The Confederate States was a government formed in 1861, in North America, by seceding States. The second State to secede, Mississippi, at the time of secession, January 9, 1861, proposed a convention to form a Southern Confederacy. This provisional Congress met at Montgomery, Alabama, on February 4, with delegates present from six of the seven States - which had then seceded. It voted by States. On February 8, it adopted a provisional Constitution, and the next day choseJefferson Davis, of Mississippi, provisional President and Alexander H Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President.
The permanent Constitution was adopted on March 11. It set forth the doctrines of State sovereignty and recognized slavery, though it forbade the slave trade. It forbade protective tariffs and Federal expenditures for internal improvements. Congress was forbidden to emit bills of credit. It could permit members of the Cabinet to speak before it. The President was empowered to veto single items in appropriation bills. His term was to be six years, and he was not to be re-elected. All the seceding States ratified the Constitution through conventions. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas seceded, and were admitted into the Confederacy. The seat of government was removed to Richmond, and Davis and Stephens were chosen again under the permanent Constitution. They were inaugurated as such on February 22, 1862.
During most of the existence of the Confederate Government, Judah P Benjamin was Secretary of State, Charles G Memminger Secretary of the Treasury, James A Seddon Secretary of War, Stephen R Mallory of the Navy and John H Reagan Postmaster-General. In this government Congress was of little account. Everything was subordinated to the energetic prosecution of the war, for which the President assumed almost dictatorial powers. Extraordinary efforts were made.
Money was obtained by means of the issue of Treasury notes, by cotton loans and by requisitions. Supplies were obtained by any means possible. Troops were obtained, finally, by conscription. The Government, though given belligerent rights by most maritime nations, could not secure any recognition of its independence. As the armies began to be more and more completely destroyed, dissensions broke out. Violent criticism of Davis prevailed. Finally, the surrender of Lee brought the Confederate Government to an end. The Federal Government of the USA never recognized its existence. Research Confederate States
The kitchen cabinet were a coterie of intimate friends of American President Andrew Jackson, who were supposed to have more influence over his actions than his official advisers. They were: General Duff Green, editor of the United States Telegraph at Washington, the confidential organ of the administration; Major William B Lewis, of Nashville, Tennessee, Second Auditor of the Treasury, Isaac Hill, editor of the New Hampshire Patriot and Amos Kendall, of Kentucky, Fourth Auditor of the Treasury. Research Kitchen Cabinet
The Knoxville Gazette was the earliest newspaper published in Tennessee, USA. It was established at Knoxville in 1793, by R Roulstone, the same year that printing was introduced into the State. Research Knoxville Gazette
The Ku Klux Klan also called the White League, the Invisible Empire, and the Knights of the White Camelia are an American secret society. They were founded in 1866 at Pulaski, Tennessee in the southern USA after the American Civil War originally organized purposes of amusement, it soon developed into an organisation to oppose reconstruction and to maintain white supremacy. Famous for its white robes and hoods, it spread fear among blacks to prevent them from voting. Its use as a cover for petty racist persecution alienated public opinion and the Klan was supposedly disbanded in 1869 by the order of the Government. However, it wasn't disbanded and laws in 1870 and 1871 attempted to suppress the Klan. The Klan reappeared in Georgia in 1915 and during the 1920s spread into the north and mid-west. It was responsible for some 1500 racist murders by lynching. At its height, the Klan boasted four million members and elected high federal and state officials, but it also aroused intense opposition. A series of scandals and internecine rivalries sent it into rapid decline. Klan activity increased during the 1950s and 1960s, as it violently opposed the civil rights movement. It survives at the local level in the southern states and during the early 1990s there was concern that support for the Klan was increasing. Research Ku Klux Klan
The Nashville Convention was a convention of delegates from the Southern States of America at Nashville, Tennessee in June, 1850, suggested by the Mississippi State Convention of the previous year. The convention was called to consider the slavery question and the encroachments of Northern abolitionists. It did not meet with universal approval. The Wilmotproviso and the Missouri Compromise were disapproved of, but resolutions of open resistance advanced by Texas, South Carolina and Mississippi were voted down. The convention met again in November, and again moderate resolutions were adopted. Research Nashville Convention
The Rhea Letter was an American political scandal. On January the 6th, 1818, Andrew Jackson, then department commander in the South-west, wrote to President Monroe regarding the Seminole troubles in Florida and advising the prompt seizure of East Florida, which he declared could be done 'without implicating the Government'. He offered to accomplish the seizure himself within sixty days, if. it should be indicated to him that it were desirable. John Rhea, a Congressman from Tennessee, was the secret channel through which he hoped Monroe's assent might be signified. It was not. In 1831, during Andrew Jackson's administration, in the height of his quarrel with Calhoun, which turned in part upon the Seminole affair, John Rhea wrote to Monroe, hoping to elicit from him something that would implicate him as approving Andrew Jackson's plan. Monroe, on his death-bed in New York, denounced John Rhea's insinuations as utterly false. Research Rhea Letter
In America, after the adoption of the Constitution of 1787 the thought that the States were sovereign remained familiar to the minds of many, if not most, Americans. This led easily to the thought of secession by a State or States as a remedy for aggressive action on the part of the Federal Government.
The Federalists of New England made threats of secession in 1811 and 1814. As the slavery agitation began to be foremost among political issues, secession was extensively suggested as the constitutional right of the Southern States if the system of slavery was attacked. South Carolina was ready to secede in 1850. In 1860, upon news of the election of Abraham Lincoln, she did so, on December the 20th, by convention, which passed an ordinance purporting to repeal her adoption of the Constitution in 1788 and to revive her independence. Mississippi seceded on January the 9th, 1861, Florida on January the 10th, Alabama on January the 11th, Georgia on January the 19th, Louisiana on January the 26th, Texas on February 1st, all by conventions. These seven States formed the Confederate States of America, on February the 4th, 1861.
Buchanan's government could find no constitutional warrant for coercing a seceded State. After the firing on Fort Sumter and the decision of Abraham Lincoln and the North to suppress rebellion by armed force, four more States seceded - Arkansas on May the 6th, North Carolina on May the 20th, Virginia on May the 23rd and Tennessee on June the 8th. In most of these States there had been strong opposition to secession, but on the ground that it was inexpedient. That a State had a right to secede was the nearly universal belief. The national Government never recognized this right, nor the validity of the ordinances. Research Secession
The Tennessee Bond Cases were seventeen causes decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1885, wherein it was held that the statutory lien upon railroads (railways) created by an act of the Tennessee Legislature in 1852, was for the benefit of the State and not of the holders of State bonds issued under that act. Research Tennessee Bond Cases
The Watauga Association was an organization formed in 1769 for the settlement of that territory now comprised in the State of Tennessee. The colonies thus established continued to be known as the settlements of the Watauga Association until 1777. Research Watauga Association
The Tennessee Walking Horse is an American breed of horse developed during the 19th century in Tennessee in response to the need for a stylish horse suitable for riding by all members of the family, working in the harness, and which could be ridden long distances. The Tennessee Walking Horse typically has three comfortable gaits: flat walk, running walk and a smooth rolling canter. The
Tennessee Walking Horse stands between 15 and 16 hands high and is any solid colour. Research Tennessee Walking Horse
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Confederate States
