Speaking as if his state had already seceded, Governor William Henry Gist of South Carolina concluded his annual message to the Legislature by saying that in the case of any effort to coerce South Carolina after secession, "we must accept the issue, and meet it as becomes men and freemen, who infinitely prefer annihilation to disgrace." Gist ended his term as governor the same week that the Secession Convention convened. South Carolina left the Union on December 20, 1860. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
"The Secession Movement," New York Times, November 28, 1860
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Lawmaking/Litigating