The New Orleans Daily Crescent unleashes a scathing personal attack on Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, branding him "A SOUTHERN TRAITOR" for his fierce opposition to secession. Johnson, who addressed a mass meeting in Washington, declared he would "rather be a subject to the autocrat of Russia than a citizen of the Southern Confederacy"—a statement that ignites the paper's fury. The editorial dismisses his claims that Southern leaders are "disappointed politicians" seeking office, pointing out that President Jefferson Davis could have any Mississippi position for life, Vice President Stephens voluntarily resigned his Senate seat, and figures like Benjamin and Toombs abandoned federal power for the Southern cause. The Crescent's editors express mutual satisfaction: "The repugnance...is mutual. We have heard intelligent gentlemen...declare that they hoped Tennessee would stay out of the Southern Confederacy as long as Andrew Johnson was a citizen of that State." Alongside this political firestorm, the paper reports the steamship Habana's arrival from Havana with shipping news and extensive commercial correspondence detailing sugar prices (6½ reals per sarcobe), molasses rates, and the arrival of American goods at Cuban markets—including 1,500 sacks of coffee from New Orleans and Philadelphia cotton. The Louisiana State Convention also convenes, debating a controversial ordinance on banking and charters that would extend old bank charters to 1900.

This March 1861 edition captures the precise moment when the Lower South's secession becomes a political and personal knife fight. Just weeks after the Confederate States formed in Montgomery, Tennessee remains un-seceded—and Andrew Johnson represents the Union-loyal faction that threatens Southern solidarity. The vicious attacks on Johnson foreshadow the border state crisis that would ultimately determine the Civil War's outcome; these regions' allegiances hung by a thread of personalities and politics. Johnson's defection to Lincoln would eventually make him Vice President—and later, after Lincoln's assassination, the President who would preside over Reconstruction, making this March attack prophetic. The commercial pages reveal another crucial detail: the South's economy in early 1861 still depended entirely on trade with the North and Caribbean. The detailed Havana commodity prices show how integrated these markets were—a fact that secession would shatter within months.

• The paper reports that several ships had arrived in Havana from Northern cities—Philadelphia, New York, Boston—but notably: 'No American steamer had arrived when the Habana left.' This subtle line captures the moment when Northern shipping was already beginning to disappear from Southern ports due to the crisis, months before any formal blockade.
• In the commercial section, American cheese from New Orleans sold in Havana at $10.25 per quintal on March 12th—yet the same day, coffee from Philadelphia sold at 4½ reals, showing the price advantage Northern goods still maintained. By year's end, such competition would be eliminated by war.
• The Choctaw Nation formally addresses Louisiana's Convention about secession, with the document being so lengthy that a motion to skip reading it actually lost—members wanted to hear it. This reveals that Native American nations, officially 'removed' to Indian Territory, were actively participating in the Confederacy's political legitimacy within weeks of its formation.
• Johnson is quoted as saying Southern leaders 'would rather go down' than stay in power—yet the editors note Jefferson Davis 'had any office that Mississippi could give him...for the remainder of his natural life,' revealing the irony that many Southern leaders had actually sacrificed tremendous power to join the rebellion, not sought to gain it.
• The Convention debate over bank charters extending to 1900 shows Louisiana was planning post-war infrastructure during the literal week of secession—suggesting Confederate leaders expected to exist as a nation for decades, utterly unprepared for the actual four-year war ahead.

• Andrew Johnson, viciously attacked on this page as an office-seeker and traitor, would become Lincoln's Vice President in 1864 and ultimately President after Lincoln's assassination in 1865—making him the only U.S. President from a Confederate state who never joined the Confederacy. His bitter clashes with Republicans over Reconstruction would nearly end in his impeachment.
• The steamship Habana carried coffee, cheese, and sugar between New Orleans and Havana—yet by December 1861, the Union blockade would make such civilian trade virtually impossible, strangling the Southern economy the paper assumes will flourish forever in these pages.
• Jefferson Davis, mentioned here as Mississippi's loyal son who had 'any office' at his command, actually served as U.S. Secretary of War under President Pierce and was a U.S. Senator—he had voluntarily left far more power than Andrew Johnson ever held to lead the Confederacy.
• The Choctaw Nation's formal engagement with secession shown here was part of a broader reality: Confederate diplomats had actively cultivated alliances with the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory. These Native nations' commitment to the Confederacy would lead to devastating civil wars *within* their own territories during the larger conflict.
• The commercial prices listed—sugar at 6½ reals, molasses at 21 reals per keg—represented New Orleans's final moment as a free-trading port. Within months, Union blockade runners would make such legitimate commerce impossible, forcing a shadow economy that would dominate Gulf Coast trade for four years.