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Northern Secessionist
Timothy Pickering
Decades before the American
Civil War, New England contemplated seceding from the Union. The so called Essex Junto, a group of
businessmen and politicians based in Essex County, Massachusetts spearheaded a
secessionist movement in the early 1800s, fearing the diminished influence of
New England after the Louisiana Purchase. Timothy Pickering, who had served
Secretary of State under George Washington, was one of the key figures of the
movement. Pickering envisioned a new republic comprised of New England, New
York, New Jersey, and Canada. The Essex Junto approached Alexander Hamilton,
who was horrified by the plan.
The
push for secession came primarily from the younger generation of Federalist
leaders, who believed they needed to defend the principles of states' rights
and self-government from an overbearing federal government. The northern
secessionists believed that the South was gaining too much wealth, power, and
influence, and was using that influence against New England politically.
The northern secessionists believed strongly that
homogeneity of race, and “ethnic purity,” were essential ingredients of a
successful republic. The New Englanders thought of themselves as “choice
offspring of the choicest people, unpolluted by foreign blood.”
In 1860, disgruntled secessionists in the deep North
rebel against the central government and plunge America into Civil War. Will
the Kingdom survive? The land will run red with blood before peace comes again.
