American Civil War Facts
...Confederate States of America was the political body originally formed on 4th February 1861 by six Southern states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana). Jefferson Davis was selected as its first President the next day. Texas joined early in March and then replaced its governor, Sam Houston, when he refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. These seven states seceded from the United States and took control of military and naval installations, ports, and custom houses within their boundaries, triggering the American Civil War. Following the Battle of Fort Sumter four more states (Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina) joined the Confederacy for a total of 11. The governments of Missouri and Kentucky remained in the Union, but those two states were also accepted as members of the Confederacy. The number of Confederate states is thus sometimes considered to be 13. For most of its duration the Confederacy was engaged in the Civil War, mostly in defense against attacks by larger Union forces.
The Gadsden Purchase became Arizona Territory. These first settlers petitioned the Confederate government for capture of their lands, prompting an expedition in which territory south of the 34th parallel was governed by the Confederacy.
In 1861 a law was declared in Maryland to block attempts at secession. Delaware, also a slave state, never considered secession. In 1863, during the war, a unionist administration in Wheeling, Virginia seceded from Virginia and joined the United States as the state of West Virginia, with a constitution that would have gradually abolished slavery. Similar attempts to break away from the Confederacy were held in check by Confederacy declarations of the law.
The First Battle of Bull Run (1861)
In July 1861, the northern newspapers pressured President Lincoln to bring a quick end to...
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