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|Robert Toombs, Robert M.T. Hunter, Judah P. Benjamin

|Robert Toombs, Robert M.T. Hunter, Judah P. Benjamin

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The '''Confederate States of America''' (informally, the ''Confederacy'') was a government created from an alliance of eleven southern states which had seceded from the [[United States]] between December 1860 and April 1861.  The [[American Civil War]] that was begun by the Confederate shelling of Fort Sumter proved disasterous; four years of savage fighting ended with the fledgling government defeated and dissolved, and left the southern states a financial and industrial wreck.

The '''Confederate States of America''' (informally, the ''Confederacy'') was a government created from an alliance of eleven southern states which had seceded from the [[United States]] between December 1860 and April 1861.  The [[American Civil War]] that was begun by the Confederate shelling of Fort Sumter proved disastrous; four years of savage fighting ended with the fledgling government defeated and dissolved, and left the southern states a financial and industrial wreck.

==Beginnings==

==Beginnings==

The various southern states seceded from the [[United States of America]] and joined together as the "Confederate States of America" for a number of reasons, including a Northern state favored balance of power in Congress, Free Trade, and, after Lincoln's triumph in the [[1860 Presidential election]], the threat of [[abolitionism|abolitionists]] to end [[slavery]], which Southerners viewed as a matter of [[states' rights]] that should not be enforced at the federal level, rather than as a moral issue. It can be argued that the issue of slavery was only the flash point for the conflict, and that resentment in the South about the more centralised federal government that undermined general [[states' rights]].

The various southern states seceded from the [[United States of America]] and joined together as the "Confederate States of America" for a number of reasons, including the balance of power in Congress, which favored northern states, the impact of free trade on the south's agricultural exports, and, after Lincoln's triumph in the [[1860 Presidential election]], the threat of [[abolitionism|abolitionists]] support of an end to [[slavery]], which southerners viewed as a matter of [[states' rights]] rather than as a moral issue. It can be argued that the issue of slavery was a flash point for the conflict, and that resentment in the South about the centralized federal government undermined general [[states' rights]].

Only four states where slavery was legal at that time failed to secede -- [[Delaware]], [[Kentucky]], [[Maryland]] and [[Missouri]].  It was a near thing in the latter three states, which all wound up raising [[regiment]]s for the Confederacy as well as the [[Union]], although not as an official act of their governments.

Only four states where slavery was legal at that time remained part of the United States: [[Delaware]], [[Kentucky]], [[Maryland]] and [[Missouri]].  Residents of the latter three states raised [[regiment]]s for the Confederacy, although not as an official act of their governments.

The president of the Confederate States of America was [[Jefferson Davis]], a former [[Secretary of War]] under [[President]] [[Franklin Pierce]] and later [[Senator]] from [[Mississippi]].  [[Richmond, Virginia]] was the capital of the Confederacy after that state seceded in mid-April of 1861 following the surrender of [[Fort Sumter]] and [[Lincoln's call for volunteers]], and one day before the [[Pratt Street riot]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland]], the first battle of the Civil War to kill Americans on both sides.   

The president of the Confederate States of America was [[Jefferson Davis]], a former [[Secretary of War]] under [[President]] [[Franklin Pierce]] and [[Senator]] from [[Mississippi]].  [[Richmond, Virginia]] was the capital of the Confederacy after that state seceded in mid-April of 1861 following the surrender of [[Fort Sumter]] and [[Lincoln's call for volunteers]], and one day before the [[Pratt Street riot]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland]], the first battle of the Civil War to kill Americans on both sides.   

General [[Robert E. Lee]] led the Confederate forces into battle against the Union armies, led by various generals appointed by [[Abraham Lincoln]], with the last, and most successful being General Ulysses S. Grant.  

General [[Robert E. Lee]] led the Confederate forces into battle against the Union armies, which were led by various generals appointed by [[Abraham Lincoln]], with the last, and most successful being General Ulysses S. Grant.  

== Ideology ==

== Ideology ==

Professor [[Emory Thomas]] of [[Virginia]] found it instructive to compare the correspondence sent by the Confederate government in the first year of its existence to different governments.  He writes, "The Southern nation was by turns a guileless people attacked by a voracious neighbor, an 'established' nation in some temporary difficulty, a collection of bucolic [[aristocrats]] making a romantic stand against the banalities of [[industry|industrial]] [[democracy]], a [[cabal]] of commercial farmers seeking to make a pawn of [[King Cotton]], an [[apotheosis]] of nineteenth-century [[nationalism]] and revolutionary [[liberalism]], or the ultimate statement of social and economic [[reaction]]." <ref> [Emory M. Thomas, The Confederate Nation: 1861-1865.  New York: Harper & Row, 1979, pp. 83-84.] </ref> Certainly some of the leaders of the Confederacy could be found to believe in any one of these incarnations of their country, but probably none to believe in all at once.  The aspect of resistance to [[industrialization]] has most captured the imagination of future generations of Southerners.

Professor [[Emory Thomas]] of [[Virginia]] found it instructive to compare the correspondence sent by the Confederate government in the first year of its existence to different governments.  He writes, "The Southern nation was by turns a guileless people attacked by a voracious neighbor, an 'established' nation in some temporary difficulty, a collection of bucolic [[aristocrats]] making a romantic stand against the banalities of [[industry|industrial]] [[democracy]], a [[cabal]] of commercial farmers seeking to make a pawn of [[King Cotton]], an [[apotheosis]] of nineteenth-century [[nationalism]] and revolutionary [[liberalism]], or the ultimate statement of social and economic [[reaction]]." <ref> [Emory M. Thomas, The Confederate Nation: 1861-1865.  New York: Harper & Row, 1979, pp. 83-84.] </ref> Certainly some of the leaders of the Confederacy could be found to believe in any one of these incarnations of their country, but probably none to believe in all at once.  The aspect of resistance to [[industrialization]] has most captured the imagination of future generations of Southerners.

The example of the [[U. S. Constitution]] clearly guided the drafters of the Confederate Constitution, enabling the latter group to complete their work in less than half as much time. <ref> [Thomas, p. 63.] </ref> The predictable provision banning efforts to end de jure slavery is found at Article I, Section 9, clause 4, lumped in with the provisions banning [[ex post facto laws]] and [[bills of attainder]].  It is three clauses down from a most unexpected clause banning the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] [[slave trade]], but permitting the importation of slaves from the Union.  The wording of this clause demonstrates that the drafters clearly anticipated that not all slave states would secede, although they also included a provision for accepting new states into the Confederacy, which proved essential when [[Virginia]], [[Arkansas]], [[Tennessee]] and [[North Carolina]] seceded from the United States after the Constitution was in effect.  Although the Confederate document includes no [[bill of rights]] as such, the [[Ninth Amendment]] and [[Tenth Amendment]] are reproduced in Article VI as Sections 5 and 6.  The Confederate ban on a [[religious test for office]] is Section 4, notwithstanding the fact that the preamble invokes the blessing of almighty [[God]] on the Confederate experiment. <ref> [Thomas, Appendix, pp. 306-322.] </ref>  Perhaps the most significant differences had to do with the [[appropriations]] process in Congress.  Not only was a [[line-item veto]] expressly included, but Congress required a two-thirds [[supermajority]] to appropriate any funds not specifically requested by the President, giving Jefferson Davis in a real sense more Constitutional power than Abraham Lincoln possessed.

The example of the [[U. S. Constitution]] clearly guided the drafters of the Confederate Constitution, enabling the latter group to complete their work in less than half as much time. <ref> [Thomas, p. 63.] </ref> However, this Confederate Constitution contained a provision banning efforts to end de jure slavery, found at Article I, Section 9, clause 4, lumped in with the provisions banning [[ex post facto laws]] and [[bills of attainder]].  Another clause banned the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] [[slave trade]], but permitted the importation of slaves from the Union; this clause was consistent with the United States' banning of Atlantic slave trading in 1808, which had the effect of improving the domestic slave market, benefiting states such as [[Virginia]].  The wording of this clause demonstrates that the drafters clearly anticipated that not all slave states would secede, although they also included a provision for accepting new states into the Confederacy. This proved essential when [[Virginia]], [[Arkansas]], [[Tennessee]] and [[North Carolina]] seceded from the United States after the Confederate Constitution was in effect.  Although the Confederate document includes no [[bill of rights]], the [[Ninth Amendment]] and [[Tenth Amendment]] of the U.S. Bill of Rights are reproduced in Article VI as Sections 5 and 6.  The Confederate Constitution implemented a ban on a [[religious test for office]] in Section 4, notwithstanding the preamble's invocation of [[God]]'s blessing on the Confederate experiment. <ref> [Thomas, Appendix, pp. 306-322.] </ref>  Other differences had to do with the [[appropriations]] process in Congress.  Not only was a [[line-item veto]] expressly included, but Congress required a two-thirds [[supermajority]] to appropriate any funds not specifically requested by the President, giving Jefferson Davis in a real sense more Constitutional power than Abraham Lincoln possessed - an irony, given the Confederate states' putative objection to centralized power.

==Leadership==

==Leadership==

== Economics ==

== Economics ==

While ideology would provide much of the motivation to go to war, the economics of the Northern and Southern states made it impossible for anything but a clash to come about{{fact}}. While the Northern States had modernized and embraced the industrial revolution, incorporating new technology and rebuilding infrastructure to support it, the South had remained agrarian, and reliant on slave labor to boost productivity.

While ideology would provide much of the motivation to go to war, the economic conditions of the Northern and Southern states made it impossible for anything but a clash to come about{{fact}}. While the Northern States had modernized and embraced the industrial revolution, incorporating new technology and rebuilding infrastructure to support it, the South had remained agrarian, and reliant on slave labor to boost productivity.

The southern economic model was challenged by its lack of access to capital.  When a businessman in the North wanted to build a factory, he could obtain a loan from the bank or from a group of investors, pay the labor and material costs to erect it, maintain the factory as collateral, paying back the loan with cash flow from the business. The capital was constantly liquid, changing hands from one individual to another.

The southern economic model was challenged by its lack of access to capital.  When a businessman in the North wanted to build a factory, he could obtain a loan from the bank or from a group of investors, pay the labor and material costs to erect it, maintain the factory as collateral, paying back the loan with cash flow from the business. The capital was constantly liquid, changing hands from one individual to another.

When a plantation or farm owner in the South wanted to expand, he could only borrow against his own land or other property. And while new goods from Northern factories were in increasing demand, the South found itself having to compete with agricultural products grown elsewhere. The south's inability to adapt its economic model to changing times, coupled with its steadfast adherence to a cruel, inhumane, and immoral labor system (slavery), led to economic ruin, which furthered the case for succession in their minds.

When a plantation or farm owner in the South wanted to expand, he could only borrow against his own land or other property, which were not holding value in the face of declining prices for agricultural products. And while new goods from Northern factories were in increasing demand, the South found itself having to compete with agricultural products grown elsewhere. The south's inability to adapt its economic model to changing times, coupled with its steadfast adherence to a cruel, inhumane, and immoral labor system (slavery), led to economic ruin, which furthered the case for succession in their minds.

== Legacy - Physical/Military ==

== Legacy - Physical/Military ==

The principal physical legacy of the Confederacy was mass fratricidal destruction.  Four years of Civil War killed at least 620,000 soldiers (counting deaths from disease as well as in battle), of whom approximately 260,000 were from the Confederacy.  This represented a much larger fraction (slightly over one quarter) of the Confederacy's military age white men than was lost by the Union.

The principal physical legacy of the Confederacy was mass destruction.  Four years of Civil War killed at least 620,000 soldiers (counting deaths from disease as well as in battle), of whom approximately 260,000 were from the Confederacy.  This represented a much larger fraction (slightly over one quarter) of the Confederacy's military age free men than was lost by the Union.

An unknown number of [[civilians]] also died, in part as a result of the campaign of organized plunder in late 1864 and early 1865 by the troops of [[Union]] [[General]] [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] which helped not only to destroy the will of the Confederacy to fight, but literally to destroy the [[infrastructure]] of the Confederacy.  Severe damage was inflicted on both urban and rural communities in the South, and hundreds of thousands of people became refugees.  The exigencies of [[total war]] had led to the destruction of Southern infrastructure, in particular [[railroads]], long before 1864, but never on such a scale.

An unknown number of [[civilians]] also died, in part as a result of the campaign of organized plunder in late 1864 and early 1865 by the troops of [[Union]] [[General]] [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] which helped not only to destroy the will of the Confederacy to fight, but literally to destroy the [[infrastructure]] of the Confederacy.  Severe damage was inflicted on both urban and rural communities in the South, and hundreds of thousands of people became refugees.  The exigencies of [[total war]] had led to the destruction of much Southern infrastructure, in particular [[railroads]], long before 1864.

[[Total war]] based on modern technology was confirmed as the mode in which [[nation-states]] would fight each other throughout the industrial age.  Simultaneously with the Union, the Confederacy launched the first seagoing [[ironclad]] warships.  With the possible exception of the [[Prussia]]ns and [[Great Britain|British]], it is unlikely that any country of comparable population and technology in the 1860s could have resisted the Union onslaught for as long as the Confederacy did.  Upon the Confederate defeat, General Lee on April 9, 1865 ruled out continuing to fight as [[insurgents]]; although it can be argued that this only delayed the inevitable failure of [[Reconstruction]], it also made physical rebuilding possible in a way it would not be in the latter stages of civil wars in other countries in the [[20th century]].

The Union and Confederacy launched the first seagoing [[ironclad]] warships during the course of the war.  With the possible exception of the [[Prussia]]ns and [[Great Britain|British]], it is unlikely that any country of comparable population and technology in the 1860s could have resisted the Union onslaught for as long as the Confederacy did{{fact}}.  Upon the Confederate defeat, General Lee on April 9, 1865 ruled out continuing to fight as [[insurgents]]; although it can be argued that this only delayed the inevitable failure of [[Reconstruction]]{{fact}}, it also made physical rebuilding possible in a way it would not be in the latter stages of civil wars in other countries in the [[20th century]].

== Legacy - Political/Ideological ==

== Legacy - Political/Ideological ==

Given [[Article Five]] of the [[U. S. Constitution]], it would have been difficult to abolish slavery via Constitutional Amendment without secession in the 15 established states with the 35 free states which later existed.  As it actually happened, the [[Thirteenth Amendment]] was ratified by a 26-state [[Union]] containing only four slave states.  The most likely solution in the absence of secession would have been to admit smaller Western states, possibly even turning what became [[Indian reservations]] into states.

Given [[Article Five]] of the [[U. S. Constitution]], it would have been difficult to abolish slavery via Constitutional Amendment prior to the Civil War.  The [[Thirteenth Amendment]] was ratified by a 26-state [[Union]] containing only four slave states.

After the war and subsequent reconstruction, [[Radical Republicans]] were forced in the [[Compromise of 1877]] to concede the failure of Reconstruction and withdraw the U. S. Army from the South, or at least from its mission of guaranteeing the rights of African-Americans.  In a process known as [[Redemption]], the rights of former slaves were crushed out of existence across the South by a system which came to be known as [[Jim Crow]].  

After the war and subsequent reconstruction, [[Radical Republicans]] were forced in the [[Compromise of 1877]] to concede the failure of Reconstruction and withdraw the U. S. Army from the South, or at least from its mission of guaranteeing the rights of African-Americans.  In a process known as [[Redemption]], the rights of former slaves were crushed out of existence across the South by a system which came to be known as [[Jim Crow]].