25 February 2011

Withdrawal from These United States in 1861


Judah P. Benjamin, advocate of sucession from Louisisana

One hundred and fifty years ago, starting in late 1860 and into 1861, Ordinances of Secession were drafted by the states officially seceding from these United States. The word secede comes from the latin secedere, meaning to withdraw. Since no provision was made in the Constitution of these United States to prohibit withdrawal from the Union, it was presumed that each state had a right to secede if it should so choose. Therefore, the following states ratified their own Ordinance of Secession, typicall by means of a specially elected convention or general referendum:
South Carolina - 20 December 1860
Mississippi - 9 January 1861
Florida - 10 January 1861
Alabama - 11 January 1861
Georgia - 19 January 1861
Louisiana - 26 January 1861
Texas - 1 February 1861
Virginia - 17 April 1861
Arkansas 6 May 1861
Tennessee - 6 May 1861
North Carolina - 20 May 1861
Missouri - 31 October 1861
Kentucky - 20 November 1861