Thursday, December 20, when, shortly before one p.m., the committee charged with writing the secession ordinance presented its handiwork to the convention for final approval. By now, thanks to heavy editing by Robert Barnwell Rhett meant to pare the wording down to its simplest elements and thus avoid the risk of further debate, the ordinance was a spare 137 words long. It concluded: “The union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of ‘The United States of America,’ is hereby dissolved.”
