How many states seceded from the Union?

Eleven states seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. They were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

Seven states seceded before the war began at Fort Sumter in April 1861: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. After the conflict began, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined them.

The secession crisis followed Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860 and was rooted principally in the preservation of slavery, along with related political and economic conflicts. The Confederate government formed in February 1861 and claimed sovereignty over the seceded states.

Missouri and Kentucky complicate the picture because Confederate-aligned governments claimed to represent them, but neither state effectively left the Union. That is why standard histories and trivia references give eleven as the number of states that seceded and formed the Confederacy.