Encyclopedia > Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union
The Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union was a legal proclamation issued on December 24, 1860 by the government of South Carolina, explaining its reasons for seceding from the United States. The actual ordinance of secession had been issued on December 20. The declaration was written by Christopher Memminger. December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ...
1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Charleston(1670-1789) Columbia(1790-present) Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Area Ranked 40th - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 km²) - Width 200 miles (320 km) - Length 260 miles (420 km) - % water 6 - Latitude 32°430N to 35...
For other uses, see Secession (disambiguation). ...
December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Christopher Gustavus Memminger (January 9, 1803–March 7, 1888) was a prominent Confederate political leader. ...
The opening portion of the declaration outlines the historical background of South Carolina and offers a legal justification for its secession. It asserts that the right of states to secede is implicit in the Constitution and this right was explicitly reaffirmed by South Carolina in 1852. The declaration states that the agreement between South Carolina and the United States is subject to the law of compact, which creates obligations on both parties and which revokes the agreement if either party fails to uphold its obligations. 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...
The next section asserts that the government of the United States and of states within that government had failed to uphold their obligations to South Carolina. The specific issue stated was the refusal of some states to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act and other laws protecting slavery and the refusal of the federal government to compel them to uphold these laws. It has been suggested that Fugitive slave laws be merged into this article or section. ...
The next section states that while these problems have existed for twenty five years, the situation had recently become unacceptable due to the election of a President (this was Abraham Lincoln although he is not mentioned by name) who was planning to outlaw slavery. Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States (March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865). ...
The final section concludes with a statement that South Carolina had therefore seceded from the United States.
While later claims have been made that the decision to secede was prompted by other issues such as tariffs, these issues were not mentioned in the declaration; States rights, however, are mentioned: A tariff is a tax on foreign goods. ...
By this Constitution [of the United States], certain duties were imposed upon the several States, and the exercise of certain of their powers was restrained, which necessarily implied their continued existence as sovereign States. But to remove all doubt, an amendment was added, which declared that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people.
Thus was established, by compact between the States, a Government with definite objects and powers, limited to the express words of the grant. This limitation left the whole remaining mass of power subject to the clause reserving it to the States or to the people, and rendered unnecessary any specification of reserved rights. In other words, any powers not assumed by the United States Government are reserved by the states, thus nullifying any need to specifically outline the concept of States Rights.
The declaration was one of three documents to be officially issued by the South Carolina Secession Convention. The first was the Ordinance of Secession of South Carolina itself. The third was The Address of the people of South Carolina, assembled in Convention, to the people of the Slaveholding States of the United States, written by Robert Barnwell Rhett, which called on other slave holding states to secede and join in forming a new nation. Robert Barnwell Rhett (October 21, 1800–September 14, 1876) was a United States secessionist politician from South Carolina. ...
The declaration was seen as analogous to the Declaration of Independence. Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas offered similar declarations when they seceded following South Carolina's example. A copy of the 1823 William J. Stone reproduction of the Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence was an act of the Second Continental Congress, adopted on July 4, 1776, which declared that the Thirteen Colonies were independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain. ...
This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Official language(s) No Official Language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area Ranked 2nd - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 km²) - Width 773 miles (1,244 km) - Length 790 miles (1,270 km) - % water 2. ...
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