December 20, 1860South Carolina Secedes from the United States

On this day in 1860 the state of South Carolina officially became the first state to secede from the United States. Within the next few weeks six other states would join it to form the Confederate States of America. Once hostilities commenced with the shelling of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor (S. Carolina) in April of 1861, four more states would join the Confederacy.