As the slave power was not content with any limitation whatever, its
leaders now looked for an opportunity to break up this present
government and start a new one. At the time (December, 1860) South
Carolina passed the ordinance of secession, to be narrated later,
certain things were said which may be quoted here. These utterances
exposed the spirit that animated the slave power long before Lincoln's
election, long before he was even known in politics.

Parker said that the movement of secession had been "gradually
culminating for _a long series of years_."

Inglis endorsed the remark and added, "Most of us have had this matter
under consideration for the last twenty years."

Keitt said, "I have been engaged in this movement _ever since I
entered political life_."

Rhett said, "The secession of South Carolina was not the event of a
day. It is not anything produced by Mr. Lincoln's election, or by the
non-execution of the fugitive slave law. It is a matter which has been
gathering head _for thirty years_. The election of Lincoln and
Hamlin was the last straw on the back of the camel. But it was not the
only one. The back was nearly broken before.

The other important fact was the result of Lincoln's Freeport question.
The answer of Douglas was: "I answer _emphatically_ ... that in my
opinion the people of a territory can, by lawful means, exclude slavery
from its limits prior to the formation of a state constitution." This
answer satisfied the democrats of Illinois and secured his election to