State	Passed	Referendum	Vote
S. Carolina South Carolina in the Civil War The white population of South Carolina, long before the American Civil War, strongly supported the institution of slavery. Political leaders such as John C. Calhoun and Preston Brooks had inflamed regional passions, and for years before the eventual start of the Civil War in 1861, voices cried for...	December 20, 1860.http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/Ordinance.htm
Mississippi Mississippi in the Civil War Mississippi was the second state to declare secession from the Union, on January 9, 1861. In February, it joined with six other Cotton States to form the Confederate States of America...	January 9, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/msord.htm
Florida Florida in the Civil War Florida in the American Civil War served the Confederate States of America from the beginning of the Civil War. Following Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, the state of Florida joined other Southern states in declaring secession from the Union, the third of the original seven states to do so.With...	January 10, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/flord.htm
Alabama Alabama in the Civil War The state of Alabama was a part of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War after seceding from the United States of America on January 11, 1861. It provided a significant source of troops and leaders, military material, supplies, food, and, early on, cotton to be exchanged...	January 11, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/alord.htm
Georgia Georgia in the Civil War On January 18, 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union during the American Civil War but kept the name "State of Georgia", and joined the newly formed Confederacy in February. During the war, Georgia sent nearly 100,000 soldiers to battle, mostly to the armies in Virginia. The state switched from...	January 19, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/gaord.htm
Louisiana Louisiana in the American Civil War Antebellum Louisiana was a leading slave state, where enslaved Africans and African Americans comprised the majority of the population through the eighteenth century. By 1860 47% of the population was enslaved. The state also had one of the largest free black populations in the United States...	January 26, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/laord.htm
Texas Texas in the Civil War The state of Texas declared its secession from the United States on February 1, 1861, and joined the Confederate States of America on March 2, 1861, replacing its governor, Sam Houston, when he refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. During the subsequent American Civil War,...	February 1, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/txordnan.htm	February 23	46,153-14,747
Virginia Virginia in the Civil War The Commonwealth of Virginia was a prominent part of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The convention called to act for the state during the secession crisis opened on February 13, 1861, after seven seceding states had formed the Confederacy on February 4. Unionist...	April 17, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/vaord.htm	May 23	132,201-37,451
Arkansas Arkansas in the American Civil War The state of Arkansas was a part of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, and provided a source of troops, supplies, and military and political leaders for the fledgling country. Arkansas had become the 25th state of the United States, on June 15, 1836, entering as a...	May 6, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/arord.htm
Tennessee Tennessee in the Civil War To a large extent, the American Civil War was fought in cities and farms of Tennessee; only Virginia saw more battles. Tennessee was the last of the Southern states to declare secession from the Union, but saw more than its share of the devastation resulting from years of warring armies...	May 6, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/tnord.htm	June 8	104,471-47,183
N. Carolina North Carolina in the Civil War The Southern United States state of North Carolina provided an important source of soldiers, supplies, and war materiel to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War...	May 20, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/ncord.htm
Missouri Missouri in the Civil War In the Civil War, Missouri was a border state that sent men, armies, generals, and supplies to both opposing sides, had its star on both flags, had separate governments representing each side, and endured a neighbor-against-neighbor intrastate war within the larger national war.By the end of the...	October 31, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/misouord.htm
Kentucky Kentucky in the Civil War Kentucky was a border state of key importance in the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln recognized the importance of the Commonwealth when he declared "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky." In a September 1861 letter to Orville Browning, Lincoln wrote "I think to lose...	November 20, 1861.http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/kyord.htm

The Ordinance of Secession was the document drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861 by the states officially seceding

Secession

Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...

 from the United States of America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Each state ratified its own ordinance of secession, typically by means of a specially elected convention

Political convention

In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...

 or general referendum

Referendum

A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

.

During the Civil War, the states of Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 and Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 had competing confederate and unionist governments claiming authority over their states. Missouri's ordinance was approved by a legislative session called by Claiborne Fox Jackson

Claiborne Fox Jackson

Claiborne Fox Jackson was a lawyer, soldier, and Democratic politician from Missouri. He was the 15th Governor of Missouri in 1861, then governor-in-exile for the Confederacy during the American Civil War.-Early life:...

, the pro-confederate governor (see Missouri secession

Missouri secession

During the American Civil War, the secession of Missouri was controversial because of the disputed status of the state of Missouri . During the war, Missouri was claimed by both the Union and the Confederacy, had two competing state governments, and sent representatives to both the United States...

). Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

's was approved by a convention of 200 people representing 65 counties of the state, but without support from the unionist state government. The Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 officially seated both of these states in 1862, though they were contested throughout the war.

Virginia's ordinance was approved by a referendum but rejected by 26 counties of the northwestern section of the state (see Wheeling Convention

Wheeling Convention

The 1861 Wheeling Convention was a series of two meetings that ultimately repealed the Ordinance of Secession passed by Virginia, thus establishing the Restored government of Virginia, which ultimately authorized the counties that organized the convention to become West Virginia. The convention was...

), leading to the creation of West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

.

Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas also issued separate declarations of causes, in which they explained their reasons for secession.

See also

• American Civil War
  American Civil War
  The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
  
  
• Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union

External links

• Texts of the Ordinances
• Texts of declarations of causes
• Florida's Ordinance of Secession Text and original document from the State Archives of Florida.
• South Carolina's Ordinance of Secession Text and original document from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
• Virginia's Ordinance of Secession (enrolled bill) Text and original document from the Library of Virginia
  Library of Virginia
  The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia, its archival agency, and the reference library at the seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and is located at 800 East Broad Street, 2 blocks from the Virginia State...
  
  .
• Virginia's Ordinance of Secession (signed copies) Text and original documents from the Library of Virginia
  Library of Virginia
  The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia, its archival agency, and the reference library at the seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and is located at 800 East Broad Street, 2 blocks from the Virginia State...
  
  and National Archives.