![]() Harris informed the legislature of this after it had declared Tennessee independent, and as such the body approved the alliance by a vote of 42 to 15 (18 not voting) in the House and 14 to 6 (4 not voting) in the Senate. While the legislature debated, Harris had secretly appointed envoys to meet with Confederate officials and negotiate forming a military alliance between Tennessee and the Confederacy. The election was scheduled for June 8, but it was a foregone conclusion that the voters would opt to secede. The legislature complied by approving an ordinance to “submit to the vote of the people a Declaration of Independence, and for other purposes.” This measure, which effectively withdrew Tennessee from the Union without going through the state convention process, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 46 to 21, and the Senate, 20 to 4. He therefore asked the legislators to approve a measure declaring Tennessee independent and then submitting the decision to a popular vote after the fact. Tennessee Governor Isham Harris had called the legislature into special session to consider secession, but he did not want to go through the long process of having an election for delegates to a secession convention. Tennesseans had followed a wait-and-see approach on whether to leave the Union, but President Abraham Lincoln’s call for Tennessee volunteers to invade the South pushed most Tennesseans into the secessionist camp. Those in the middle and western parts of the state generally favored secession, while those in the mountainous east were largely Unionist. ![]() ![]() ![]() The people of Tennessee had divided loyalties. ![]()
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