Confederate Heritage Fund
          P. O. Box 771
Andalusia, Alabama 36420
Abraham Lincoln Endorses
Permanent Slavery Amendment

WASHINGTON (CHF)  -  In his First Inaugural Speech, on
March 4, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln approved a
Constitutional Amendment that would guarantee permanent
slavery in the United States.

Lincoln stated in his Speech:
"I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution has
passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government
shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the
States, including that of persons held to service.  Holding
such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have
no objection to its being made express and irrevocable."  
See Lincoln Inaugural Speech

This Permanent Slavery Amendment that Lincoln endorsed
was passed on March 2, 1861 by a vote of over 66% of both
Houses of the U. S. Congress, after most Southern States
had withdrawn from the United States and had formed their
own nation, the Confederate States of America.

If ratified by 3/4 of the States, this Northern sponsored
Constitutional Amendment would prevent the federal
government from ever abolishing or interfering with slavery
in any State in the United States.

If the Southern States wanted slavery protected forever, then
 all they would have to do is return to the Union and ratify this
Constitutional Amendment.

But, because the Southern States left the Union to avoid  
Lincoln's newly passed 40% import tax (see below) and not
to protect slavery, the South did not return.  

The Corwin Northern Permanent Slavery Amendment reads:

"No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will
authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or
interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions
thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by
the laws of said State."
See Northern Permanent Slavery Amendment

This overwhelming 66% vote by the Northern controlled U. S.   
Congress proves that the North officially and openly
supported slavery and has exposed, as a farce, the North's
pretensions of being opposed to slavery.

Had the North been opposed to slavery, they would not have
passed such an Amendment supporting slavery.

Moreover, on the very same day, Congress also passed the  
Morrill Tariff Act, the highest import tax in U.S. history,  which
raised average import taxes on Southerners from 20% to
40%.

The Permanent Slavery Amendment passed by the U.S.
Congress and endorsed by Lincoln was a political maneuver
by the North to bring the Southern States back into the Union
to pay this new higher 40% tax to finance the U.S.
Government and subsidize Northern business monopolies.

If the issue for withdrawing from the Union was slavery, then
the Southern States would have immediately returned to the
Union and ratified this Constitutional Amendment and, of
course, paid Lincoln's oppressive 40% tax.

But, because the issue to Southerners was oppressive taxes
and not slavery, they did not return.

Further justifying the South's right to independence is the fact
that Lincoln was elected President of the United States in a
four way race by only 39% of the popular vote (he did not
receive even one vote in the deep South).

During the Presidential Campaign, Abraham Lincoln had
promised the public and especially his financial supporters,
mostly large monopolies in the Northeast, that he would
double the sales tax on imported goods to the South from
20% to 40%, if elected, which would make these rich
monopolies even richer.

The Southern States remembered how South Carolina was
subjected to the Force Bills to collect the Tariff of
Abominations Act passed by the U. S. Congress in 1832,
because they were in the Union when the oppressive tax was
passed.  But this time most Southern States left the Union
before the new tax law passed, to avoid being subject to such
Force Bills.

The Southern States knew the passage of the new tax law
was imminent, since they were now greatly outvoted in
Congress by the Northern States, as a result of the recent
national election, in which a large number of high tax
Senators and Representatives were elected.

Since Southerners exported and imported 80% of the
nation’s goods, they have paid 60% of the nation’s import
taxes for many years now, although they represented only
33% of the United States population.

The South contended that this unequal taxation violated the
United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8(1) and was
both unfair and burdensome to Southerners.

And even worse for the South, 80% of this tax revenue was
then spent up North on Northern canals and railroads, instead
of in the Southern States.

This high import tax (sales tax on imported goods) forced the
price of products from England and France to be increased
40% higher, just to pay the tax.

This 40% increase in the price of imported goods, because of
the tax, then allowed Northern manufacturers to raise their
prices 40%, which in turn established very rich monopolies in
the North.

This Northern price gouging and very unfair situation that
existed with the 20% tax rate was made totally unbearable by
Lincoln’s new 40% sales tax on imported goods and would  
financially ruin many Southerners.

Also in his First Inaugural Speech, Lincoln made it clear that
there would be no invasion of the Confederate States, except
to collect taxes and possess tax collection forts.

In his Speech, Lincoln refused to mention slavery, at all, as a
reason to invade the South; and instead, Lincoln endorsed
the Permanent Slavery Amendment recently passed by
Congress.

Lincoln stated in his Speech,
"The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and
possess the property and places belonging to the
government, and to collect the duties and imposts (import
taxes); but beyond what may be necessary for these objects,
there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among
the people anywhere."
See Lincoln Inaugural Speech

The only property belonging to the federal government that
Lincoln said he was willing to invade the Confederate States
to occupy were 4 federal tax collection forts, including Fort
Sumter at the entrance to Charleston Harbor in South
Carolina and Fort Pickens at the entrance to Pensacola Bay
in Florida.

The above official, legal support for permanent slavery by
Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Congress is irrefutable proof
that the war was fought totally over unfair, oppressive taxes
and was not be fought over slavery at all.

Lincoln's War Against Southern Independence will result in
the destruction of State sovereignty and local self-government
and the establishment of an all powerful centralist federal
government with higher taxes and fewer liberties.
United States President
Abraham Lincoln
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