
in exchange for a favourable commercial treaty with Spain. The New
England states, caring nothing for the distant Mississippi, supported
this measure in Congress; and this narrow and selfish policy naturally
created alarm in Virginia, which, in her district of Kentucky, touched
upon the great river. Thus to the vague dread of the southern states in
general, in the event of New England's controlling the commercial policy
of the government, there was added, in Virginia's case, a specific fear.
If the New England people were thus ready to barter away the vital
interests of a remote part of the country, what might they not do? Would
they ever stop at anything so long as they could go on building up their
commerce? This feeling strongly influenced Patrick Henry in his desire
for a separate confederacy; and we have seen how Randolph and Mason, in
the Federal Convention, were so disturbed at the power given to
Congress to regulate commerce by a simple majority of votes that they
refused to set their names to the Constitution. They alleged further
reasons for their refusal, but this was the chief one. They wanted a two
thirds vote to be required, in order that the south might retain the
means of protecting itself. Under these circumstances the opposition to
the Constitution was very strong, and but for the action of South
Carolina the party in favour of a separate confederacy might have been
capable of doing much mischief. As it was, since that party had actively
intrigued both in South Carolina and Maryland, the ratification of the
Constitution by both these states was a direct rebuff. It quite
demoralized the advocates of secession. The paper-money men, moreover,
were handicapped by the fact that two of the most powerful
Antifeder