The Old Capitol is located at 120 N State Street in downtown Jackson MS. In 1858 then MS US Senator Jefferson Davis gave his famous "Gathering Storm" speech, where he said that if an abolitionist was ever elected President, that MS would be justified for her own survival in leaving the Union.
That speech can be found here: (
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An excerpt of Davis' speech:
"It seems now to be probable that the Abolitionists and their allies will have control of the next House of Representatives, and it may be well inferred from their past course that the will attempt legislature both injurious and offensive to the south. I have an abiding faith that any law which violates our constitutional rights, will be met with a veto by the present Executive. – But should the next House of Representatives be such as would elect an Abolition President, we may expect that the election will be so conducted as probably to defeat a choice by the people and devolve the election upon the House.
Whether by the House or by the people, if an Abolitionist be chosen president of the United States, you will have presented to you the question of whether you will permit the government to pass into the hands of your avowed and implacable enemies. Withoutt pausing for your answer, I will state my own position to be that such a result would be a species of revolution by which the purposes of the Government would be destroyed and the observances of its mere forms entitled to no respect.
In that event, in such manner as should be most expedient, I should deem it your duty to provide for your safety outside of a Union with those how have already shown the will, and would have acquired the power, to deprive you of your birthright and to reduce you to worse than the colonial dependence of your fathers."
Three years later, the 1861 MS Secession Convention met here, and passed the Resolution of Secession. After learning that his home state had seceded from the Union, Sen. Jefferson Davis resigned his US Senate seat and returned home. He would later be elected President of the Confederate States of America.
From the Civil War Trust website: (
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"Mississippi
100 South State Street
Jackson, MS 39201
Website: www.mdah.ms.gov/new/visit/old-capitol-museum/
This building was the site of Mississippi's Secession Convention, January 1861. It continued as the seat of state government until May 1863, when it was evacuated before the Battle of Jackson and later vandalized by Federal troops. For the remainder of the War, it remained in Confederate hands, although legislative and state offices were removed to Macon. In October of 1864 it served as a Confederate military headquarters.
From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History website: (
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"Old Capitol Museum
Jackson’s oldest building, the Old Capitol is home to a museum exploring the history of the site when it was the seat of Mississippi government from 1839 to 1903. Normal hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
The Old Capitol was the site of some of the state’s most significant legislative actions, such as the passage of the 1839 Married Women’s Property Act, Mississippi’s secession from the Union in 1861, and the crafting of the 1868 and 1890 state constitutions.
The building is a National Historic Landmark, and one of the country’s premier examples of Greek Revival public architecture. When it was built in 1839, the massive limestone exterior, copper dome, and grand interior spaces made the Old Capitol the most distinguished building in Mississippi.
Directions: The Old Capitol Museum is located at 100 South State Street, Jackson, MS 39201. Take the Pearl Street exit (96A) off I-55. Turn right onto State Street, then turn right onto Amite Street. The Old Capitol parking area will be to your right."
The state historic marker in front of the Old Capitol reads as follows:
"MISSISSIPPI'S OLD CAPITOL
As the State Capitol (1839-1903), this building was the site of the 1861 Secession Convention in 1868 and 1890 Constitutional Conventions. Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and Jefferson Davis spoke here. After housing state offices 1917-1959, the Old Capitol was restored and opened in 1961 is the state historical Museum. Damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it was restored again and reopened in 2009."