of the Thirteen Confederate States of America
AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union
between the State
of South Carolina and other States
united with her
under
the compact entitled "The Constitution
of the
United States of America."
We, the people of the State of South
Carolina, in
convention assembled, do declare and
ordain, and it
is
hereby declared and ordained, That the
ordinance
adopted by us in convention on the
twenty-third day
of May,
in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred
and eighty-eight, whereby the
Constitution of the
United
States of America was ratified, and
also all acts
and parts of acts of the General
Assembly of this
State
ratifying amendments of the said
Constitution, are
hereby repealed; and that the union now
subsisting
between South Carolina and other
States, under the
name of the "United States of America,"
is hereby
dissolved.
AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union
between the State
of Mississippi and other States united
with her
under
the compact entitled "The Constitution
of the
United States of America."
The people of the State of Mississippi,
in
convention assembled, do ordain and
declare, and it
is hereby ordained
and declared, as follows, to wit:
Section 1. That all the laws and
ordinances by which
the said State of Mississippi became a
member of the
Federal
Union of the United States of America
be, and the
same are hereby, repealed, and that all
obligations
on the
part of the said State or the people
thereof to
observe the same be withdrawn, and that
the said
State doth
hereby resume all the rights,
functions, and powers
which by any of said laws or ordinances
were
conveyed to
the Government of the said United
States, and is
absolved from all the obligations,
restraints, and
duties
incurred to the said Federal Union, and
shall from
henceforth be a free, sovereign, and
independent
State.
Sec.2. That so much of the first section
of the
seventh article of the constitution of
this State as
requires
members of the Legislature and all
officers,
executive and judicial, to take an oath
or
affirmation to support
the Constitution of the United States
be, and the
same is hereby, abrogated and
annulled
Sec.3. That all rights acquired and
vested under the
Constitution of the United States, or
under any act
of
Congress passed, or treaty made, in
pursuance
thereof, or under any law of this State,
and not
incompatible
with this ordinance, shall remain in
force and have
the same effect as if this ordinance had
not been
passed.
Sec.4. That the people of the State of
Mississippi
hereby consent to form a federal union
with such of
the
States as may have seceded or may
secede from the
Union of the United States of America,
upon the
basis of
the present Constitution of the said
United States,
except such parts thereof as embrace
other portions
than
such seceding States.
Thus ordained and declared in convention
the 9th day
of January, in the year of our Lord
1861.
ORDINANCE OF SECESSION
We, the people of the state of Florida,
in
convention assembled, do solemnly
ordain, publish,
and declare, That
the State of Florida hereby withdraws
herself from
the confederacy of States existing under
the name of
the
United States of America and from the
existing
Government of the said States; and that
all
political connection
between her and the Government of said
States ought
to be, and the same is hereby, totally
annulled, and
said
Union of States dissolved; and the
State of Florida
is hereby declared a sovereign and
independent
nation; and
that all ordinances heretofore adopted,
in so far
as they create or recognize said Union,
are
rescinded; and
all laws or parts of laws in force in
this State,
in so far as they recognize or assent to
said Union,
be, and
they are hereby, repealed.
[Passed 10 Jan 1861]
An Ordinance to dissolve the union
between the State
of Alabama and the other States united
under the
compact
styled "The Constitution of the United
States of
America."
Whereas, the election of Abraham Lincoln
and
Hannibal Hamlin to the offices of
president and
vice-president of
the United States of America, by a
sectional party,
avowedly hostile to the domestic
institutions and to
the
peace and security of the people of the
State of
Alabama, preceded by many and dangerous
infractions
of the
constitution of the United States by
many of the
States and people of the Northern
section, is a
political
wrong of so insulting and menacing a
character as
to justify the people of the State of
Alabama in the
adoption
of prompt and decided measures for
their future
peace and security, therefore:
Be it declared and ordained by the
people of the
State of Alabama, in Convention
assembled, That the
State of
Alabama now withdraws, and is hereby
withdrawn from
the Union known as "The United States of
America,"
and
henceforth ceases to be one of said
United States,
and is, and of right ought to be a
Sovereign and
Independent State.
Sec 2. Be it further declared and
ordained by the
people of the State of Alabama in
Convention
assembled, That
all powers over the Territory of said
State, and
over the people thereof, heretofore
delegated to the
Government
of the United States of America, be and
they are
hereby withdrawn from said Government,
and are
hereby resumed
and vested in the people of the State
of Alabama.
And as it is the desire and purpose of
the people of
Alabama
to meet the slaveholding States of the
South, who
may approve such purpose, in order to
frame a
provisional as
well as permanent Government upon the
principles of
the Constitution of the United
States.
Be it resolved by the people of Alabama
in
Convention assembled, That the people of
the States
of Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina,
Florida, Georgia, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Texas,
Arkansas,
Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, be
and are hereby
invited to meet the people of the State
of Alabama,
by their
Delegates, in Convention, on the 4th
day of
February, A.D., 1861, at the city of
Montgomery, in
the State of
Alabama, for the purpose of consulting
with each
other as to the most effectual mode of
securing
concerted and
harmonious action in whatever measures
may be
deemed most desirable for our common
peace and
security.
And be it further resolved, That the
President of
this Convention, be and is hereby
instructed to
transmit
forthwith a copy of the foregoing
Preamble,
Ordinance, and Resolutions to the
Governors of the
several States
named in said resolutions.
Done by the people of the State of
Alabama, in
Convention assembled, at Montgomery, on
this, the
eleventh day
of January, A.D. 1861.
We the people of the State of Georgia in
Convention
assembled do declare and ordain and it
is hereby
declared
and ordained that the ordinance adopted
by the
State of Georgia in convention on the
2nd day of
Jan. in the the
year of our Lord seventeen hundred and
eighty-eight, whereby the constitution
of the United
States of America
was assented to, ratified and adopted,
and also all
acts and parts of acts of the general
assembly of
this State,
ratifying and adopting amendments to
said
constitution, are hereby repealed,
rescinded and
abrogated.
We do further declare and ordain that
the union now
existing between the State of Georgia
and other
States under
the name of the United States of
America is hereby
dissolved, and that the State of Georgia
is in full
possession and exercise of all those
rights of
sovereignty which belong and appertain
to a free and
independent
State.
Passed January 19, 1861.
AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union
between the State
of Louisiana and other States united
with her under
the
compact entitled "The Constitution of
the United
States of America."
We, the people of the State of
Louisiana, in
convention assembled, do declare and
ordain, and it
is hereby
declared and ordained, That the
ordinance passed by
us in convention on the 22d day of
November, in the
year
eighteen hundred and eleven, whereby
the
Constitution of the United States of
America and the
amendments of
the said Constitution were adopted, and
all laws
and ordinances by which the State of
Louisiana
became a member
of the Federal Union, be, and the same
are hereby,
repealed and abrogated; and that the
union now
subsisting
between Louisiana and other States
under the name
of "The United States of America" is
hereby
dissolved.
We do further declare and ordain, That
the State of
Louisiana hereby resumes all rights and
powers
heretofore
delegated to the Government of the
United States of
America; that her citizens are absolved
from all
allegiance
to said Government; and that she is in
full
possession and exercise of all those
rights of
sovereignty which
appertain to a free and independent
State.
We do further declare and ordain, That
all rights
acquired and vested under the
Constitution of the
United States,
or any act of Congress, or treaty, or
under any law
of this State, and not incompatible with
this
ordinance,
shall remain in force and have the same
effect as
if this ordinance had not been
passed.
Adopted in convention at Baton Rouge
this 26th day
of January, 1861.
AN ORDINANCE
To dissolve the Union between the State
of Texas and
the other States united under the
Compact styled
"the
Constitution of the United States of
America."
WHEREAS, The Federal Government has
failed to
accomplish the purposes of the compact
of union
between these States,
in giving protection either to the
persons of our
people upon an exposed frontier, or the
property of
our
citizens, and
WHEREAS, the action of the Northern
States of the
Union is violative of the compact
between the States
and the
guarantees of the Constitution; and,
WHEREAS, The recent developments in
Federal affairs
make it evident that the power of the
Federal
Government is
sought to be made a weapon with which
to strike
down the interests and property of the
people of
Texas, and her
sister slave-holding States, instead of
permitting
it to be, as was intended, our shield
against
outrage and
aggression; THEREFORE,
SECTION 1. We, the people of the State
of Texas, by
delegates in convention assembled, do
declare and
ordain that
the ordinance adopted by our convention
of
delegates on the 4th day of July, A.D.
1845, and
afterwards ratified
by us, under which the Republic of
Texas was
admitted into the Union with other
States, and
became a party to the
compact styled "The Constitution of the
United
States of America," be, and is hereby,
repealed and
annulled; that
all the powers which, by the said
compact, were
delegated by Texas to the Federal
Government are
revoked and
resumed; that Texas is of right
absolved from all
restraints and obligations incurred by
said compact,
and is a
separate sovereign State, and that her
citizens and
people are absolved from all allegiance
to the
United States
or the government thereof,
SEC. 2. This ordinance shall be
submitted to the
people of Texas for their ratification
or rejection,
by the
qualified voters, on the 23rd day of
February,
1861, and unless rejected by a majority
of the votes
cast, shall
take effect and be in force on and
after the 2d day
of March, A.D. 1861.
PROVIDED, that in the Representative
District of El
Paso said election may be held on the
18th day of
February, 1861.
Done by the people of the State of
Texas, in
convention assembled, at Austin, this
1st day of
February, A.D. 1861.
[ratified 23 Feb. 1861 by a vote of
46,153 for and
14,747 against]
AN ORDINANCE to repeal the ratification
of the
Constitution of the United States of
America by the
State of Virginia,
and to resume all the rights and powers
granted
under said Constitution. The people of
Virginia in
their
ratification of the Constitution of the
United
States of America, adopted by them in
convention on
the twenty-fifth
day of June, in the year of our Lord
one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-eight, having
declared that
the powers
granted under said Constitution were
derived from
the people of the United States and
might be resumed
whensoever
the same should be perverted to their
injury and
oppression, and the Federal Government
having
perverted said powers
not only to the injury of the people of
Virginia,
but to the oppression of the Southern
slave-holding
States:
Now, therefore, we, the people of
Virginia, do
declare and ordain, That the ordinance
adopted by
the people of this
State in convention on the twenty-fifth
day of
June, in the year of our Lord one
thousand seven
hundred and
eighty-eighty, whereby the constitution
of the
United States of America was ratified,
and all acts
of the General
Assembly of this State ratifying and
adopting
amendments to said Constitution, are
hereby repealed
and abrogated;
that the union between the State of
Virginia and
the other States under the Constitution
aforesaid is
hereby
dissolved, and that the State of
Virginia is in the
full possession and exercise of all the
rights of
sovereignty
which belong and appertain to a free
and
independent State.
And they do further declare, That said
Constitution
of the United States of America is no
longer binding
on any of
the citizens of this State.
This ordinance shall take effect and be
an act of
this day, when ratified by a majority of
the voter
of the people
of this State cast at a poll to be
taken thereon on
the fourth Thursday in May next, in
pursuance of a
schedule
hereafter to be enacted.
Adopted by the convention of Virginia
April 17,
1861
[ratified by a vote of 132,201 to 37,451
on 23 May
1861]
AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union now
existing
between the State of Arkansas and the
other States
united with her
under the compact entitled "The
Constitution of the
United States of America."
Whereas, in addition to the well-founded
causes of
complaint set forth by this convention,
in
resolutions adopted
on the 11th of March, A.D. 1861,
against the
sectional party now in power in
Washington City,
headed by Abraham
Lincoln, he has, in the face of
resolutions passed
by this convention pledging the State of
Arkansas to
resist to
the last extremity any attempt on the
part of such
power to coerce any State that had
seceded from the
old Union,
proclaimed to te world that war should
be waged
against such States until they should be
compelled
to submit to
their rule, and large forces to
accomplish this
have by this same power been called out,
and are now
being
marshalled to carry out this inhuman
design; and to
longer submit to such rule, or remain in
the old
Union of the
United States, would be disgraceful and
ruinous to
the State of Arkansas:
Therefore we, the people of the State of
Arkansas,
in convention assembled, do hereby
declare and
ordain, and it is
hereby declared and ordained, That the
"ordinance
and acceptance of compact" passed and
approved by
the General
Assembly of the State of Arkansas on
the 18th day
of October, A.D. 1836, whereby it was by
said
General Assembly
ordained that by virtue of the
authority vested in
said General Assembly by the provisions
of the
ordinance
adopted by the convention of delegates
assembled at
Little Rock for the purpose of forming a
constitution and
system of government for said State,
the
propositions set forth in "An act
supplementary to
an act entitled 'An
act for the admission of the State of
Arkansas into
the Union, and to provide for the due
execution of
the laws
of the United States within the same,
and for other
purposes,'" were freely accepted,
ratified, and
irrevocably
confirmed, articles of compact and
union between
the State of Arkansas and the United
States, and all
other laws
and every other law and ordinance,
whereby the
State of Arkansas became a member of the
Federal
Union, be, and the
same are hereby, in all respects and
for every
purpose herewith consistent, repealed,
abrogated,
and fully set
aside; and the union now subsisting
between the
State of Arkansas and the other States,
under the
name of the
United States of America, is hereby
forever
dissolved.
And we do further hereby declare and
ordain, That
the State of Arkansas hereby resumes to
herself all
rights and
powers heretofore delegated to the
Government of
the United States of America; that her
citizens are
absolved from
all allegiance to said Government of
the United
States, and that she is in full
possession and
exercise of all the
rights and sovereignty which appertain
to a free
and independent State.
We do further ordain and declare, That
all rights
acquired and vested under the
Constitution of the
United States
of America, or of any act or acts of
Congress, or
treaty, or under any law of this State,
and not
incompatible
with this ordinance, shall remain in
full force and
effect, in nowise altered or impaired,
and have the
same effect
as if this ordinance had not been
passed.
Adopted and passed in open convention on
the 6th day
of May, A.D. 1861.
AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union
between the State
of North Carolina and the other States
united with
her, under
the compact of government entitled "The
Constitution of the United States."
We, the people of the State of North
Carolina in
convention assembled, do declare and
ordain, and it
is hereby
declared and ordained, That the
ordinance adopted
by the State of North Carolina in the
convention of
1789,
whereby the Constitution of the United
States was
ratified and adopted, and also all acts
and parts of
acts of
the General Assembly ratifying and
adopting
amendments to the said Constitution, are
hereby
repealed, rescinded,
and abrogated.
We do further declare and ordain, That
the union now
subsisting between the State of North
Carolina and
the other
States, under the title of the United
States of
America, is hereby dissolved, and that
the State of
North Carolina
is in full possession and exercise of
all those
rights of sovereignty which belong and
appertain to
a free and
independent State.
Done in convention at the city of
Raleigh, this the
20th day of May, in the year of our Lord
1861, and
in the
eighty-fifth year of the independence
of said
State.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND
ORDINANCE dissolving
the federal relations between the State
of Tennessee
and the
United States of America. First. We,
the people
of the State of Tennessee, waiving any
expression of
opinion as
to the abstract doctrine of secession,
but
asserting the right, as a free and
independent
people, to alter, reform,
or abolish our form of government in
such manner as
we think proper, do ordain and declare
that all the
laws and
ordinances by which the State of
Tennessee became a
member of the Federal Union of the
United States of
America are
hereby abrogated and annulled, and that
all the
rights, functions, and powers which by
any of said
laws and ordinances
were conveyed to the Government of the
United
States, and to absolve ourselves from
all the
obligations, restraints,
and duties incurred thereto; and do
hereby
henceforth become a free, sovereign, and
independent
state.
Second. We furthermore declare and
ordain that
article 10, sections 1 and 2, of the
constitution of
the State of
Tennessee, which requires members of
the General
Assembly and all officers, civil and
military, to
take an oath to
support the Constitution of the United
States be,
and the same are hereby, abrogated and
annulled, and
all parts of
the constitution of the State of
Tennessee making
citizenship of the United States a
qualification for
office and
recognizing the Constitution of the
United States
as the supreme law of this State are in
like manner
abrogated and
annulled.
Third. We furthermore ordain and declare
that all
rights acquired and vested under the
Constitution of
the United
States, or under any act of Congress
passed in
pursuance thereof, or under any laws of
this State,
and not
incompatible with this ordinance, shall
remain in
force and have the same effect as if
this ordinance
had not
been passed.
[sent to referendum 6 May 1861 by the
legislature,
and approved by the voters by a vote of
104,471 to
47,183 on 8 June 1861]
An act declaring the political ties
heretofore
existing between the State of Missouri
and the
United States of
America dissolved.
Whereas the Government of the United
States, in the
possession and under the control of a
sectional
party, has
wantonly violated the compact
originally made
between said Government and the State of
Missouri,
by invading with
hostile armies the soil of the State,
attacking and
making prisoners the militia while
legally assembled
under the
State laws, forcibly occupying the
State capitol,
and attempting through the
instrumentality of
domestic traitors to
usurp the State government, seizing and
destroying
private property, and murdering with
fiendish
malignity peaceable
citizens, men, women, and children,
together with
other acts of atrocity, indicating a
deep-settled
hostility toward
the people of Missouri and their
institutions;
and
Whereas the present Administration of
the Government
of the United States has utterly ignored
the
Constitution,
subverted the Government as constructed
and
intended by its makers, and established
a despotic
and arbitrary power
instead thereof: Now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the general assembly of
the State
of Missouri, That all political ties of
every
character now
existing between the Government of the
United
States of America and the people and
government of
the State of
Missouri are hereby dissolved, and the
State of
Missouri, resuming the sovereignty
granted by
compact to the said
United States upon admission of said
State into the
Federal Union, does again take its place
as a free
and
independent republic amongst the
nations of the
earth.
This act to take effect and be in force
from and
after its passage.
Approved by the Missouri Legislature on
October 31,
1861.
Whereas, the Federal Constitution, which
created the
Government of the United States, was
declared by the
framers
thereof to be the supreme law of the
land, and was
intended to limit and did expressly
limit the powers
of said
Government to certain general specified
purposes,
and did expressly reserve to the States
and people
all other
powers whatever, and the President and
Congress
have treated this supreme law of the
Union with
contempt and usurped
to themselves the power to interfere
with the
rights and liberties of the States and
the people
against the
expressed provisions of the
Constitution, and have
thus substituted for the highest forms
of national
liberty and
constitutional government a central
despotism
founded upon the ignorant prejudices of
the masses
of Northern society,
and instead of giving protection with
the
constitution to the people of fifteen
States of this
Union have turned
loose upon them the unrestrained and
raging
passions of mobs and fanatics, and
because we now
seek to hold our
liberties, our property, our homes, and
our
families under the protection of the
reserved powers
of the States,
have blockaded our ports, invaded our
soil, and
waged war upon our people for the
purpose of
subjugating us to their
will; and
Whereas, our honor and our duty to
posterity demand
that we shall not relinquish our own
liberty and
shall not abandon
the right of our descendants and the
world to the
inestimable blessings of constitutional
government:
Therefore,
Be it ordained, That we do hereby
forever sever our
connection with the Government of the
United States,
and in the
name of the people we do hereby declare
Kentucky to
be a free and independent State, clothed
with all
power to fix
her own destiny and to secure her own
rights and
liberties.
And whereas, the majority of the
Legislature of
Kentucky have violated their most solemn
pledges
made before the
election, and deceived and betrayed the
people;
have abandoned the position of
neutrality assumed by
themselves and
the people, and invited into the State
the
organized armies of Lincoln; have
abdicated the
Government in favor of a
military despotism which they have
placed around
themselves, but cannot control, and have
abandoned
the duty of
shielding the citizen with their
protection; have
thrown upon our people and the State the
horrors and
ravages of
war, instead of attempting to preserve
the peace,
and have voted men and money for the war
waged by
the North for the
destruction of our constitutional
rights; have
violated the expressed words of the
constitution by
borrowing five
millions of money for the support of
the war
without a vote of the people; have
permitted the
arrest and imprisonment
of our citizens, and transferred the
constitutional
prerogatives of the Executive to a
military
commission of
partisans; have seen the writ of habeas
corpus
suspended without an effort for its
preservation,
and permitted our
people to be driven in exile from their
homes; have
subjected our property to confiscation
and our
persons to
confinement in the penitentiary as
felons, because
we may choose to take part in a cause
for civil
liberty and
constitutional government against a
sectional
majority waging war against the people
and
institutions of fifteen
independent States of the old Federal
Union, and
have done all these things deliberately
against the
warnings and
vetoes of the Governor and the solemn
remonstrance's of the minority in the
Senate and
House of Representatives:
Therefore,
Be it further ordained, That the
unconstitutional
edicts of a factious majority of a
Legislature thus
false to their
pledges, their honor, and their
interests are not
law, and that such a government is
unworthy of the
support of a
brave and free people, and that we do
therefore
declare that the people are thereby
absolved from
all allegiance to
said government, and that they have a
right to
establish any government which to them
may seem best
adapted to the
preservation of their rights and
liberties.
[adopted 20 Nov 1861, by a "Convention
of the People
of Kentucky"]
Done at Charleston the twentieth
day of
December, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight
hundred
and sixty.