Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America on this day in 1861. The photo to the right is of his inaguration at the Mississippi State Capitol inMontgomery, Alabama.
In 1844 Davis was elected to the United States House of Representatives. The year 1846 saw the beginning of the Mexican-American War. He resigned his House seat in June, and raised a volunteer regiment, the Mississippi Rifles, becoming its colonel. On July 21, 1846 they sailed from New Orleans for the Texas coast. Davis armed the regiment with percussion rifles and trained the regiment in their use, making it particularly effective in combat.
Because of his war service, the Governor of Mississippi appointed Davis to fill out the Senate term of the late Jesse Speight. He took his seat 5 December 1847, and was elected to serve the remainder of his term in January 1848.
In 1853 President Pierce appointed Davis his Secretary of War.
As Davis explained in his memoir, "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government," he believed that each State was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union. He counseled delay among his fellow Southerners, however, because he did not think that the North would permit the peaceable exercise of the right to secession. Having served as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce, he also knew that the South lacked the military and naval resources necessary to defend itself if the North attacked. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, however, events accelerated. South Carolina adopted an ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860, and Mississippi did so on January 9, 1861. As soon as Davis received official notification of that fact, he delivered a farewell address to the United States Senate, resigned, and returned to Mississippi.
Davis had argued against secession; but when a majority of the delegates opposed him, he gave in. Davis was not opposed to secession in principle; he counseled delay because he did not believe the North would agree to the peaceable exercise of the claimed right, and he knew that the South was not prepared for war.
Davis was elected to a six-year term as President of the Confederacy on November 6, 1861. He had never served a full term in any elective office, and that would turn out to be the case on this occasion as well. He was inaugurated on February 22, 1862.
On April 3, 1865, with Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant poised to capture Richmond, Davis escaped for Danville, Virginia, together with the Confederate Cabinet, leaving on the Richmond and Danville Railroad. He issued his last official proclamation as President of the Confederacy, and then went south to Greensboro, North Carolina.
On May 10, he was captured at Irwinville, Georgia. After being captured, he was held as a prisoner for two years in Fort Monroe, Virginia.
He completed A Short History of the Confederate States of America in October 1889. Two months later, Davis died in New Orleans at the age of eighty-one. His funeral was one of the largest ever staged in the South. He is buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. The photo is of Davis in 1885
On Friday, October 2nd we recorded a program for the Global Minority Report and also a program for This is the Klan. Church was Sunday so I also finished up my Sunday sermon on Friday afternoon.
There is good news to report for our annual Faith & Freedom Conference. Paul Fromm from Ontario, Canada called today and confirmed that he will be a speaker for our conference in April. Paul is one of the most widely traveled speakers in the White Nationalist movement and I hope you will make plans to attend. We will have more information on this conference later.
For now, don’t forget the Christmas Fellowship Conference on December 1 and 2. This is our smaller event of the year, but one that everyone really enjoys. We have speeches, games, music and wonderful fellowship. Come if you can!
God bless!
Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history from 1861 to 1865 during the American Civil War. During his presidency, Davis was never able to find a strategy that would defeat the larger, more industrially developed Union.
A West Point graduate, Davis prided himself on the military skills he gained in the Mexican-American War as a colonel of a volunteer regiment, and as U. S. Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce.
In 1844 Davis was elected to the United States House of Representatives. The year 1846 saw the beginning of the Mexican-American War. He resigned his House seat in June, and raised a volunteer regiment, the Mississippi Rifles, becoming its colonel. On July 21, 1846 they sailed from New Orleans for the Texas coast. Davis armed the regiment with percussion rifles and trained the regiment in their use, making it particularly effective in combat.
Because of his war service, the Governor of Mississippi appointed Davis to fill out the Senate term of the late Jesse Speight. He took his seat 5 December 1847, and was elected to serve the remainder of his term in January 1848.
In 1853 President Pierce appointed Davis his Secretary of War.
As Davis explained in his memoir, "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government," he believed that each State was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union. He counseled delay among his fellow Southerners, however, because he did not think that the North would permit the peaceable exercise of the right to secession. Having served as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce, he also knew that the South lacked the military and naval resources necessary to defend itself if the North attacked. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, however, events accelerated. South Carolina adopted an ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860, and Mississippi did so on January 9, 1861. As soon as Davis received official notification of that fact, he delivered a farewell address to the United States Senate, resigned, and returned to Mississippi.
Davis had argued against secession; but when a majority of the delegates opposed him, he gave in. Davis was not opposed to secession in principle; he counseled delay because he did not believe the North would agree to the peaceable exercise of the claimed right, and he knew that the South was not prepared for war.
Davis was elected to a six-year term as President of the Confederacy on November 6, 1861. He had never served a full term in any elective office, and that would turn out to be the case on this occasion as well. He was inaugurated on February 22, 1862.
On April 3, 1865, with Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant poised to capture Richmond, Davis escaped for Danville, Virginia, together with the Confederate Cabinet, leaving on the Richmond and Danville Railroad. He issued his last official proclamation as President of the Confederacy, and then went south to Greensboro, North Carolina.
On May 10, he was captured at Irwinville, Georgia. After being captured, he was held as a prisoner for two years in Fort Monroe, Virginia.
He completed A Short History of the Confederate States of America in October 1889. Two months later, Davis died in New Orleans at the age of eighty-one. His funeral was one of the largest ever staged in the South. He is buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. The photo is of Davis in 1885
On Friday, October 2nd we recorded a program for the Global Minority Report and also a program for This is the Klan. Church was Sunday so I also finished up my Sunday sermon on Friday afternoon.
There is good news to report for our annual Faith & Freedom Conference. Paul Fromm from Ontario, Canada called today and confirmed that he will be a speaker for our conference in April. Paul is one of the most widely traveled speakers in the White Nationalist movement and I hope you will make plans to attend. We will have more information on this conference later.
For now, don’t forget the Christmas Fellowship Conference on December 1 and 2. This is our smaller event of the year, but one that everyone really enjoys. We have speeches, games, music and wonderful fellowship. Come if you can!
God bless!
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