Mississippi secedes from the Union

The Mississippi delegates elected less than three weeks ago on December 20, 1860 for the Secession Convention had assembled in Jackson two days before.  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 produced an ordinance of secession and this document was passed overwhelmingly on this third day.  Mississippi became the second state to declare its independence from the United States.  (By John Osborne)