The Birth of the Confederacy

In 1861 delegates from all over the south met in Montgomery, Alabama, to establish a new nation. This new nation would be called the Confederate States of America, declaring itself a provisional(temporary) Congress. “The countries that attended this convention were Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens were chosen unanimously as the provisional president and the vice president in order to convince the other undecided slave states to join the Confederacy. A committee spent five weeks composing a national constitution, that was later approved on March 11. The document closely followed the U.S. Constitution-including its Bill of Rights-with a few notable differences. Language supporting "the general welfare" was taken away, while the right to own slaves was clearly assured even though foreign slave trade was not allowed.”# The president had the opportunity to serve a single six year term, and was given no permission on the power of the budget, he and his cabinet would also be awarded seats in Congress. In order to guarantee Southerners their much-desired states’ rights, “the federal government had no right to levy protective tariffs, make international improvements, or over-rule state court decisions. The states had the right to sustain their own armies and enter into separate agreements with one another as well as having the power to amend the constitution. Although there was a requirement for a federal Supreme Court, the southern legislators could never agree on its arrangement or its establishment, so the Confederacy lacked a high court throughout its existence.”# Jefferson Davis was sworn in as the first and only President of the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis, a former U.S. Senator and Secretary of War, immediately issued a call for state militias to defend the new nation. They were afraid that the union might strike at any moment. This call for arms was the first of the bloody

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