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The Ordinance of Secession, 1860. This document marked the conclusion of a movement to declare Southern independence from a national government increasingly controlled by Northerners. It was the...
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South Carolinians met here at the First Baptist Church in Columbia on December 17, 1860, determined to end their membership in the United States in protest against the election of Abraham Lincoln, a...
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The National Democratic nominating convention in session at Institute Hall in Charleston on April 28, 1860. The convention was unable to bridge the differences between northern and southern wings of...
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"The Impending Crisis at Charleston," published in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly," February 11, 1860, is a reference to the widely read book, "The Impending Crisis," by Hinton Helper. In the...
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The gunboat "Planter," seized by an African-American crew and the daring African-American harbor pilot Robert Smalls, did manage to break the federal blockade of the city in May of 1862. Smalls...
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This view of the Battery in Charleston, circa 1865, gives a good view of how that city appeared during the Civil War, and how it had prepared for its defense. The area is still known as the Battery...
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The palmetto symbol of the South Carolina regiment's heroic exploits at Cherubusco, Vera Cruz, and Chapultapec became the rallying cry for South Carolinians in general, as well as for veterans of the...
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South Carolinians were among those who most strongly supported the Mexican War, for it promised westward expansion of the nation in territory south of the Missouri Compromise Line of 1820, and thus...
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The Chester Volunteers, Captain Robert Mills Dunovants's company of the Palmetto Regiment, were one of the many South Carolina military units who made up the army that fought in the War with Mexico...
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The front page of the short-lived "Union and States' Rights Gazette" illustrates the complexity of South Carolina politics even though many outsiders thought the state unified behind opposition to the...