The American Historical Association encourages continued public debate about monuments to Confederate leaders and about the public spaces and buildings named after those individuals, as well as the role of Confederate flags in public culture. Historians’ recent experiences in media interviews have suggested that too few participants in these conversations have read the essential primary sources that clearly articulate the reasons for secession and the establishment of a new nation.

This page links to a limited set of documents with a singular focus: why did state governments decide to secede and form a new nation? This is not the same as querying the causes of the Civil War or even the reasons most Confederate soldiers participated in the war; we are distinguishing causes of an event from the motivations of identifiable historical actors, and taking those actors at their word. Four states stated in their documents of secession why this extreme step was necessary. Among the leaders of the Confederacy, Vice President Alexander Stephens offered the clearest and most direct statement of the reason for the creation of that new nation. We also offer the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, which closely resembles the Constitution of the United States, in structure, tone, and content, with a notable exception: the explicit protection of the institution of slavery and for individuals, “the right of property in negro slaves.”

We present these documents largely as a service to teachers, and as a starting point for further exploration. There are thousands of relevant primary sources available on the internet, and we hope readers will venture beyond this collection. Our goal is to make it easy for participants in community debates, as well as teachers and students, to at the very least understand how states and political leaders articulated the imperative to divide the nation.

Constitution of the Confederate States of America

Text:
The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy (Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School)
Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries

Alexander Stephens Cornerstone Speech

Text: Modern History Sourcebook, Fordham University

Alexander Stephens, the vice president of the Confederate States of America, delivered the Cornerstone Speech on March 21, 1861 in Savannah, Georgia.

Declarations of Causes of Secession

Of the 11 states to secede from the Union, four issued statements declaring their reasons for seceding.

South Carolina

Text: The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy (Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School)

The government of South Carolina declared its causes for seceding on December 24, 1860, four days after it became the first state to issue a formal ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860. The original document is housed in the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina.

Mississippi

Text: The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy (Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School)

The government of Mississippi formally seceded from the United States of America on January 9, 1861, and declared its causes for secession on January 26, 1861. The declaration can be found in the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Georgia

Text: The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy (Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School)

The government of Georgia declared its causes for seceding from the United States of America on January 29, 1861, shortly after formally seceding on January 19, 1861.

Texas

Text: The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy (Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School)

The government of Texas declared its causes for seceding on February 2, 1861, after issuing its formal ordinance of secession on February 1, 1861. The causes can be viewed in the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Searching "declaration of causes" will return the causes as the first search result.

Secession Commissioner Documents

Texts: Civil War Causes

After Lincoln was elected president in November of 1860, many states in the South appointed “secession commissioners” to other Southern states to decide on the proper course of action. In his appointment of the Alabama Commissioners to other states, Governor A.B. Moore of Alabama clearly attributes the need for consultation among the states to protecting the institution of slavery: “As the slave-holding States have a common interest in the institution of slavery, and must be common sufferers in its overthrow, I deemed it proper ...that Alabama should consult and advise with the other slave-holding States...as to what is best to be done to protect their interests and honor in the impending crisis.” This website provides sources related to the activities of the “secession commissioners,” including speeches and letters from the commissioners to other state secession conventions and general assemblies.

Teaching Resources on Secession

• "Slavery, Secession, and States' Rights," Library of Congress
• The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America: A House Dividing curriculum unit, EDSITEment!
• "Lesson Plan: Souther Secession and Lincoln's Election," Civil War Trust
• "Teaching Guide: Exploring the Secession of the Southern States," Franky Abbott, Digital Public Library of America
• Teaching American History in South Carolina