Jefferson Davis Inaugurated
Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the first president of the Confederate States of America, a significant event that took place on February 18, 1861, in Montgomery, Alabama. Prior to his presidency, Davis had a prominent political career, serving as a U.S. senator from Mississippi and as secretary of war, where he gained recognition as a leader among Southern politicians. His political stance was heavily influenced by his strong belief in states' rights and the expansion of slavery into the western territories. Following Mississippi's secession from the Union in January 1861, Davis, despite being a hesitant secessionist, asserted that states had the constitutional right to leave the Union.
His selection as president was unanimous among the Confederate congress, reflecting the political dynamics of the time. After his initial inauguration, he was elected for a six-year term in a popular vote, leading to a second inauguration on February 22, 1862, in Richmond, Virginia, which became the Confederate capital. This leadership role placed Davis at the forefront of the Confederacy as it faced the challenges of the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. His presidency was marked by efforts to establish a functioning government and military in the face of ongoing conflict with the Union.
Jefferson Davis Inaugurated
Jefferson Davis Inaugurated
By the time Jefferson Davis, who had served as United States senator from Mississippi from 1847 to 1851, returned to the Senate in 1857 after a stint as secretary of war, he had become the acknowledged leader of the Southern bloc in the years leading up to the Civil War. A strong champion of states' rights, Davis favored the extension of slavery into the western territories and economic development of the South as a counterbalance to Northern power.
Davis had little to do with the movement for secession until Mississippi, on January 9, 1861, became part of the Confederacy, which would fight the Union through four long years of Civil War (1861–1865). After Mississippi's action, Davis, a reluctant secessionist, stated in a Senate speech that the states had the constitutional right to secede from the Union and that Congress had no right to interfere with the domestic institutions of any state. Withdrawing from the Senate on January 21, 1861, he cast his lot with his home state.
Although Davis would rather have been offered the command of Southern military forces, members of the Confederate congress meeting in Montgomery, Alabama, unanimously chose him as president of the new Confederacy's provisional government on February 9, 1861. He was inaugurated at Montgomery on February 18, 1861, and began to organize the new government. Soon after his inauguration, there was a popular election in the Confederacy, in which he was elected president for a six-year term. Thus, Davis was inaugurated for the second time on February 22, 1862 at Richmond, Virginia, which became the Confederate capital.