Collection of Confederate State of America Materials

The Confederate States of America was a collection of eleven Southern states which formed a government when they seceded from the Union in 1860-1861. The government was led by Jefferson Davis, and lasted until the spring of 1865. Though the Confederacy carried on a major war, it ultimately was never recognized as a sovereign nation, and was disbanded after its defeat in the Civil War.

Prior to the outbreak of the war, the South felt their economy and traditions threatened by rising abolitionist sentiment in the North. With the election of Abraham Lincoln, seven states initially seceded from the Union: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Texas. After the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia additionally joined the Confederacy. Headed by President Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy created its own constitution, modeled after the U.S. Constitution.

The principal issue of the Confederacy was raising and equipping an army to fight Union forces. Though bolstered by initial victories in 1861 and 1862, the army was defeated in battles at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, which shattered the illusion of the supremacy of their army. General Robert E. Lee and General Joseph E. Johnston were able to fend off the Northern armies in the North and West for a time, but ultimately were worn down by dwindling manpower and stronger Union armies. After the surrender of Robert E. Lee on April 9th, 1865, Confederate generals in the South subsequently surrendered or disbanded their armies. The Confederacy ceased to exist with the end of the Civil War, and each state was readmitted to the Union in the Reconstruction Era, after individually ratifying the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.