Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The South Secedes
South Carolina was the first to secede upon the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Read about the secession of more states, the election of a president of the new Confederate States of America, and a last ditch effort to save the union.
Digital History
Digital History: Explorations: Why Did the South Secede?
Resource explores the states that withdrew from the Union at the beginning of the Civil War and why.
Other
American Civil War Homepage: Declaration of Causes of Seceding States
Included is "Declaration of Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession - from the Federal Union" of each state in the Lower South.
Texas State Historical Association
Texas State Historical Association: Fredonian Rebellion
Read about the Fredonian Rebellion of 1826, the first attempt by Anglo settlers in Texas to secede from Mexico.
Other
American Revolution: Those Glorious "Principles of 1776": Confederate Perspective
This site explains the Southern perspective on the voluntary union of states and the justification for the South seceding from the Union.
American Presidency Project
American Presidency Project: Abraham Lincoln: Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861
The complete text of Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address where he attempts to reach out the states that have seceded and assure them that his first priority is preservation of the Union.
Lone Star Junction
Lone Star Junction: Texas Ordinance of Secession (February 2, 1861)
This site gives the text of the Texas Ordinance of Secession after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. It gives the reasons Texas secedes from the Union. See the parallels to the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
Henry J. Sage
Sage American History: Southern Secession
Article with primary source secession resolutions from three states including, South Carolina, Virginia and Mississippi. Each declaring intent to secede from the Union and outlining reasons for doing so.
Texas State Historical Association
Texas State Historical Association: The Frontier Forts of Texas
The system of frontier forts in Texas was established to protect Anglo settlers as well as those moving on westward. This article details the observations of Lt. Col. William Grigsby Freeman, who set out in 1853 to inspect a series of...
Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Historical Society: Why Is There a West Virginia?
A short discussion of how Virginia became divided into two states. Presents a map of the counties from the census of 1860 that shows the distribution of slave ownership.
Civil War Home
Home of the American Civil War: Secession of the Southern States
Scroll through this article to "Secession in the Upper South" to find out what was happening in southern states that had not yet seceded before April, 1861, and what convinced these states to secede. From an article by William L. Barney...
Siteseen
Siteseen: Civil Conflict: Secession
Site with outline information on the beginning stages of the Civil War when southern states seceded and rebelled against the Union.
Siteseen
Siteseen: Civil Conflict: Confederate States of America
Outline of the beginning of the Civil War in which the Southern states began seceding from the Union and forming a Confederacy.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: Powers Denied to the States
Resource explains how during the time of the Civil War the Supreme Court used Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution to show that the Confederation formed by the seceding States had no legal existence. The site also...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Text Sets: The Civil War
This is a collection of 29 Grade-Leveled texts (6-12)on the topic The Civil War. The American Civil War lasted for only 5 years but divided the country along bitter lines as the North fought to keep southern states from seceding from the...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Did You Hear the News?
After studying about the differences between the North and South prior to the Civil War and how Alabama decided to secede from the Union, learners will write a newspaper article on this important decision. They will go back in time and...
Texas A&M University
Sons of De Witt Colony Texas: Bustamante's Decree of 1830
As part of the Law of April 6, 1830, read this reprinting of the Bustamante's Decree, which explicitly banned any further immigration from the United States to Texas.
Other
Crisis at Fort Sumter
Detailed background information is provided to assist users in solving the dilemmas facing President Lincoln in the events surrounding the fall of Fort Sumter.
Texas State Historical Association
Texas State Historical Association: Turtle Bayou Resolutions
A brief overview of the Turtle Bayou Resolutions, which played a role in the secession of Texas from Mexico and the creation of the Republic of Texas.
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Virginia Ordinance of Secession
In this lesson, students learn what the Virginia Ordinance of Secession declared.
The History Cat
The History Cat: Southern Secession: The Secession Crisis
Describes the events leading up to the secession of the Upper South and the formation of the Confederate States of America, including the attack on Fort Sumter.
The History Place
The History Place: Great Speeches: William Lloyd Garrison on Death of John Brown
A speech delivered by William Lloyd Garrison after John Brown was hanged for leading the slave rebellion at Harpers Ferry in 1859. In his speech, Garrison advocates for taking a stand against slavery by seceding the North from the South.
The History Cat
The History Cat: Us History: Election of 1860: Lincoln Elected
Looks at the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and the divisions between North and South that resulted. Shortly after the election, a group of Southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. The animosity between...
Other
Dilemmas of Compromise: Secession Stalls
Brief description of how the movement to secede from the Union was stalled by the state of Virginia. Click on "Dilemmas of Compromise" to understand this site in context.