This Day in Georgia Civil War History
January 19, 1861
Georgia Seceded from the Union
Georgia officially adopted an Ordinance of Secession, by a vote of 208-89, becoming the fifth state to secede from the Union.
The text of the Ordinance of Secession read:
An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Georgia and other States united with her under a compact of government, entitled “The Constitution of the United States of America: We, the people of the State of Georgia, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained,that the ordinance adopted by the people of the State of Georgia, in Convention on the Second Day of January in the Year of Our Lord Seventeen Hundred and Eight-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was assented to, ratified, and adopted; and also, all acts, and parts of acts, of the General Assembly of this State, ratifying and adopting amendments of the said Constitution, are hereby Repealed, Rescinded, and Abrogated. “We do further Declare and Ordain, that the Union now subsisting between the State of Georgia and other States, under the name of the United States of America, Is Hereby Dissolved, and that the State of Georgia is in full possession and exercise of all those rights of Sovereignty which belong and appertain to a Free and Independent State.” George W. Crawford, of Richmond, President
