Confederate States of America

Confederate States of America (Boyer, 2008)

Textbook
Some Southerners had threatened secession at the prospect of Lincoln's election. Now the moment of decision had arrived. On December 20, 1860, a South Carolina convention voted unanimously for secession; in short order Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed. On February 4, delegates from these seven states met in Montgomery, Alabama, and established the Confederate States of America.
Paul S. Boyer, et al., eds., The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People, 6th ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008), 420.
Date Event
The Convention of Seceding States opens at the State House in Montgomery, Alabama
The Convention of Seceding States passes the provisional constitution of the Confederate States
- The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States is sitting in Montgomery, Alabama
Jefferson Davis selected as Provisional President of the Confederate States
Jefferson Davis sworn in as Provisional President of the Confederate States
First Confederate government bond authorized
Confederate States Constitution adopted in Montgomery, Alabama
In Georgia, Vice-President A.H. Stephens pronounces slavery the foundation of the new Confederacy
Confederate president invites applications for "letters of Marque and Reprisal"
The Congress of the Confederate States opens a special session session in Montgomery, Alabama
- The Congress of the Confederate States is sitting in special session session in Montgomery, Alabama
In Parliament, the British foreign secretary declares the Confederacy at war with the Union
Robert E. Lee appointed commander of all Confederate troops in Virginia
In Montgomery, Alabama, the special session session of the Confederate States Congress ends
The Confederate Post Office issues its first postage stamps, bearing the likeness of Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis declares a day of "fasting, humiliation, and prayer" across the Confederacy
Judah P. Benjamin is named as Confederate Secretary of War and Thomas Bragg as Attorney General
In Richmond, the Confederate Congress votes to admit Missouri as the Confederacy's eleventh state
- In Richmond, Virginia, the First Confederate Congress is meeting in its first session
In a rainy Richmond, Virginia, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated to a full term as Confederate president
In Tennessee, Confederate forces evacuate Nashville, the state capital
In Tennessee, Nashville becomes the first Confederate capital to fall to the Union
Jefferson Davis declares martial law in the Richmond area and also bans the production of spirits
Confederate president Jefferson Davis signs the first Conscription Act in American history
In Richmond, Virginia, the First Confederate Congress is now adjourned till August
Robert E. Lee is appointed field commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
- In Richmond, Virginia, the First Confederate Congress is meeting in its second session
- In Richmond, Virginia, the First Confederate Congress is sitting in its third session
The new Confederate National Flag flies for the first time over the Confederate Capitol in Richmond
- In Richmond, Virginia, the First Confederate Congress is sitting in its fourth and final session
The House of Representatives passes a non-binding resolution that Jefferson Davis be tried for treason
Montgomery, AL
Richmond, VA
Date Title
Chicago (IL) Tribune, “A. H. Stephens,” February 12, 1861
New York Times, “Arms for the Rebels,” May 1, 1861
New York Times, “The Reward of Treason,” May 16, 1861
Chicago (IL) Tribune, “A New Trouble in Georgia,” May 25, 1861
Charleston (SC) Mercury, “The Military Policy of the North,” May 29, 1861
Cleveland (OH) Herald, “Virginia Playing the Foot,” June 4, 1861
San Francisco (CA) Evening Bulletin, “The Lack of “Improved” Firearms in the South,” June 5, 1861
New York Times, “The Bitter Fruits,” June 10, 1861
New York Times, “Famine Among the Confederates,” June 20, 1861
New York Times, “Are They Pirates?,” June 23, 1861
Charleston (SC) Mercury, “Anniversaries of Independence,” June 27, 1861
Chillicothe (OH) Scioto Gazette, “Davis’ Subjects Dumpish and Disgusted,” July 2, 1861
Newark (OH) Advocate, “The Impending Danger,” July 5, 1861
(Concord) New Hampshire Statesman, “Andrew Johnson,” July 6, 1861
Gideon Welles to Abraham Lincoln, August 5, 1861
Andrew Johnson and William B. Carter to Abraham Lincoln, August 6, 1861
Raleigh (NC) Register, “Arrest of a Traitor,” August 14, 1861
Chicago (IL) Tribune, “East Tennessee,” August 16, 1861
New Orleans (LA) Picayune, “Confederate Treasury Notes,” August 25, 1861
Cleveland (OH) Herald, “Union Feeling in North Carolina,” August 27, 1861
New York Herald, “Mason and Slidell,” November 17, 1861
President Jefferson Davis, Message to the Confederate Congress, November 18, 1861
Fayetteville (NC) Observer, “Beautiful Weapon,” February 3, 1862
How to Cite This Page: "Confederate States of America," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/36593.