Joint Resolutions of the Legislature of the State of Minnesota, on the state of the Union. 

Adopted January 22, 1861.

1. Resolved, That one of the vital and necessary principles which form the basis of all free governments, is that the constitutional majority must always rule. And therefore, the right of the people of any State to withdraw from the Union, thereby hazarding the liberties and happiness of the millions comprising this Confederacy, can never be acknowledged by us under any circumstances.

We regard secession upon the part of any State as amounting directly to revolution, and precipitating civil war with all its sad train of consequences.

2. Resolved, That the people of the State of Minnesota re-iterate their unalterable devotion to the Constitution of the United States, and that if its provisions are strictly observed, it will, in its own words, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

3. Resolved, That ABRAHAM LINCOLN and HANNIBAL HAMLIN, having been constitutionally and legally elected President and Vice President of the United States, at a general election fully and freely participated in, on the same day, by the people of every State of the Union, South as well as North, that any attempt to dissolve or destroy the Union on account thereof, is without excuse or justification, and should receive the condemnation of every patriot in the land.

4. Resolved, That we have heard with astonishment and indignation of the recent outrages perpetrated at Charleston, South Carolina, by firing upon an American steamer, sailing under the flag of our country, and that we expect of the General Government the strongest and most vigorous effort to assert its supremacy, and to check the work of rebellion and treason. Fully impressed with our duty to make every possible effort to uphold the Union, and to maintain the authority of the General Government, we hereby tender to the President of the United States, for that purpose, through the Governor of this State, aid in men and money, to the extent of our ability.

When one or more States erect the standard of disunion, and place themselves in military array against the Government bequeathed to us by our ancestors, we can discover no other honorable or patriotic resource than to test, both on land and on ocean, the full strength of the Federal authority under our National Flag.

5. Resolved, That we declare to each State of this Union our sincere desire to secure a renewal of that fraternal feeling which ought always to exist between citizens of a common country, and which distinguished the history of the nation for more than half a century. Especially do we express to those patriotic citizens of the Southern States, who have nobly and manfully exerted their utmost effort to prevent the catastrophe of dissolution, our sincere gratitude and highest admiration.

6. Resolved, That the most sincere thanks of the nation are justly due to that distinguished patriot and veteran, Lt. General Winfield Scott for the prompt and decisive steps he has taken to stay the tide of revolution, and for the determined spirit he has evinced in maintaining the honor of our Government.

7. Resolved, That we never will consent or submit to the obstruction of the free navigation of the Mississippi river, from its source to its mouth, by any power hostile to the Federal Government.

8. Resolved, That the Governor of this State is hereby requested to transmit a copy of these resolutions to the President of the United States, to Lt. General Winfield Scott, and to each of our Senators and Representatives in the Congress of the United States, and to the Governors of the several States.

[Scanned from a photocopy supplied by Sylvia Sherman of the Maine State Archives.]