Immediately after Abraham Lincoln (1809–1861) was elected President, in November, 1860, several Southern states took steps to secede from the Union. They did so in order to protect the institution of slavery.

On January 11, 1861, a convention of elected delegates passed an ordinance withdrawing Alabama from the United States.  Ultimately, eleven states—South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina—pursued independence as part of the Confederacy.