Record #:

10654

Author(s):

Hardesty, Fred

Abstract:

After Confederate guns fired on Fort Sumter on April, 12, 1861, North Carolina remained at peace and in the Union, having already rejected by popular vote a proposed state convention for the discussion of secession. However, when President Lincoln requested troops to quell what he called the Southern insurrection, Governor Ellis' mood and that of the general public changed. Governor Ellis replied that the Union cause \"can get no troops from North Carolina\" and he immediately ordered the seizure of U.S. Forts Caswell and Johnson at the mouth of the Cape Fear, the U.S. Mint in Charlotte, and the U.S. Arsenal in Fayetteville. He then called for an emergency convention, slated for May 20, at which all 120 delegates voted unanimously for secession.

Source:

The State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 38 Issue 23, May 1971, p7, por

Subject(s):

North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865