Secession – The UncommonWealth

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

Governor, Gunrunner?: “Honest John” Letcher and the Secession Crisis

During the Secession Crisis of 1860-1861, members of President James Buchanan’s cabinet distributed arms to secessionists. According to General and future President Ulysses S. Grant,…

Kenneth ForestNovember 5, 2025

Archives Digital Projects

Legislative Petition Digital Project Up and Running

Public improvements, military claims, divorce, manumission of slaves, division of counties, incorporation of towns, religious freedom, and taxation are just some of the concerns expressed…

Craig MooreMay 1, 2013

#election1860

On 13 November 1860, J.S. Moore of Indiana wrote a letter to his Virginia relative Doctor Thomas Moore. Much of the letter has to do…

Greg CrawfordNovember 7, 2012

Manuscripts & Special Collections The Stacks

The Ordinance of Secession Coverage From the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Editor's Note: This media is no longer available. Check out this video of our own Tom Camden, Special Collections Director, discussing a rarely seen copy of…

Dale DulaneyApril 18, 2011

Archives Education & Programming

Virginia Signs Off

Editor's Note: Guest contributor Mari Julienne joins us this week with some timely background information on a pivotal document in the state’s history. Virginia’s signed Ordinance…

Mari JulienneApril 13, 2011

Dear Governor

Editor’s Note: Guest contributor Brent Tarter offers the following post, pointing out some interesting finds made by the creators of the Library of Virginia’s Union or Secession exhibition.…

Brent TarterMarch 30, 2011

Manuscripts & Special Collections

The secession crisis: A Frenchman’s view of the "whirlwind"

"The indecision and the absence of energy in the convention of Virginia which does not dare proclaim itself either for or against secession have ended…

Trenton HizerJanuary 19, 2011

Digital Projects The Stacks

Have scanner, will travel

As you may have heard from this blog and other sources, the CW 150 Legacy Project: Document Digitization and Access is an effort to locate Civil War-era…

Laura Drake DavisDecember 1, 2010