henceforth ceases to be one of said United States, and is, and of right ought to Be it further ordained, That the unconstitutional edicts of a factious majority of a Legislature thus false to their pledges, their honor, and their interests are not law, and that such a government is unworthy of the support of a brave and free people, and that we do therefore declare that the people are thereby absolved from all allegiance to said government, and that they have a right to establish any government which to them may seem best adapted to the preservation of their rights and liberties. These two states remained within the Union, but were regarded by the Confederacy as having seceded. Order # 28. The demand was followed by an offer: I am instructed also to notify you, that you have the option to continue in command of the said revenue cutter, under the authority of the State of Alabama, in the exercise of the same duties that you have hitherto rendered to the United States, and at the same compensation, reporting to this office and to the Governor of the State. The captain accepted, and by months end, Alabamans had expelled most Federal personnel from their state. Reno wrote his superiors: As it was impossible for me to hold this place with my seventeen men, I trust that the Department will not hold me responsible for this unexpected catastrophe., Governor Moore wrote to President James Buchanan explaining the reasons why he felt compelled to order the seizure of Federal property before the convention began: I was fully convinced by the evidences which I had that that convention withdraw the State of Alabama from the Government of the United States Being thus convinced I deemed it my duty to take every precautionary step to make the secession of the State peaceful, and prevent detriment to her people The purpose with which my order was given and has been executed was to avoid and not to provoke hostilities between the State and Federal government., On the 5th, Alabama militia took Forts Morgan and Gaines, which were vital in protecting the entrance to Mobile Bay. Beginning with South Carolina in December 1860, eleven Southern states and one territory[2] both ratified an ordinance of secession and effected de facto secession by some regular or purportedly lawful means, including by state legislative action, special convention, or popular referendum, as sustained by state public opinion and mobilized military force. This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage. She earned her M.A. . The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections, United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865. When Confederate armies invaded Kentucky in 1862, bringing extra arms to equip new volunteers, briefly seizing the state capital, and installing an ephemeral state government, local recruitment proved weak and Union forces soon decisively defeated the invasion. The Declaration of Causes made by Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union. The force of events moved very quickly upon the election of Lincoln. Ordinance of Secession, adopted by the Alabama constitutional convention of 1861. They wanted to make clear that their allegiance to the state while explaining their reservations about seceding from the Union. Feb 24 secession secession political movement ben fitzpatrick (cooperationists) (immediatists) unionists? Learn about current events in historical perspective on our Origins site. The government of South Carolina declared its causes for seceding on December 24, 1860, four days after it became the first state to issue a formal ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860. That all the laws and ordinances by which the said State of Mississippi became a member of the Federal Union of the United States of America be, and the same are hereby, repealed, and that all obligations on the part of the said State or the people thereof to observe the same be withdrawn, and that the said State doth hereby resume all the rights, functions, and powers which by any of said laws or ordinances were conveyed to the Government of the said United States, and is absolved from all the obligations, restraints, and duties incurred to the said Federal Union, and shall from henceforth be a free, sovereign, and independent State. Not a single secession declaration used these words. Join us online July 24-26! An Ordinance of Secession was the name given to multiple resolutions[1] drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861, at or near the beginning of the Civil War, by which each seceding Southern state or territory formally declared secession from the United States of America. 2. Through the 1850s, politicians desperately sought compromise to preserve the United States, but by the end of that decade enough conflict had piled up that each section of the country viewed each other as potential threats to safety, security, and society. The Ordinance of Secession, adopted on 1861 Jan. 11, is the document which declared "An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Alabama and other states united under the compact styled The Constitution of the United States of America.". You may also like to know about: Your email address will not be published. The convention adjourned on April 27, 1861. Be it further declared and ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, That all the powers over the Territory of said State, and over the people thereof, heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America, be and they are hereby withdrawn from said Government, and are hereby resumed and vested in the people of the State of Alabama. Alabama became the fourth state, and the third in three days, to leave the Union. The second phase of secession occurred after the attack on Fort Sumter. In Kentucky, whose potential secession Unionists particularly feared,[4] both the legislature and public opinion firmly opposed secession. day of January, A.D. 1861. Montgomery, Alabama. In this essay, the author. Ultimately, eleven statesSouth Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolinapursued independence as part of the Confederacy. The most prominent of those voting against was Throckmorton, of Collin County, who was later a Confederate general and a Reconstruction era governor of Texas. Winston County was populated at the time by what Alabama residents called "Hill people.". South Carolina acted first, calling for a convention to secede from the Union. Facsimile of the 1861 Ordinance of Secession signed by 293 delegates to the. Large celebrations took place in the streets of Montgomery, as cheering crowds fired rockets and firecrackers, amid displays of the Southern Cross and the Lone Star emblems. Originally published serially in newspapers. langdon hall east alabama male college (later auburn Skip to document Ask an Expert 1861, at the city of Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, for the purpose of Be it declared and ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the State of Alabama now withdraws, and is hereby withdrawn from the Union known as "the United States of America," and henceforth ceases to be one of said United States, and is, and of right ought to be, a Sovereign and Independent State. If you have trouble accessing this page and need to request an alternate format contact ehistory@osu.edu. ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, That all Traditionally, only four states are held to have issued "declarations of causes:" South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas.In addition, Alabama, Virginia, and Tennessee issued legislative resolutions touching on the issue of secession, and there is a "lost" declaration from Florida.However, buried within the journals of the Arkansas Secession Convention are the details of this . It was one of the original seven states to form the Confederacy on Read more The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States | American Battlefield Alabama's secession document blames the vagaries of the threat of the Lincoln Administration, rather than stating the defense of slavery outright. Jackson (who had been removed from office by the State Convention) ________________________________________ALABAMA A majority favored immediate secession while some wanted to wait until Georgia and Alabama left first. An Ordinance to dissolve the Union Between The State of North Carolina and The United States, May 20, 1861. the "free labor" interests of the North that culminated in secession and civil war. The convention met in Tallahassee, Florida's capital, for seven days. We do further declare and ordain, That all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or any act of Congress, or treaty, or under any law of this State, and not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force and have the same effect as if this ordinance had not been passed. Reconvened in March, the Georgia Secession Convention, now a constitutional convention, ratified the new Confederate Constitution and voted to submit the new Georgia constitution to the people by ballot in July. We the People of the State of Alabama, having separated ourselves from the Government is affected by the ordinance known as the Ordinance of Secession,, Therefore, be it declared and ordained, by the people of the State of Alabama, in Convention assembled, that the State of Alabama now withdraws from the Union,, Alabama was central to the Civil War, with the secession convention at Montgomery, birthplace of the Confederacy, inviting other states to form, Following South Carolina, Mississippi, and Florida, on January 11, 1865, Alabama adopted its Ordinance of Secession by a 61-39 vote and left, The secession of South Carolina was followed by the secession of six more statesMississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texasand the threat, To dissolve the Union between the State of Alabama and other States united under at the date of the Ordinance of Secession, was residing in this State,, On December 20, 1860, a special convention called in South Carolina unanimously passed an ordinance of secession. Alabama was central to the Civil War, with the secession convention at Montgomery, birthplace of the Confederacy, inviting other states to form a Southern Republic, during January-March 1861, and develop constitutions to legally run their own affairs. WHEREAS, The recent developments in Federal affairs make it evident that the power of the Federal Government is sought to be made a weapon with which to strike down the interests and property of the people of Texas, and her sister slave-holding States, instead of permitting it to be, as was intended, our shield against outrage and aggression; THEREFORE,SECTION 1.-- We, the people of the State of Texas, by delegates in convention assembled, do declare and ordain that the ordinance adopted by our convention of delegates on the 4th day of July, A.D. 1845, and afterwards ratified by us, under which the Republic of Texas was admitted into the Union with other States, and became a party to the compact styled "The Constitution of the United States of America," be, and is hereby, repealed and annulled; that all the powers which, by the said compact, were delegated by Texas to the Federal Government are revoked and resumed; that Texas is of right absolved from all restraints and obligations incurred by said compact, and is a separate sovereign State, and that her citizens and people are absolved from all allegiance to the United States or the government thereof. Description North Carolina was one of the last states to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy. AN ORDINANCE. The powers of the government of the State of Alabama shall be divided into three distinct departments; and each of them confided to a separate body of magistracy, to-wit: those which are legislative to one; those which are executive, to another; and those which are judicial to another. He perused the documents of the Secession Convention and nothing turned up to support its official adoption. Voters rejected the convention, and by extension, any secession. The new Republican Party was a purely Northern party with a platform that was anti-slavery. Faust, Patricia L. (Patricia L. Faust ed.). AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union between the State of North Carolina and the other States united with her, under the compact of government entitled "The Constitution of the United States." It was one of the original seven states to form the Confederacy on February 8, 1861. Mississippi seceded from the United States on January 9, 1861. Other Southern states, including Arkansas, watched and waited. They did so in order to protect the institution of slavery. Toward the close of the Secession Convention, he was elected to succeed Thomas Fearn as deputy to the Confederate Congress. All but three signed. Declarations of Causes of Seceding States - South . Alabama was the fourth state to secede from the Union on January 11, 1861. Public opinion had shifted dramatically, most notably in Middle Tennessee. Annotation: The seceded states drafted the following ordinances of secession that severed their connection with the Federal Union in an attempt to preserve state rights and their different cultures. Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy, stated in a speech on March 21, 1861 that Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea [referring to the equality of the races being pursued in the North]; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. Whatever their personal motivations, Confederate soldiers went to war to uphold the system and ideas of Southern slavery. Every purchase supports the mission. The other . Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window). It even led to a sharp exchange at a recent meeting of the Alabama Political Science Association. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Mississippi . Read the other secession documents here: South Carolina Mississippi Florida Alabama Georgia Louisiana Texas Virginia Arkansas North Carolina Tennessee Missouri Kentucky The ineffective Missouri ordinance of secession eventually was passed only by a rump convention meeting at Neosho. In 1863, forty-eight northwestern Unionist counties seceded from . To provide faster access to our materials, this finding aid was published without formal and final review. Lewis Cass, stationed at Mobile to collect U.S. tariffs. Every delegate was a white male owning, on average, 10 enslaved people. That all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or under any act of Congress passed, or treaty made, in pursuance thereof, or under any law of this State, and not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force and have the same effect as if this ordinance had not been passed. hereby withdrawn from said Government, and are hereby resumed and vested in the Had it convened, it would have been overwhelmingly pro-Union. July 26, 2018. The major secessionist newspaper was the Wilmington Journal, located in slaveholding New Hanover County. While secession and the lead up to the Civil War were very complex, conflict over slavery was certainly central to the Souths decision to leave the Union. "To the People of Alabama": anti-secession document signed by Robert Jemison Jr. and other members of Alabama's 1861 secession convention, University Libraries Division of Special Collections, The University of Alabama http://archives.lib.ua.edu/repositories/3/resources/3972 Accessed May 01, 2023. translation missing: en.navbar.toggle_navigation. I was able to analyze four secession documents written by states: South Carolina . It was one of the original seven states to form the Confederacy on. Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Dr. Kathleen Logothetis Thompson graduated with her Ph.D. from West Virginia University in 2017. approve such purpose, in order to frame a provisional as well as permanent The South Secedes. The first describes the change from the territorial to the state form of government, and the second describes the secession of Alabama from the United States. Whereas, the election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin The Civil War was not about slaveryhistorians hear this all the time, whether at historic sites, in the classroom, or in conversations with friends and strangers alike. The Government of the United States claimed territory by virtue of the treaty of 1783 with Great Britain, acquired territory by cession from Georgia and North Carolina, by treaty from France, and by treaty from Spain. ________________________________________ARKANSAS 2. That so much of the first section of the seventh article of the constitution of this State as requires members of the Legislature and all officers, executive and judicial, to take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States be, and the same is hereby, abrogated and annulled. Write your response below: In Convention assembled, That the State of Alabama now withdraws, and is hereby withdrawn from the Union known as "the United States of America," and henceforth ceases to be one of said United States Show your pride in battlefield preservation by shopping in our store. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND ORDINANCE dissolving the federal relations between the State of Tennessee and the United States of America. Prior to 1861, the people of Tennessee had resisted secessionist movements, believing that the Constitution and Union of the United States were beneficial and should be preserved. The document is written on 11 sheets of parchment, each page glued to the one below it; it is 20 feet and 8 inches long. That the people of the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, be and are hereby invited to meet the people of the State of Alabama, by their Delegates, in Convention, on the fourth day of February, A. D. 1861, at the city of Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, for the purpose of consulting with each other as to the most effectual mode of securing concerted and harmonious action in whatever measures may be deemed most desirable for our common peace and security. Whereas, in addition to the well-founded causes of complaint set forth by this convention, in resolutions adopted on the 11th of March, A.D. 1861, against the sectional party now in power in Washington City, headed by Abraham Lincoln, he has, in the face of resolutions passed by this convention pledging the State of Arkansas to resist to the last extremity any attempt on the part of such power to coerce any State that had seceded from the old Union, proclaimed to the world that war should be waged against such States until they should be compelled to submit to their rule, and large forces to accomplish this have by this same power been called out, and are now being marshaled to carry out this inhuman design; and to longer submit to such rule, or remain in the old Union of the United States, would be disgraceful and ruinous to the State of Arkansas: The Richmond Daily Dispatch reported: The forts contained 78,000 stand of arms, 1,500 boxes of powder, 300,000 rounds of musket cartridges, and other munitions of war.. Tennessee's Ordinance of SecessionJune 8, 1861. The South went to war to preserve their societytheir economy, their social structure, their political powerall of which was built on a foundation of racial slavery. During the next two months ordinances of secession were adopted by the states of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. 4. That the people of the State of Mississippi hereby consent to form a federal union with such of the States as may have seceded or may secede from the Union of the United States of America, upon the basis of the present Constitution of the said United States, except such parts thereof as embrace other portions than such seceding States. Digital History ID 3953. South Carolina Declaration of Secession, 1860 Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 contest on November 6 with just 40% of the popular vote and not a single southern vote in the Electoral College. Alert at Mobile. Then, this is the place where you can find sources which provide detailed information. in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the constitution of the United States of America was assented to, ratified and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts of the general assembly of this State, ratifying and adopting amendments to said constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded and abrogated. Of the 39 delegates who opposed leaving the Union, 15 signed the secession resolution. Four months later, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana seceded as well. Our FREE Virtual Teacher Institute is the can't miss online educator event of the summer. . Whereas the Government of the United States, in the possession and under the control of a sectional party, has wantonly violated the compact originally made between said Government and the State of Missouri, by invading with hostile armies the soil of the State, attacking and making prisoners the militia while legally assembled under the State laws, forcibly occupying the State capitol, and attempting through the instrumentality of domestic traitors to usurp the State government, seizing and destroying private property, and murdering with fiendish malignity peaceable citizens, men, women, and children, together with other acts of atrocity, indicating a deep-settled hostility toward the people of Missouri and their institutions; and dangerous infractions of the constitution of the United States by many of the First. As in Missouri and Kentucky, thousands from Delaware and Maryland also fought for the Confederacy. Thus ordained and declared in convention the 9th day of January, in the year of our Lord 1861. And as it is the desire and purpose of In Missouri, the state government called a convention whose members disfavored secession. No other state considered secession. Secession itself occurred in two phases, sparked by specific events in 1860 and 1861. Thousands from seceding states, including slaves where the opportunity arose, also chose to fight for the Union. And be it further resolved, That the We, the people of the State of Tennessee, waiving any expression of opinion as to the abstract doctrine of secession, but asserting the right, as a . On January 11, 1861, a convention of elected delegates passed an ordinance withdrawing Alabama from the United States. View 06.05 history.docx from HISTORY 10 at Pike County High School. While historians agree that slavery was a fundamental cause of the war and southern secession, many in the public still contest this historical interpretation. We furthermore declare and ordain that article 10, sections 1 and 2, of the constitution of the State of Tennessee, which requires members of the General Assembly and all officers, civil and military, to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States be, and the same are hereby, abrogated and annulled, and all parts of the constitution of the State of Tennessee making citizenship of the United States a qualification for office and recognizing the Constitution of the United States as the supreme law of this State are in like manner abrogated and annulled. ________________________________________TENNESSEE Only an even less influential rump convention purported to secede. Civil Discourse: A Blog of the Civil War Era. The conflict in Charleston did not necessarily cause the next four states to secede, but after Fort Sumter Lincoln issued his call for volunteer troops from the North to reclaim federal property in the South and combat the secession of the Southern states. Schultz, Fred L. (Patricia L. Faust ed.). ; PASSAGE OF THE ORDINANCE , Alabama in the American Civil War Wikipedia, Alabama Constitution of 1861 | Encyclopedia of Alabama, 1861 | Time Line of the Civil War | Articles and Essays | Civil War , Ordinances and constitution of the state of Alabama: with the , secession | History, Definition, Crisis, & Facts | Britannica, Alabama vehicle registration fee calculator, Alabama DHR minimum standards for daycare centers, Alabama defined benefit retirement plan list. Moderates were also placated by a motion to continue the ban on the African slave trade. Z. George, of Carroll; S. J. Gholson, of Monroe; E. H. Sanders, of Attala; J. L. Alcorn, of Coahoma; The people of the State of Mississippi, in convention assembled, do ordain and declare, and it is hereby ordained and declared, as follows, to wit:Section 1. people of the State of Alabama. In addition, Kathleen was a seasonal interpreter at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park from 2010-2014 and has worked on various other publications and projects. therefore: Be it declared and ordained by the people of the State of Passed 10 Jan 1861 Four years of war ended the institution of slavery, altered the Virginia landscape, displaced families, and cost thousands their lives. ________________________________________MISSOURI ________________________________________GEORGIA A second resolution passed that enabled the remaining 24 opponents to sign a document acknowledging Alabamas decision without taking part in it. Be it further declared and Following Abraham Lincoln's election, on November 6, 1860, Governor Madison Starke Perry called on Florida to join with other southern states seceeding from the United States. ________________________________________LOUISIANA to the offices of president and vice-president of the United States of America, Bitter, violent controversy remained even in states where a popular majority clearly favored secession. The next four seceding states, further north, also were motivated by the same two factors, but a third and decisive factor was the Federal policy of coercion, or using military force to preserve the Union by compelling the earlier seceding states to submit. from West Virginia University in 2012 and her B.A. The remaining slave-holding states had to decide whether they would side with the Union against the South or secede and join the new Confederacyfour states decided to leave. document or series of documents begins. Many of these documents are very clear that slavery was central to their decision to leave the United States. Done by the people of the State of Alabama, in Convention assembled, at Montgomery, on this, the eleventh day of January, A.D. 1861. Articles of secession, adopted December 24, 1860. And as it is the desire and purpose of the people of Alabama to meet the slaveholding States of the South, who may approve such purpose, in order to frame a provisional as well as permanent Government upon the principles of the Constitution of the United States, Sec. Despite Missouri and Kentucky remaining within the Union, thousands from both states embraced secession by choosing to fight for the Confederacy. The first was the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency. In Alabama's secession document it states the they are receding partially because they wanted to uphold the laws that promote slavery, where as Lincoln did not. Be it resolved by the people of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the people of the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, be and are hereby invited to meet the people of the State of Alabama, by their Delegates, in Convention, on the 4th day of February, A.D., 1861, at the city of Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, for the purpose of consulting with each other as to the most effectual mode of securing concerted and harmonious action in whatever measures may be deemed most desirable for our common peace and security. Passed January 19, 1861. These delegates came mainly from cities where there were few slaves, or from northern Alabama where small farmers still adhered to Andrew Jacksons notion of an indivisible Union. Adherents of the Union side in the Civil War regarded secession as illegal by any means and President Abraham Lincoln, drawing in part on the legacy of President Andrew Jackson, regarded it as his job to preserve the Union by force if necessary. . Texas' constitution is one of the largest state constitutions in the U.S. - only Alabama's and California's are longer. On March 12 the Alabama secession convention debated and ratified the document by a vote of 87 to 5; on March 16 the Georgia convention read and ratified the Constitution by a unanimous vote of 260 to 0; on March 21, after some political maneuvering, Louisiana ratified 94 to 10; on March 23 the Texas Secession Convention approved the . These are great resources to use in the classroomI do an exercise with these documents whenever I teach secession to my studentsbut also for those who want to engage in the practice of history and better understand the causes of secession. Second. Alabama Ordinance of Secession of 1861. AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union now existing between the State of Arkansas and the other States united with her under the compact entitled "The Constitution of the United States of America." No other state or territory contemplated secession, and the Confederacy did not claim Delaware or Maryland as member states.[5]. by a sectional party, avowedly hostile to the domestic institutions and to the
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