Mississippi’s Secession From the Union
One hundred and fifty-one years ago, Mississippi’s state legislature voted to secede from the Union. It was the second state to do so, following South Carolina, which seceded on December 20, 1860. The Mississippi Secession Ordinance was written by Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar III, a congressman who resigned earlier in the month. State Senator Jefferson Davis also resigned his commission on January 21, 1861, and would later be elected president of the Confederate States of America.
In remembrance of this momentous occasion, compatriots are asked to fly their Bonnie Blues and/or Mississippi State Flags in honor and remembrance. “Mississippi Secession Day” is celebrated every year on January 9, but since this is the sesquicentennial observance of the War Between the States, the gesture is more significant.
Certain parties would consider this observance to be obsolete, irrelevant, or politically incorrect. That is, until they check into their ancestry and discover their Confederate heritage. It’s easy to forget what our relatives lived through. It’s tougher to imagine what their lives were like, and it’s a big challenge to rise up and resist ignorance and misinformation about our Civil War. For those of us strong enough to persist and protest, it is our obligation to inform, instruct, honor, and NEVER forget.
