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The Secession Of The United States

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In November, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected U.S. President with only 40 per cent of the popular vote. South Carolina had threatened to secede from the Union if Lincoln won the election. The state made good their threat by seceding from the Union on December 20, 1860. Mississippi and Florida followed in early January, 1861. The Alabama State Legislature directed Governor A. B. Moore to call a state convention in Montgomery on January 7, 1861, to debate the question of secession from the Union. On January 11, after four days of hot debate, an ordinance of secession was adopted by a vote of 61-39 and Alabama became the fourth state to secede from the Union. The two delegates from Lauderdale County voted against secession as did most of the delegates from North Alabama.
Anticipating secession, several counties in North Alabama, East Tennessee, North Georgia, and North Mississippi talked of forming a neutral state called Nickajack if secession passed. Nothing came of the talk. However thousands of Alabamians, mostly from the northern counties, enlisted in the Union Army. There were six white Union regiments raised in Alabama: 1st Alabama Cavalry, 1st Heavy Artillery Battery, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Infantry Regiments. Many others left the state to join Union units, or they joined Union units as they passed through the state. Many former Lauderdale County slaves left their owner’s plantation and joined U.S. regiments (i.e., the U.S. 111th Regiment of Colored

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