Jefferson Davis Research Paper

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Jefferson Davis was born June 3, 1808 to the Revolutionary War soldier Samuel Davis, in Christian County, Kentucky (only 100 miles from where Abraham Lincoln was born eight months later). Although born in Kentucky, Davis was raised in Mississippi where he lived with his older brother. With the help of his brother Davis was able to gain an education at the Catholic school of Saint Thomas at St. Rose Priory in Washington Country, Kentucky. Three years later Davis returned to study at in 1818 Davis returned to Mississippi, studying at Jefferson College at Washington. In 1821, he returned to Kentucky, where he studied at Transylvania University in Lexington. Davis' brother made arrangements to allow Davis to attend the United States Military Academy …show more content…

Although both Davis and his daughter asked Taylor to allow the marriage, Taylor refused to allow the two to marry due to Davis' status as a soldier. After many discussions with his brother, Davis resigned from the army and bought land next to his brothers plantation. The couple married June 17, 1835. The newly weds marriage didn't last long due to Sarah Taylor and Jefferson Davis contracting malaria, although Davis survived the disease, Sarah Taylor did not. For several years after his wife's death, Davis became reclusive and began to developing his plantation that he bought from his brother. Over time Davis began to study politics and governmental history, Davis also started to increase his slave ownership numbers. In 1840, Davis became involved in politics when he attended a Democratic Party meeting in Vicksburg and was chosen as a delegate to the party's state convention in …show more content…

In 1844, Davis was sent to the party convention for a third time. He was then selected as one of six presidential electors for the 1844 presidential election and campaigned throughout Mississippi for the Democratic candidate James K. Polk. In 1844, Davis met Varina Banks Howell, whom he met at his brothers plantation. Within a month of netting, Davis asked Varina to marry him, and they became engaged despite her parents' initial concerns about his age and politics. They were married on February 26, 1845. Jefferson and Varina had six children; three died before reaching adulthood. Samuel Emory, born July 30, 1852, he died June 30, 1854, of an undiagnosed disease. Margaret Howell was born February 25, 1855, and was the only child to marry and raise a family. Jefferson Davis, Jr., was born January 16, 1857. He died of yellow fever at age 21 on October 16, 1878, Joseph Evan, born on April 18, 1859, died at the age of five due to an accidental fall on April 30, 1864. William Howell, born on December 6, 1861, he died of diphtheria at age 10 on October

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