dec 20, 1860 - South Carolina Leaves the Union

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On December 20th, 1860, the slave state of South Carolina became the first to leave the federal Union. This secession was in response to the result of the 1860s election, where Abraham Lincoln came out on top. The reason Lincoln’s victory triggered “cries for disunion” among the slave-holding South was because the goal of his presidency was to Abolish Slavery. South Carolina legislators decided it was no longer in the state’s interest to stay in the union after the Republican’s victory. Another reason South Carolina seceded was because the Nothern States broke their promise to enforce laws such as the Fugitive Slave Act. After South Carolina left the Union, 11 other slave-holding states also seceded. After a couple of months, the Union was officially dissolved. After all of these states seceded, the Confederate States of America were formed by the South, where they elected new governors and leaders that shared the beliefs the South did.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/south-carolina-secession.htm#:~:text=South%20Carolina%20became%20the%20first,disunion%20across%20the%20slaveholding%20South.
https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/detail/south-carolina-declaration-of-secession-1860

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