The Governor of Tennessee when South Carolina seceded from the Union was Isham Green Harris.  Elected in 1857, Harris urged secession after the November 1860 election named Abraham Lincoln president.  Voters in Tennessee initially rejected the idea of secession, especially in the eastern part of the state.  When the Tennessee general assembly finally passed an ordinance of independence and alliance with the Confederacy, Harris prevented the separation of East Tennessee and its alliance with the Union.  Tennessee was the last state to secede, joining the Confederate States of America on June 8, 1861. Harris remained governor until he was forced…

On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union!  Secessionists believed that the United States (the Union), was a confederation, allowing each state to “go its own way” and thus giving each state the right to secede.  Although various sections of the country had been disagreeing for several years over the issues of slavery, tariffs, states’ rights and the differences between agrarian and industrial lifestyles,  the magnitude of the Republican Party victory and the election of Abraham Lincoln  in 1860 created a secessionist response from the Deep South.   Lincoln’s winning meant that approximately three quarters of the elected officials…