The Presbyterian General Assembly is meeting in Philadelphia and its decisions will split the Church

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church met in Philadelphia with few representatives of the southern synods attending.  The simmering divisions over slavery came to the fore and the vote of the Assembly, 156-66, on May 29, 1861, to "declare our obligations to promote and perpetuate ... the integrity of these United States" meant that the long-promised division of the Church between North and South became an immediate reality. (By John Osborne)