Confederate States of America

     From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Confederate States of America (CSA, also known as the Confederacy) was the government formed by the southern states that seceded from the United States during the period of the American Civil War. The 11 states of the Confederacy were Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. (Note that the states of Missouri and Kentucky each had two separate governments, one Union, one Confederate. As such, they were claimed by both sides as members.) The Confederacy was formed on February 4, 1861 and Jefferson Davis was selected as its first president the next day.

For most of its duration, the Confederacy was engaged in the American Civil War against the remainder of the Union.

Table of contents

1 Structure and government 2 See also 3 Timeline 4 Significant dates 5 Political leaders of the Confederacy 6 Military leaders of the Confederacy 7 External links

Structure and government

Its constitution was very similar to that of the United States (or the "Union"), although it reflected a stronger philosophy of states' rights, and it also contained an explicit protection of the institution of slavery. For instance, the federal government was prohibited from issuing protective tariffs or funding internal improvements, but was mandated to protect the institution of slavery in the territories. At the drafting of the Constitution of the Confederacy, many radical proposals such as allowing only slave states to join and to reinstate the Atlantic slave trade were turned down. The Constitution specifically did not include a provision allowing states to secede, since the southerners had believed this to be a right inherent in the U.S. Constitution, and thus including it as such would have weakened their original argument for secession.

Unlike the U.S. president, the president of the Confederacy was to be elected to a six-year term and could not be reelected. The only president was Jefferson Davis; the Confederacy was defeated by Union forces before he could finish out his term. Although the preamble refers to "each State acting in its sovereign and independent character," it also refers to the formation of a "permanent federal government." Also, although slavery was enshrined in the constitution, it also prohibited the importation of new slaves from outside the Confederacy. This provision ensured the practice of slave labor would not expand, and would encourage states to actively pursue transition to a modern labor force.

Although negotiations took place between the Confederacy and several European powers (including France and England), it was never granted formal recognition by any foreign state.

The capital of the Confederacy was Montgomery, Alabama, from February 4 1861 until May 29 1861, when it was moved to Richmond, Virginia (Richmond was named the new capital on May 6). Shortly before the end of the war the Confederate government evacuated Richmond with plans to relocate further south, but little came of this before Lee's surrender.

The official flag of the Confederacy, and the one actually called the "Stars and Bars," was sometimes hard to distinguish from the Union flag under battle conditions, so the Confederate battle flag, the "Southern Cross," became the one more commonly used and, therefore, the one most people associate with the Confederacy today. (It is often called the "Stars and Bars," too, but should not be.) The Stars and Bars had seven stars, for the seven states that had seceded from the Union by the time it was adopted; the Southern Cross had thirteen stars, for the eleven states that did secede and for the two that were admitted to the Confederacy but that had either declared neutrality or been prevented from seceding by Union occupation, so they had representatives in both governments: Kentucky and Missouri.

See also

Flags of the Confederate States of America, Stamps and postal history of the Confederate States, Origins of the American Civil War

Timeline

• December 20, 1860 - South Carolina secedes from the Union.
• February, 1861 - A constitutional convention prepares a provisional constitution and chooses members of a provisional government.
• March 11, 1861 - A permanent constitution is ratified.
• February 14, 1862 - Confederate Arizona Territory is organized.
• February 18, 1862 - A permanent legislature is established.
• January 5, 1863 - Jefferson Davis reacts to Emancipation Proclamation with speech calling for free blacks to be reenslaved
• March 13, 1865 - Faced with severe manpower shortages the CSA reluctantly agreed to use African American troops.
• March 18, 1865 - The Congress of the CSA adjourned for the last time.
• April 2, 1865 - Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet flee the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.
• April 3, 1865 - Union forces capture the capital Richmond, Virginia.
• April 9, 1865 - Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, thereby effectively putting an end to the Confederacy.

Significant dates

State	Seceded	Admitted C.S.	Readmitted U.S.	"Conservative Rule Reestablished"
South Carolina	December 20, 1860	February 4, 1861	July 9, 1868	November 28, 1876
Mississippi	January 9, 1861	February 4, 1861	February 23, 1870	January 4, 1876
Florida	January 10,1861	February 4, 1861	June 25, 1868	January 2, 1877
Alabama	January 11, 1861	February 4, 1861	July 14, 1868	November 16, 1874
Georgia	January 19, 1861	February 4, 1861	July 15, 1870	November 1, 1871
Louisiana	January 26, 1861	February 4, 1861	June 25 or July 9, 1868	January 2, 1877
Texas	February 1, 1861	March 2, 1861	March 30, 1870	January 14, 1873
Virginia	April 17, 1861	May 7, 1861	January 26, 1870	October 5, 1869
Arkansas	May 6, 1861	May 18, 1861	June 22, 1868	November 10, 1874
Tennessee	May 6, 1861	May 16, 1861	July 24, 1866	October 4, 1869
North Carolina	May 21, 1861	May 16, 1861	July 4, 1868	November 28, 1876

Political leaders of the Confederacy

• Jefferson Davis (Mississippi) - President
• Alexander Stephens (Georgia) - Vice-President
• Robert Toombs (Georgia) - (1st) Secretary of State
• Leroy Pope Walker - Secretary of War
• George W. Randolph - Secretary of War (March - November 1862)
• John C. Breckinridge - Secretary of War and former V.P. of the U.S under James Buchanan
• Judah P. Benjamin - Attorney General and (later) Secretary of War and (later) Secretary of State)
• Stephen R. Mallory - Secretary of the Navy
• Christopher G. Memminger - Secretary of the Treasury
• John H. Reagen (of Texas) - Postmaster General
• Howell Cobb - President of Congress
• William L. Yancey - Senator & Commissioner

Military leaders of the Confederacy

• Robert E. Lee (Virginia) - General
• Albert Sidney Johnston (Mississippi) - General
• Joseph E. Johnston (Virginia) - General
• Braxton Bragg (North Carolina) - General
• P.G.T. Beauregard (Louisiana) - General
• James Longstreet - Lieut. General
• Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson (Virginia) - Lieut. General
• Nathan Bedford Forrest (Mississippi) - Lieut. General
• Jeb Stuart (Virginia) - Maj. General
• Edward Porter Alexander (Georgia) - Brig. General
• John Bell Hood(Texas) - Lt. General

External links

• The Confederate Constitution
• Confederate History from the pages of 1860's Harper's Weekly Newspapers
• Confederate States of America Documents