Alexandria Gazette, November 2, 1860 [Four Days before Lincoln’s election]
The Valley Star, a Democratic paper, say:
“Virginia is already having a foretaste of what is to come. We understood from reliable authority that No. 1 negroes have already fallen more than 25 percent, and second and third rate hands from 30 to 50 percent.
What has produced this sudden decline? Does not every man see at a glance it is the cry of disunion raised by these cotton planters, producing a feeling of uncertainty — a want of confidence in the holders of slave property.