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NC Secession Referendum

RACE DETAILS

Parents

> United States > North Carolina > Referenda > Secession 1861

Office

Referendum

Honorific

Referendum - Abbr:

Type

General Election

Filing Deadline

00, 1861 - 12:00pm Central

Polls Open

February 00, 1861 - 06:00am Central

Polls Close

February 00, 1861 - 08:00pm Central

Term Start

March 04, 1861 - 12:00pm

Term End

April 09, 1865 - 12:00pm

Turnout

9.47% Total Population

Contributor

Chronicler

Last Modified

Chronicler May 11, 2005 08:49pm

Data Sources

North Carolina Manual 1913, pp. 1013-1015.

Description

This was a referendum on whether to call a convention to consider seceding from the Union. A vote against the referendum was a vote to stay in the Union. While the bulk of the votes for the convention came from secessionists, some unionists voted for the convention. In the simultaneous election for delegates to the convention, 83 Union men were elected against 37 Secessionists. However, the convention never met because the referendum failed. Governor Ellis did not expect this result, so he called the legislature into session early to facilitate NC's secession.