Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
New Confederate President Jefferson Davis works to build the executive department from scratch, emphasizing moderation by selecting some appointees who actually opposed secession. Davis also initiates efforts for national defense, diplomacy, and securing foreign recognition for the Confederacy.
Some 10,000 people attend the inauguration of Jefferson Davis as the first president of the Confederate States of America. The ceremony features a grand procession and an inaugural address emphasizing independence.
Jefferson Davis leaves for the Confederate capital at Montgomery, Alabama, to become the first president of the new 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.
Jefferson Davis and four southern senators deliver emotional farewell speeches before following their home states out of the Union. Davis defends secession as a state’s right, emphasizing the South’s grievances and the desire for peaceful separation.
Congress has just one last compromise proposal to consider, as more and more people are becoming convinced that disunion is inevitable.