HIST-222: The Confederacy Wasn't What You Think

What was the Confederacy?

A centralized, antidemocratic state created to preserve slavery and enforce white supremacy.

What was the primary goal of Confederate leaders?

To defend enslaved people as property and to sustain a slaveholding order.

How did the Confederate Constitution treat states?

It treated states as sovereign and fashioned a one-term, six-year presidency.

What was the Confederate Constitution's stance on slavery?

It enshrined slavery as a protected institution and prohibited any law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves.

Who was limited from voting under the Confederate regime?

Voting was limited to white men, reflecting the regime’s democratic exclusions.

What explicitly linked secession to slavery?

Mississippi’s "Declaration of Immediate Causes" explicitly linked secession to slavery.

When and where was the CSA formed?

In Montgomery (Feb 1861), the CSA formed, installed Jefferson Davis, and adopted a constitution aimed at preserving slavery.

How did the CSA sustain its war effort despite economic disadvantages?

It built a strong central state, implemented the first conscription in U.S. history, and used high taxes and impressment.

What was the approximate percentage of white men who served in the CSA military by war's end?

Roughly 75\%-85\% of white men aged 15-55 served.

What fueled the charge of a "rich man’s war, poor man’s fight" during the Civil War?

Exemptions from conscription favored slaveholders.

What pressured the Confederate government by 1863?

Starvation and food riots.

What was the Confederacy fighting to protect?

Slavery.

What led to the abolition of slavery after the Confederacy's actions?

The Union’s Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment.

What was the approximate total number of deaths in the Civil War?

Around 620{,}000 (≈ 360{,}000 U.S. and 258{,}000 CSA).

Where did General Lee surrender?

Appomattox Court House.

What do modern debates about Confederate monuments reflect?

Ongoing conflict over how to remember slavery and the Civil War in American life.

What is a common myth about the Confederacy?

Often mythologized as a defender of states’ rights.

What was the reality of the Confederacy regarding states' rights?

In truth, it was a slaveholding, centralized regime.