"The Union is Dissolved!" Broadside
date: label: date made
content: 1860
label: Associated Date
content: 1860-12-20
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description
label: Description
content: Printed paper.
label: Description
content: Specific History
label: Description
content: Three days after President Lincoln’s election South Carolina seceded from the United States.The <i>Charleston Mercury</i>’s “The Union Is Dissolved!” broadside was the first Confederate publication, as South Carolina was the first state to secede. It went to press fifteen minutes after the secession ordinance was passed. The editors commented, “Within a very few minutes after the announcement of the secession vote, our messengers arrived . . . in less than fifteen minutes our Extras, containing the long looked for Ordinance, were being thrown off by fast presses and distributed among the eager multitude that thronged under the great banner of the ‘Southern Confederacy.’ As the brief and expressive words of the ordinance were read from our bulletin by the crowd, cheer after cheer went up in honor of the glorious event.”
label: Description
content: General History
label: Description
content: Broadsides (single sheets of paper usually printed on one side) served as public announcements or advertisements soon after the beginning of printing. Originally issued primarily by governmental, religious, and political bodies, broadsides were later used for advertisements, programs, notices, ballad verses, elegies, and comments on contemporary events. During wartime, one common use was for recruitment of soldiers. They were read, handed out, or posted in prominent locations and were an inexpensive way to reach a wide audience. They were created for a specific purpose and usually discarded once that purpose was accomplished. Broadsides were an important resource for many disciplines because the images and slogans provided snapshots of the events, ideas, and attitudes of their era.
label: Description
content: Broadsides are considered “ephemera,” meaning they were produced with no intention of preservation. Most were posted and then discarded when they had served their purpose. That is what makes so many broadsides rare, if not unique.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Communication, broadsides
label: related event
content: Civil War
label: related event
content: Civil War and Reconstruction
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, General
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content: Military
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content: Communications
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content: ThinkFinity
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AF.32960
label: accession number
content: 69413
label: catalog number
content: 32960
objectType: label: Object Name
content: broadside
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 55.0164 cm x 32.1564 cm; 21 11/16 in x 12 11/16 in