Missouri secession

During the American Civil War, the secession of Missouri was controversial because of the disputed status of the state of Missouri. During the war, Missouri was claimed by both the Union and the Confederacy, had two competing state governments, and sent representatives to both the United States Congress and the Confederate Congress. This unusual situation, which also existed to some degree in the states of Kentucky and Virginia (with West Virginia), was the result of events in early 1861.

At the beginning of the war, the governor of Missouri was Claiborne Fox Jackson, a Southern sympathizer who favored secession. At his inauguration (months before the war started at Fort Sumter) Jackson requested the authorization of a state constitutional convention in order to consider the relationship between Missouri and the Federal government. A special referendum approved the Missouri constitutional convention and delegates were elected. Contrary to Jackson's expectations, no avowed secessionist delegates were elected. In February, Governor Jackson unsuccessfully argued for Missouri's secession before the State Constitutional Convention convened to debate the issue under the leadership of former governor Sterling Price. Most of Missouri, like Price, held "conditional Unionist" beliefs at this point, meaning they did not favor secession but did not support the North imposing war on or coercing the Southern states either.

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