What is Secession in the United States?
[[File:Southern United States Civil War map.png|thumb|right|250px|{{Center|The states in solid red seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America, while the striped states were Border States that remained with the Union}}]] '''Secession in the United States''' refers mainly to [[US states|state]] [[secession]]. It applies to the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]] when on December 20, 1860, [[South Carolina]] officially declared their secession from the [[United States]].<ref name=secessionHN>{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/secession |title=Secession |publisher=HistoryNet |access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> It was followed four months later by the states of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Florida]], [[Alabama]], [[Mississippi]], [[Texas]] and [[Louisiana]].<ref name=secessionHN/> These initial seven seceding states formed the [[Confederate States of America]] based in [[Montgomery, Alabama]].<ref name=secessionHIST>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/secession |title=Secession |website=History Vault |publisher=A&E Television Networks, LLC |access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> Then, on April 12, 1861, [[war|hostilities]] began at [[Fort Sumter]] in [[Charleston, South Carolina]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/fort-sumter.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/?referrer=https://simple.wikipedia.org/ |title=Fort Sumter |publisher=Civil War Trust |access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> After this, the states of Virginia (except the northwestern counties), [[Arkansas]], [[Tennessee]], and [[North Carolina]] joined the Confederacy.<ref name=secessionHIST/> The capital was then moved [[Richmond, Virginia]].<ref name=secessionHIST/> The [[Northern United States|Northern]] and [[Border states (American Civil War)|Border states]] remained with the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]. ==History== In 1860, secession was not a new threat. It had been discussed as early as 1776 when the [[Continental Congress]] wanted to [[tax]] all of the