A century and a half after Mississippi voted in the Old Capitol to withdraw from the Union, the state’s contentious secession convention of 186
1 will be the topic of a program in the same room of the same building. On Friday, January 7 at 10 a.m. in the Old Capitol Museum, Secession Revisited will open with reenactor Ray McFarland’s dramatization of Attala County delegate John Wood’s published reflections on secession.
Historians Tim Smith, University of Tennessee—Martin, and George Rable, University of Alabama, will analyze Mississippi’s decision to leave the Union, moving the state toward Civil War.
“Mississippi’s vote to secede from the Union is probably the single most significant event to take place in this building,” said Old Capitol Museum director Clay Williams. “That event led Mississippi down the road to Civil War, which dramatically altered the state’s history.”
The ordinance of secession was drafted on Monday, January 7, 1861 and by Wednesday, January 9, Mississippi’s fate was decided when the ordinance passed with an eighty-four-to-fifteen vote. By February Mississippi had joined the newly formed Confederate States of America and was preparing for war.
For more information call 601-576-6920 or email the Old Capitol.