90. South Carolina Ordinance of Secession (1860) Source: Frank H. Moore, ed., The Rebellion Record (New York: G.P. Putnam, 1861-68), vol. 1, pp. 3-5. In the three months that followed Abraham Lincoln's election as president in November 1860, seven states seceded from the Union. First to act was South Carolina, the state with the highest percentage of slaves in its population and a long history of political radicalism. On December 20, 1860, the legislature unanimously voted to leave the Union. In justifying the right to secede, the legislature issued an Ordinance of Secession. It restated the compact theory of the Constitution that had become more and more central to southern political thought during the three decades since the nullification controversy and placed the issue of slavery squarely at the center of the crisis. Rather than accept permanent minority status in a nation governed by their opponents, South Carolina's leaders boldly struck for their region's independence. At stake, they believed, was not a single election but an entire way of life based on slavery. THE STATE OF South Carolina having resumed her separate and equal place among nations, deems it due to herself, to the remaining United States of Chapter 13: A House Divided, 1840-1861 Questions 1. Why do secessionists place so much emphasis on the growth of antislavery public opinion in the North? 2. What appears to be the main motivation for South Carolina's secession?

90. South Carolina Ordinance of Secession (1860) Source: Frank H. Moore, ed., The Rebellion Record (New York: G.P. Putnam, 1861-68), vol. 1, pp. 3-5. In the three months that followed Abraham Lincoln's election as president in November 1860, seven states seceded from the Union. First to act was South Carolina, the state with the highest percentage of slaves in its population and a long history of political radicalism. On December 20, 1860, the legislature unanimously voted to leave the Union. In justifying the right to secede, the legislature issued an Ordinance of Secession. It restated the compact theory of the Constitution that had become more and more central to southern political thought during the three decades since the nullification controversy and placed the issue of slavery squarely at the center of the crisis. Rather than accept permanent minority status in a nation governed by their opponents, South Carolina's leaders boldly struck for their region's independence. At stake, they believed, was not a single election but an entire way of life based on slavery. THE STATE OF South Carolina having resumed her separate and equal place among nations, deems it due to herself, to the remaining United States of Chapter 13: A House Divided, 1840-1861 Questions 1. Why do secessionists place so much emphasis on the growth of antislavery public opinion in the North? 2. What appears to be the main motivation for South Carolina's secession?