Union Dissolved!
Propelled by such men as Robert Barnwell Rhett Sr., owner of the Charleston Mercury, who had long promoted secession, the South moved swiftly after Lincoln’s election. The South Carolina legislators authorized the appointment of delegates to a convention to consider whether the state should remain in the Union. That convention, which opened in Columbia before moving to Charleston, wasted little time in adopting an “Ordinance of Secession.” The ordinance was passed, 169 to 0. This announcement by the Charleston Mercury appeared on the city streets within minutes of the final vote. Four days later the South Carolina legislature passed a more formal “Declaration of Secession.”
<p>Propelled by such men as Robert Barnwell Rhett Sr., owner of the <em>Charleston Mercury</em>, who had long promoted secession, the South moved swiftly after Lincoln’s election. The South Carolina legislators authorized the appointment of delegates to a convention to consider whether the state should remain in the Union. That convention, which opened in Columbia before moving to Charleston, wasted little time in adopting an “Ordinance of Secession.” The ordinance was passed, 169 to 0. This announcement by the <em>Charleston Mercury</em> appeared on the city streets within minutes of the final vote. Four days later the South Carolina legislature passed a more formal “Declaration of Secession.”</p>