Date:1861 Document: Georgia The people of Georgia having dissolved their political connection with the Government of the United States of America, present to their confederates and the world the causes which have led to the separation. For the last ten years we have had numerous and serious causes of complaint against our non-slave-holding confederate States…

Date:1861 Document: Mississippi A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union. In the momentous step which our State has taken of dissolving its connection with the government of which we so long formed a part, it is but just that we should…

Date:1861 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. Document: The Secession Acts of the 13 Confederate States. South Carolina An Ordinance to dissolve the union between the State of South Carolina and other…

Date:1860 Document: South Carolina Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union The people of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, on the 26th day of April, A.D., 1852, declared that the frequent violations of the Constitution of the United States, by the…

Author:   John Crittenden Date:1860 Annotation: The Crittenden Compromise, written by Kentucky Senator John Crittenden, was seen as a desperate attempt to resolve the secession crisis of 1860-61 by political negotiation. The Compromise addressed the concerns that led the states of the Lower South to contemplate secession. The Compromise contained a preamble, six (proposed) constitutional…

Date:1860 Annotation: The slavery dispute dominated the election of 1860. The emphasis placed on the Dred Scott decision (that Scott remain a slave) splintered the Democratic Party into three factions: Most Northern Democrats supported Stephen A. Douglas; Southern delegates adopted a pro-slavery stance and nominated John C. Breckinridge; more moderate Southerners nominated John Bell, who…

Date:1860 Annotation: John C. Breckinridge served as President Buchanan’s vice president. Later, he became the presidential candidate in the 1860 election, after the Democratic Party split into three factions. He represented the Southern faction in support of slavery. According to Breckinridge, the federal or local governments lacked the power to restrict slavery in any of…

Date:1860 Annotation: During the presidential election of 1860, the Republican Party promised to prohibit slavery. They also proposed free-homestead legislation, the establishment of a daily mail service, a transcontinental railroad, and support of the protective tariff. Three candidates opposed Lincoln: Stephen Douglas representing the Northern faction of the Democratic Party; John C. Breckenridge representing the…