Which states seceded first from the union

At this point in time, just prior to the Lincoln inauguration, the southern states appeared to be falling like dominoes. One day after Florida, the Alabama delegates decided in Montgomery in a 61 to 39 vote that they would also become one of the states that seceded. Georgia would become one of the states that seceded just over one week later, in a to 89 vote in Milledgeville. Texas would become the seventh of the states that seceded, voting on February 1 in Austin in a to 7 vote.

A Civil War was now five days old. Fort Sumter had surrendered. An insurrection had been declared by the President of the United States. States in the south that were still part of the Union did not want to answer the call of President Lincoln to end the insurrection. Virginia became the eighth of 13 states that seceded in a 89 to 55 vote. President Lincoln was now in war-room mode, and would block every Southern port.

In a 69 to 1 vote in Little Rock, Arkansas became the ninth state that seceded. The state convention had met at Little Rock and had voted 69 to 1 for secession. Tennessee seceded the same day. Earlier, on February 9th, Tennessee had held a statewide election and had rejected secession by a vote of 68, to 59, Delegates voted 66 to 25 for secession. A week later, on May 13th, Great Britain declared its neutrality.

On May 16th, the Confederate Congress authorized the recruiting of , volunteers. Four days later, on May 20th, , North Carolina became the last state to join the new Confederacy. State delegates met in Raleigh and voted unanimously for secession. All of the states of the Deep South had now left the Union. That same day, the Confederate Congress voted to move the capital to Richmond, Virginia.

On May 23rd, citizens from eastern Virginia voted to join the Confederacy. Western Virginians wanted to remain in the Union. On April 29th, Maryland held a secession convention and delegates voted secession down 53 to Missouri held a secession convention in February at Jefferson City, but did not vote for secession. Delaware had all but abolished slavery by Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri became buffer zones between the North and the South.

All three of these states provided troops to the Confederacy. This was "The Bonnie Blue Flag" and follows:. This item was created by a contributor to eHistory prior to its affiliation with The Ohio State University. But, in terms of timing, their issues are specific.

What exactly are they referring to with their "serious causes of complaint? In essence, it all comes down to the abolitionist movement. In the South, there were numerous uprisings against slavery by black people. This was a cause of great concern to slaveholders, especially in states where the slave population was a near-majority or was a majority. It was a source of fear and anxiety, and one that they kept in check through restrictive laws and the threat of military force.

These laws were opposed by many groups, especially by free black people living beyond the immediate influence of slaveholders. Northern abolitionists actively opposed these laws meant to keep the enslaved population oppressed. They refused to return escaped slaves or report on them. They helped more people escape slavery. They opposed attempts to expand slavery or support it at a federal level. They generated a great deal of anger and paranoia among slaveholders that exploded when abolitionist John Brown actively armed and incited an uprising in Harper's Ferry, Virginia.

People across the South feared that Northerners would incite violence and terror to get rid of slavery in their states.

They refused to even put the abolitionist candidate Abraham Lincoln on their ballots. In February , Davis was granted the authority to suspend habeas corpus, which he did immediately until July , and to declare martial law, which Davis did many times during the war. Problems with adequately arming the troops, as well as getting supplies to them, hampered war efforts. The brief one-year enlistment also caused problems because as the war dragged on, rates of volunteering and re-enlistment fell.

Davis was soon forced to make military service mandatory for all able-bodied males between 18 and 35 years old. Later exemptions were made for owners of 20 slaves or more. Regardless, Union troops radically outnumbered the Confederate troops.

The draft created a deficit in civilian manpower to police the slave population. States created separate courts to try slaves because of elevated disobedience levels. Paranoia rose, and some hoped to remedy it through conscripting slaves into military service.

There was also a severe shortage of white workers. Out of need, the Confederacy employed both free and enslaved blacks at a higher rate during the war, using blacks to support the troops with services and by working in hospitals as nurses and orderlies.

State governors found themselves continually in conflict with Davis about government overreach challenging their sacred states rights, especially federal conscription laws. The military exacerbated the situation: As the war dragged on, some troops prowled the countryside to rob civilians. Others rounded up civilians for random often unfounded infractions, infuriating local authorities.

The federal government reflected this chaos. Davis saw his authority repeatedly challenged, almost facing impeachment. Davis feuded regularly with Vice-President Stephens, bickered with generals, often had to reconstruct his cabinet and faced repeated backlashes from previously supportive newspapers.

The chaos in government spread outward. The Confederacy was plagued by major economic problems throughout the war, unable to keep up with the production boom in the industrialized north and incapable of overcoming the export limitations brought on by war. As the war neared its end, the Confederacy was crippled by severe infrastructure problems that it could not afford to fix and was desperate for supplies.

With banks decimated and closing, it attempted to pay for its needs with IOUs. Despite further conscription efforts, Confederate forces dwindled to about one-third the manpower of their Union foes. Davis faced opposition in Congress and attempted to save his position by restructuring military leadership.