Mississippi prepares to secede

• The Mississippi legislature draws up resolutions on Secession/1860

Bossier Parish, Louisiana, calls for secession

• In Louisiana, the Minute Men of Bossier Parish organize after citizens pass a secession ordinance/1860

Anderson: "I need reinforcements"

• In Charleston, SC, Major Robert Anderson at Fort Moultrie asks the War Department in Washington for reinforcements/1860

Anderson arrives in Charleston

• Major Robert Anderson takes command of the Charleston defenses /1860

Anderson to command Fort Moultrie

• US Major Robert Anderson is ordered to the command of Fort Moultrie/1860

SC calls a Convention to consider secession

• The South Carolina General Assembly calls a convention of the People of South Carolina to meet at noon on December 17, 1860, for the purpose of considering Secession from the union/1860

James Chestnut

• US Senator from South Carolina James Chestnut (D-SC) becomes the first Southern politician to resign his seat. He would become a Confederate general, and his wife, Mary Boykin Chestnut, would be the author of the famous Diary from Dixie./1860

Secession rally in Savannah

Savannah, Georgia, Secession Rally after Lincoln's election

Georgia Secession banner

• In Savannah, Georgia, citizens demonstrate in a huge rally in one of its historic squares, themselves raising a Flag of Independence with a serpent which reads, "Our Motto, Southern Rights, Equality of the States, Don't Tread on Me."/1860

 

Charleston: Palmetto flag raised

• The citizens of Charleston, South Carolina, upon hearing of Lincoln's election, gather in a pro-secession rally and raise a Palmetto flag. City authorities arrest a federal officer who is trying to transfer supplies from the Charleston Arsenal to Fort Moultrie/1860 

Gov. Joseph E. Brown

• Georgia Governor Joseph Emerson Brown addresses a joint session of the Georgia General Assembly in the state capital of Milledgeville and calls for a statewide convention to determine Georgia's response to the election of Abraham Lincoln. In the lengthy, defiant speech, Brown insists that any course of action taken could include no more compromise, and concludes thus: “If the madness and folly of the people of the Northern States shall drive us of the South to a separation from them, we have within ourselves, all the elements of wealth, power, and national greatness, to an extent possessed probably by no other people on the face of the earth. With a vast and fertile territory, possessed of every natural advantage, bestowed by a kind Providence upon the most favored land, and with almost monopoly of the cotton culture of the world, if we were true to ourselves, our power would be invincible, and our prosperity unbounded. I will cordially unite with the General Assembly in any action, which, in their judgment, may be necessary to the protection of the rights and the preservation of the liberties of the people of Georgia, against the future aggressions of the enemy, which, when flushed with victory, will be insolent in the hour of triumph. For the purpose of putting this State in a defensive condition as fast as possible, and prepare for an emergency, which must be met sooner or later, I recommend that the sum of one million of dollars be immediately appropriated, as a military fund for the ensuing year; and that prompt provision be made for raising such portion of the money as may not be in the Treasury, as fast as the public necessities may require its expenditure. "Millions for defence, but not a cent for tribute," should be the future motto of the Southern States. To every demand for further concessions, or compromise of our rights, we should reply, "The argument is exhausted," and we now "stand by our arms."/1860

Lincoln elected

• Dark horse Republican Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the United States with 40% of the popular vote. The fears of the South come to pass and nothing is left honorable to do but the threatened thing--Secede/1860