Washington Territory Declares Loyalty to the Union
Legislators in the newly formed territory pass formal resolutions condemning secession and the proposed Pacific Confederacy on the eve of the Civil War.
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Whereas the present appalling conjuncture of our public affairs is calculated to excite in the heart of every loyal American, feelings of the most anxious solicitude and profound alarm... we, therefore, representing the present Legislative authority of Washington Territory, deem it our privilege and solemn duty to give expression to the following sentiments: First, that we consider the preservation of our existing national Union as the first of all patriotic duties. Second, that it is the bounden duty of all good and true citizens to counsel harmony and conciliation. Third, that we utterly discountenance—as fraught with incipient treason—all projects for a Pacific Confederacy. Washington Territory covets only the distinction of exhibiting, first and last, her devotion to the entire Union, as created by our ancestors, consecrated by their blood, and bequeathed to us.
“Washington Territory covets only the distinction of exhibiting, first and last, her devotion to the entire Union.”
In the spring of 1861, Washington Territory was isolated and fragile. These resolves represent an explicit attempt by local lawmakers to signal their loyalty to the federal government, fearing that regional movements might try to fracture the Union even at the furthest edge of the continent.
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