| Lawmaking/Litigating |
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Mississippi's Secession Convention assembles in Jackson, the state capital |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
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Mississippi's Secession Convention appoints a committee to draw up an ordinance of secession |
| Crime/Disasters |
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Survivors from American ship sunk in mid-Atlantic thousands of miles from land are rescued |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
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From the capital, Dickinson alumni L. Q. Washington leaks the secret reinforcement of Fort Sumter |
| Crime/Disasters |
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In central England, another mining accident kills four miners and two pit boys |
| Campaigns/Elections |
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Democrats celebrate "St. Hickory's Day" in honor of Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
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Jacob Thompson of Mississippi resigns as the Buchanan Administration's Secretary of the Interior |
| Campaigns/Elections |
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In Augusta, former Maine governor Lot M. Morrill elected to replace Hannibal Hamlin in U.S. Senate |
| Battles/Soldiers |
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Federal resupply ship for Fort Sumter fired on outside Charleston Harbor and forced to retreat |
| Crime/Disasters |
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In Ohio, two Cincinnati policemen stabbed to death in a city house of prostitution |
| Battles/Soldiers |
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North Carolina militia seize Fort Johnston and Fort Caswell at the mouth of the Cape Fear River |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
Mississippi secedes from the Union |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
In Tallahassee, the Florida secession convention votes by 62-7 to leave the United States |
| Battles/Soldiers |
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In Pensacola Bay, U.S. Army Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer consolidates his forces in Fort Pickens |
| Crime/Disasters |
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In Ohio, a Cincinnati mob attempts the lynching of the killers of two city policemen |
| Battles/Soldiers |
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In Baton Rouge, Louisiana militia take control of massive stocks of arms at the Federal Arsenal |
| Battles/Soldiers |
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In Charleston Harbor, South Carolina authorities formally request the surrender of Fort Sumter |
| Slavery/Abolition |
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In Rochester, New York, a pro-compromise pro-Union crowd breaks up an abolition meeting |
| Crime/Disasters |
|
Extremely cold weather in Quebec intensifies |
| Battles/Soldiers |
|
Louisiana militia seize Forts Saint Philip and Jackson at the mouth of the Mississippi River |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
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In Tallahassee, the formal Ordinance of Secession is signed on the capitol steps and Florida secedes |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
Alabama secedes from the Union |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
Marylander Philip F. Thomas resigns after one month as Secretary of the Treasury |
| US/the World |
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Don Carlos, pretender to Spain's throne, and his wife die within hours of each other of scarlet fever |
| Battles/Soldiers |
|
Florida and Alabama militias seize the Pensacola Navy Yard and Fort Barracas |
| Battles/Soldiers |
|
New York City's First Division, New York State Militia volunteers its services to state governor |
| Campaigns/Elections |
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In Philadelphia, southern students disrupt a program of patriotic tunes at the Academy of Music |
| Crime/Disasters |
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In Halifax, Nova Scotia, a killer fire devastates two blocks in the heart of the business district |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
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Washington pays Governor Pickens what he is owed, from the newly seized Charleston Sub-Treasury |
| Education/Culture |
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In New York, famous horse-tamer John S. Rarey demonstrates his skills to packed Broadway crowds |
