The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-03-29
HOW THE STATES SECEDED.


ri" was taken in 1',xa, it stood for
ScccS,i"n. ;l.19I against II 20. or
rather more than three to one in its
favor. Those who opposed ,ccc~ sion
, TrNa- w'rc led is it, then Governor.
samuel Houston, an'i claimed moi to
be opposed to secession itself, but 70
> be III favor Of I'cxa, becoming i'm in
dependent republic as it had been be-
forr annexation to the nitcd State,
In word. that Texas was To have
nothing To do with either the Cnnfed-
crate states or the United States.
The question there then was between
the Confederate states party and the
advocates Of an independent republic
!"r Texas, aud the Confederate States
party, rs wc haze seen, won by Il ycrv
larcr majority. and Texas ioncd the
/ C"ntc'cracy.
NlHniHIA : N'rln>.
The next State to >-ccde was Nir-
GINA. After all efforts for peace had
failed after the action of the "lcacc
Conference. which she had declared
herself willin- to accept, had been
! conn lctrly ignored by the North the
lrsInla convention passed April II,
l-Gl. All ordinance of secession by Il
vote Of SS to 80, there being one mem
bcr who asked to be- excused from
voting. and eight absent. all of these
latter afterwards asking 10 have their
votes recorded in its favor. OF the 81
incnhcrs Of the convention who voted
against secession the majority of them
t.'2) were from what is now West Nir-
"lnla. And among the twenty three
who were from what now constitutes
Virginia were no less pcrsonagcs than
Gen. ')ubal y. Early and William c.
Wickham, both Of whom were after
wards among the stanchcst Confrdc-
! rates .\gain. when the time came
Tor the signing Of the Virginia ordi-
nance. OF the original l32 delegates
to the convention l2.) signed it and 22.}
refused, including the one who had
asked to bc excused from voting. OF
the twcnty-thrcc who failed to sign,
only one was from the State Of Nir-
Elnia, as now constituted, the remain
! der being from what is now West Eir-
ginia. But though majority Of the
West Virginia members did not vote
for secession. a majority Of them did
sign the ordinance after it was passed.
For what is now West Virginia had ~
delegates in that convention. Of whom
- signed it, Besides these, when
some Of these Delegates from West
Virginia, who had voted against the
ordinance, left the convention, and
went where they began to take steps
looking to division of the State,
they were expelled by the convention,
and their places filled by others, who
signed the ordinance. So that in all
there are really ll3 names attached
to it,
On May %, 1861, the Virginia ordi-
nance of secession was submitted to a
direct vote Of the people of the State
including, Of course, what is now
West Virginia and ratified by ma
jority Of 81, 900, the present State Of
Virginia being wcll-nigh unanimous
for it, and there was even strong
vote in it's favor in West Virginia,
many Of the counties there going for
it. Arkansas followed Virginia, se-
ceding in May 4, 1861. That State
had elected convention long before,
which was pretty evenly divided be-
tween immediate secession and CO.
operation, and as result the conven-
tion had decided to submit the ques-
tion as between the two to the popular
vote on August l, 1861, and had then
adjourned, subject to the call of it's
president, in case developments justi-
fed it. After the passage Of the Vir-
ginia ordinance the Arkansas conven-
tion again met, and then, as has been
stated, passed an ordinance of seces-
sion May =, 1861, the vote being 69 in
it's favor to against.
North Carolina was the next State
to secede and join the Confcdcracy,
which it did on May 20, 1861. The
people there the preceding February,
when there was still prospect for
peace, had by very close vote voted
down the call for convention, the
majority against it in the State being
only 426. But after all prospect for
peace had vanished there was tre-
mendous change in sentiment. y
convention was called by the Lcgisla-
turc in extra session. and of the hun
drcd and twenty members which the