AnOrdinance of Secession is the name given to multiple resolutions[1] drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861, at or near the beginning of theAmerican Civil War, by which each seceding Southernslave-holding state or territory formallydeclared secession from theUnited States.South Carolina,Mississippi,Georgia, andTexas also issued separate documents purporting to justify secession.
Adherents of theUnion side in the Civil War regarded secession as illegal by any means and PresidentAbraham Lincoln, drawing in part on the legacy of PresidentAndrew Jackson, regarded it as his job to preserve the Union by force if necessary. However, PresidentJames Buchanan, inhis State of the Union Address of December 3, 1860, stated that the Union rested only upon public opinion and that conciliation was its only legitimate means of preservation; PresidentThomas Jefferson had also suggested, afterhis presidency but in official correspondence in 1816, that the secession of some states might be desirable.
Beginning with South Carolina in December 1860,eleven Southern states and oneterritory[2] each ratified an ordinance of secession andeffectedde facto secession by some regular or purportedly lawful means, including by state legislative action, specialconvention, or popularreferendum, as sustained by state public opinion and mobilized military force. Both sides in the Civil War regarded these eleven states and territory asde facto seceded.
Two otherSouthern states, Missouri and Kentucky, attempted secession ineffectively or only by irregular means. These two states remained within the Union, but wereregarded by the Confederacy as having seceded. Two remaining Southern states, Delaware and Maryland, rejected secession and were not regarded by either side as having seceded. No other state considered secession. In 1863 aUnionist government in western Virginia created a new state from 50 western counties which entered the Union asWest Virginia. The new state included 24 counties that had ratified Virginia's secession ordinance.[3]
In the following table, states initalics either chose not to secede or could not effectively do so.
| State | Rejected | Approved | Referendum | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | December 20, 1860[4] | |||
| Delaware[a] | January 3, 1861[5] | |||
| Mississippi | January 9, 1861[6] | |||
| Florida | January 10, 1861[7] | |||
| Alabama | January 11, 1861[8] | |||
| Georgia | January 19, 1861[9] | |||
| Louisiana | January 26, 1861[10] | |||
| Texas | February 1, 1861[11] | February 23, 1861 | 46,153–14,747 | |
| Confederate States of America provisionally constituted February 8, 1861[b] | ||||
| Tennessee[c] | February 9, 1861[d] | February 9, 1861 | 59,499–68,262 | |
| Arizona Territory | March 16, 1861 | |||
| Virginia | April 4, 1861 | April 17, 1861[12] | May 23, 1861 | 132,201–37,451 |
| Maryland[a] | April 29, 1861 | |||
| Arkansas | May 6, 1861[13] | |||
| Tennessee[e] | May 6, 1861[14][f] | June 8, 1861 | 104,471–47,183 | |
| North Carolina | May 20, 1861[15] | |||
| Missouri[g] | October 31, 1861[16] | |||
| Kentucky[g] | November 20, 1861[17] | |||
The first seven seceding states, all of theDeep South, were motivated mainly by the1860 election of President Lincoln, who had very little support among Southern voters, and the direct threat toslavery his election posed. The next four seceding states, further north, also were motivated by the same two factors, but another factor was theFederal policy of using military force to preserve the Union.[citation needed]
In Missouri and Kentucky, attempted secession was belated, severely disrupted, lacked sufficient popular support, and failed. InMissouri, the state government called a convention whose members disfavored secession. Union military intervention quicklyrestored Union control,first in St. Louis, thenthroughout nearly the whole state. The ineffective Missouri ordinance of secession was eventually passed only by arump convention inNeosho. InKentucky, whose potential secession Unionists particularly feared,[18] both the legislature and public opinion firmly opposed secession. Only an even less influential rump convention purported to secede. When Confederate armiesinvaded 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. Despite Missouri and Kentucky remaining within the Union, thousands from both states embraced secession by choosing to fight for theConfederacy.
Elsewhere, theDelaware legislature quickly and firmly rejected secession, despite lobbying from states intending to secede. President Lincoln'ssuspension ofhabeas corpus and overwhelming Unionmilitary intervention, aimed at protectingWashington, blocked theMaryland legislature or any other group inMaryland from considering secession. This occurred after the legislature overwhelmingly rejected calling a secession convention but retained some notion of limiting cooperation with the Union and military coercion. Geographic exposure to conflict between larger neighboring states also deterred secession in Delaware and Maryland. As in Missouri and Kentucky, thousands from Delaware and Maryland also fought for the Confederacy. The unorganizedIndian Territory did not declare secession and was not unanimous in its orientation, but generally supported the Confederacy. No other state or territory contemplated secession, and the Confederacy did not claim Delaware or Maryland as member states.[19]
Bitter, violent controversy remained even in states where a popular majority clearly favored secession. A geographic correlation existed between local prevalence of slavery[20] and support for secession. Beyond Virginia, effective secession in most of a state could critically destabilize orvirtually eliminate state government control over a region wherepeople strongly rejected secession and favored the Union, such asEast Tennessee and other areas. Thousands from seceding states, including slaves where the opportunity arose, also chose to fight for the Union.
| Ordinance of Secession (Georgia) | |
|---|---|
 Copy of the 1861 Ordinance of Secession signed by 293 delegates to theGeorgia Secession Convention at thestate house inMilledgeville, January 21, 1861 | |
| Created | c. January 20, 1861 |
| Ratified |
|
| Date effective | January 22, 1861 |
| Location | Engrossed copy:University of Georgia Libraries, Hargrett Library |
| Authors |
|
| Signatories | 293 delegates to TheGeorgia Secession Convention of 1861 |
| Purpose | Formally announcing Georgia's intent to secede from theUnion. |
Georgia formally seceded on January 22, 1861, after a vote of 208–89 by delegates to theGeorgia Secession Convention inMilledgeville.
In Tennessee,[21][better source needed] GovernorIsham G. Harris pushed for a referendum on a sovereignty convention that could have led to secession. However, on February 9th 1861, voters rejected this proposal. After President Lincoln called for troops following theAttack on Fort Sumter, the secession debate reignited. Convinced Tennesseans now favored joining the Confederacy, Governor Harris pushed for another vote. On June 6, 1861, voters approved secession.[22] Although Tennessee eventually seceded, East Tennessee remained a Unionist stronghold throughout the Civil War.[23] Nonetheless, after the war ended in 1865, Tennessee in 1866 became the first former Confederate state to rejoin the Union.[24] This began theReconstruction era and launched a long, ongoing struggle to build a society where people of all races could fully enjoy their rights as citizens.
Kentucky's state government never approved an act of secession. Kentucky[25][better source needed] was caught between joining the neighboring slave states and staying loyal to the Union. A month after the battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861, GovernorBeriah Magoffin issued a proclamation declaring neutrality and urged Kentuckians to stay out of the conflict. While Magoffin didn't think slavery was a "moral, social, or political evil", he opposed secession for two reasons. First, he believed the country's divisions could be resolved through dialogue. Second, he feared Kentucky would be invaded if it joined the Confederacy.[26]
When GeneralLeonidas Polk and the Confederacy tried to force Kentucky to join the Confederate States, their attempt failed, which pushed the state's legislature to choose a side. After this failed attack, Kentucky's government asked the Union Army for help. By early 1862, most of Kentucky was under Union control. Although Kentucky stayed mostly under Union control after early 1862, despite declaring neutrality, there was a clear social divide over which side the people of Kentucky supported. With 125,000 supporting the Union and 35,000 supporting the Confederate army.[27]
