Original: «Another portion say that, if a Republican President is elected, they will secede from the Confederacy, and organize a separate and independent confederacy of their own. Whether that constitutes treason or not, is a matter of opinion, and may be a matter of controversy; but it is, nevertheless, equally fatal to the perpetuity of the existing Government and the existing institutions of the country».
Fuente: Discurso ante la Cámara de Representantes de los Estados Unidos (1860): The Democratic Party, a disunion party, success of the Republican Party the only salvation for the country.