Mississippi's Secession Convention assembles in Jackson, the state capital

The Mississippi delegates elected less than three weeks ago on December 20, 1860 for the Secession Convention assembled in Jackson.  Two thirds of delegates were in favor of secession and the proceedings flowed smoothly towards the state leaving the Union.  The second day a committee was named to produce an ordinance of secession.  The next day this was voted upon.  Mississippi, the only state in the country besides South Carolina where slaves outnumbered whites, became the second to declare its independence. (By John Osborne)