July 15, 1870: The Reunion of the Union Is Completed

The Flag of the United States, with 37 Stars,

in use from July 4, 1867 to July 4, 1877,

including when most of the former Confederate States

were readmitted to the Union.

July 15, 1870: The last of the States that had seceded from the United States of America to form the Confederate States of America is readmitted, completing the reunion of the Union.

Those States seceded over what they called "States' Rights," but each one's Ordinance of Secession mentioned slavery as one of those "rights." The secessions began after the election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the future expansion of slavery, as the President of the United States on November 6, 1860.

This was the order of secession:

1. December 20, 1860: South Carolina.

2. January 9, 1861: Mississippi.

3. January 10, 1861: Florida.

4. January 11, 1861: Alabama.

5. January 19, 1861: Georgia.

6. January 26, 1861: Louisiana.

7. February 23, 1861: Texas.

Lincoln was Inaugurated on March 4. On April 12, Confederate ships fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, starting the American Civil War. This was followed by more secessions:

8. May 6, 1861: Arkansas.

9. May 20, 1861: North Carolina.

10. May 23, 1861: Virginia.

11. June 1, 1861: Tennessee.

On January 3, 1861, Delaware voted not to secede. On January 29, Kansas was admitted as the 34th State in the Union. On March 19, Missouri overwhelmingly vote to remain in the Union. On April 29, Maryland voted not to secede.

This was key: The District of Columbia, the seat of the Union's government, was between Maryland and Virginia, and Virginia was already considering secession. If both had seceded, the federal government would be trapped. As it was, when Virginia seceded, the U.S.A. literally had its capital on the border with an enemy nation. Fortunately, the C.S.A. didn't have engineers capable of building a bridge across the Potomac River to invade. Nor did they have cannons capable of reaching the U.S. Capitol or the White House.

On May 20, Kentucky declared its neutrality. But on November 18, delegates from 68 of Kentucky’s 110 Counties met, passed an ordinance of secession, adopted a new state seal, and elected a secessionist as Governor. Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10. However, the elected State government did not secede, and Kentucky remained in the Union.

Still, the Confederate Flag -- and its variation that is more familiar today, the Confederate Battle Flag -- had 13 stars, one for each State that had seceded, and one each for Kentucky and Missouri, which had not. So the States of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri remained in the Union, despite still keeping slavery legal within their borders.

Several Western Counties in Virginia voted to secede from the rest of the State, and on June 20, 1863, those Counties, collectively, were admitted to the Union as West Virginia, the 35th State. This included Harpers Ferry, home to the federal arsenal that abolitionist John Brown tried and failed to capture in 1859.

The idea that Virginia went to the Confederacy and West Virginia stayed loyal to the Union will seem strange to people whose experience watching those States only goes back far enough to know Virginia as a State regularly voting Democratic and West Virginia as one regularly voting Republican.

Nevada was admitted as the 36th State on October 31, 1864. Because it was admitted during the Civil War, and immediately sent troops to the Union Army, the State’s motto is "Battle Born."

The Confederate States of America surrendered, piece by piece, in the Spring of 1865. This was the order of readmission to the Union, based on acceptance of the Constitution of the United States, including the Reconstruction Amendments: The 13th, prohibiting slavery; the 14th, guaranteeing citizenship and equal protection of the laws to all people born in the United States; and the 15th, guaranteeing the right to vote to all male American citizens age 21 and up:

1. July 24, 1866: Tennessee.

2. June 22, 1868: Arkansas.

3. June 25, 1868: Florida.

4. July 4, 1868: North Carolina.

5. July 9, 1868: Louisiana.

6. July 9, 1868: South Carolina (same day as Louisiana).

7. July 13, 1868: Alabama.

8. January 26, 1870: Virginia.

9. February 23, 1870: Mississippi.

10. March 30, 1870: Texas.

11. July 15, 1870: Georgia.

During this process, another State was admitted to the Union: Nebraska, the 37th State, on March 1, 1867. The 38th wouldn’t come until 1876, Colorado.

Of the 33 States in the Union when South Carolina became the 1st to secede, slavery had been banned in 18. Of the 37 States in the Union when Georgia became the last to rejoin, it had been banned in all 37.

So 1870 marked the final reunion of the Union. On October 12, Robert E. Lee, the leading General of the CSA, died from the effects of a stroke, in Lexington, Virginia. He was 63 years old. Jefferson Davis, the one and only President of the C.S.A., previously a U.S. Senator from Mississippi and Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce, lived on until 1889.

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July 15, 1870 was a Friday. By an odd coincidence, this was also the day that Manitoba became a Province of Canada, ending the Red River Rebellion. I have a separate entry for this event.

The only organized team sport in America at this point was baseball, and it was just starting the professional era. The difference between those teams that had turned pro and those that hadn't became stark. The only score I can find for this historic day involves the 1st team to openly turn pro, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, who beat the Eagle Base Ball Club of Louisville, Kentucky, 39-8. That season, against pro teams, the Red Stockings went 27-6; against amateur teams, they went 40-0.