Was SC Preparing for War Before Lincoln's Election?

WJC

Major General
Judge Adv. Genl.
Thread Medic
Answered the Call for Reinforcements
Joined
Aug 16, 2015
South Carolina seceded December 20, 1860, followed by other states in early 1861.
The accepted reason is that South Carolinians were shocked at the outcome of the 1860 election and feared that the incoming Lincoln Administration would end slavery or at the least curtail its expansion.
This, we are told, led South Carolinians to attempt to secede and ultimately brought on an unexpected civil war.
A friend from South Carolina, recently claimed that South Carolina's legislature appropriated $50,000 to buy "guns and equipment" in January 1860, well before Lincoln was even nominated! My southern friend could not provide a source for this assertion and I haven't been able to find one either. Fortunately, I have the resources of the many learned Civil Was scholars here- including probably some from South Carolina.
Is this assertion true? Or a part of Civil War mythology?
 
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