The Seceding South Carolina Delegation (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. IV)
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South Carolina was the first state to leave the Union, precipitating a chain of events that led to the outbreak of the Civil War. Once Abraham Lincoln’s election became a certainty in November 1860, state delegates voted to dissolve all federal ties on December 20. Two days later Harper’s Weekly published this image of the seceding United States senators and congressmen, basing the portraits on photographs by Mathew Brady who maintained offices in New York and Washington. The accompanying text states:
Although some of the Palmetto delegation have at times used harsh words in debate, they leave no enemies behind them. Gallant gentlemen, with high endowments, manly attributes and an integrity upon which suspicion has never even dared to glance, they carry with them kind wishes and sincere regrets, even of those who go so far as to believe that "secession is treason."
Each politician’s place of birth, education, character, family life and views were then detailed. Four months later, on April 12, 1861, South Carolina also witnessed the opening of hostilities when General P. G. T. Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter at the mouth of Charleston harbor and took it from Union control without loss of life.
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