SECESSION: A SOUTHERN VIEW, 1861
A State, finding herself in the condition in which Mississippi has judged she is—in which her safety requires that she should provide for the maintenance of her rights out of the Union—surrenders all the benefits (and they are known to be many), deprives herself of the advantages (and they are known to be great), severs all the ties of affection (and they are close and enduring), which have bound her to the Union; and thus divesting herself of every benefit—taking upon herself every burden—she claims to be exempt from any power to execute the laws of the United States within her limits.
Jefferson Davis (Farewell Address in United States Senate)
SECESSION: FROM THE NORTHERN STANDPOINT, 1814
Whenever it shall appear that these causes are radical and permanent, a separation by equitable arrangement will be preferable to an alliance by constraint, among nominal friends, but real enemies, inflamed by mutual hatred and jealousy, and inviting, by intestine divisions, contempt and aggression from abroad.
—Journal of the Hartford Convention
Florida secedes, 1861
The “Bonnie Blue Flag” first sung in public at Jackson Mississippi, 1861
January Eleventh