Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/377

Rh The convention was fully prepared to vote and the ordinance was passed unanimously. Thus South Carolina was placed in political relations where the State stood on the date of the Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776. The passage of the act was followed by a ceremonial signing, which was done in the presence of the governor and both branches of the legislature, after which President Jamison announced, &quot; The Ordinance of Secession has been signed and ratified, and I proclaim the State of South Carolina an independent common wealth.&quot; On the 24th Governor Pickens issued his formal proclamation, announcing the same event and declaring to the world that South Carolina &quot;is, as she has a right to be, a separate, sovereign, free and independent State.&quot;

The &quot;Address of the convention to the Southern States&quot; and the &quot;Declaration of the causes which justify the secession of South Carolina from the Union were read and adopted after full debate. The committee on relations with Southern States advised the appointment of a commissioner to each State convention as the bearer of our invitation to unite in forming a Southern Confederacy under a Constitution similar to that of the United States. The convention passed provisional regulations for continuing commerce and administering State government in all departments, thus securing the people against anarchy.

The distinguished commissioners to the United States appointed by the convention Mr. Barnwell, Mr. Adams and Mr. Orr, reached Washington on the 26th, and on the 28th sent in their credentials with a letter to the President. By the untimely and unadvised maneuvre of Maj. Anderson at this juncture, December 27th, in removing his command from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, spiking the guns, burning the carriages and cutting-down the flag staff, the situation was suddenly and fatally changed. This warlike strategic movement