Task: Explanation
Input (English): Mississippi was the second southern state to declare its secession from the United States of America, on January 9, 1861. It joined with six other southern slave-holding states to form the Confederacy on February 4, 1861. Mississippi's location along the lengthy Mississippi River made it strategically important to both the Union and the Confederacy; dozens of battles were fought in the state as armies repeatedly clashed near key towns and transportation nodes. Question: The Maynard carbine was a breech-loaded carbine used by cavalry in the American Civil War, about 3,000 Maynard carbines were in Confederate hands during the war; 5,000 in .35 caliber were purchased by Florida, 650 in .50 by Georgia, and 325 in .50 and 300 in .35 by which was the second southern state to declare its secession from the United States of America, on January 9, 1861? Answer: Mississippi
Output (English): Mississippi was the second southern state to declare its secession from the United States of America, on January 9, 1861.