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Copyright 2001. The Lazy 'C' - All rights reserved.
history
The Confederate States of America was
the name taken by six southern states of
the United States when they organized
their own government at Montgomery,
Alabama, in February 1861.
The states seceded (withdrew) from the
government of the United States in 1860
and 1861 because they feared that the
election of Abraham Lincoln, a Republican
President, might lead to restrictions on their
right to do as they chose about the
question of slavery. The first state to leave
the Union was South Carolina on Dec. 20,
1860.
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana followed South Carolina's lead in January 1861. In March 1861, Texas also seceded, and later in that year Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee joined the ranks to make 11 Confederate States in all.
The idea of a state leaving the Union was not new, and the South did not invent it. Throughout the United States, people who believed in the doctrine of states' rights had long argued that any state had the right to withdraw from the Union whenever it chose. They argued that individual states had formed the Union and therefore could also dissolve it.
Government. Organization of a government for the Confederacy began on Feb. 4, 1861, when delegates from the six states that had seceded by that time met at Montgomery, Alabama, and set up a temporary government. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected president of the Confederacy, and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia was chosen vice president. Both were to serve for one year. After the adoption of a permanent constitution, they were elected to six-year terms. Montgomery was named the temporary capital. After Virginia seceded, the Confederate Congress voted on May 21, 1861, to move its capital to Richmond, Virginia. The move was accomplished on May 29.
The Confederate States hoped for a peaceful withdrawal from the Union. A number of people in the Confederacy and in the Union worked hard to avoid civil war. But their efforts failed, and the war began on April 12, 1861.
The border states were the slave states that lay between the North and the Deep South. When the war began, both the Union and the Confederacy made strong efforts to gain their support. North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee joined the Confederacy. Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri stayed in the Union. But the western counties of Virginia seceded from the South later in the war, and formed the state of West Virginia. And secessionist groups set up separate state governments in both Kentucky and Missouri, even though these states stayed in the Union. These groups also sent delegates to the Confederate Congress. This accounts for the 13 stars in the Confederate flag even though only 11 states actually joined the Confederacy.
Foreign relations. Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Brazil were among the countries that recognized the Confederate States as a belligerent, but not as a nation. This meant that Confederate ships received the same privileges granted to vessels of the United States in foreign ports or on the high seas.
The Confederacy suffered great financial disadvantages. The wealth of the United States, before secession, lay mainly in the North, and the South lacked adequate resources for taxation.
Progress of the war favoured the Confederacy in the first months. The defeat of the Union forces at Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December 1862, led the emperor of France, Napoleon III, to offer his services as peacemaker between the Union and the Confederacy. The Union rejected this offer.
In 1863, the tide began to turn against the Confederacy. The Union armies could get more materials and supplies from the industrial North than the Confederate armies could obtain from the agricultural South. The North kept its army supplied with ammunition, food, and clothing, while the army of the South often lacked these supplies. Union ships blockaded Southern ports. The only way the South could bring in necessary supplies from overseas was to run the blockade. But Southern soldiers fought bravely until there was no longer any hope of victory.
The Confederate Congress met often during the war, mainly to follow the bidding of President Davis, who freely used his war powers. Union forces took Richmond on April 3, 1865. Danville, Virginia, then became the capital of the Davis government. The main Confederate army surrendered on April 9, 1865. The road to reunion in spirit between the North and the South was long, but by the beginning of the 1900's resentment had been largely forgotten.
the name taken by six southern states of
the United States when they organized
their own government at Montgomery,
Alabama, in February 1861.
The states seceded (withdrew) from the
government of the United States in 1860
and 1861 because they feared that the
election of Abraham Lincoln, a Republican
President, might lead to restrictions on their
right to do as they chose about the
question of slavery. The first state to leave
the Union was South Carolina on Dec. 20,
1860.
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana followed South Carolina's lead in January 1861. In March 1861, Texas also seceded, and later in that year Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee joined the ranks to make 11 Confederate States in all.
The idea of a state leaving the Union was not new, and the South did not invent it. Throughout the United States, people who believed in the doctrine of states' rights had long argued that any state had the right to withdraw from the Union whenever it chose. They argued that individual states had formed the Union and therefore could also dissolve it.
Government. Organization of a government for the Confederacy began on Feb. 4, 1861, when delegates from the six states that had seceded by that time met at Montgomery, Alabama, and set up a temporary government. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected president of the Confederacy, and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia was chosen vice president. Both were to serve for one year. After the adoption of a permanent constitution, they were elected to six-year terms. Montgomery was named the temporary capital. After Virginia seceded, the Confederate Congress voted on May 21, 1861, to move its capital to Richmond, Virginia. The move was accomplished on May 29.
The Confederate States hoped for a peaceful withdrawal from the Union. A number of people in the Confederacy and in the Union worked hard to avoid civil war. But their efforts failed, and the war began on April 12, 1861.
The border states were the slave states that lay between the North and the Deep South. When the war began, both the Union and the Confederacy made strong efforts to gain their support. North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee joined the Confederacy. Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri stayed in the Union. But the western counties of Virginia seceded from the South later in the war, and formed the state of West Virginia. And secessionist groups set up separate state governments in both Kentucky and Missouri, even though these states stayed in the Union. These groups also sent delegates to the Confederate Congress. This accounts for the 13 stars in the Confederate flag even though only 11 states actually joined the Confederacy.
Foreign relations. Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Brazil were among the countries that recognized the Confederate States as a belligerent, but not as a nation. This meant that Confederate ships received the same privileges granted to vessels of the United States in foreign ports or on the high seas.
The Confederacy suffered great financial disadvantages. The wealth of the United States, before secession, lay mainly in the North, and the South lacked adequate resources for taxation.
Progress of the war favoured the Confederacy in the first months. The defeat of the Union forces at Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December 1862, led the emperor of France, Napoleon III, to offer his services as peacemaker between the Union and the Confederacy. The Union rejected this offer.
In 1863, the tide began to turn against the Confederacy. The Union armies could get more materials and supplies from the industrial North than the Confederate armies could obtain from the agricultural South. The North kept its army supplied with ammunition, food, and clothing, while the army of the South often lacked these supplies. Union ships blockaded Southern ports. The only way the South could bring in necessary supplies from overseas was to run the blockade. But Southern soldiers fought bravely until there was no longer any hope of victory.
The Confederate Congress met often during the war, mainly to follow the bidding of President Davis, who freely used his war powers. Union forces took Richmond on April 3, 1865. Danville, Virginia, then became the capital of the Davis government. The main Confederate army surrendered on April 9, 1865. The road to reunion in spirit between the North and the South was long, but by the beginning of the 1900's resentment had been largely forgotten.