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In early 1861 representatives of the states seceding from the Union elected Jefferson Davis as president of their provisional government. His selection as president of the Confederate States of America required that he deliver an inaugural address. Contemporary observers had anticipated that South Carolina would lead the way to secession and drag along other Deep South states. They were correct. South Carolina’s secession on December 20, 1860, created a chain reaction, as one Deep South state after another passed ordinances of secession.