Secession: The Southern Withdrawal from the Union (1860-1861)

The term for the withdrawal of Southern states from the United States in 1860-1861 is secession.

The Secession Timeline

Phase 1: Deep South (Dec 1860 - Feb 1861)

Phase 2: Upper South (Apr-May 1861) — After Fort Sumter

• Virginia (Apr 17) — referendum May 23
• Arkansas (May 6)
• North Carolina (May 20)
• Tennessee (Jun 8) — referendum

Confederate States of America

• Formed: Feb 4, 1861 (Montgomery, AL)
• Provisional Constitution: Feb 8
• Permanent Constitution: Mar 11 (mirrored US but protected slavery explicitly)
• Capital: Montgomery → Richmond (May 1861)
• President: Jefferson Davis (provisional Feb 1861; elected Nov 1861)

Border States That Stayed

• Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri — slave states, Union loyal (with internal conflict)
• West Virginia: Separated from Virginia (1863), admitted as free state

Legal & Constitutional Crisis

• Secession argument: Compact theory — states voluntarily joined, can voluntarily leave
• Union argument: Perpetual Union (Articles of Confederation); Constitution "more perfect Union"; Texas v. White (1869) — SCOTUS ruled unilateral secession unconstitutional
• Lincoln's position: Secession legally void; "insurrection" not war between nations

Outcome

• Civil War (1861-65): 620,000-750,000 dead
• Confederacy defeated; 13th Amendment (1865) abolished slavery
• Reconstruction (1865-77): Military occupation, readmission, 14th/15th Amendments

Secession was the constitutional crisis that became a revolution that became a war that remade the United States.