OTD 165 YEARS AGO: After Virginia seceded from the Union, the governor mobilizes state militia to defend against an impending Federal invasion from Washington.
Tag: Alexander Stephens
The New Confederate Government Gets to Work
Alexander H. Stephens is sworn in as the first vice president of the new Confederate States of America. The Provisional Congress assembles at Montgomery, Alabama, and approves measures establishing peaceful relations with the United States.
The Confederate States of America
Delegates to the Montgomery convention adopt a constitution, a Congress, and a chief executive. Moderates are generally chosen as officeholders rather than the extremists who worked hardest for secession. The formation of a new southern government takes just five days.
Building Greater Permanency
A convention opens in Montgomery as delegates from the seceded states start work on forming a new nation independent of the United States.
The Georgia Secession
Georgia troops seized key points in the state before delegates to the Georgia State Convention at Milledgeville voted 208 to 89 to secede from the United States
Barking Dogs Never Bite
President-elect Abraham Lincoln tries to reach out to influential southerners to find some sort of rapidly vanishing middle ground in the unfolding sectional crisis.