South Carolina's Ordinance of Secession

After Abraham Lincoln was elected President in early November 1860, the South Carolina State Legislature called for elections to a state convention to be held on December 17th. On December 20th, all 169 delegates to the convention voted for secession against Republican Presidential leadership on matters of race, economics, and politics. The Ordinance of Secession states that South Carolina has repealed the Constitution and its amendments and disassociated itself from the United States of America.

The convention would also draft the “Declaration of Immediate Causes” explaining exactly why the state seceded, and “The Address to the People of South Carolina. . .” outlining the erosion of the Union and calling for a confederacy of southern states.

South Carolina's Ordinance of Secession in Supervolcano
Bryce Miller used the South Carolina's Ordinance of Secession as an example showing slavery being the primary cause of the Civil War in the U.S. history class he taught at Junipero High School. He quoted a lengthy section that spoke of the "free" States denying the right of property in negro slaves established in fifteen States contrary and to the U.S. Constitution and to incite servile insurrection.