Commemorating South Carolina’s Secession
On December 20,1860, the delegates of a special South Carolina state convention voted unanimously to secede from the Union. Secession had been brewing for more than a decade, as white South Carolinians became increasingly alarmed about the protection of state sovereignty under the U. S.Constitution. This activity helps students learn about SC's Secession, vocabulary and facts.
Lesson Created By: Lisa Ray
Lesson Partners: ETV Education, Knowitall.org, Teaching American History in South Carolina, South Carolina Department of Archives and History
Grade(s):
- 8
Subject(s):
Recommended Technology:
Other Instructional Materials or Notes:
Lesson Progression
All the terms listed in the word search are found in the article Commemorating South Carolina’s Secession found in the Spring 2010 issue of Sandlapper. Read the article circling or highlighting the terms as you come across them. Then complete the activities using the terms and what you learned from reading the article.
• Find the hidden terms in the word search
• Create a chart, using context clues, your textbook, or a dictionary. On this chart write the word and define it based on how it was used in the article. Include any terms you thought were important in your understanding of the article that may have been left out of the word search. Your teacher may give you extra credit for these.
• Answer the questions about the article from.SANDLAPPER magazine
Teacher Notes
One idea would be to give extra credit for words that were not use in the word search but were important to the understanding of secession and the article. I would suggest giving an example of a definition based on context and how that may differ from a glossary or dictionary definition.
Secession, Part 1 | Palmetto Heritage
The story begins in 1858 in South Carolina. William Taylor's cousin Allen is visiting from Connecticut. Secession "fever" is rapidly engulfing the state. The scene shifts to West Point where the...
View AssetSecession, Part 2 | Palmetto Heritage
Back in South Carolina in December 1860 for a short Christmas break, Allen finds the Secession convention in session at the First Baptist Church in Columbia. He then accompanies his father, who is a...
View AssetSouthern Discontent - Lesson 12
Noted South Carolina historian Dr. Walter Edgar discusses the key issues in SC History and SC secession from the Union.
View ResourceSouthern Discontent - Lesson 13
Noted South Carolina historian Dr. Walter Edgar discusses the key issues in SC History and SC secession from the Union.
View ResourceKnowitall..org - Secession Part 1 | Palmetto Heritage
The story begins in 1858 in South Carolina. William Taylor's cousin Allen is visiting from Connecticut. Secession "fever" is rapidly engulfing the state. The scene shifts to West Point where the cousins have been accepted as cadets. William finds the "politics of the day" there to be "slavery and sectionalism." Politics continue to be the topic of the summer of 1860, and the story is again picked up when Allen and William attend a reception where a number of prominent South Carolina politicos are gathered discussing how secession should occur. Returning to West Point in the fall of 1860, Allen realizes the situation in South Carolina is rapidly moving toward secession and knows that he will soon be forced to make a decision concerning his position at West Point.
View ResourceKnowitall..org - Secession Part 2 | Palmetto Heritage
Back in South Carolina in December 1860 for a short Christmas break, Allen finds the Secession convention in session at the First Baptist Church in Columbia. He then accompanies his father, who is a delegate, to the railroad station when the convention adjourns to Charleston. When the Ordinance of Secession is formally adopted in Charleston on December 20, 1860 Allen makes his decision.
View ResourceStandards
- 8.3.CO Compare the debates between South Carolina and the federal government regarding slavery, federalism, and the Constitution.
- This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into the debates, heightened by Westward Expansion, over federal and state power concerning slavery, and the government's role in protecting and securing natural rights.