Missouri secession

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During the lead-up to the American Civil War, the proposed secession of Missouri from the Union was controversial because of the state's disputed status. The Missouri state convention voted in March 1861, by 98-1, against secession, and was a border state until abolishing slavery in January 1865. Missouri was claimed by both the Union and the Confederacy, had two rival state governments, (its Confederate state “government” in exile, operating out of northern Texas), and sent representatives to both the United States Congress and the Confederate Congress.

Despite sporadic threats from pro-Confederate irregular armies and the Confederacy controlling Southern Missouri early in the war, the Union government had established permanent control of Missouri by 1862, with the Missouri Confederate government functioning only as a government in exile for the rest of the duration of the war after being driven from the state.