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Map of the Confederate States with names and borders of states A Confederate state was a U.S. state that declared secession and joined the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The Confederacy recognized them as constituent entities that shared their sovereignty with the Confederate government. Confederates were recognized as citizens of both the federal republic and of ...
The Confederate States of America claimed a total of 2,919 miles (4,698 km) of coastline, thus a large part of its territory lay on the seacoast with level and often sandy or marshy ground. Most of the interior portion consisted of arable farmland, though much was also hilly and mountainous, and the far western territories were deserts.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union in December 1860, and was one of the founding member states of the Confederacy in February 1861. The bombardment of the beleaguered U.S. garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861, is generally recognized as the first military engagement of the war.
After the start of the American Civil War on April 12, 1861, between the two countries, five additional states would secede, and representatives of two others would gain admittance to the Confederacy. The country also held alliances with several Indian nations and claimed a territory in its far west.
The delegates adopted a new state constitution and within a month the state joined other southern states to form the Confederate States of America. [21] Florida's Senator Mallory was selected to be Secretary of the Navy in the first Confederate cabinet under president Jefferson Davis. The convention had further meetings in 1861 and into 1862.
As the Confederate states organized, the U.S. Army numbered 16,000, while Northern governors began mobilizing their militias. [78] The Confederate Congress authorized up to 100,000 troops in February. By May, Jefferson Davis was pushing for another 100,000 soldiers for one year or the duration, and the U.S. Congress responded in kind. [79] [80]
The Civil War ended in 1865, but the nickname and its association with the Confederacy endured. In 1878, a “Southland” poem recited at the Mississippi Press Assn.'s convention caused a firestorm.
The resulting expansion of slavery was increasingly controversial. After the election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860, the southern states seceded to form the pro-slavery Confederate States of America, and started the Civil War. The Confederates' defeat in 1865 led to the abolition of slavery.