Confederate States of America was the collective name of the southern states of USA which broke away during the American Civil War.
These included
These states and others broke away from USA and formed their own government which was called the Confederacy. The Confederacy had its own government, its own President, its own ministers and even its own flag.
The southern states didn’t agree with the northern states on many things. The most important among these was the issue of slavery. Slavery was illegal in the northern states while in the southern states it was legal and supported by most of the people.
The southern states also believed that states should have more rights and that the federal government shouldn’t be making the laws of the state. The northern states disagreed with them on this point as well.
Things came to a head when Abraham Lincoln was elected as President of USA. Lincoln believed that the federal government should have more powers and that slavery should be outlawed. The southern states strongly disagreed on both points and decided to break away from the Union.
The first state that left the United States of America and seceded from the Union was South Carolina. South Carolina announced its secession from the Union on December 20, 1860.
The next states to leave were
Other southern states seceded soon afterwards including Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Arkansas.
The southern states who seceded from the Union joined together and called themselves the Confederacy. They knew that they needed a proper government in order to function together. So a Confederate parliament came into being which created a proper Confederate government.
This government was pretty much like the government of USA. There was a parliament, a President, the President’s cabinet which comprised of his ministers, an army and a Confederate Constitution.
The city of Montgomery in Alabama was chosen as the capital of the Confederate government, although Richmond in Virginia was later made the capital. The Confederate government tried to establish diplomatic relations with countries in Europe but they were not successful.
The Confederate government was led by Jefferson Davis who was elected President of the Confederacy. The most famous military commanders on the side of the Confederacy were General Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
The American Civil War started when the Confederate armies tried to take back the forts located in Confederate lands from the control of Union armies. During the Civil War, the Union armies of the northern states wanted to bring the Confederate states back into the Union.
The Confederate armies wanted to defeat the Union armies and maintain their independence. The war continued from 1861 to 1865 during which the Confederacy won many important battles but was eventually defeated. As a result, the Confederate government came to an end and all the southern states once again became a part of USA.
Learn More about the Confederate States of America at Wikipedia
The Confederate Nation: 1861-1865