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The Story Of Antietam’s Dunker Church

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A Place Of Peace Surrounded By War

Antietam Dunker Church with Yankee and Rebel dead killed on the morning of September 17, 1862. Photograph by Alexander Gardner.

Antietam Dunker Church with Yankee and Rebel dead killed on the morning of September 17, 1862. Photograph by Alexander Gardner.

The Battle of Antietam was fought on September 17, 1862. This one-day battle left a terrible carnage on the beautiful and pastoral countryside of Sharpsburg, Maryland. In United States history, Antietam is the battle where the most casualties in one day of fighting occurred. At Antietam, there were more American dead than at Pearl Harbor, D-Day, or at 911. Over 3,600 were killed and over 19,000 were wounded, missing, or captured.

In the middle of the violent Antietam battlefield stood the whitewashed Dunker Church. The Dunker Church was a place meant for the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, where the good news message of love, forgiveness, peace, and salvation was faithfully believed and taught.

The Dunkers – German Baptist Brethren

Where Did The Name “Dunker” Come From, And What Does It Mean?

The congregation of the Dunker Church were members of the German Baptist Brethren which began in Germany in 1708. In Germany, they baptized adults in a local river, which was uncommon for the time. Usually, infants were baptized in a church by sprinkling water on them. During the German Baptist Brethren river baptism, the person would be completely submerged, or dunked, into the river water. In Germany, The German Baptist Brethren had the nickname of “Tunkers,” but when they began arriving in Maryland during the middle 1700s the nickname “Tunkers” became “Dunkers” because of their baptismal practice. The number of Dunkers in the Sharpsburg, Maryland area grew large enough so they could open their own church building in 1853.

What Were The Dunkers Like?

The Battle of Antietam with Dunker Church in background.

The Battle of Antietam with Dunker Church in background.

The Dunkers believed in a literal interpretation of the New Testament. They were similar to the Quakers, the Amish, and the Mennonites in their beliefs and the Dunkers often associated with these other Protestant denominations. The Dunkers did not like any type of indulgence. They were against drinking alcohol, violence, slavery, and gambling.

The Dunker Church was built in 1852 on land given to the Dunkers the previous year by Sharpsburg farmer Samuel Mumma. In its early years, about six local farm families made up the membership of the Dunker Church. The church was a plain whitewashed building without a steeple. The Dunkers felt a steeple was too extravagant. Inside the church, there were no paintings or other artwork, and the wooden benches were hard and plain. The women entered the church from a door oriented to the south and the men entered from a door oriented to the east. There were no musical instruments and singing was done a capella. The Dunkers were modest, simple, and plain in the way they dressed and lived. Although the Dunkers were opposed to slavery, they were pacifists and would not serve in the military, not for the North or for the South. Their beliefs prohibited them from taking up arms.

During Dunker services, the pastor would stand in the front of the church at a table with a Bible. The pastor would give a sermon, and there would be singing. Occasionally, a circuit pastor may instead give the sermon. The church service was long, it would last three to four hours and perhaps run into the afternoon. Religion was central in the lives of the Dunkers and their church services were a way for them to meet regularly in fellowship with friends, neighbors, and relatives. The Dunkers would enjoy peaceful worship in the years before the Civil War.

As the Dunkers worshiped in their whitewashed church on Sunday, September 14, 1862, they knew the Civil War was coming their way. As they looked toward South Mountain, which was only seven miles away to the east, they could clearly see smoke and hear cannon echoing from the Battle of South Mountain. After that Sunday service, the Dunkers went to the nearby farm of Samuel Mumma for dinner. On Tuesday, Confederate infantry and artillery were in position around the Dunker Church, ready for the battle beginning on Wednesday. During the battle, the Dunkers and most citizens had left to find safety away from the battlefield. By the end of the Battle of Antietam, the Dunker Church would be riddled by cannon and small arms fire, the now bloody landscape around it torn and littered with the remains of the great battle. The Samuel Mumma farm was in ashes. The Dunker Church would forever be a part of the Antietam battlefield.

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The Dunker Church During The Battle Of Antietam

An Iconic Battlefield Landmark

The location of the Dunker Church on the Antietam battlefield made it an important landmark because it was on high ground and in the center of the Confederate line. The church is next to the Hagerstown Pike and on a natural ridgeline that provided the Confederates a good place to establish a defensive position on their left flank.

Battle of Antietam Overview, September 17, 1862. Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com.

Battle of Antietam Overview,
September 17, 1862.
Map by Hal Jespersen,
www.cwmaps.com.

The Dunker Church was a visual reference point for both the Confederates and the Federals during the Battle of Antietam because its distinctive whitewashed walls stood out well on the battlefield. The morning the battle began on September 17, 1862, was foggy and drizzly, and the smoke of battle made it difficult to pick out landmarks. The whitewashed Dunker Church was clearly visible through the fog, drizzle, and smoke, it became a reference point for both sides. The Yankees knew the Rebels were near that whitewashed building, so that’s where they focused their attention in wave after wave of attack.

Stonewall Jackson

Stonewall Jackson

The Dunker Church itself was not chosen by the Confederates to be a defensive position because of its physical structure. Rather, the church just happened to be at the place on the battlefield which gave the Confederates their best defensive position. Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson’s men were in camp behind the Dunker Church and along the Confederate line north and south of the church.

 

  • Early on September 16, 1862, the Confederates began to gather and organize at Antietam. Hood’s division along with some brigades of Jone’s Division, took a position which overlooked the Hagerstown Pike and stretched from the Dunker Church and into the West Wood.
  • The battle began at dawn on September 17, with Joseph Hooker’s Union I Corps moving in attack down the Hagerstown Pike, his goal was the high ground around the Dunker Church. Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson had a defensive position near the Dunker Church that stretched in a line from the West Woods nearby the church to across the Hagerstown Pike and to the south end of the Miller Cornfield. Stonewall had four brigades held in reserve in the West Woods.
  • The trees around and near the Dunker Church made excellent cover for Confederates. Men of the 48th North Carolina were around Dunker church and the 30th Virginia were nearby on the Hagerstown Pike awaiting more regiments.
  • The Federals used the church as a reference point during the battle, it was a landmark located in the middle of the fight as wave after wave of Federal advances were made toward the Confederate left flank.
  • The smoke of battle made it difficult for men of Federal Brigadier General George Greene’s 2nd Division to see. The prominent whitewashed Dunker Church was only fifty yards away from them, but they had a hard time seeing it through the smoke.
  • The Union 1st and 2nd Corps came from the east and pushed west across the Antietam battlefield, some of them were able to make it as far as the West Woods behind the Dunker Church.
  • The Confederate Texas Brigade came from behind the Dunker church to meet the Union 1st Corp.

  • There was action and battle swirling around the Dunker Church. A brigade led by Colonel Henry Stainrook of Brigadier General George Greene’s 2nd Division extended the Federal line southwest of the Dunker Church. Only fifty yards to the west of the Dunker Church, six twelve-pounder Napoleon cannons of Battery D, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery were ordered by Captain J. Albert Monroe to fire on Confederates on an exposed field south of the Dunker Church.
  • Confederate General Jeb Stuart had Colonel Stephen D. Lee with his four batteries of artillery in position across from the Hagerstown Pike on a piece of high ground near the Dunker Church. They were under strong fire from Union artillery located on a ridge behind the North Woods, and other artillery two miles east of Antietam Creek. This artillery duel between the Confederates and the Federals was described by Colonel Lee as “artillery hell.”
  • The epicenter of the Battle of Antietam is a triangular piece of land bordered roughly by the West Woods, the Cornfield, and the Mumma Farmstead, it is where a significant portion of the Battle of Antietam took place. The closeness of the Dunker Church to the epicenter made it a battlefield landmark. Concentrated fighting took place near and on the property of the Dunker Church because of its location on the left flank of the Confederate line, and because of its closeness to the West Woods.
  • The Union and Confederate commanders made mention of the Dunker Church in their battle reports. Both Confederate Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson and Union General “Fighting Joe” Hooker spoke of the Dunker Church in their battle reports.
  • The Dunker Church was scarred after the Battle of Antietam. Bullet holes riddled its whitewashed walls, and artillery had damaged the church’s roof and walls. The Dunkers repaired their small church and in 1864, worship services were held again.

Immediately after the battle, the Dunker Church served another role as a makeshift hospital for the wounded. It was not used as a proper hospital because it was too small, and the church had no supply of water or food. The Dunker Church was used instead as a place where the wounded could be brought and evaluated, like modern-day triage. Perhaps the wounded received some immediate treatment at the Dunker Church and then were moved on to other places where they could be better cared for. Usually, one of the nearby family farms made a much better, though not perfect, hospital than the Dunker Church did. It is possible the Dunker Church was also used as an embalming station.

The Dunker Church continued to be a point of reference after the battle. It was a common and easy-to-find location to meet and gather for army commanders, the soldiers, and for the local people whose help was now greatly needed. There is a sketch made by Civil War artist Alfred Waud that depicts a truce being made near the Dunker Church between Confederates and Federals in order to exchange wounded and to bury dead.

The Dunker Church After The Battle Of Antietam

A Big Whirlwind

After the Battle of Antietam, the Dunkers and the local citizens worked hard at putting their lives and property back together. They wanted to get their lives back to normal, which was an impossibility after the bloodshed of war.

The Dunkers (They had officially changed their name to the Church of the Brethren. Note: A comment by Rebecka Snell Labson tells us that the name Church of the Brethren was not officially adopted until 1908.) moved to a new church on Main Street in Sharpsburg in 1899. After the move, their old church on the Antietam battlefield was mostly ignored, it was seldom used and fell into neglect and disrepair. As time went on, the old Dunker Church continued its physical decline. Tourists to the Antietam battlefield sometimes took bricks from the church walls as souvenirs. The damage from the Battle of Antietam to the church building continued to worsen. A strong windstorm flattened the church into a pile of rubble on April 24, 1921. The Dunker Church congregation did not have the financial ability to repair the old church.

The Dunkers deeded the old church to the Samuel Mumma family, who had originally donated the church’s property to the Dunkers. The Mummas then sold the Dunker Church property at auction to a Sharpsburg grocer named Elmer Boyer. Boyer salvaged what was left of the Dunker Church building and stored the material in a shed. He then sold the Dunker Church property to Charles Turner.

Get Your Cold Beer Here

Charles Turner used the Dunker Church foundation to build a new frame structure. Being an entrepreneur, Turner used his building during the 1930s and 1940s as a lunch counter and to sell souvenirs. Tourists of the Antietam Battlefield could quench their hunger and thirst by treating themselves to refreshments and food at Turner’s lunch counter. Turner’s efforts were not appreciated. His lunch counter and souvenir stand were considered an eyesore and his building was much different in appearance from the original Dunker Church. Turner even sold beer at his lunch counter, a great contrast to the strict beliefs of the Dunkers who abstained from drinking alcohol. Attempts were made for years to buy the Dunker Church property back and restore it to its condition as during the Battle of Antietam.

The Revival Of The Dunker Church Building.

The Dunker Church at Antietam

The Dunker Church at Antietam

In 1951, things began to change favorably for the Dunker Church property when there were plans to widen the nearby Hagerstown Pike. The Dunker Church is so close to the Hagerstown Pike that the original church property would be encroached upon, and the historical preservation of the Dunker Church site lost, with the widening of the road. The Washington County Historical Society came to the rescue by raising enough money to purchase the Dunker Church property, and to raze Turner’s frame building with the lunch counter and souvenir stand. The Washington County Historical Society then donated the Dunker Church property to the Federal government. The Federal government was unable to do anything with the Dunker Church property for a decade because the Korean War was being fought and money was not available. All tourists saw of the Dunker Church during this time was its remaining foundation.

During the Civil War Centennial national attention focused on the history and importance of the Civil War. Many events were held during the Civil War Centennial to commemorate the Civil War and to educate people about it. Maryland Governor Millard Tawes allocated money for the rebuilding of the Dunker Church and restoration plans were made by historians and architects. Amazingly, Elmer Boyer still had original Dunker Church materials stowed away in his shed. Work began in the fall of 1961 to rebuild the Dunker Church. By the following summer in 1962, the Dunker Church was back with its historical appearance and place on the Antietam battlefield.

Re-dedication of the Dunker Church, September 2, 1962

Maryland Governor Millard Tawes

“On a field shrouded with smoke, the church alone was the only visible landmark. And so, this Dunker Church stood out as a beacon by which commanders took their direction and men found their way through the smoky chaos of battle. May it stand in peace as it did in war, as a beacon to guide those searching their way through the darkness. May it stand throughout all ages as a symbol of mercy, peace, and understanding.”

If you visit the Antietam battlefield today, you will find the Dunker Church much as it was in 1862. You can go inside and see the wooden benches where the Dunkers sat during their long services, you can hear your voice and other’s echo through the simple and barren building. A trip to visit the Antietam National Battlefield is worthwhile if you want to learn about the history of the Civil War.

Learn Civil War History Podcast Episode Eleven: The Story Of Antietam’s Dunker Church – Part Two

Immediately after the battle, the Dunker Church served as a makeshift hospital for the wounded. It was not used as a proper hospital because it was too small, and it had no supply of water or food. The Dunker Church was used as a place where the wounded could be brought to and evaluated, like modern-day triage.

The Dunker Church continued as a reference point after the battle. It was a common and easy-to-find location to meet and gather for army commanders, soldiers, and for the citizens whose help was now so greatly needed. There is a sketch by Civil War artist Alfred Waud that depicts a truce meeting between the Rebels and the Yankees near the Dunker Church in order to exchange wounded and bury the dead.

Learn Civil War History Podcast Episode Ten: The Story of Antietam’s Dunker Church – Part One

The Battle of Antietam or the Battle of Sharpsburg as the South called it, was fought on September 17, 1862. This one-day battle left a terrible carnage on the beautiful and pastoral countryside of Sharpsburg, Maryland. Antietam is the battle in United States history where the most casualties occurred in one day. At Antietam, there were more American dead than at Pearl Harbor, D-Day, or at 911. Over 3,600 were killed and over 19,000 were wounded, missing, or captured.

In the middle of the Antietam battlefield stood the whitewashed Dunker Church. The Dunker Church was meant to be a place for the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. It was where the good news message of love, forgiveness, peace, and salvation was faithfully believed and taught. The congregation of the Dunker Church were members of the German Baptist Brethren which began in Germany in 1708. In Germany, they baptized adults in a local river, which was uncommon for the time.

Jefferson Davis Resigns From The United States Senate

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His Home State of Mississippi Seceded On January 9, 1861

“My own convictions, as to negro slavery are strong, It has its evils and abuses…. We recognize the negro as God and God’s Book and God’s Laws, in nature, tell us to recognize him–our inferior, fitted expressly for servitude…. You cannot transform the negro into anything one-tenth as useful or as good as what slavery enables them to be.”

…Jefferson Davis

Those are the ugly words of Jefferson Davis to a northern friend after Davis became president of the Confederacy. They are especially ugly for us to read today.

We have to consider that Davis was a man living in his times and not ours, but that is not meant to justify or excuse him. What other words should we expect to come from the president of the Confederate States of America, the president of a collection of states which seceded from the Union and went to war to preserve slavery? Mississippi’s secession, which Davis supported, led to his resignation from the United States Senate. Jefferson Davis believed that all men are not equal, that slaves were not equal to whites, and his Farewell Address to the United States Senate emphasized his beliefs.

In January, 1861, Jefferson Davis was fifty-three-years-old and his health was poor. He had served the United States as a Congressman, led Mississippi volunteers in the Mexican War and was wounded at the Battle of Buena Vista, was a Senator, and was Secretary of War under Franklin Pearce. Davis was a Democrat and a strong supporter of States’ Rights, and in favor of Mississippi’s secession from the Union. Earlier in life, he had been a slave owner at the Davis family’s Mississippi plantation. Compared to other slave owners, the Davises were known to treat their slaves well, but they thought the slaves to be their private property, that they were inferior to whites, and as a race only suited for servitude.

On January 21, 1861, Jefferson Davis was standing at a podium in the Senate Chamber at the United States Capitol. Now it was time for Davis to resign as a United States senator and return home to Mississippi, now part of the Confederate States of America. He was there to say farewell, or “adieu” as he would say in his emotional speech.

Jefferson Davis’ six-year term as president of the Confederate States of America was cut short. The Union won the Civil War after four years of bloody war and hell on earth. The Union was preserved, the Confederacy failed, and the United States bid “adieu” to the peculiar institution of slavery.

Jefferson Davis’ Farewell Speech to the United States Senate

Senate Chamber, United States Capitol, January 21, 1861

Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis

“I rise, Mr. President, for the purpose of announcing to the Senate that I have satisfactory evidence that the State of Mississippi, by a solemn ordinance of her people in convention assembled, has declared her separation from the United States. Under these circumstances, of course my functions are terminated here. It has seemed to me proper, however, that I should appear in the Senate to announce that fact to my associates, and I will say but very little more. The occasion does not invite me to go into argument; and my physical condition would not permit me to do so if it were otherwise; and yet it seems to become me to say something on the part of the State I here represent, on an occasion so solemn as this.

“It is known to Senators who have served with me here, that I have for many years advocated, as an essential attribute of State sovereignty, the right of a State to secede from the Union. Therefore, if I had not believed there was justifiable cause; if I had thought that Mississippi was acting without sufficient provocation, or without an existing necessity, I should still, under my theory of the Government, because of my allegiance to the State of which I am a citizen, have been bound by her action. I, however, may be permitted to say that I do think she has justifiable cause, and I approve of her act. I conferred with her people before that act was taken, counseled them then that if the state of things which they apprehended should exist when the convention met, they should take the action which they have now adopted.

“I hope none who hear me will confound this expression of mine with the advocacy of the right of a State to remain in the Union, and to disregard its constitutional obligations by the nullification of the law. Such is not my theory. Nullification and secession, so often confounded, are indeed antagonistic principles. Nullification is a remedy which it is sought to apply within the Union, and against the agent of the States. It is only to be justified when the agent has violated his constitutional obligation, and a State, assuming to judge for itself, denies the right of the agent thus to act, and appeals to the other States of the Union for a decision; but when the States themselves, and when the people of the States, have so acted as to convince us that they will not regard our constitutional rights, then, and then for the first time, arises the doctrine of secession in its practical application.

“A great man who now reposes with his fathers, and who has been often arraigned for a want of fealty to the Union, advocated the doctrine of nullification, because it preserved the Union. It was because of his deep-seated attachment to the Union, his determination to find some remedy for existing ills short of a severance of the ties which bound South Carolina to the other States, that Mr. Calhoun advocated the doctrine of nullification, which he proclaimed to be peaceful, to be within the limits of State power, not to disturb the Union, but only to be a means of bringing the agent before the tribunal of the States for their judgment.

“Secession belongs to a different class of remedies. It is to be justified upon the basis that the States are sovereign. There was a time when none denied it. I hope the time may come again, when a better comprehension of the theory of our Government, and the inalienable rights of the people of the States, will prevent any one from denying that each State is a sovereign, and thus may reclaim the grants which it has made to any agent whomsoever.

“I therefore say I concur in the action of the people of Mississippi, believing it to be necessary and proper, and should have been bound by their action if my belief had been otherwise; and this brings me to the important point which I wish on this last occasion to present to the Senate. It is by this confounding of nullification and secession that the name of a great man, whose ashes now mingle with his mother earth, has been invoked to justify coercion against a seceded State. The phrase “to execute the laws,” was an expression which General Jackson applied to the case of a State refusing to obey the laws while yet a member of the Union. That is not the case which is now presented. The laws are to be executed over the United States, and upon the people of the United States. They have no relation to any foreign country. It is a perversion of terms, at least it is a great misapprehension of the case, which cites that expression for application to a State which has withdrawn from the Union. You may make war on a foreign State. If it be the purpose of gentlemen, they may make war against a State which has withdrawn from the Union; but there are no laws of the United States to be executed within the limits of a seceded State. A State finding herself in the condition in which Mississippi has judged she is, in which her safety requires that she should provide for the maintenance of her rights out of the Union, surrenders all the benefits, (and they are known to be many,) deprives herself of the advantages, (they are known to be great,) severs all the ties of affection, (and they are close and enduring,) which have bound her to the Union; and thus divesting herself of every benefit, taking upon herself every burden, she claims to be exempt from any power to execute the laws of the United States within her limits.

“I well remember an occasion when Massachusetts was arraigned before the bar of the Senate, and when then the doctrine of coercion was rife and to be applied against her because of the rescue of a fugitive slave in Boston. My opinion then was the same that it is now. Not in a spirit of egotism, but to show that I am not influenced in my opinion because the case is my own, I refer to that time and that occasion as containing the opinion which I then entertained, and on which my present conduct is based. I then said, if Massachusetts, following her through a stated line of conduct, chooses to take the last step which separates her from the Union, it is her right to go, and I will neither vote one dollar nor one man to coerce her back; but will say to her, God speed, in memory of the kind associations which once existed between her and the other States.

United States Capitol under construction in 1860

United States Capitol under construction in 1860.

“It has been a conviction of pressing necessity, it has been a belief that we are to be deprived in the Union of the rights which our fathers bequeathed to us, which has brought Mississippi into her present decision. She has heard proclaimed the theory that all men are created free and equal, and this made the basis of an attack upon her social institutions; and the sacred Declaration of Independence has been invoked to maintain the position of the equality of the races. That Declaration of Independence is to be construed by the circumstances and purposes for which it was made. The communities were declaring their independence; the people of those communities were asserting that no man was born–to use the language of Mr. Jefferson–booted and spurred to ride over the rest of mankind; that men were created equal–meaning the men of the political community; that there was no divine right to rule; that no man inherited the right to govern; that there were no classes by which power and place descended to families, but that all stations were equally within the grasp of each member of the body-politic. These were the great principles they announced; these were the purposes for which they made their declaration; these were the ends to which their enunciation was directed. They have no reference to the slave; else, how happened it that among the items of arraignment made against George III was that he endeavored to do just what the North has been endeavoring of late to do–to stir up insurrection among our slaves? Had the Declaration announced that the negroes were free and equal, how was the Prince to be arraigned for stirring up insurrection among them? And how was this to be enumerated among the high crimes which caused the colonies to sever their connection with the mother country? When our Constitution was formed, the same idea was rendered more palpable, for there we find provision made for that very class of persons as property; they were not put upon the footing of equality with white men–not even upon that of paupers and convicts; but, so far as representation was concerned, were discriminated against as a lower caste, only to be represented in the numerical proportion of three fifths.

“Then, Senators, we recur to the compact which binds us together; we recur to the principles upon which our Government was founded; and when you deny them, and when you deny to us the right to withdraw from a Government which thus perverted threatens to be destructive of our rights, we but tread in the path of our fathers when we proclaim our independence, and take the hazard. This is done not in hostility to others, not to injure any section of the country, not even for our own pecuniary benefit; but from the high and solemn motive of defending and protecting the rights we inherited, and which it is our sacred duty to transmit unshorn to our children.

“I find in myself, perhaps, a type of the general feeling of my constituents towards yours. I am sure I feel no hostility to you, Senators from the North. I am sure there is not one of you, whatever sharp discussion there may have been between us, to whom I cannot now say, in the presence of my God, I wish you well; and such, I am sure, is the feeling of the people whom I represent towards those whom you represent. I therefore feel that I but express their desire when I say I hope, and they hope, for peaceful relations with you, though we must part. They may be mutually beneficial to us in the future, as they have been in the past, if you so will it. The reverse may bring disaster on every portion of the country; and if you will have it thus, we will invoke the God of our fathers, who delivered them from the power of the lion, to protect us from the ravages of the bear; and thus, putting our trust in God and in our own firm hearts and strong arms, we will vindicate the right as best we may.

“In the course of my service here, associated at different times with a great variety of Senators, I see now around me some with whom I have served long; there have been points of collision; but whatever of offense there has been to me, I leave here; I carry with me no hostile remembrance. Whatever offense I have given which has not been redressed, or for which satisfaction has not been demanded, I have, Senators, in this hour of our parting, to offer you my apology for any pain which, in heat of discussion, I have inflicted. I go hence unencumbered of the remembrance of any injury received, and having discharged the duty of making the only reparation in my power for any injury offered.

“Mr. President, and Senators, having made the announcement which the occasion seemed to me to require, it only remains to me to bid you a final adieu.”

Source: The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Volume 7, pp. 18-23.

Notes and Comments to the Speech:

  • John C. Breckinridge was Vice President of the United States from 1857–1861, he was president of the United States Senate.
  • Mississippi seceded from the Union on January 9, 1861.
  • Jefferson Davis is resigning, and he wants to take the opportunity to speak to the Senate for Mississippi.
  • Davis has believed that a state has the right to secede, and that Mississippi was justified in seceding.
  • He says that secession is proper because Mississippi has been denied its constitutional rights.
  • John C. Calhoun’s essay Exposition and Protest, explained the idea of nullification. Nullification meant that states had the sovereign right to nullify (veto) national law that the state believed impinged on its interests. Calhoun died in 1850.
  • Jefferson Davis says that a state is not controlled by outside forces, that a state has greater status, authority, and power than the Federal government. A state has the right to secede.
  • Because Mississippi has seceded, United States laws now have no power over it. Mississippi is a separate entity and free from control by the United States.
  • Anthony Burns was a escaped slave living in Boston. By the Fugitive Slave law, Burns was captured in 1854 and returned to slavery in Virginia.
  • Jefferson Davis says that slaves are not referenced or considered as having equality in the Declaration of Independence or in the Constitution. He says that slaves are not equal to white men, and that slaves are not free, but are property.
  • Mississippi rights have been denied, so Mississippi secedes.
  • Jefferson Davis says that he wants relations to be peaceful between seceded Mississippi and the United States, but disaster will follow if there is not peace. God will protect Mississippi.
  • Jefferson Davis gives his goodbye to the Senate, and adds that he has no personal offense with him regarding other Senators, and he offers an apology to any he has offended in the past.

Audio Version of Jefferson Davis’ Farewell Speech

NOTE: There is an error in this audio version. In the first sentence of the last paragraph, the reader does not read these opening words: “In the course of my service here, associated at different times with a great variety of Senators,” Other than this error, this reading is accurate and an excellent resource.

https://youtu.be/wJS98Ls8sIk

Selected Speech Snippets

“[…]I have satisfactory evidence that the State of Mississippi, by a solemn ordinance of her people in convention assembled, has declared her separation from the United States. Under these circumstances, of course my functions are terminated here.”

“[…]I have for many years advocated, as an essential attribute of State sovereignty, the right of a State to secede from the Union.”

“[…]I, however, may be permitted to say that I do think she has justifiable cause, and I approve of her act.”

“Secession belongs to a different class of remedies. It is to be justified upon the basis that the States are sovereign. There was a time when none denied it.”

“The laws are to be executed over the United States, and upon the people of the United States. They have no relation to any foreign country. It is a perversion of terms, at least it is a great misapprehension of the case, which cites that expression for application to a State which has withdrawn from the Union. You may make war on a foreign State. If it be the purpose of gentlemen, they may make war against a State which has withdrawn from the Union; but there are no laws of the United States to be executed within the limits of a seceded State.”

“It has been a conviction of pressing necessity, it has been a belief that we are to be deprived in the Union of the rights which our fathers bequeathed to us, which has brought Mississippi into her present decision.”

“When our Constitution was formed, the same idea was rendered more palpable, for there we find provision made for that very class of persons as property; they were not put upon the footing of equality with white men–not even upon that of paupers and convicts; but, so far as representation was concerned, were discriminated against as a lower caste, only to be represented in the numerical proportion of three fifths.”

“Then, Senators, we recur to the compact which binds us together; we recur to the principles upon which our Government was founded; and when you deny them, and when you deny to us the right to withdraw from a Government which thus perverted threatens to be destructive of our rights, we but tread in the path of our fathers when we proclaim our independence, and take the hazard.”

“I therefore feel that I but express their desire when I say I hope, and they hope, for peaceful relations with you, though we must part. They may be mutually beneficial to us in the future, as they have been in the past, if you so will it. The reverse may bring disaster on every portion of the country; and if you will have it thus, we will invoke the God of our fathers, who delivered them from the power of the lion, to protect us from the ravages of the bear; and thus, putting our trust in God and in our own firm hearts and strong arms, we will vindicate the right as best we may.”

“Mr. President, and Senators, having made the announcement which the occasion seemed to me to require, it only remains to me to bid you a final adieu.”