Confederate States of America facts for kids

Jefferson DavisPresident 1861–65

Third and final flag of the Confederate States of America.

The states in dark green were the Confederate States of America and light green shows their territories

The Confederate States of America (CSA) was a short-lived government that existed in the southern United States during the American Civil War. It was established in 1861 by seven southern states in which slavery was legal, after Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the U.S., but before he took office. South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas declared their secession (independence) from the United States. After war began, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined them. The first capital of the Confederacy was Montgomery, Alabama, but for most of the war the capital was Richmond, Virginia.

The government of the Confederacy was much like the United States government. The Confederate States Constitution was similar to that of the United States; however, it emphasized states rights and clearly protected the enslavement of black Americans. Jefferson Davis was chosen as president and Alexander Stephens as Vice-President. As in the United States, the CSA president had a cabinet of advisors.

The United States government (also known as the Union) did not agree that the states could leave and start a new government. Thus, the Union government refused to abandon all its forts in the states that wanted to secede. War began when the CSA attacked one of those forts, Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. This war is known as the American Civil War, and it lasted from 1861 to 1865. After some of the deadliest battles in U.S. history, Union forces gradually regained control of southern states. As Confederate forces surrendered, the Confederacy fell apart and the Civil War came to a close in 1865. Following the war, slavery was outlawed everywhere in the United States. The process of restoring the states of the CSA to the Union, called the Reconstruction of the United States, continued until 1877.

It is still undecided if the Confederate States of America was ever a country. The Union never said that the Confederacy was really a country. Although British and French companies sold ships and materials to the Confederacy, no nation officially recognized the CSA as an independent country.

The CSA was also called "the South", "the Confederacy", and "Dixie".

Images for kids

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  Evolution of the Confederate States, December 20, 1860 – July 15, 1870

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  Alexander H. Stephens, Confederate Vice President; author of the 'Cornerstone Speech'

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  Elias Boudinot, Cherokee secessionist, Rep. Indian Territory

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  William T. Sutherlin mansion, Danville, Virginia, temporary residence of Jefferson Davis and dubbed "Last Capitol of the Confederacy"

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  Map of the county secession votes of 1860–1861 in Appalachia within the ARC definition. Virginia and Tennessee show the public votes, while the other states show the vote by county delegates to the conventions.

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  Recruitment poster: "Do not wait to be drafted". Under half re-enlisted.

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  Main railroads of Confederacy, 1861; colors show the different gauges (track width); the top railroad shown in the upper right is the Baltimore and Ohio, which was at all times a Union railroad

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  1862 $10 CSA note depicting a vignette of Hope flanked by R.M.T. Hunter (left) and C.G. Memminger (right)

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  Richmond bread riot, 1863

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  Confederate memorial tombstone at Natchez City Cemetery in Natchez, Mississippi

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  Map of the states and territories claimed by the Confederate States of America

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  A Home on the Mississippi, Currier and Ives, 1871

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  St. John's Episcopal Church, Montgomery. The Secession Convention of Southern Churches was held here in 1861.

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  General Robert E. Lee, General in Chief (1865)

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  William L. Yancey, Alabama Fire-Eater, "The Orator of Secession"

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  William Henry Gist, Governor of South Carolina, called the Secessionist Convention

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  Gen. Gabriel J. Rains, Conscription Bureau chief, April 1862 – May 1863

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  Gen. Gideon J. Pillow, military recruiter under Bragg, then J.E. Johnston

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  Joseph E. Brown, governor of Georgia

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  Pendleton Murrah, governor of Texas

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  Potters House, Atlanta Ga

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  Downtown Charleston SC

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  Rail bridge, Petersburg Va

See also

In Spanish: Estados Confederados de América para niños