In private correspondence to Noah Webster and Cyrus King respectively, Thomas Dawes and Ephraim Lock promoted a return of the government to the original thirteen states. They wanted to remove the three-fifths clause. They suggested permission from all states was needed for further expansion. They wanted to ban naturalized voters.[1]
Timothy Pickering, a radical Federalist, wrote several letters to prominent Federalists. He objected to “the aristocratic democrats of the South…” He imagined a nation divided between North and South with the states with large African-American populations forming the boundary. After Louisiana became a state in 1812, he feared the West would ally with the South. That alliance would destroy New England’s influence in the Union. Next, he anticipated the West would jettison the South. It would dominate the entire east coast of the nation. Should the West be defeated in its attempts, it would leave the Union. New England would be left to fend for itself with its debts.[2]
While New England favored a union of the original thirteen states, they feared Western expansion. Soon, they began to consider secession from the rest of the nation.[3]
Next: How Schemes for Disunion Gained Traction
