CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA 1532 CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA 



vember 9, 187S; Thos. H. Watts, Alabama, Attor- 

 ney-General, died September 16, 1892; John H. 

 Reagan. Texas. Postmaster-General, died March 

 6. 1905. 



Border States. The Confederate States 

 hoped for a peaceful withdrawal from the 

 Union, and influential men on both sides of 

 the controversy exerted themselves to the ut- 



THE PRESIDENT'S MANSION 

 Official residence of Jefferson Davis, as Presi- 

 dent, in Richmond. 



most tp prevent war, but without success. War 

 actually began with the attack on Fort Sumter 

 (which see), April 12, 1861. The fall of the 

 fort was immediately followed by a call for 

 75,000 volunteers by President Lincoln. Both 

 sides made strong efforts to secure the support 

 of the states lying between those forming the 

 Confederacy and the Ohio River, and also of 

 Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. Of 

 these North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, 

 Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas joined the Con- 

 federacy. The Federal government secured 

 control of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and 

 Missouri before the Confederate sympathizers 

 in those states could organize. The state of 

 West Virginia was formed from that part of 

 Virginia whose inhabitants were in sympathy 

 with the Union. 



Foreign Relations. As soon as the govern- 

 ment was established representatives were sent 

 to Europe to secure the recognition of the 

 Confederate States of America as an independ- 

 ent government. Before this was done, how- 

 ever, England had recognized the Confederacy 

 as a belligerent, and France, the Netherlands, 

 Spain, Brazil and a few other nations did the 

 same. This recognition of the South gave 

 the Confederate vessels on the high seas the 

 same privileges in the ports of those nations 

 as were granted those of the United States, 

 but it did not grant the privilege of sending 

 representatives' to those governments; before 

 that privilege could be secured the fall of 



Vicksburg and the Union victory at Gettys- 

 burg compelled the Confederacy to give up all 

 hope of securing recognition as an independent 

 ' government. 



Financial Measures. Lack of funds was the 

 greatest handicap of the Confederate govern- 

 ment. It began without a national treasury 

 and with only a small public fund, but the 

 latter was considerably increased by private 

 donations and by the sale of bonds. But the 

 government was soon obliged to resort to issu- 

 ing paper money, whose volume increased so 

 rapidly that some months before the end of 

 the war it was practically valueless. Without 

 funds it was impossible to maintain the army 

 in such a degree of efficiency as would enable 

 it to withstand the repeated onslaughts of the 

 Federal forces. 



Heroic Efforts. At first success was with the 

 Confederacy, and after the defeat of the Union 

 forces at Bull Run and Fredericksburg several 

 attempts were made by European powers to 

 end the war by persuading the contending 

 nations to make a treaty of peace, but these 

 efforts failed. The resources of the North 

 were greater than those of the South. More- 

 over, all Southern ports were in a state of 

 blockade, so goods could not be shipped into 

 or out of the Southland. The North was able 

 to keep its army supplied with ammunition, 

 food and clothing, while the army of the 

 South was often without supplies. But the 

 Southern soldiers willingly continued to defend 

 the cause they had espoused, though suffering 

 from hunger and cold and lacking in arms and 

 ammunition. 



The Confederate Congress held two sessions, 

 and then it adjourned. The great responsibil- 

 ities resting upon President Davis made it 

 necessary for him to resort to arbitrary meas- 

 ures to carry on the government, but amidst 

 all these discouragements he held the govern- 

 ment together until the fall of Richmond. 

 With the surrender of the Army of Northern 

 Virginia on April 9, 1865, the government of 

 the Confederate States of America came to an 

 end; not ingloriously, as some thought at the 

 time, but as the yielding to a superior force 

 by a brave people who consecrated their all 

 to the cause which they believed to be right. 

 - "Under the sod and the dew, 



Waiting the Judgment day, 

 Love and tears for the blue ; 



Tears and love for the gray." B.C.B. 



Consult Jefferson Davis* Rife and Fall of the 

 Confederate Government; Curry's Civil History 

 of the Government of the Confederate States. 



