February 18, 1861

Contradictory States of America: Or, How to Make Someone's Job Difficult.

Today the calender gives us the chance to examine the political structure of the one of the more interesting, if not short-lived, nations in history, the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis, a Mississippi Senator and West Point graduate, was given the daunting task of guiding the country through its infant, war-torn years. The task was made all the more difficult because Davis' position of President was at times contradictory to the very constitution he was sworn to uphold.


The inauguration of Jefferson Davis as the President of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, as depicted by Harper's Weekly.





Inauguration Day, February 18, 1861 dawned warm and clear in Montgomery, Alabama. By 11:30, a soaring blue sky hung over the head of Jefferson Davis as he strode to the State Capitol, and one has to wonder if, from on high, Davis could feel George Washington looking down. "The Inaugural ceremonies," the New York Times reported the next morning, "were the grandest pageant ever witnessed in the South. There was an immense crowd on Capitol Hill, consisting of a great array of the beauty, military and citizens of the different states."

At the heart of Davis' task was running the new Provisional Government in a country that was founded on decentralization. The states that had seceded from the Union, and were preparing to go to war to defend their decision, claimed the Federal Government had infringed upon their individual rights. The new nation, they declared, would honor states' rights, the way they felt their forefathers had intended. For Davis, who before the war had argued against secession, this was no small roadblock.







Jefferson Davis.










Throughout his administration, Davis would find himself constantly at odds with his Congress, not to mention state governors. Moving troops from one department to another; agreeing on the allotment of defense funds; even devising a strategy that would not only ensure independence, but also save Southern lives and property (read: slaves), all were made more difficult by a reluctance to trust central government.

In his inaugural address Davis directly mentioned the states' reliance on militia, yet warned that a national army and navy must be raised. But even he might not have had the foresight to know that this army would need to be fed by conscription. Taking young men that could serve in the state militia for a cause so heinously federal as a draft endeared Davis to few. Later, when the government moved to Richmond, there would be further criticism that the Virginia theater took precedent over others. Instead of banding together against a common enemy, the Confederacy was plagued by in-fighting, suspicion, and jealousy.

Another constant headache for Davis would be the creation and validation of a national currency. By the time Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Confederate script was not worth the paper on which it was printed.

That February night in Montgomery, a reception was held in honor of the new president, and the city partied into the morning. "Bands...and fireworks...were the order of the evening," the same article from the Times reported. And the South went to sleep that night with dreams of a new nation in their minds; and in Congress the signatures of the delegates were drying on the newly ratified Provisional Constitution. It is doubtful if Davis knew that night just what fireworks that document might bring.