Thursday January 10, 1861

Florida Secedes

The Florida secession convention adopted an ordinance of secession by a vote of 62-7. The convention had been called by the governor and legislature shortly after Lincoln's election in November. Voters went to the polls on December 22, and elected a large majority of immediate secessionists. However, those opposed to immediate secession, called cooperationists, constituted roughly between 36 percent and 43 percent of the voters, and accounted for twenty-seven delegates as compared to forty-two immediate secessionists. The convention assembled in Tallahassee in early January 1861, and on January 10, adopted the ordinance of secession by an overwhelming vote when the bulk of the cooperationists went over to the secessionists.

Bibliography: Thomas, Confederate Nation, pp. 51-52; Potter, Impending Crisis, pp. 496-98.