Disunion Feed

America has argued itself to the edge before. The words come from 1854–1861; the arguments are the ones we are still having.

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Charleston Mercury @CharlestonMercuryDec 20, 1860 · Charleston, S.C. · original ↗

EXTRA. Passed unanimously at 1.15 o'clock, P.M., December 20th, 1860: an ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of South Carolina and the other States. THE UNION IS DISSOLVED!

Next post: South Carolina Convention, Dec 20, 1860 →

The post above is condensed. From the original, word for word
"CHARLESTON MERCURY EXTRA: Passed unanimously at 1.15 o'clock, P.M. December 20th, 1860. An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her [...] THE UNION IS DISSOLVED!"

Between the posts · the narrator, not the paper

December 20, 1860. In Charleston, a convention votes — unanimously — to repeal South Carolina's ratification of the Constitution and take the state out of the Union. She is the first to go. The Mercury has a broadside on the street before the delegates have left the hall.

The Rhett family's Charleston Mercury — the organ of immediate, separate-state secession — stopped its press to set this broadside within the hour of the vote. It is the movement's triumphant bulletin; the sober legal act itself is the next card. Verified against the Mississippi State University (Scholars Junction) reproduction of the original single-sheet extra; banner lines joined with [...].

Read it in the original — Charleston Mercury Extra, Dec 20, 1860 ↗

Next post: South Carolina Convention, Dec 20, 1860 →

Southern press · fire-eater Condensed — not verbatim Not matched to the source on our last check — see the record
Charleston Mercury Extra, "The Union Is Dissolved!," December 20, 1860 ↗

Next in order

South Carolina Convention @SCConvention · Charleston, S.C.

We, the People of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain... that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of "The United States of America," is hereby dissolved.

Original passage & context
"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 union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of "The United States of America," is hereby dissolved."

The operative act, adopted at Charleston at 1.15 p.m. — the whole of it repeals South Carolina's 1788 ratification of the Constitution and declares the Union dissolved. It names no cause; the reasons came four days later (the Declaration of Immediate Causes). The first state out. Middle repeal clause elided with an ellipsis; verified verbatim against the Wikisource transcription.

Read it in the original — Ordinance of Secession, Dec 20, 1860 ↗

Political Condensed — not verbatim Verified against the source — see the record
Ordinance of Secession of South Carolina, adopted December 20, 1860 ↗

Where this sits

Post 10 of 54 from the secession winter, Nov 9, 1860 – Apr 13, 1861 — each post linked to its primary source.

Part of 134 verified passages across 5 flashpoints, Jan 6, 1854 – Apr 13, 1861 — read the feed from the start.

Read on, in order← Charleston Mercury, Dec 3, 1860South Carolina Convention, Dec 20, 1860 →

Anywhere in the feedA passage at random →

In contextThe secession winter, 1860–61

The other flashpointsKansas-Nebraska, 1854The Sumner caning, 1856Dred Scott, 1857Harpers Ferry, 1859

How this was made