December 14th, 1859Resolution to form Senate Committee to Investigate the Harper's Ferry Invasion

Harper's Ferry, United States Senate, Senate Investigation,

Transcriptions of the floor minutes in which the Senate debated and deliberated on a resolution, submitted by Senator James Mason of Virginia, to form a select Senate Committee to investigate the recent Harper's Ferry incident. A brief exchange between Senator Mason and Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio is worthy of note: Wade voiced a few objections to the spirit of the resolutions, claiming that they would only serve to further excite the already high tensions in the country in the wake of Harper's Ferry. Mason assured Wade that the Select Committee would only seek to investigate the causes and material facts of the Harper's Ferry incident as fully as possible, rather than the Northern complicity suspected by the South. Sectional tensions between North and South reached a fever pitch nevertheless, and the Country tumbled along towards its inexorable and bloody destiny.

Benjamin Franklin Wade (1800-1878)

James Murray Mason (1798-1871)

John C. Rives (1795-1864)

The Congressional Globe

senate.gov (United States Senate website)

14, December, 1859

Santiago Jauregui

Item not held in Copyright, Public Domain

Digitized Book

English

Transcribed Speech