OK. I admit it – my eyes bulged out of my head when I read this headline from The New-York Times. The main idea was that Southern medical students met to decide whether, given Lincoln’s election and the secessionist activities in the South, they should return home and withdraw their patronage from Northern medical schools. Here are excerpts from the article (The New-York Times. November 10, 1860):
SECESSION IN NEW-YORK.
Meeting of Southern Medical Students-
Resolutions to Return Home adopted. …
In the papers of Friday morning, Nov. 9, a call
appeared for the Southern Medical Students attending
lectures in this City, to meet at the hall of the Medi-
cal College, on Fourteenth-street; to take action as to
their course in remaining here or going home, since
the result of the election of Tuesday. The Faculty,
however, being unwilling that the hall should be used
for political purposes, refused to open it for the meeting, and consequently the place of meeting was
changed to the Democratic Head-quarters on Broad-
way, opposite Astor-Place.
The room was nearly filled with Southerners from
nearly every State south of Mason & Dixon’s line. …
Hon. Mr . CLINTON, of Mississippi, was then intro-
duced to the meeting, who prefaced his remarks by
saying that he would say nothing to them, that he
would not say to his brother or his only son. He
stated that before last Tuesday he was a firm Union
man, and that for three months he had been traveling
through the North, at his own expense, striving to
open the eyes of the people of the North, and
to lead them to a right decision, but that
since the election of ABRAHAM LINCOLN to the
highest office in the gift of the people he
was for disunion, and the sooner the better. The
Union at first contained but one free State, and twelve
slave States, and the slave States had been yielding
to the demands of the free States till they exposed
themselves to ridicule by further concessions. He
was ready to make sacrifice of his property, prospects,
and even his wife and children for the sake of South-
ern honor. He closed by advising the young gentle-
men immediately to return to their Southern homes,
and withdraw their patronage from Northern institu-
tions. …
Dr. MARION SIMS, of this City, next was called for.
He assured the gentlemen that he had a right to speak
to them, as he was bound by the tenderest ties to
nearly every Southern State. He did not wish to
talk politics, but to address them a few words of ten-
derness. He counseled the students to remain
here, as the opportunities for learning from actual
observation were much greater than in any Southern
city. They were surrounded by friends, not enemies.
Most of the Medical Faculty were Southern men, or
men with Southern preferences. He advised the
young men to wait till their respective States seceded,
and then be ready to go to their assistance. …
Col. DICK, of Maryland, was next Introduced as
“the man who gave BROOKS the cane to whip SUMNER
with.” He said the young men should not wait for
their States to secede, but should go home and urge
them to secede. …
The Commitee on Resolutions then presented the
following report :
Whereas, The people of the North, by the election
of ABRAHAM LINCOLN as President and HANNIBAL HAM-
LIN as Vice-President of these United States, have
signified their hostility to the South in thus elevating
to office sectional candidates—
Resolved, 1. That we withdraw our patronage from
Northern institutions.
2. That we leave immediately for our Southern
homes.
3. That we thank the people of this City for the
stand they have taken for the Union and the Constitu-
tion, and shall always remember them with gratitude. …
There was debate over South Carolina had already seceded and parliamentary maneuvers, but some sort of resolution was eventually passed.
Throughout the meeting, the speakers who advo-
ated disunion and secession, were loudly applauded,
while those advocating moderation and deliberate ac-
ion, were hissed, and in every manner embarrassed
in their speaking.
Southern honor trumped the chance to attend superior medical schools.
More
J. Marion Sims - Central Park, New York
1) Apparently, the Dr. Marion Sims who advised the students to wait for actual secession was J. Marion Sims, who is considered the Father of American Gynecology. The Wikipedia article says Sims was born in South Carolina; also, “Sims used slaves as experimental subjects”.
2) As it turns out, the headline should not have surprised me as much as its timing. More New york secession in the future (in 1860s time, that is).
3) Trade is part of life. Nowadays foreign students attend universities all over the world. However, this story backs up the idea that the South was still mostly agricultural and not developing other parts of its economy as quickly as the North.
