On this day 150 years ago the Louisiana legislature passed the following ordinance by a vote of 113 to 17:
AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union between the State of Louisiana and other States united with her under the compact entitled "The Constitution of the United States of America."
We, the people of the State of Louisiana, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the ordinance passed by us in convention on the 22d day of November, in the year eighteen hundred and eleven, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America and the amendments of the said Constitution were adopted, and all laws and ordinances by which the State of Louisiana became a member of the Federal Union, be, and the same are hereby, repealed and abrogated; and that the union now subsisting between Louisiana and other States under the name of "The United States of America" is hereby dissolved.
We do further declare and ordain, That the State of Louisiana hereby resumes all rights and powers heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America; that her citizens are absolved from all allegiance to said Government; and that she is in full possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which appertain to a free and independent State.
We do further declare and ordain, That all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or any act of Congress, or treaty, or under any law of this State, and not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force and have the same effect as if this ordinance had not been passed.
Adopted in convention at Baton Rouge this 26th day of January, 1861.
There has been little official recognition of this historical event. But it is important to note that we are starting the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Follow PE's friend Rico as he attends reenactments throughout the country.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Actually, Louisiana's history on that front is a little bit tricky.
For example, the plebiscite meant to confirm the secession vote was a disaster for pro-Confederate side.
(one article among many describing the vote, from the Journal of Southern History):
http://www.jstor.org/pss/2206600
Large portions of Louisiana voted AGAINST Secession. The Acadian parishes and New Orleans voted against secession. "A rich man's war, poor man's fight..." As a whole, the plebiscite in Louisiana was barely in favor of secession, but this was hidden until years after the end of the war. Those counting the vote realized that it would be incredibly embarrassing and stopped counting the votes before they got to the areas most opposed to secession.
The Bouligny family (relatives of the engineer Albert Baldwin Wood) were strong pro-unionists in New Orleans. John Edward Bouligny was the only unionist from the south that served his term in Congress through the civil war:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._E._Bouligny
I say all this, having an ancestor held as a P.O.W. at Ship Island, too.
Post a Comment