Ordinance of Secession

Ordinance of Secession
Facsimile of the 1861 Ordinance of Secession signed by 293 delegates to the Georgia Secession Convention at the statehouse in Milledgeville, Georgia January 21, 1861
Created	c. January 20, 1861
Ratified	Ratified January 19, 1861 vote was 208 yeas 89 nays Signed January 21, 1861 by 293 delegates Enacted January 22, 1861
Location	Engrossed copy: University of Georgia Libraries, Hargrett Library
Author(s)	George W. Crawford et al. Engrosser: H. J. G. Williams
Signatories	293 delegates to The Georgia Secession Convention of 1861
Purpose	To announce Georgia's formal intent to secede from the Union.

The Ordinance of Secession was the document drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861 by each of the southern states formally seceding from the United States of America. Each state ratified its own ordinance of secession, typically by means of a special convention delegation or by a general referendum. The seceded states formed the Confederate States of America.

During the Civil War, the states of Missouri and Kentucky had competing confederate and unionist governments claiming authority over their states. Missouri's ordinance was approved by a legislative session called by Claiborne Fox Jackson, the pro-confederate governor (see Missouri secession). Kentucky's was approved by a convention of 200 people representing 65 counties of the state, but without support from the unionist state government. The Confederacy officially ceded both of these states in 1862, though they were contested throughout the war.

Virginia's ordinance was approved by a referendum but rejected by 26 counties in the north and west of the state (see Wheeling Convention), leading to the creation of West Virginia.

Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas also issued separate declarations of causes, in which they explained their reasons for secession.