When did South Carolina issue its Ordinance of Secession?
South Carolina issued its Ordinance of Secession on the 20th of December 1860. This document marked the first formal break from the United States by a Southern slave-holding state.
South Carolina issued its Ordinance of Secession on the 20th of December 1860. This document marked the first formal break from the United States by a Southern slave-holding state.
Eleven states and one territory eventually ratified similar resolutions during 1860 and 1861. Georgia formally seceded on the 22nd of January 1861 while Virginia ratified its ordinance on the 17th of April 1861.
Abraham Lincoln drew on the legacy of Andrew Jackson to regard secession as illegal by any means. Lincoln believed it was his job to preserve the Union by force if necessary.
Missouri and Kentucky attempted secession ineffectively or only by irregular means during the war. Delaware rejected secession quickly despite lobbying from states intending to leave.
In 1863 a Unionist government in western Virginia created a new state from 50 western counties. These counties entered the Union as West Virginia after their parent state had seceded.