A House Divided

South Carolina was the first state to seceed from the Union. On December 20, 1860 South Carolina announced its secession. After years of continued conflict over slavery the election of Republican Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln was the straw that broke the camel's back for South Carolina. The states of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee would follow South Carolina's lead, seceeding in that order throughout the year of 1861.