An Ordinance to dissolve the Union Between The State of North Carolina and The United States, May 20, 1861.
Title
An Ordinance to dissolve the Union Between The State of North Carolina and The United States, May 20, 1861.
Description
North Carolina was one of the last states to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy. It represents the turmoil that states in the Upper South faced when picking sides during the war. It also illustrated the differences between states in the upper and lower south and how much slavery impacted those cultures. This piece of legislation was passed in the North Carolina State Legislature officially breaking ties with the United States and seceding from the Union. Secession of North Carolina came out of months of debate in the state on whether or not to leave the union and join the cause of the Confederate States. Many people believed that a compromise between the states and federal government could be reached over the issue of slavery, which did not entail leaving the Union.
Creator
North Carolina State Convention
Source
“North Carolina. Convention (1861-1862) Ordinances and Resolutions Passed by the State Convention.†[Raleigh]: Syme & Hall, Printers to the Convention, [1861]. Documenting the American South. Accessed on March 31, 2012 http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/ncord/menu.html
Date
1861-05-20
Original Format
Pamphlet
Text
ODRINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE
STATE CONVENTION.
[No. 1.]
AN ORDINANCE TO DISSOLVE THE UNION BETWEEN
THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA AND
THE OTHER STATES UNITED WITH HER UNDER
THE COMPACT OF GOVERNMENT ENTITLED THE
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
We, the people of the State of North Carolina, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the ordinance adopted by the State of North Carolina in the Convention of 1789, whereby the Constitution of the United States was ratified and adopted, and also, all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly, ratifying and adopting amendments to the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded and abrogated.
We do further declare and ordain, That the union now subsisting between the State of North Carolina and the other States under the title of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of North Carolina is in the full
Page 2
possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State.
Read three times and passed, 20th day of May, 1861.
W. N. EDWARDS,
Prest. of Convention,
Teste:
WALTER L. STEELE, Secretary,
L. C. EDWARDS, Assistant Secretary.
[No. 2.]
AN ORDINANCE VESTING IN THE CONFEDERATE
STATES OF AMERICA JURISDICTION OVER CERTAIN
TRACTS OF LAND IN THE TOWN OF FAYETTEVILLE
AND COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND.
We, the people of North Carolina, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the jurisdiction of the State of North Carolina is hereby ceded to the Confederate States of America, for the purpose of maintaining and erecting therein Arsenals, Magazines, or other necessary buildings, over all that tract, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the town of Fayetteville and county of Cumberland, the jurisdiction over which was ceded the United States of America by an act of the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, ratified on the 8th day of January, 1839, and is entitled "An Act vesting in the United States of America jurisdiction over a certain tract of land in the town of Fayetteville and county of Cumberland."
And be it further declared and ordained, That jurisdiction in like manner and for like purposes is hereby ceded to the Confederate States of America over all tracts or parcels of land adjacent to the same heretofore purchased by the United States of America.
And be it further declared and ordained, That the jurisdiction so ceded to the Confederate States of America, is granted
Page 3
upon the express condition that the State of North Carolina shall retain jurisdiction on and over the tracts of land aforesaid, so far that civil process in all cases, and such criminal process as may issue under the authority of the State of North Carolina, against any person or persons charged with crimes committed without said tract of land may be executed therein in the same way and manner as if this jurisdiction had not yet been ceded: The Confederate States to retain the said jurisdiction so long as said tract or tracts of land shall be used for the purposes expressed in this Ordinance, and no longer.
Be it further ordained, That the title and possession of the said lands is hereby ceded to the said Confederate States on the terms and conditions aforesaid.
Read three times and passed, 5th of June, 1861.
W. N. EDWARDS,
Prest. of Convention.
Teste:
WALTER L. STEELE, Secretary,
L. C. EDWARDS, Assistant Secretary.
STATE CONVENTION.
[No. 1.]
AN ORDINANCE TO DISSOLVE THE UNION BETWEEN
THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA AND
THE OTHER STATES UNITED WITH HER UNDER
THE COMPACT OF GOVERNMENT ENTITLED THE
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
We, the people of the State of North Carolina, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the ordinance adopted by the State of North Carolina in the Convention of 1789, whereby the Constitution of the United States was ratified and adopted, and also, all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly, ratifying and adopting amendments to the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded and abrogated.
We do further declare and ordain, That the union now subsisting between the State of North Carolina and the other States under the title of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of North Carolina is in the full
Page 2
possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State.
Read three times and passed, 20th day of May, 1861.
W. N. EDWARDS,
Prest. of Convention,
Teste:
WALTER L. STEELE, Secretary,
L. C. EDWARDS, Assistant Secretary.
[No. 2.]
AN ORDINANCE VESTING IN THE CONFEDERATE
STATES OF AMERICA JURISDICTION OVER CERTAIN
TRACTS OF LAND IN THE TOWN OF FAYETTEVILLE
AND COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND.
We, the people of North Carolina, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the jurisdiction of the State of North Carolina is hereby ceded to the Confederate States of America, for the purpose of maintaining and erecting therein Arsenals, Magazines, or other necessary buildings, over all that tract, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the town of Fayetteville and county of Cumberland, the jurisdiction over which was ceded the United States of America by an act of the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, ratified on the 8th day of January, 1839, and is entitled "An Act vesting in the United States of America jurisdiction over a certain tract of land in the town of Fayetteville and county of Cumberland."
And be it further declared and ordained, That jurisdiction in like manner and for like purposes is hereby ceded to the Confederate States of America over all tracts or parcels of land adjacent to the same heretofore purchased by the United States of America.
And be it further declared and ordained, That the jurisdiction so ceded to the Confederate States of America, is granted
Page 3
upon the express condition that the State of North Carolina shall retain jurisdiction on and over the tracts of land aforesaid, so far that civil process in all cases, and such criminal process as may issue under the authority of the State of North Carolina, against any person or persons charged with crimes committed without said tract of land may be executed therein in the same way and manner as if this jurisdiction had not yet been ceded: The Confederate States to retain the said jurisdiction so long as said tract or tracts of land shall be used for the purposes expressed in this Ordinance, and no longer.
Be it further ordained, That the title and possession of the said lands is hereby ceded to the said Confederate States on the terms and conditions aforesaid.
Read three times and passed, 5th of June, 1861.
W. N. EDWARDS,
Prest. of Convention.
Teste:
WALTER L. STEELE, Secretary,
L. C. EDWARDS, Assistant Secretary.
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Citation
North Carolina State Convention, An Ordinance to dissolve the Union Between The State of North Carolina and The United States, May 20, 1861., Civil War Era NC, accessed April 19, 2024, https://cwnc.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/items/show/303.