Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America (CSA) was the government formed by the southern states that seceded from the United States during the period of the American Civil War. 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. The CSA was formed on February 8, 1861 and Jefferson Davis was selected as its first president the next day.

Unlike the US 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," thus seeming to deny to the Southern states the very right to secession that they claimed for themselves when they left the United States. Also, although slavery was enshrined in the constitution, it also prohibited the importation of new slaves from outside the Confederacy.

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.

Stars and Bars Southern Cross

Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide")

1 Timeline

2 States that seceded

3 Important persons

4 External links

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 18, 1862 - A permanent legislature is established.
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.

States that seceded

South Carolina (December 20, 1860)
Mississippi (January 9, 1861)
Florida (January 10,1861)
Alabama (January 11, 1861)
Georgia (January 19, 1861)
Louisiana (January 26, 1861)
Texas (February 1, 1861)
Virginia (April 17, 1861)
Arkansas (May 6, 1861)
Tennessee (May 7, 1861)
North Carolina (May 21, 1861)

Important persons

Robert E. Lee (Virginia) - General
Jefferson Davis (Mississippi) - President
Alexander Hamilton Stephens (Georgia) - Vice-President
Robert Toombs (Georgia) - (1st) Secretary of State
Leroy Pope Walker[?] - (1st) Secretary of War
John C. Breckinridge - (2nd) Secretary of War
Judah P. Benjamin - Attorney General & (later) Secretary of War & (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
P.G.T. Beauregard - General
Nathan Bedford Forrest - General
Albert Sidney Johnson - General
Jeb Stuart - General

External links

The Confederate Constitution (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/csa/csa.htm)
Confederate States of America Documents (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/csa/csapage.htm)