The principal argument against it was that whether instituted in the form of an apprentice scheme or a direct reopening it would be in violation of the Constitution, and as long as the state remained in the Union the laws should be obeyed. To many the first plan was more objectionable than the second. The Apprentice Bill would be in violation of the laws of Louisiana in regard to free negroes. The policy was to discourage their presence. Again, all Christendom was against the trade and so for the South to reopen it would place her in the position of antagonizing the whole civilized world. In case of a conflict with the North her cause would be weakened.

A resolution recommending the reopening of the African slave trade was introduced into the Texas House. It was referred to a committee which made a very elaborate report; no action was recommended because of the unpreparedness of the public mind.15

The question now comes as to what was the purpose of the movement. It seems of some significance that St. Paul, who introduced the Nicaragua resolutions, was the same person who introduced the African Apprentice Bill; and that Delony, who presented the resolution in reference to the Monroe Doctrine, was from Feliciana, the headquarters of the Brigham Company. On February 19, Delony introduced a resolution that that part of the Governor's message relating to the abrogation of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, the equilibrium of the United States Senate, and the expansion of the area of slavery be referred to the Committee on Federal Relations. On March 3 St. Paul introduced a bill for the better protection of the war material belonging to the state.

At the commercial convention held in Montgomery in 1858 the discussion of the reopening of the African slave trade occupied almost the entire time. The major15 Daily Delta, Jan. 29, 1858.

ity of the members considered this as a proposition for the dissolution of the Union. Yancey acknowledged this but thought it a better issue than the election of a Black Republican president in 1860, when all the powers of the government, its army, its navy, and its treasury would be arrayed against the South.16 All his later actions and words showed that he disapproved of the trade.

The attitude of Yancey and a few other of the radical "fire eaters" would seem to indicate that the attempted action in Louisiana was part of a movement to secure the dissolution of the Union and the creation of a separate confederacy in which they could develop without interference from northern fanatics.

16 De Bow's Review, XXIV, 600.

THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEES OF THE ATTA

KAPAS COUNTRY; OR EARLY

LOUISIANA JUSTICE1

BY H. L. GRIFFIN

The expression "Early Justice in Louisiana" is meant to apply to the administration of justice, not in the whole state of Louisiana, but only in that part known as the Attakapas Country. The "justice" with which this paper will deal was dispensed in that region for a period of about six months during the year 1859; and was in nature somewhat akin to that justice dealt out a few years later by such organizations as the Ku Klux Klan. The organizations in this instance were known as Committees of Vigilance, or in the language of the natives of that section "Comités de Vigilance." These committees represented a popular uprising against a wave of crime that was sweeping over the region at that time and were revolutionary in character. They took the law into their own hands and dealt out punishment to criminals without any pretense to legality or to established rules of procedure. Before, however, one can well understand all the incidents of such a grave and radical movement, it is necessary that he get a view of the country and its inhabitants.

This region includes the present parishes of Calcasieu, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, and Vermillion. It is called the Attakapas Country because it was at one

1 This paper is based on the following sources of information: Alexander Barde, Histoire des Comités de Vigilance aux Attakapas; William H. Perrin (ed.), Southwest Louisiana; Felix Voorhies, Ms. on "Vigilance Committees"; interviews with Judge Felix Voorhies, Judge William Campbell, Alexander Mouton, and Maj. Paul DeClouet.

time inhabited by a fierce race of Indians of that name, who had the reputation of eating their prisoners of war. It was to this country that the exiled Acadians came to find permanent homes and a refuge from the political persecutions of their English conquerors. The broad, rolling prairies, the densely wooded forests, and the deep, murky, lazily flowing bayous, such as the Atchafalaya, the Teche, and the Vermillion have been most effectively described in Longfellow's Evangeline, and need no further description here. It is enough to say that the whole region is characterized by a richness of soil that can be found nowhere else in the United States. The opportunities which it offers for agricultural pursuits have always been great; and since its first discovery and exploration by La Salle and Bienville, these opportunities have attracted home-seekers from many parts of the world.

Before the purchase of Louisiana from Napoleon by the United States in 1803, many settlers had come to this Attakapas Country, especially from France, Spain, the Canary Islands, and Acadia. Subsequent to its purchase many came, also, from the various states of the Union. Thus there was found in this territory quite a mixture of nationalities. The prevailing nationality, however, was the French; and the French language was almost universally spoken. This condition existed especially in the Attakapas section, and continues almost the same to the present day. In fact the French traditions and customs still exert a weighty influence not only on the daily lives of the people, but even on their attitude toward public questions - an attitude not always sympathetically appreciated by Anglo-Americans. Only a few days ago a good old "Yankee," who had migrated here from Indiana, having become exasperated at the conduct of a customer who had taken "French leave," was heard by the writer to exclaim: "Confound these Frenchmen; I

get so disgusted with them that I don't know what to say. This is not America; this is France. I tell these people they ought to join the Union.”

Many of the settlers were, naturally, strangers to American customs and laws, and hence could not understand them; many others were criminally inclined, and not only did not want to understand them, but actively violated them. Entirely too many had brought with them from abroad corrupt socialistic and anarchistic ideas. Moreover, the country was still sparsely settled, and the seats of justice were far removed from the people and their activities. Consequently the law was often violated with impunity. Still, however, a large majority of the population consisted of peaceable and law-abiding citizens, who were content and anxious to cultivate their lands and live a life of simplicity and industry. It was this honest and thrifty class which, exasperated by the ravages of the lawbreakers, and carried away by their zeal to bring the offenders to justice, furnished the leaders who proposed and carried out such unusual and extreme measures for the suppression of crime.

It was while the Attakapas Country was at this stage of development, just before the Civil War, that the peace of this section was seriously disturbed. The cause of the disturbance was found to have its source in those same uneducated and lawless settlers who had come to the region from so many different places. At first their depredations were infrequent and well concealed. Gradually, however, when they had learned that the hand of justice was slow and uncertain, they became bolder and more open. Their earliest crimes consisted of petty thievery, but their later offenses involved greater stakes; and often consisted of overt acts of brigandage in which stores were robbed, houses were burned, and whole herds of cattle were corralled and driven away. In many instances the brigands made no attempt to conceal their