Between April 4 and April 17, the key event changing Virginia public opinion was Lincoln's call for volunteers to suppress the rebellion (and maybe the "_Pawnee_ Sunday" incident) rather than the firing on Sumter. In the case of North Carolina, I suspect that they would have seceded about the same time (late April), but conscious of their own sense of history and destiny delayed until May 20 -- the anniversary of the so-called Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence of 1775 (if you want to know about that one, contact me off-list -- it's NC history after all). David Kiracofe College of Charleston To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html