The Confederate States of America was a country formed by the thirteen states which officially and unofficially seceded from the United States due to disagreements over states’ rights and slavery. It existed from 1861, when the first states began seceding and joining together, until the end of the American Civil War in 1865, when the states were reentered into the United States of America and the Confederate States of America’s federal and state governments were forced to dissolve.
Following the American Revolution tension began to build in the United States between the northern and southern states. Slavery and states’ rights were the two main issues causing disagreement. The United States was moving towards ending slavery. For the southern
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states though, slavery was a major part of their economy and they supported its continuance in the southern states and its introduction into newly established states. States’ rights had been a point of argument in the United States since its founding, and with slavery added to the debate of what states could of couldn’t do, the division between the states was building. The tension reached a new level in 1860 when South Carolina became the first state the secede from the union. South Carolina was quickly followed in succession by the states of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. These states joined together to form a new country, the Confederate States of America. In February 1861 the first convention of the Confederate States of America met in Montgomery, Alabama. At this convention, a provisional constitution was adopted and provisional officials were appointed. Jefferson Davis was appointed as the provisional president and Alexander Hamilton Stephens was appointed the provisional vice-president (“Confederate States of America”). This allowed them to do the jobs of their offices until a permanent government could be established. After being appointed, Davis, on February 18, 1861, appointed his cabinet members, each from a different state. Davis appointed Robert Toombs to Secretary of State, Leroy Pope Walker to Secretary of War, Christopher Gustavus Memminger to Secretary of the Treasury, Henry T Ellet to Postmaster General, Judah Phillip Benjamin to Attorney General, and Stephen Russell Mallory to Secretary of the Navy. On March 11, 1861, a constitution was unanimously ratified by the states which had seceded (“Confederate” 1). The Confederate Constitution was very similar to the constitution of the United States. The Confederate Constitution was composed of seven articles and outlined how their confederate form government would work.
A confederacy is, according to Susan Gold in Forms of Government, a grouping of multiple independent states or territories who join to work together. Gold also explains that a confederacy only works when all of the states or territories involved are able to agree on all major decisions. If the individual states or territories disagree on any major decision it can lead to strong divisions between them, and, since a confederation’s central government has very little power over the states, there will be little or nothing holding the country together. In a confederation each state typically makes its own laws which cannot be overruled by the federal government (Gold, 10). The Confederate States of America’s government was not a strong union held together by a central government like the United States. Instead the Confederate constitution allowed the states to operate much more independently. Article one of the constitution outlined how legislative powers would be delegated. It also described the congress and how it would work. Article two described the executive office. The only major difference from the executive office of the United States was the term length for the president, which was lengthened to six years. The third article established a judicial branch of government with a supreme court as its highest power, much like the judicial branch of the …show more content…
United States government. The rights of the states and citizens was outlined in the fourth article. The confederate government put more emphasis on sates rights than the United States. The fourth article also described how new states could be admitted to the confederacy by a two-thirds vote of the House of Representatives and Senate. In the fifth article the procedure for amending the Confederate constitution was laid out. The sixth article detailed the provisional government which would be in control until the constitution was ratified. The seventh and final article of the constitution explained the qualifications and procedure for ratifying the constitution. (“Constitution”) Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina seceded later and also joined the Confederacy.
Missouri and Kentucky both seceded unofficially and were claimed by both the Confederacy and the Union. Missouri voted not to secede, but after another state government was established, the remaining members of the original government who had supported Missouri’s secession and entrance into the Confederate States of America met in Neosho, Missouri and voted for secession. This led to two competing state governments, one Union and one Confederate. Each state government supported their associated countries with supplies and troops. Kentucky was involved in a similar situation during the war. Kentucky declared itself to be neutral at the beginning of the war but was claimed by both sides. The original government was mostly pro-union and was opposed by a pro-confederacy government which was formed by citizens who wished to secede. Both the Union and Confederate governments recruited soldiers and received supplies from the state, despite its claimed neutrality.
(Bogan) The main concern of the newly formed Confederate government was the formation of an arm in order to fight the United States for their independence. Although there are very few records, it is estimated that the Confederate government was able to form an army of approximately one-and-a-half million men (“Confederate” 1). The South lacked the industry of the North, causing resources to be scarce in the Confederate army. For example, the Tredegar Iron Works was the only factory in the South which was capable of producing large field guns (“Confederate”, 1). It is estimated that nearly 100,000 Confederate soldiers were killed in battle and that nearly double that number died as a result of contracting a disease or being captured by the Union army. The Confederacy began with a strong start to the war, gaining several important victories, but after defeats at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and the Union capture of the Mississippi River splitting the country in half, morale began to fall among the Confederates and the tide of the war turned in the Union’s favor (“Confederate” 1). The Confederacy continued fighting largely unsuccessful military campaigns until April 1865. After Richmond, Virginia, the capital city of the Confederate States of America, was captured by the Union army, Confederate troops were forced to retreat. Then the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia met the Union Army of the Potomac at Appomattox Court House in Virginia (Cushman). After the battle, General Robert E. Lee, the Confederate Army’s overall leader, surrendered to the commander of the United States army Ulysses S. Grant. Following this surrender the Confederate States of America was forced to dissolve on May 5, 1865, and the former states were reentered into the United States of America (“Confederate” 1). The Confederate States of America was a short-lived country which was formed by the states which seceded from the United States of America in 1861 after disagreements divided the country in half. The country they founded was similar to the country from which they seceded, but with more emphasis on the states’ rights. The Confederate States of America was dissolved in 1865 when they lost the American Civil War and the United States reclaimed the territory.
The United States began to dissatisfy some of its citizens and so the concerns of sectionalism, or the split of the country began to arise. There was a continuous riff between the south and the north over a few issues, a major one being slavery. The south argued that the slaves were necessary to support the southern economy. According to document A, the south were angry that the north was creating taxes that hurt the southern economy, thus increasing the need for slavery since they had to make up for the expense of the taxes. The south felt that the north was able...
From the start of the American Civil War, 1860, until the end of the Reconstruction, 1877, the United States of America endured what can be considered a revolution. Prior to the year 1860, there was a lack of union because of central government power flourishing rather than state power. Therefore, there was a split of opposite sides, North and South, fighting for authority. One major issue that came into mind was of slavery. At first, there were enactments that were issued to limit or rather prevent conflict to erupt, such as the numerous compromises, Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. They did not fulfill the needs of the states, South states in particular; therefore, in the year 1860, the Civil War had commenced. There was the issue of inequality of Blacks in suffrage, politics, and the use of public facilities. However, much constitutional and social advancement in the period culminated in the revolution. To a radical extent, constitutional development between 1860 and 1877 amount to a revolution because of events like the Emancipation Proclamation, Civil Rights Act, the amendments that tried to change African Americans lives in American Society and contributed to get the union together. There is the social developments as well that to a lesser extent had amounted to the revolution because of organizations like the Klu Klux Klan, Freedmen’s Bureau lacking, and discrimination against African Americans that caused progression of violence and white supremacy.
In the spring 1861, years of building tensions between the northern states and southern states resulted in the American Civil War. In 1680 an anti-slavery Republican, Abraham Lincoln was elected president causing seven southern states to secede from the union. These seven states included--Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas--. These seven states formed the Confederate States of America. The American Civil War lasted from April 12, 1861 to May 9, 1865 and claimed more than roughly 620,000 lives.
Imagine standing in front of the defaced statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee only to hear two sides of people curse, hurt each other. This situation is too familiar for people who visit Charlottesville, VA, the formerly peaceful town. The controversy between Confederate memorials never ends. Many people argue that Confederate monuments should be taken down because they become the flashpoints of unrest and violence. As far as I am concerned, confederate memorials should remain as these memorials are the legacy of history; history is value-neutral and innocent.
The Southern and Northern states varied on many issues, which eventually led them to the Civil War. There were deep economic, social, and political differences between the North and the South. These differences stemmed from the interpretation of the United States Constitution on both sides. In the end, all of these disagreements about the rights of states led to the Civil War. There were reasons other than slavery for the South?s secession. The manifestations of division in America were many: utopian communities, conflicts over public space, backlash against immigrants, urban riots, black protest, and Indian resistance (Norton 234). America was a divided land in need reform with the South in the most need. The South relied heavily on agriculture, as opposed to the North, which was highly populated and an industrialized society. The South grew cotton, which was its main cash crop and many Southerners knew that heavy reliance on slave labor would hurt the South eventually, but their warnings were not heeded. The South was based on a totalitarian system.
During winter months, basic huts were constructed from wood when it was available. During the civil war, most of the soldiers fought only 75 percent of the time. When they were not fighting, their day usually started at 5:00 in the morning during the summer and spring, and 6:00 in the morning during the fall and winter. Soldiers would be awakened by fifes and drums, then the first sergeant would take a roll call, and all the men sat down to eat breakfast. During the day, soldiers would be engaged in sometimes as many as five 2-hour long drill sessions on weaponry or maneuvers.
Before the mid 1800s, the north and south dealt with a lot of disagreements that involved economic differences. The differences dealt with slavery, representation, states’ rights, and tariffs. There was a conflict with states wanting to balance the freedom of slaves in the states. Another cause was the tariffs which dealt with the taxation of imported goods, the Northern states supported protective tariffs, but the South did not. Consequently, the conflicts began to grow and this increased the differences between the North and South. During the early to mid 1800s sectional differences forced the north and south farther and farther apart. The differences that affected the North and South involved the missouri compromise of 1820, the cotton gin invention, and the Uncle Tom’s novel.
Since the beginning of the Market Revolution, the institution of slavery became the leading factor that intensified the relations between the North and the South. Regarding the geographic differences between the North and South, the South was primarily agrarian and the North was mainly urban. Therefore, the North rapidly industrialized while the South remained relatively rural and cotton-slave based. As a result, the Market Revolution economically separated the North and the South and created a second party system. Thus, the issues of pro-slavery and anti-slavery arose between the Southern Democrats and Northern Republicans in the 1850s. The North desired to halt the expansion of slavery into western territories while the South strongly opposed. These two opposing parties led to radical abolitionism in the North, William Henry Seward and John Brown, and extreme secessionism in the South, James Henry Hammond, and South Carolina Ordinance of Secession. Due to their strict ideologies regarding slavery, both parties could not compromise on the issue of the expansion of slavery. Therefore, according to Americans in the years prior to the Civil War, conflict was inevitable.
Near the end of the Antebellum Era, tensions and sectionalism increased as the states argued over what was constitutional. The South had later seceded from the United States and had become the Confederacy of America while the North had remained as the Union. The South had fully supported states’ rights while the north had strongly disapproved it. However, westward expansion, southern anger with the abolitionists, and the secession of the South that had destroyed the feeling of unity in the country because of the disagreement over slavery had been the main factors to the cause of the Civil War. Therefore, since slavery was the primary reason for the discontent in the country, it had been the primary cause of the Civil War.
North and South The United States of America, the great democratic experiment, was just that. Not since the great Greek culture had a government of, for, and by the people existed. The entire world felt, that on a large scale, democracy would inevitably lead to anarchy; our founding fathers were determined to prove them wrong. But as the political stand off with the British became a secession issue, a great issue split the future nation. Slavery, a southern necessity, both social and economic, threatened the unity of our nation. A nation that would one day be the greatest the world had ever known. During the development of the thirteen colonies, diversity set in early. In the south the temperate climate made the growth of tobacco a suitable and very profitable business. Cultivation of this crop required a lot of land, and therefore settlers lived far apart. Northern Colonies, though, were much more dependent on small farms, with closely knit communities. These differences were the seed of a sectional division that would plague the nation for a century. During the late seventeenth century, this fissure in the ideals of the colonies became apparent. Following the constant political irreverence from Britain, a majority of colonial representatives felt the need for independence. The Declaration of Independence was the document written to do this. It called for an abolition of slavery as well as freedom from British rule. Unfortunately, the South would hear nothing of it. Being strong defenders of states rights, most of the Southern states adhered to their believe in a government less like a supreme authority and more like a dominion of independent states. They would rather stay loyal to their oppressive government than participate in one that shunned their way of life. In order to keep their dreams of independence, they North was forced to make the one cession they did not wish to make. In order to keep a unified nation, the slavery issue was deliberately absent from the Declaration. Some of the Northern delegates were outraged, but none more than John Adams. A renowned proponent of equal rights, he was one of few that saw the irony in establishing a free society without freeing those in bondage. John Adams seems now more like Nostrodamus when he voiced his concern about the slavery issue for future generations. He did not know it, but the couldn’t have been more right.
The cause of the Civil War has been debated among historians for years; however, slavery seemed to be the main issue. The Northern side wanted to abolish slavery and the Southern side wanted to keep slavery and expand it. Due to this ideology, the United States was a separated collection of states. That is why America was seen as an “are”. There was no unification, and no unified idea that led these states to agree. The change for “are” to “is” came after the Civil War, but it was definitely divided before the War.
The Civil War was a battle between the northern states and the southern states. The southern states wanted to secede
...ry six other states to decided to leave the Union; Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. These seven states formed the Confederate States of America, and on February 18 Jefferson Davis was sworn in as its president. There were numerous peace talks of how to settle the dispute, but nothing work. The South did not want to lose slavery and wanted future territories to have slavery. Compromise was impossible.
The American Civil War, also known as the War Between the States, or simply the Civil War in the United States, was a civil war fought from 1861 to 1865, after seven Southern slave states declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America . The states that remained in the Union were known as the "Union" or the "North". The war had its origin in the fractious issue of slavery, especially the extension of slavery into the western territories. Foreign powers did not intervene. After four years of bloody combat that left over 600,000 soldiers dead and destroyed much of the South's infrastructure, the Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, and the difficult Reconstruction process of restoring national unity and guaranteeing rights to the freed slaves began.
The southern states that seceded from the nation formed the Confederate States of America led by President Jefferson Davis. Their essential purpose was to defend “the ...