republic · North America and Oceania

Confederate States of America

1861 CE – 1865 CE · capital Richmond

The breakaway republic of eleven slave-holding Southern states, whose defeat in the American Civil War ended slavery in the United States.

Origins

After Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the expansion of slavery, won the 1860 election, South Carolina seceded from the United States in December. Six more Deep South states followed and formed the Confederacy at Montgomery, Alabama, in February 1861. After the attack on Fort Sumter in April, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina joined, and the capital moved to Richmond.

Rule and society

The Confederate constitution copied much of the American one but explicitly protected slavery. President Jefferson Davis governed a weak central state that nonetheless introduced conscription in 1862, taxes in kind and paper money that led to severe inflation. The Union blockade throttled the cotton trade, and hopes of European recognition failed. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia won major victories until Gettysburg in 1863.

Decline and legacy

With the fall of Vicksburg, William T. Sherman's march through Georgia and the loss of Richmond, Lee surrendered at Appomattox in April 1865 and Davis was captured in May. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, and the Confederacy's memory remains bitterly contested.

Lineage

United States 1776 CE – presentConfederate States of America

More states of North America and Oceania →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Confederate States of America. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/confederate-states-of-america
MLA
“Confederate States of America.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/confederate-states-of-america. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Confederate States of America.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/confederate-states-of-america.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Confederate States of America’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/confederate-states-of-america (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻