and William Heiskell (Monroe) were named assistant vice presidents, and A. L. Greene (Roane), S. P. Doss (Bledsoe), and J. Monroe Meek (Jefferson) were named assistant secretaries. After delivering a one-hour speech, Nelson appointed a 26-man general committee (or "business" committee), consisting of one delegate for each county (two counties, Marion and Hancock, were represented by proxies). The committee was tasked with drawing up a set of resolutions as a response to the actions of the state government. While the committee was meeting privately, former Congressman Thomas D. Arnold, a member of the Greene County delegation, delivered an explosive two-hour speech to the rest of the convention. On the morning of May 31, Senator Andrew Johnson delivered a three-hour speech. The business committee announced its proposed resolutions on May 31 (interrupting Johnson's speech), and after a short debate, they were adopted. The resolutions essentially praised freedom of assembly, denounced the legislature's violation of state and federal laws, condemned secessionist leaders, and declared the June 8 vote and the state's formation of a military league with the Confederacy unconstitutional. Nelson, as president, was empowered to summon the convention at a future date and select the place where it would convene. Interim After the convention adjourned, its leaders embarked on a speaking campaign in hopes of once again thwarting secessionists' efforts in the June 8 referendum. Nelson and Johnson, who had been jointly campaigning in the weeks before the convention, resumed their canvass. Fiery newspaper publisher William G. Brownlow defended the convention's actions in the Knoxville Whig. The pro-secession Knoxville Register, on the other hand, blasted the convention, stating it was driven by "selfish motives," and that its resolutions amounted to treason. On June 8, secessionists prevailed when voters statewide approved the state's secession ordinance by a margin of 108,418 to 46,996. However, while 86% of voters in Middle and West Tennessee approved of the ordinance, nearly 70% of East Tennessee voters still opposed it. A majority of voters in every East Tennessee county opposed the ordinance with the exception of Sullivan, Meigs, Monroe, Rhea, Sequatchie, and Polk. A county-by-county breakdown of the vote shows that opposition to secession was strongest in the mountainous northern East Tennessee counties, namely Scott (99% against), Sevier (96%), Carter (94%), Campbell (94%), and Anderson (93%). Rhea County showed the most dramatic shift since the February referendum, going from 88% against secession in February to 64% for