Confederate States

Between the years 1861 and 1865, there was a country that existed within the country that we now know to be the United States. Comprised of mostly southern US states, the Confederate States of America was initially founded by seven states in particular. Four states later joined the confederacy.

Before the war between the Union and the Confederacy fully erupted, the only states that associated themselves with the Confederacy were South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. Known as the Deep South to this day, these seven states sparked the initial uproar.

After pulling away from the rest of the United States, the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12 of 1861. This was the start of the civil war between the Confederate states and the rest of the US. At this point in time, four other states had decided to join the Deep South in separating from the Union. Known as the Upper South, the four states the joined the Confederacy later on were Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Arkansas.

To reiterate, the original seven states that the Confederacy was made up of included Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. Then, the four states that joined the Confederacy after the war began were Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Before the official start of the war, the Deep South states had already officially declared their secession from the Union. Slavery was a prominent aspect of life in the Confederate States of America, and preserving slavery was one reason for the Southern states seceding. Additionally, taxation and the principle of States’ Rights over the federal government’s rights were other commonly-cited reasons for secession.

With an economy that flourished because of the lush agriculture, the residents in the Confederate states had all the more reason to continue purchasing and trading slaves. The Confederate States of America carried on with their white supremacist practices without a problem until Abraham Lincoln rose to power as the result of the election in 1860.

The American Civil War erupted around this time, and at that point, the United States was broken up into two parts. The Confederacy comprised states that believed in the right to enslave African Americans and continue to operate as the South had operated for years. On the other hand, the rest of the United States was known as the Union. This was the starting point of the gradual shift that the US would make from being a country of slavery to becoming a nation of equality.

The Confederate States of America operated as their own country to the point to even having their own motto. In Latin, the Confederate motto was Deo Vindice, which translates to mean Under God, our Vindicator, in English. The official anthem of the Confederacy was a song called The Bonnie Blue Flag, though the anthem of God Save the South was often misinterpreted as the Confederacy’s anthem given the song’s popularity. For quite some time, the capital city of the Confederate States of America was Montgomery, Alabama. On May 29, 1861, the capital city was changed to Richmond, Virginia, but that only rang true until April 3, 1865. The war ended on April 9, 1865, and the US capital for all fifty states is Washington, DC.

States that preceded the Confederacy are Alabama (January 11, 1861), Arkansas (May 6, 1861), Florida (January 10, 1861), Georgia (January 19, 1861), Louisiana (January 26, 1861), Mississippi (January 9, 1861), North Carolina (May 20, 1861), South Carolina (December 20, 1860), Tennessee (May 7, 1861), Texas (February 1, 1861), and Virginia (April 17, 1861). States that succeeded the Confederacy are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

In current time, the US states that are still thought to hold values of the Confederacy include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

At the end of the Civil War, the Confederate States of America eventually rejoined the Union. Nowadays, all fifty states are part of the United States, and there is no split between the Confederacy and the Union.

As the civil war carried on, the fighting became far more serious than it was when the war first started. The need for more soldiers started coming to the surface. The reality of the situation was that the Confederacy was fighting for their freedom and independence from the rest of the United States. In doing so, they were forced to put up a physical fight.

Many Deep South and Upper South citizens did not want to go to war. That would mean risking their lives and everything they were fighting for, so instead of strapping on ammo and adorning military outfits themselves, southern people started arming their slaves and forcing them to fight the battles in their place.

This is where the Confederate States began crossing the line to the point of no return. Not only were they forcing African Americans to be their personal servants, but now, the Confederate States were sending enslaved people to their probable deaths. The biggest theme of the Confederacy was the way respect was based on skin color. White people were treated ethically and respectfully, but black people were viewed as less than and worthless.

Skin tones were the source of a high amount of prejudice in the Confederate states. Racism is still a part of modern society in America. However, it is now illegal to own a person in the United States of America. Slavery is not legal like it was during the days of the Confederacy.