tangere, below which was coiled a rattlesnake. This reptile was often associated with the palmetto as an emblem of the state to hint that while South Carolina, like the rattlesnake, would give a warning, the stroke which followed would be fatal.[1]
When the State Rights and Free Trade party met in Charleston on June 25 to appoint delegates to the Philadelphia free-trade convention, it proceeded to complete the organization of a State Rights association, for which a committee to frame a constitution had been appointed at a previous meeting. This constitution provided for a president, six vice-presidents, a secretary, a treasurer, and a standing committee of nine to carry on correspondence with other committees, publish tracts, and call meetings. There was to be a regular meeting every month, and extra meetings might be called at discretion. The initiation fee was fixed at one dollar and the dues at twelve and a half cents a month. The constitution furthermore contemplated the holding of semiannual conventions of all such associations in the state, at Columbia in December and at Charleston in March.[2] The state-wide movement
