377. The "Confederate States of America."

377．"美利坚同盟国"

The next step was for these states to join together to form a confederation. This work was done by a convention of delegates chosen by the conventions of the seven seceding states. These delegates met at Montgomery, Alabama. Their new constitution closely resembled the Constitution of the United States. But great care was taken to make it perfectly clear that each member of the Confederacy was a sovereign state. Exceeding care was also taken that slavery should be protected in every way. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was chosen provisional president, and Alexander H. Stephens provisional vice-president.
这些州下一步要聚集在一起组成一个联盟，他们通过一个会议来完成这项工作，这个会议由7个已经退出联邦的州各自开会选出的代表参加，这些代表在阿拉巴马的蒙哥马利召开会议，他们的新宪法与美国《宪法》非常相似，但是，他们倍加小心地说明联盟的每一个成员都是一个有主权的州，并以最大的小心提出用各种方式来保护奴隶制。密西西比州的杰弗逊·戴维斯被选举为临时总统，亚历山大·H·斯蒂文森被选举为临时副总统。
378. Views of Davis and Stephens.

378．戴维斯和斯蒂文森的观点

Davis declared that Lincoln had "made a distinct declaration of war upon our (Southern) institutions." His election was "upon the basis of sectional hostility." If "war must come, it must be on Northern and not on Southern soil… We will carry war … where food for the sword and torch awaits our armies in the densely populated cities" of the North. For his part, Stephens said the new government's "foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man."
戴维斯宣称，林肯"显然已经向我们（南方）的制度宣战"，他的当选"基于少数人对南方的敌视，如果"战争一定要到来，它一定在北方而不是南方的土地上打响……我们将支持战争……北方人口密集的大城市在等着我们军队到来，那里有备好刀叉和烛光的美食等着他们。"而斯蒂文森则说，新政府的基础和基石在于一个伟大真理，那就是，黑人不等于白人。
379. Hesitation in the North.

379．北方的犹豫

At first it seemed as if Davis was right when he said the Northerners would not fight. General Scott, commanding the army, suggested that the "erring sisters" should be allowed to "depart in peace," and Seward seemed to think the same way. The Abolitionists welcomed the secession of the slave states. Horace Greeley, for instance, wrote that if those states chose to form an independent nation, "they had a clear moral right so to do." For his part, President Buchanan thought that no state could constitutionally secede. But if a state should secede, he saw no way to compel it to come back to the Union. So he sat patiently by and did nothing.
戴维斯说北方人不会发动战争，开始时他似乎是正确的。掌管陆军的斯科特将军提议，应该允许"犯错的姐妹""平静地离开"，塞沃德似乎也有同样的想法。废奴主义者对有奴隶州退出联邦表示欢迎，例如，贺瑞斯o格瑞勒写道，如果那些州选择组成一个独立的国家，"他们显然在道德上有权这么做"。在总统布坎南看来，按照宪法没有哪个州可以退出联邦，但是，如果某个州退出，他没有办法迫使这个州回到联邦，因此他耐心地静观其变。