Confederacy

In US history, popular name for the Confederate States of America, the government established by 7 (later 11) Southern states in February 1861 when they seceded from the Union, precipitating the American Civil War. Richmond, Virginia, was the capital, and Jefferson Davis the president. The Confederacy fell after its army was defeated in 1865 and General Robert E Lee surrendered.

The Confederacy suffered from a lack of political leadership as well as a deficit of troops and supplies. Nevertheless, Southern forces won many significant victories. Confederate leaders had hoped to enlist support from Britain and France, but the slavery issue and the Confederacy's uncertain prospects prompted the Europeans to maintain neutrality, although they provided supplies for a time. The Union's blockade and the grinding weight of superior resources made the outcome virtually inevitable. The states of the Confederacy were North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

The constitution, adopted on 11 March 1861, was based on the US Constitution, but varied in granting greater independence to the separate states, in a single-term presidency of six years, in the prohibition of protective tariffs or bounties, and in the avowed upholding of the institution of slavery and rights of property in slaves. The first seat of government was Montgomery, Alabama, but it was later moved to Richmond, Virginia.