Six weeks after Lincoln's election, a South Carolina convention voted to leave the Union. Its leaders argued that the states had created the Union and could leave it. Lincoln, and most Northerners, answered that the Union was perpetual and that no state could lawfully secede.
Key idea
South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860. By February 1, 1861, six more Deep South states (Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas) followed, and in February they formed the Confederate States of America, with Jefferson Davis as president. Confederates fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. When Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers, four more states seceded (Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee). Four slave states, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, stayed in the Union.
Why it works
Why did the Deep South leave so fast? The seceding states explained themselves in official declarations, and they named the threat to slavery as the central reason. South Carolina's declaration complained of "an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the Institution of Slavery." Most historians agree that slavery was the root cause of secession, while they weigh other factors differently, such as the constitutional argument over states' rights, fears about the South's shrinking power in national government, and the breakdown of the national parties.
Worked example: Two waves of secession
Virginia's convention voted against secession in early April 1861, then voted for it on April 17. What changed?
- On April 12 and 13, Confederate batteries bombarded Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, until its small garrison surrendered.
- On April 15, Lincoln called on the states for 75,000 militia to put down the rebellion.
- Virginia, and then Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee, refused to send troops against other Southern states and seceded.
- Richmond, Virginia, became the Confederate capital.
Answer: Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for troops forced the Upper South to choose a side.
Common mistake
Not all slave states seceded at once. Seven left before Lincoln took office (March 4, 1861), four after Fort Sumter, and four (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri) stayed in the Union. Check with the map: count 7 + 4 = 11 Confederate states, plus 4 border states.