Jefferson Davis: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Revert to the revision prior to revision 513779419 dated 2012-09-20 21:52:16 by 68.51.181.254 using popups
←Replaced content with 'Jefferson Davis is a racist white man'
Tag: blanking
Line 1: Line 1:
Jefferson Davis is a racist white man
{{Other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| birthname =Jefferson Finis Davis
| image =President-Jefferson-Davis.jpg
| imagesize =200px
| caption = Jefferson Davis, c. 1862
| office =[[President of the Confederate States of America|President of the Confederate<br/>States of America]]
| term_start =February 18, 1861
| term_end =May 10, 1865 <br><small>Provisional: February 18, 1861&ndash;February 22, 1862</small>
| vicepresident =[[Alexander Stephens]]
| predecessor =''Office instituted''
| successor =''Office abolished''
| order2 =23rd [[United States Secretary of War]]
| term_start2 =March 7, 1853
| term_end2 =March 3, 1857
| president2 =[[Franklin Pierce]]
| predecessor2 =[[Charles Magill Conrad]]
| successor2 =[[John B. Floyd]]
| order3 =[[United States Senator]]<br/>from [[Mississippi]]
| term_start3 =August 10, 1847
| term_end3 =September 23, 1851
| predecessor3 =[[Jesse Speight]]
| successor3 =[[John J. McRae]]
| term_start4 =March 4, 1857
| term_end4 =January 21, 1861<ref>Foote, Shelby (1958). ''The Civil War: A Narrative, Fort Sumter to Perryville''. New York: Random House. p. 3.</ref>
| predecessor4 =[[Stephen Adams (politician)|Stephen Adams]]
| successor4 =[[Adelbert Ames]] (1870)
| order5 =Member of the <br />[[U.S. House of Representatives]] <br> from Mississippi's [[Mississippi's At-large congressional district|At-large]] district
| term_start5 =December 8, 1845
| term_end5 =June 1, 1846
| predecessor5 =[[Tilghman M. Tucker]]
| successor5 =[[Henry T. Ellett]]
| birth_date ={{birth date|1808|6|3}}
| birth_place =[[Christian County, Kentucky]]
| death_date ={{death date and age|1889|12|6|1808|6|3}}
| death_place =[[New Orleans, Louisiana]]
| restingplace =[[Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)|Hollywood Cemetery]]<br>[[Richmond, Virginia]]
| nationality ={{flagicon|United States|1861}} American
| citizenship ={{flagicon|Confederate States of America}} Confederate
| party =[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse =[[Sarah Knox Taylor]] <small>(June–September 1835; her death)</small><br/>[[Varina Davis|Varina Banks Howell]] <small>(1845-1889; his death)</small>
| religion =[[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]]
| alma_mater =[[Jefferson College (Washington, Mississippi)|Jefferson College]]<br/>[[Transylvania University]]<br/>[[United States Military Academy|U.S.M.A.]]
| profession =[[Soldier]], [[Politician]]
| signature =Jefferson Davis Signature.svg
| signature_alt =Cursive signature in ink
| allegiance ={{flag|Confederate States of America}}<br/> {{flag|United States of America|1861}}
| branch =[[United States Army]]<br/>[[155th Infantry Regiment (United States)|Mississippi Rifles]]
| serviceyears =1828–1835, 1846–1847
| rank =[[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]
| battles =[[Mexican-American War|Mexican–American War]]
}}
'''Jefferson Finis Davis''' (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an [[United States|American]] statesman and leader of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] during the [[American Civil War]], serving as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history. Davis was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane (Cook) Davis. After attending [[Transylvania University]], Davis graduated from [[West Point]] and fought in the [[Mexican-American War|Mexican–American War]] as a colonel of a volunteer regiment. He served as the [[United States Secretary of War]] under [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin Pierce]]. Both before and after his time in the Pierce administration, he served as a Democratic [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] representing the State of [[Mississippi]]. As a senator, he argued against [[Secession in the United States|secession]], but did agree that each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 230.</ref>

On February 9, 1861, after Davis resigned from the United States Senate, he was selected to be the provisional President of the Confederate States of America; he was elected without opposition to a six-year term that November. During his presidency, Davis took charge of the Confederate war plans but was unable to find a strategy to stop the larger, more powerful and better organized [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]. His diplomatic efforts failed to gain recognition from any foreign country, and he paid little attention to the collapsing Confederate economy, printing more and more paper money to cover the war's expenses.

Historians have criticized Davis for being a much less effective war leader than his Union counterpart [[Abraham Lincoln]], which they attribute to Davis being overbearing, controlling, and overly meddlesome, as well as being out of touch with public opinion, and lacking support from a political party (since the Confederacy had no political parties).<ref>Cooper 2008, pp. 1–5.</ref> His preoccupation with detail, reluctance to delegate responsibility, lack of popular appeal, feuds with powerful state governors, inability to get along with people who disagreed with him, neglect of civil matters in favor of military ones all worked against him.<ref>{{cite journal
|first=Bell I.
|last=Wiley
|title=Jefferson Davis: An Appraisal
|journal=Civil War Times Illustrated
|month=January
|year=1967
|volume=6
|issue=1
|pages=4–17}}</ref>

After Davis was captured on May 10, 1865, he was charged with [[treason]]. Although he was not tried, he was stripped of his eligibility to run for public office; Congress posthumously lifted this restriction in 1978, 89 years after his death.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29993
|title=Restoration of Citizenship Rights to Jefferson F. Davis Statement on Signing S. J. Res. 16 into Law
|publisher=The American Presidency Project
|accessdate=July 17, 2011}}</ref> While not disgraced, he was displaced in Southern affection after the war by the leading Confederate general [[Robert E. Lee]]. However, many Southerners empathized with his defiance, refusal to accept defeat, and resistance to [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]]. Over time, admiration for his pride and ideals made him a Civil War hero to many Southerners, and his legacy became part of the foundation of the postwar [[New South]].<ref>{{cite journal
|first=Wilm K.
|last=Strawbridge
|title=A Monument Better Than Marble: Jefferson Davis and the New South
|journal=Journal of Mississippi History
|month=December
|year=2007
|volume=69
|issue=4
|pages=325–347}}</ref> By the late 1880s, Davis began to encourage reconciliation, telling Southerners to be loyal to the Union.<ref>Collins 2005, p. 156.</ref><ref name="Meriden">{{cite news
|title=Jefferson Davis' Loyalty
|newspaper=The Meriden Daily Journal
|date=May 14, 1887
|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|title=Jeff Davis Coming Around
|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D01E0DE1730E633A25757C1A9639C94669FD7CF&scp=2&sq=Jeff+Davis+Coming+Around&st=p
|newspaper=New York Times
|date=May 14, 1887
|accessdate=June 10, 2011
}}</ref> He was aided in the last decade of his life by the generosity of [[Sarah Anne Ellis Dorsey]], a wealthy widow. First she invited him to her plantation in 1877 near Biloxi, Mississippi at a time when he was ailing, and gave him a cottage to use for working on his memoir. She bequeathed Davis her plantation before her death in 1878, as well as additional funds for his support. This enabled him to live in some comfort with his wife until his death in 1889.

==Early life and first military career==
Davis was born on June 3, 1808 in [[Christian County, Kentucky]], the last child of ten of Jane (née Cook) and Samuel Emory Davis. Both of Davis' paternal grandparents had immigrated to North America from the region of [[Snowdonia]] in the North of [[Wales]]; the rest of his ancestry can be traced to [[England]]. Davis' paternal grandfather, Evan, married Lydia Emory Williams. Samuel Emory Davis was born to them in 1756. Lydia had two sons from a previous marriage. Samuel served in the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]], along with his two older half-brothers. In 1783, after the war, he married Jane Cook (also born in Christian County, in 1759 to William Cook and his wife Sarah Simpson). Samuel died on July 4, 1824, when Jefferson was 16 years old. Jane died on October 3, 1845.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 4–5</ref>

During Davis' youth, his family moved twice: in 1811 to [[St. Mary Parish, Louisiana]] and in 1812 to [[Wilkinson County, Mississippi]]. Three of Jefferson’s older brothers served during the [[War of 1812]]. In 1813 Davis began his education at the Wilkinson Academy, near the family cotton [[Plantations in the American South|plantation]] in the small town of Woodville. Two years later, Davis entered the Catholic school of Saint Thomas at [[St. Rose Priory]], a school operated by the [[Dominican Order]] in [[Washington County, Kentucky]]. At the time, he was the only Protestant student at the school. Davis went on to [[Jefferson College (Washington, Mississippi)|Jefferson College]] at [[Washington, Mississippi]] in 1818, and then to Transylvania University at [[Lexington, Kentucky]] in 1821.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 11–27.</ref>

In 1824 Davis entered the [[United States Military Academy]] (West Point).<ref name=hamilton>{{cite book
|last=Hamilton
|first=Holman
|title=The Three Kentucky Presidents
|chapter=Jefferson Davis Before His Presidency
|publisher=University Press of Kentucky
|location=Lexington
|year=1978
|isbn=0-8131-0246-4}}</ref> While at West Point, Davis was placed under house arrest for his role in the [[Eggnog Riot]] in Christmas 1826. He graduated 23rd in a class of 33 in June 1828.<ref>U.S. Military Academy, ''Register of Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy from March 16, 1802 to January 1, 1850''. Compiled by Capt. George W. Cullum. West Point, N.Y.: 1850, p. 148.</ref> Following graduation, Second Lieutenant Davis was assigned to the [[1st Infantry Regiment (United States)|1st Infantry Regiment]] and was stationed at [[Fort Crawford]], [[Wisconsin]]. Davis was still in Mississippi during the [[Black Hawk War]] of 1832 but, at its conclusion, his colonel [[Zachary Taylor]] assigned him to escort the chief [[Black Hawk (Sauk leader)|Black Hawk]] to prison. Reportedly the chief liked Davis because of the kind treatment he had shown.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 76.</ref>

==Marriage==
[[File:Sarah Knox Taylor.jpg|thumb|left|200px|First wife, Sarah Knox Taylor]]
Davis served under Zachary Taylor starting in 1832. That same year, Taylor's family, including his daughter [[Sarah Knox Taylor]], joined him at Fort Crawford. Davis and Sarah fell in love. Taylor did not want Sarah to be an army wife, having had first-hand experience with the difficulties of that life for families. Later, Taylor developed a dislike for Davis, but the couple continued to see each other and intended to marry.

After Davis left Fort Crawford in 1833, he did not see Sarah for more than two years. He decided to leave the army and become a cotton planter with his brother Joseph; this may have been partly due to Zachary Taylor's concerns. Sarah and Jefferson were married on June 17, 1835, at the house of her aunt near [[Louisville, Kentucky]]. The newlyweds settled at Hurricane Plantation, owned by Jefferson's older brother Joseph Davis, at [[Davis Bend, Mississippi|Davis Bend]] in [[Warren County, Mississippi]]. While visiting Davis' oldest sister near [[Saint Francisville, Louisiana]], both newlyweds contracted [[malaria]]. At age 19, Sarah died three months after the wedding on September 15, 1835.<ref name=hamilton/><ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 64–72.</ref>

==Early career==
Joseph Davis gave his brother 900 acres of land adjoining his property, where Davis eventually developed [[Brierfield Plantation]]. Davis began with one slave, James Pemberton. By early 1836, Davis had purchased 16 slaves. He held a total of 40 slaves by 1840 and 74 by 1845. Pemberton served as Davis' overseer, an unusual position for a slave in Mississippi.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 75-79. Davis 1991, p. 89.</ref>

For eight years following Sarah's death, Davis was reclusive; he worshipped her memory. He studied government and history, and had private political discussions with his brother Joseph. In 1840 he attended a Democratic meeting in Vicksburg and, to his surprise, was chosen as a delegate to the party's state convention in Jackson. In 1842 Davis attended the Democratic convention, and in 1843 became a candidate for the state House of Representatives, losing his first election. In 1844, Davis was sent to the party convention for a third time, and his interest in politics deepened. He was selected as one of six presidential electors for the [[United States presidential election, 1844|1844 presidential election]] and campaigned effectively throughout Mississippi for the Democratic candidate, [[James K. Polk]]<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 136–137.</ref><ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 84–88, 98-100.</ref>

==Second marriage and family==
[[Image:Varina Howell.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Wedding photograph of Jefferson Davis and Varina Howell, 1845]]
That same year, Davis met [[Varina Howell Davis|Varina Banks Howell]], then 17 years old, whom his brother Joseph had invited for the Christmas season at Hurricane plantation. She was the daughter of Margaret L. Kempe and William Burr Howell, and the granddaughter of the late [[Governor of New Jersey|New Jersey Governor]] [[Richard Howell]] and his wife Keziah. Within a month of their meeting, the 35-year-old widower Davis had asked Varina to marry him. They became engaged over her parents' initial concerns about his age and politics, and they married on February 26, 1845.

Jefferson and Varina Howell Davis had six children; three died before reaching adulthood. Margaret and Winnie survived Jefferson.
*Samuel Emory, born July 30, 1852, was named after his grandfather; he died June 30, 1854, of an undiagnosed disease.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 242, 268.</ref>
*Margaret Howell, born February 25, 1855.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 273.</ref> Margaret was the only child of Jefferson and Varina to marry and raise a family. She married Joel Addison Hayes, Jr. (1848–1919), and they had five children. In the late 19th century, they moved from Memphis, Tennessee to Colorado Springs, Colorado. She died on July 18, 1909 at the age of 54.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.coloradoudc.org/
|title=Margaret Howell Davis Hayes Chapter No. 2652
|publisher=Colorado United Daughters of the Confederacy
|accessdate=July 20, 2011}}</ref>
*Jefferson Davis, Jr., born January 16, 1857. He died of [[yellow fever]] at age 21 on October 16, 1878, during an epidemic in the Mississippi River Valley that caused 20,000 deaths.<ref>Strode 1964, p. 436.</ref>
*Joseph Evan, born on April 18, 1859; died at five years old as the result of an accidental fall on April 30, 1864.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 480.</ref>
*William Howell, born on December 6, 1861, and named for Varina's father; died of [[diphtheria]] on October 16, 1872.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 595.</ref>
*[[Varina Anne Davis|Varina Anne "Winnie" Davis]], born on June 27, 1864, several months after Joseph's death. She died on September 18, 1898, at age 34. She was unmarried as her parents had refused to let her marry into a northern abolitionist family.<ref>Strode 1964, pp. 527–528.</ref>

Davis was plagued with poor health for most of his life. In addition to bouts with [[malaria]], battle wounds from fighting in the [[Mexican-American War]], and a chronic eye infection that made it impossible for him to endure bright light, he also suffered from [[trigeminal neuralgia]], a nerve disorder that causes severe pain in the face. It has been called one of the most painful ailments known to mankind.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Potter
|first=Robert
|title=Jefferson Davis: Confederate President
|year=1994
|publisher=Steck-Vaughn Company
|page=74}}</ref><ref>Allen 1999, pp. 197–198.</ref>

==Second military career==
In 1846 the Mexican-American War began. Davis resigned his house seat in June and raised a volunteer regiment, the [[155th Infantry Regiment (United States)|Mississippi Rifles]], becoming its colonel.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 157.</ref> On July 21, 1846, they sailed from [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]] for the [[Texas]] coast. Davis armed the regiment with the [[M1841 Mississippi Rifle]] and trained the regiment in its use, making it particularly effective in combat.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 161–162.</ref> In September 1846 Davis participated in the successful [[siege]] of [[Monterrey]].<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 164–167.</ref>

On February 22, 1847, Davis fought bravely at the [[Battle of Buena Vista]] and was shot in the foot, being carried to safety by [[Robert H. Chilton]]. In recognition of Davis' bravery and initiative, commanding general Zachary Taylor is reputed to have said, "My daughter, sir, was a better judge of men than I was."<ref name=hamilton/> On May 17, 1847, President [[James K. Polk]] offered Davis a Federal commission as a [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] and command of a [[brigade]] of [[militia]]. Davis declined the appointment arguing that the [[United States Constitution]] gives the power of appointing militia officers to the [[U.S. state|state]]s, and not to the [[Federal government of the United States]].<ref>Strode 1955, p. 188.</ref>

==Return to politics==

===Senator===
[[File:Jefferson Davis 1847.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Jefferson Davis around age 39, c.1847]]
Because of his war service, [[Albert G. Brown|Governor Brown]] of Mississippi appointed Davis to fill out the senate term of the late [[Jesse Speight]]. He took his seat on December 5, 1847, and was elected to serve the remainder of his term in January 1848.<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 12, 93.</ref> The [[Smithsonian Institution]] appointed him a [[regent]] at the end of December 1847.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 195.</ref>

In 1848 Senator Davis introduced the first of several proposed amendments to the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]]; this one would annex most of [[northeastern Mexico]] and failed with a vote of 44 to 11.<ref>{{cite book
|title=The United States and Mexico, 1821-1848
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vfhAAAAAIAAJ
|first=George Lockhart
|last=Rives
|year=1913
|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons
|location=New York
|pages=634–636}}</ref> Regarding [[Cuba]], Davis declared that it "must be ours" to "increase the number of slaveholding constituencies."<ref>{{cite book
|last=McPherson
|first=James M.
|year=1989
|title=Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
|location=New York
|publisher=Bantam Books
|page=104}}</ref> He also was concerned about the security implications of a Spanish holding lying a few miles off the coast of Florida.<ref>Strode 1955, p. 210.</ref>

A group of Cuban revolutionaries led by [[Narciso López]] intended to forcibly liberate Cuba from Spanish rule. In 1849, López visited Davis and asked him to lead his [[filibuster (military)|filibuster]] expedition to Cuba. He offered an immediate payment of $100,000,{{#tag:ref|$100,000 in 1849 would be worth more than $2,000,000 in 2010.<ref name="Williamson">Williamson, Samuel H. (2011). ''Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to present''. [http://www.measuringworth.com MeasuringWorth].</ref>|group="n"}} plus the same amount when Cuba was liberated. Davis turned down the offer, stating that it was inconsistent with his duty as a senator. When asked to recommend someone else, Davis suggested Robert E. Lee, then an army major in Baltimore; López approached Lee, who also declined on the grounds of his duty.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Thomson
|first=Janice E.
|year=1996
|title=Mercenaries, Pirates and Sovereigns
|publisher=Princeton University Press
|page=121}}</ref><ref>Strode 1955, pp. 211–212.</ref>

The senate made Davis chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Committee on Military Affairs]]. When his term expired he was elected to the same seat (by the Mississippi legislature, as the constitution mandated at the time). He had not served a year when he resigned (in September 1851) to run for the governorship of Mississippi on the issue of the [[Compromise of 1850]], which Davis opposed. He was defeated by fellow Senator [[Henry Stuart Foote]] by 999 votes.<ref>{{cite book
|title=The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi
|last=Rowland
|first=Dunbar
|year=1912
|series=Mississippi Department of Archives and History
|publisher=Press of Brandon Printing Company
|location=Nashville, Tennessee
|page=111
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-MoGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA111&vq=foote&dq=henry+s+foote+1851&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0
|accessdate=March 26, 2009}}</ref> Left without political office, Davis continued his political activity. He took part in a convention on [[states' rights]], held at [[Jackson, Mississippi]], in January 1852. In the weeks leading up to the [[U.S. presidential election, 1852|presidential election of 1852]], he campaigned in numerous Southern states for Democratic candidates [[Franklin Pierce]] and [[William R. King]].<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 130–131.</ref>

===Secretary of War===
[[File:Jefferson Davis 1853 daguerreotype-restored.png|thumb|200px|right|Jefferson Davis around age 45, 1853]]
Franklin Pierce won the presidential election, and in 1853 he made Davis his Secretary of War.<ref name=kye>{{cite book
|editor=Kleber, John E.
|others=Associate editors: [[Thomas D. Clark]], Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter
|title=The Kentucky Encyclopedia
|year=1992
|publisher=The University Press of Kentucky
|location=Lexington, Kentucky
|isbn=0-8131-1772-0
|chapter=Davis, Jefferson}}</ref> In this capacity, Davis gave Congress four annual reports (in December of each year), as well as an elaborate one (submitted on February 22, 1855) on [[Pacific Railroad Surveys|various routes]] for the proposed [[First Transcontinental Railroad|Transcontinental Railroad]]. He promoted the [[Gadsden Purchase]] of today's southern Arizona from Mexico. He also increased the size of the regular army from 11,000 to 15,000 and introduced general usage of the improved guns that he had used successfully during the Mexican–American War.<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 80, 133–135.</ref>

The Pierce administration ended in 1857 with the loss of the Democratic nomination to [[James Buchanan]]. Davis' term was to end with Pierce's, so he ran successfully for the Senate, and re-entered it on March 4, 1857.<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 152–153.</ref>

===Return to Senate===
His renewed service in the senate was interrupted by an illness that threatened him with the loss of his left [[Human eye|eye]]. Still nominally serving in the senate, Davis spent the summer of 1858 in [[Portland, Maine]]. On the [[July 4|Fourth of July]], he delivered an anti-secessionist speech on board a ship near [[Boston]]. He again urged the preservation of the Union on October 11 in [[Faneuil Hall]], Boston, and returned to the senate soon after.<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 12, 171–172.</ref>

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, 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 war were to break out. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in [[United States presidential election, 1860|1860]], however, events accelerated. [[South Carolina]] adopted an ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860, and Mississippi did so on January 9, 1861. Davis had expected this but waited until he received official notification; then on January 21, the day Davis called "the saddest day of my life",<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 3.</ref> he delivered a farewell address to the United States Senate, resigned and returned to Mississippi.<ref name="jeffdavissenatefarewell">{{cite web
|url=http://senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Jefferson_Davis_Farewell.htm
|publisher=United States Senate
|title=Jefferson Davis' Farewell
|accessdate=June 9, 2011
}}</ref>

==President of the Confederate States of America==
[[File:1861 Davis Inaugural.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Jefferson Davis is sworn in as President of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861, on the steps of the [[Alabama State Capitol]].]]
Anticipating a call for his services since Mississippi had seceded, Davis had sent a telegraph message to [[John J. Pettus|Governor Pettus]] saying, "Judge what Mississippi requires of me and place me accordingly."<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 322.</ref> On January 23, 1861, Pettus made Davis a major general of the Army of Mississippi.<ref name=hamilton/> On February 9, a constitutional convention at [[Montgomery, Alabama]], considered Davis, [[Howell Cobb]], [[Alexander Stephens]], and [[Robert Toombs]] for the office of provisional president. Davis "was the champion of a slave society and embodied the values of the planter class, and thus was chosen Confederate President by acclamation."<ref>Joan E. Cashin, ''First Lady of the Confederacy: Varina Davis's Civil War'', Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006, p.</ref> He was inaugurated on February 18, 1861.<ref>Strode 1955, pp. 402–403.</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/inauguraladdress00conf#page/n1/mode/2up
|title=Inaugural Address of President Davis
|date=February 18, 1861
|publisher=Shorter and Reid, Printers
|location=Montgomery, Alabama
|accessdate=July 17, 2011
}}</ref> He was chosen partly because he was a well-known and experienced moderate who had served in a president's cabinet. In meetings of his own Mississippi legislature, Davis had argued against secession; but when a majority of the delegates opposed him, he gave in.<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 197–198.</ref> Davis wanted to serve as a general in the Confederate States Army and not as the president, but accepted the role for which he had been chosen.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Jefferson Davis
|url=http://www.civilwarhome.com/jdavisbio.htm
|work=Document
|publisher=www.civilwarhome.com}}</ref>

Several forts in Confederate territory remained in Union hands. Davis sent a commission to Washington with an offer to pay for any federal property on Southern soil, as well as the Southern portion of the national debt. Lincoln refused. Informal discussions did take place with Secretary of State [[William H. Seward|William Seward]] through [[Supreme Court Justice]] [[John Archibald Campbell|John A. Campbell]], an [[List of people from Alabama|Alabamian]] who had not yet resigned; Seward hinted that [[Fort Sumter]] would be evacuated, but nothing definite was said.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 361-2.</ref>

On March 1, Davis appointed General [[P. G. T. Beauregard]] to command all [[Confederate States Army|Confederate troops]] in the vicinity of [[Charleston, South Carolina]], where state officials prepared to take possession of Fort Sumter; Beauregard was to prepare his forces but avoid an attack on the fort. When Lincoln moved to resupply the fort with food, Davis and his cabinet directed Beauregard to demand its surrender or else take possession by force. [[Robert Anderson (Civil War)|Major Anderson]] did not surrender. Beauregard bombarded the fort, and the Civil War began.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 337–340.</ref>

When Virginia joined the Confederacy, Davis moved his government to [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] in May 1861. He and his family took up his residence there at the [[White House of the Confederacy]] later that month.<ref>Strode 1959, pp. 90–94.</ref> Having served since February as the provisional president, Davis was [[Confederate States presidential election, 1861|elected]] to a full six-year term on November 6, 1861 and was inaugurated on February 22, 1862.<ref>Dodd 1907, p. 263.</ref>

In June 1862, in his most successful move, Davis assigned General Robert E. Lee to replace the wounded [[Joseph E. Johnston]] in command of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]], the main Confederate Army in the Eastern Theater. That December he made a tour of Confederate armies in the [[Western Theater of the American Civil War|west of the country]]. Davis had a very small circle of military advisers, and largely made the main strategic decisions on his own (or approved those suggested by Lee). Davis evaluated the Confederacy's national resources and weaknesses and decided that, in order to win its independence, the Confederacy would have to fight mostly on the strategic defensive. Davis maintained mostly a defensive outlook throughout the war, paying special attention to the defense of his national capital at Richmond. He attempted strategic offensives when he felt that military success would (a) shake Northern self-confidence and (b) strengthen the peace movements there. The campaigns met defeat at [[Battle of Antietam|Antietam]] (1862) and [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]] (1863).<ref>{{cite journal
|first=Joseph G. III
|last=Dawson
|title=Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy's "Offensive-Defensive" Strategy in the U.S. Civil War
|journal=Journal of Military History
|month=April
|year=2009
|volume=73
|issue=2
|pages=591–607}}</ref>

===Administration and Cabinet===
[[File:ConfederateCabinet.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The original [[Confederate States of America#Executive|Confederate Cabinet]]. L-R: [[Judah P. Benjamin]], [[Stephen Mallory]], [[Christopher Memminger]], [[Alexander Stephens]], [[LeRoy Pope Walker]], Jefferson Davis, [[John H. Reagan]] and [[Robert Toombs]].]]

As provisional president in 1861, Davis formed his first cabinet. Robert Toombs of Georgia was the first Secretary of State, and [[Christopher Memminger]] of South Carolina became Secretary of the Treasury. [[LeRoy Pope Walker]] of Alabama was made Secretary of War, after being recommended for this post by [[Clement Claiborne Clay|Clement Clay]] and [[William Lowndes Yancey|William Yancey]] (both of whom declined to accept cabinet positions themselves). [[John Henninger Reagan|John Reagan]] of Texas became Postmaster General, and [[Judah P. Benjamin]] of Louisiana became Attorney General. Although [[Stephen Mallory]] was not put forward by the delegation from his state of Florida, Davis insisted that he was the best man for the job of Secretary of the Navy, and he was eventually confirmed.<ref>Patrick 1944, p. 51.</ref>

Since the Confederacy was founded, among other things, on states’ rights, one important factor in Davis’ choice of cabinet members was representation from the various states. He depended partly upon recommendations from congressmen and other prominent people, and this helped maintain good relations between the executive and legislative branches. This also led to complaints as more states joined the Confederacy, however, because there were more states than cabinet positions.<ref>Patrick 1944, pp. 49–50, 56.</ref>

Once the war began, there were frequent changes to the cabinet. [[Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter|Robert Hunter]] of Virginia replaced Toombs as Secretary of State on July 25, 1861. On September 17, Walker resigned as Secretary of War; Benjamin left the Attorney General position replace Walker, and [[Thomas Bragg]] of North Carolina (brother of General [[Braxton Bragg]]) took Benjamin’s place as Attorney General.<ref>Patrick 1944, p. 53.</ref>

Following the November 1861 election, Davis announced the permanent cabinet in March 1862. Benjamin moved again, to Secretary of State; [[George W. Randolph]] of Virginia had been made the Secretary of War. Mallory continued as Secretary of the Navy and Reagan as Postmaster General; both men kept their positions throughout the war. Memminger remained Secretary of the Treasury, while [[Thomas Hill Watts]] of Alabama was made Attorney General.<ref>Patrick 1944, pp. 55–56.</ref>

In 1862, Randolph resigned from the War Department, and James Seddon of Virginia was appointed to replace him. In late 1863, Watts resigned as Attorney General to take office as the Governor of Alabama, and [[George Davis (politician)|George Davis]] of North Carolina took his place. In 1864, Memminger withdrew from the Treasury post due to congressional opposition, and was replaced by [[George Trenholm]] of South Carolina. In 1865, congressional opposition likewise caused Seddon to withdraw, and he was replaced by [[John C. Breckinridge]] of Kentucky.<ref>Patrick 1944, p. 57.</ref>

===Strategic failures===
Most historians sharply criticize Davis for his flawed military strategy, his selection of friends for military commands, and his neglect of homefront crises.<ref>Beringer, Richard E., Hattaway, Herman, Jones, Archer, and Still, William N., Jr. (1986). ''Why the South Lost the Civil War''. Athens: University of Georgia Press.</ref><ref>{{cite book
|last=Woodworth
|first=Steven E.
|year=1990
|title=Jefferson Davis and His Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West
|location=Lawrence
|publisher=University Press of Kansas}}</ref>
Until late in the war, he resisted efforts to appoint a general-in-chief, essentially handling those duties himself. On January 31, 1865, Lee assumed this role, but it was far too late. Davis insisted on a strategy of trying to defend all Southern territory with ostensibly equal effort. This diluted the limited resources of the South and made it vulnerable to coordinated strategic thrusts by the Union into the vital Western Theater (e.g., the capture of New Orleans in early 1862). He made other controversial strategic choices, such as allowing Lee to invade the North in 1862 and 1863 while the Western armies were under very heavy pressure. Lee lost at Gettysburg, Vicksburg simultaneously fell, and the Union took control of the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy. At Vicksburg, the failure to coordinate multiple forces on both sides of the Mississippi River rested primarily on the his inability to create a harmonious departmental arrangement or to force such commanders as generals [[Edmund Kirby Smith]], [[Earl Van Dorn]], and [[Theophilus H. Holmes]] to work together.<ref>{{cite journal
|first=Steven E.
|last=Woodworth
|title=Dismembering the Confederacy: Jefferson Davis and the Trans-Mississippi West
|journal=Military History of the Southwest
|year=1990
|volume=20
|issue=1
|pages=1–22}}</ref>

Davis has been faulted for poor coordination and management of his generals. This includes his reluctance to resolve a dispute between [[Leonidas Polk]], a personal friend, and [[Braxton Bragg]], who was defeated in important battles and distrusted by his subordinates.<ref>Woodworth, ''Jefferson Davis and His Generals'', pp. 92&ndash;93.</ref> He did relieve the cautious but capable [[Joseph E. Johnston]] and replaced him with the reckless [[John Bell Hood]], resulting in the loss of Atlanta and the eventual loss of an army.<ref>Hattaway and Beringer 2002.</ref>

Davis gave speeches to soldiers and politicians but largely ignored the common people and thereby failed to harness Confederate nationalism by directing the energies of the people into winning the war. More and more, the [[Plain Folk of the Old South]] resented the favoritism shown the rich and powerful.<ref>Escott 1978.</ref>

Barney speaks of "the heavy-handed intervention of the Confederate government." The Confederate income tax was higher than the Union one; and economic intervention, regulation, and state control of manpower, production and transport were much greater in the Confederacy than in the Union.<ref>{{cite book|author=William L. Barney|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Civil War|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=16nCrElDpCAC&pg=PA341|year= 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=341}}</ref> Davis did not use his presidential pulpit to rally the people with stirring rhetoric; he called instead for people to be fatalistic and to die for their new country.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 475, 496.</ref> Apart from two month-long trips across the country where he met a few hundred people, Davis stayed in Richmond where few people saw him; newspapers had limited circulation and most Confederates had little favorable information about him.<ref>{{cite journal
|first=J. Cutler
|last=Andrews
|title=The Confederate Press and Public Morale
|journal=Journal of Southern History
|volume=32
|year=1966}}</ref>

In April 1863, food shortages led to rioting in Richmond, as poor people robbed and looted numerous stores for food until Davis cracked down and restored order.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 447, 480, 496.</ref> Davis feuded bitterly with his vice president. Perhaps even more serious, he clashed with powerful state governors who used states' rights arguments to withhold their militia units from national service and otherwise blocked mobilization plans.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 511.</ref>

===Final days of the Confederacy===
[[File:William T Sutherlin Mansion Danville Virginia.JPG|thumb|right|250px|[[William T. Sutherlin]] [[Mansion]], Danville, Virginia, temporary residence of Jefferson Davis and dubbed Last Capitol of the Confederacy]]
On April 3, 1865, with [[Union Army|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]]. Lincoln sat in his Richmond office 40 hours after Davis' departure. On about April 12, he received [[Conclusion of the American Civil War|Robert E. Lee's letter announcing surrender]].<ref name="keegan2009">{{cite book
|title=The American Civil War: A Military History
|publisher=Vintage Books
|last=Keegan
|first=John
|year=2009
|pages=375–376
|isbn=978-0-307-27314-7}}</ref> Davis issued his last official proclamation as president of the Confederacy, and then went south to [[Greensboro, North Carolina]].<ref>Dodd 1907, pp. 353–357.</ref>

After Lee's surrender, there was a public meeting in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]], at which many speakers supported continuation of the war. Plans were developed for the Davis government to flee to [[Havana]], Cuba. There, the leaders would regroup and head to the Confederate-controlled Trans-Mississippi area by way of the [[Rio Grande]].<ref>{{cite book
|first=John D.
|last=Winters
|year=1963
|title=The Civil War in Louisiana
|location=Baton Rouge
|publisher=Louisiana State University Press
|isbn=0-8071-0834-0
|page=419}}</ref> None of these plans were put into practice.

President Davis met with his Confederate Cabinet for the last time on May 5, 1865, in [[Washington, Georgia|Washington]], Georgia, and the Confederate government was officially dissolved. The meeting took place at the Heard house, the Georgia Branch Bank Building, with 14 officials present. Along with a hand-picked escort led by [[Given Campbell]], Davis and his wife were captured on May 10, 1865, at [[Irwinville, Georgia|Irwinville]] in [[Irwin County, Georgia]].<ref name="Jefferson_Davis">{{cite web
|url=http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/civil/jb_civil_jeffdav_1.html
|title=Jefferson Davis Was Captured
|publisher=[[USA.gov]]
|year=2007
|accessdate=February 4, 2010
}}</ref> They were intending to get to a point where they could sail to Europe. It was reported that Davis put his wife's overcoat over his shoulders while fleeing, inspiring caricatures that portrayed him as having disguised himself as a woman while trying to avoid capture.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-640
|title=Capture of Jefferson Davis
|publisher=The New Georgia Encyclopedia
|accessdate=June 8, 2011
}}</ref> Meanwhile, Davis' belongings continued on the train bound for [[Cedar Key, Florida]]. They were first hidden at Senator [[David Levy Yulee]]'s plantation in Florida, then placed in the care of a railroad agent in [[Waldo, Florida|Waldo]]. On June 15, 1865, Union soldiers seized Davis' personal baggage, together with some of the Confederate government's records, from the agent. A historical marker now stands at this site.<ref name=FL_HistoricalMarkers>{{cite book
|last=Boone
|first=Floyd E.
|year=1988
|title=Florida Historical Markers & Sites: A Guide to More Than 700 Historic Sites
|publisher=Gulf Publishing Company
|location=Houston, Texas
|ISBN=0-87201-558-0
|page=15}}</ref><ref name=ALACHUA>{{cite web
|url=http://Growth-Management.Alachua.FL.US/historic/historic_commission/historical_markers/jeffdavistext.htm
|title=Historical Markers in Alachua County, Florida &mdash; DICKISON AND HIS MEN / JEFFERSON DAVIS' BAGGAGE
|publisher=Alachua County Historical Commission
|accessdate=August 4, 2011}}</ref><ref name=LAT34>{{cite web
|url=http://www.lat34north.com/HistoricMarkersFL/MarkerDetail.cfm?KeyID=001-1&MarkerTitle=Dickison%20and%20his%20men%20/%20Jefferson%20Davis%27%20baggage
|title=Historic Markers Across Florida &mdash; Dickison and his men / Jefferson Davis' baggage
|publisher=Latitude 34 North
|accessdate=August 4, 2011}}</ref>

==Imprisonment==
[[File:Jefferson davis fort monroe capture.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Contemporary sketch of Davis imprisoned in Ft. Monroe]]
On May 19, 1865, Davis was imprisoned in a [[casemate]] at [[Fort Monroe|Fortress Monroe]], on the coast of Virginia. He was placed in irons for three days. Davis was indicted for treason a year later. While in prison, Davis arranged to sell his Mississippi [[plantation]] to one of his former slaves, [[Ben Montgomery]]. While he was in prison, [[Pope Pius IX]] sent Davis a portrait inscribed with the Latin words, "Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis, et ego reficiam vos, dicit Dominus", which comes from Matthew 11:28 and translates as, "Come to me all ye who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest, sayeth the Lord." A hand-woven crown of thorns associated with the portrait is often said to have been made by the Pope<ref>Strode 1964, p. 302.</ref> but may have been woven by his wife Varina Davis.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://cwmemory.com/2009/09/27/update-on-jefferson-daviss-crown-of-thorns/
|title=Update on Jefferson Davis's Crown of Thorns
|publisher=Civil War Memory
|author=Kevin Levin
|accessdate=August 21, 2011}}</ref>

Varina Davis with their young daughter Winnie were allowed to join Davis, and the family were eventually given an apartment in the officers' quarters.

==Later years==
After two years of imprisonment, Davis was released on bail of $100,000, which was posted by prominent citizens of both Northern and Southern states, including [[Horace Greeley]], [[Cornelius Vanderbilt]] and [[Gerrit Smith]]. (Smith was a former member of the [[Secret Six]] who had supported [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]]). Davis visited Canada, Cuba and Europe in search of work.

In December 1868 the court rejected a motion to nullify the indictment, but the prosecution dropped the case in February 1869. That same year, Davis was hired as president of the Carolina Life Insurance Company in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]. He turned down the opportunity to become the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now [[Texas A&M University]]).<ref>Strode 1964, pp. 402–404.</ref> For a time, he began to regain his income, but the insurance company went bankrupt in the [[Panic of 1873]] and Davis had difficulty finding new work.

During Reconstruction, Davis remained silent; however, he privately expressed opinions that federal military rule and Republican authority over former Confederate states was unjustified. He considered "Yankee and Negroe" rule in the south oppressive. Davis held contemporary beliefs that Blacks were inferior to the White race. The historian William J. Cooper has stated that Davis believed in southern social order that included "a democratic white polity based firmly on dominance of a controlled and excluded black caste."<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 574, 575, 602, 603.</ref>

In 1876, Davis promoted a society for the stimulation of U.S. trade with [[South America]]. He visited England the next year. In 1877, [[Sarah Anne Ellis Dorsey]], a wealthy widow who had heard of his difficulties, invited him to stay at her plantation of [[Beauvoir (Biloxi, Mississippi)|Beauvoir]] near [[Biloxi, Mississippi]]. She provided him with a cabin for his own use and helped him with his writing - through organization, dictation, editing, and encouragement.<ref>Bertram Wyatt-Brown, ''The House of Percy: Honor, Melancholy and Imagination in a Southern Family'', New York: Oxford University Press, 1994, pp. 165-166</ref> Knowing she was severely ill, in 1878 Dorsey made over her will, leaving Beauvoir and her financial assets to Jefferson Davis and, in the case of his death, to his only surviving child, Winnie Davis.<ref>Bertram Wyatt-Brown, ''The House of Percy: Honor, Melancholy and Imagination in a Southern Family'', New York: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 166</ref> Dorsey died in 1879, by when, both the Davises and Winnie were living at Beauvoir. Over the next two years, Davis completed ''The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government'' (1881).<ref>Strode 1964, pp. 439–441, 448–449.</ref>

[[File:1885JeffersonDavis.jpg|thumb|left|Jefferson Davis at his home c. 1885]]
Davis' reputation in the South was restored by the book, and by his warm reception on his tour of the region in 1886 and 1887. In numerous stops, he attended "[[Lost Cause]]" ceremonies, where large crowds showered him with affection and local leaders presented emotional speeches honoring his sacrifices to the would-be nation. The ''Meriden Daily Journal'' stated that Davis, at a reception held in New Orleans in May 1887, urged southerners to be loyal to the nation. He said, "United you are now, and if the Union is ever to be broken, let the other side break it." Davis stated that men in the Confederacy had successfully fought for their own rights with inferior numbers during the Civil War and that the northern historians ignored this view.<ref name="Meriden" /> Davis firmly believed that Confederate secession was constitutional. The former Confederate president was optimistic concerning American prosperity and the next generation.<ref>Cooper 2000, p. 658.</ref>

Davis completed ''[[A Short History of the Confederate States of America]]'' in October 1889. On November 6 he left Beauvoir to visit his plantation at Brierfield. On the steamboat trip upriver, he became ill; on the 13th he left Brierfield to return to New Orleans. Varina Davis, who had taken another boat to Brierfield, met him on the river, and he finally received some medical care. They arrived in New Orleans on the 16th, and he was taken to the home of Charles Erasmus Fenner, an Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Though Davis remained in bed, he was stable for the next two weeks, but took a turn for the worse in early December. Just when he appeared to be improving, he lost consciousness on the evening of the 5th. He died at age 81 at 12:45 AM on Friday, December 6, 1889, in the presence of several friends and with his hand in Varina's.<ref>Cooper 2000, pp. 652–654.</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://leearchive.wlu.edu/reference/misc/fenner/index.html
|title=Eulogy of Robert E. Lee
|author=Charles E. Fenner}}</ref>

[[File:JeffDavisFuneralOnCampStreet1889.jpg|thumb|Funeral procession of Jefferson Davis in New Orleans]]
His funeral was one of the largest in the South. Davis was first entombed at the Army of Northern Virginia tomb at [[Metairie Cemetery]] in New Orleans. In 1893, Mrs. Davis decided to have his remains reinterred at [[Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)|Hollywood Cemetery]] in Richmond.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=davis&GSfn=Jefferson&GSmn=finis&GSbyrel=in&GSdyrel=in&GSob=n&GRid=260&
|title=Jefferson Finis Davis
|publisher=[[Find a Grave]]
|year=2001
|accessdate=June 8, 2011
}}</ref> After the remains were exhumed in New Orleans, they lay for a day at Memorial Hall of the newly organized [[Louisiana Historical Association]], with many mourners passing by the casket, including [[Governor of Louisiana|Governor]] [[Murphy J. Foster|Murphy J. Foster, Sr.]] The body was placed on a [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]] car and transported to Richmond.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.lahistory.org/uploads/UrquhartLHAHistoryFinal.pdf
|first=Kenneth Trist
|last=Urquhart
|title=Seventy Years of the Louisiana Historical Association
|date=March 21, 1959
|location=Alexandria, Louisiana
|publisher=Louisiana Historical Association
|format=PDF
|accessdate=July 21, 2010}}</ref> A continuous cortège, day and night, accompanied his body from New Orleans to Richmond.<ref>Collins 2005.</ref>

==Legacy==
{{see also|List of memorials to Jefferson Davis}}
[[Image:Jefferson Davis Monument, Richmond, VA IMG 4066.JPG|200px|left|Large Davis memorial on [[Monument Avenue]] in [[Richmond, Virginia]]]]

[[File:Jefferson Davis portrait.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Postwar portrait of Jefferson Davis by [[Daniel Huntington]]]]
Numerous memorials were created to Jefferson Davis. Examples include the {{convert|351|foot|adj=on}} concrete obelisk located at the [[Jefferson Davis State Historic Site]] in [[Fairview, Christian County, Kentucky]], marking his birthplace. Construction of the monument began in 1917 and finished in 1924.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/histparks/jd/|title=Jefferson Davis State Historic Site|publisher=Kentucky State Parks|accessdate=July 17, 2011}}</ref>

The [[Jefferson Davis Presidential Library]] was established at Beauvoir Plantation, the white-columned [[Biloxi, Mississippi|Biloxi]] mansion that was Davis's final home, in 1998, after its use for some years as a Confederate Veterans Home. Dedicated in 1998, the house and library were damaged by [[Hurricane Katrina]] in 2005. The house reopened in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beauvoir.org|title=Beauvoir – The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library|publisher=Mississippi Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans|accessdate=July 17, 2011}}</ref> Bertram Hayes-Davis, Davis's great-great grandson, was recently hired as executive director of Beauvoir, which is owned by the [[Sons of Confederate Veterans]].

Based at [[Rice University]] in [[Houston, Texas]], ''The Papers of Jefferson Davis'' is an editing project to publish documents related to Davis. Since the early 1960s, it has published 12 volumes, the first in 1971 and most recently in 2008; three more volumes are planned. The project has roughly 100,000 documents in its archives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jeffersondavis.rice.edu|title=The Papers of Jefferson Davis|publisher=Rice University|accessdate=July 17, 2011}}</ref>

{{Anchor|holidays}}
The birthday of Jefferson Davis is commemorated in several states. His birthday, June 3, is celebrated in Florida,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0600-0699/0683/Sections/0683.01.html|title=The 2010 Florida Statutes (including Special Session A)|publisher=The Florida Legislature|accessdate=July 25, 2011}}</ref> Kentucky,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtondc.worldweb.com/TravelEssentials/PublicHolidays/|title=State Public Holidays|publisher=World Web Technologies, Inc.|accessdate=July 25, 2011}}</ref> Louisiana<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=74097|title=Days of public rest, legal holidays, and half-holidays|publisher=The Louisiana State Legislature|accessdate=July 25, 2011}}</ref> and Tennessee;<ref name=DEPT_VA>{{cite web|url=http://www1.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp|title=Memorial Day History|publisher=United States Department of Veterans Affairs|accessdate=July 25, 2011}}</ref> in Alabama, it is celebrated on the first Monday in June.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.info.alabama.gov/calendar.aspx|title=Official State of Alabama Calend|publisher=Alabama State Government|accessdate=July 25, 2011}}</ref> In Mississippi, the last Monday of May ([[Memorial Day]]) is celebrated as "National Memorial Day and Jefferson Davis' Birthday".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mscode.com/free/statutes/03/003/0007.htm|title=Mississippi Code of 1972 - SEC. 3-3-7. Legal holiday.|publisher=LawNetCom, Inc.|accessdate=July 25, 2011}}</ref>
In Texas, "Confederate Heroes Day" is celebrated on January 19, the birthday of Robert E. Lee;<ref name=DEPT_VA/> Jefferson Davis’ birthday had been officially celebrated on June 3 but was combined with Lee's birthday in 1973.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ref/abouttx/holidays.html|title=State holidays|publisher=Texas State Library|accessdate=July 25, 2011}}</ref>

In 1913, the [[United Daughters of the Confederacy]] conceived the [[Jefferson Davis Highway|Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway]], a transcontinental highway to be built through the South.<ref name=highway>{{cite web|last=Weingroff|first=Richard F.|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/jdavis.cfm|title=Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway|work=[http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/history.cfm Highway History]|publisher=[[Federal Highway Administration]], [[United States Department of Transportation]]|date=April 7, 2011|accessdate=September 29, 2011}}</ref> Portions of the highway's route in Virginia, Alabama and other states still bear the name of Jefferson Davis.<ref name=highway/> On September 20, 2011, the County Board of [[Arlington County, Virginia]] voted to change the name of "Old Jefferson Davis Highway" (the original route of the road in the County) after the chairman of the Board, Chris Zimmerman, who was originally from the Northeast, stated: "I have a problem with 'Jefferson Davis' ... There are aspects of our history I'm not particularly interested in celebrating. I don't believe Jefferson Davis has a historic connection to anything in Arlington. He wasn't from Virginia".<ref>(1) {{cite web|title=Old Jefferson Davis Highway to be Renamed "Long Bridge Drive"|work=Newsroom|publisher=[[Arlington County, Virginia]] government|date=September 21, 2011|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/69un7fJsy|archivedate=August 14, 2012|url=http://news.arlingtonva.us/pr/ava/old-jefferson-davis-highway-to-215795.aspx|accessdate=August 14, 2012}}<br>(2) {{cite web|last=McCaffrey|first=Scott|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/69umctsRU|archivedate=August 14, 2012|url=http://www.sungazette.net/arlington/politics/road-renaming-proves-another-chance-to-re-fight-the-civil/article_22798c8c-e9c5-11e0-a526-001cc4c002e0.html|title=Road Renaming Proves Another Chance to Re-Fight the Civil War|work=Arlington Sun Gazette|location=Springfield, Virginia|publisher=Sun Gazette Newspapers|date=September 28, 2011|accessdate=August 14, 2012}}</ref>

{{clear}}

{{Portal|United States Army|American Civil War}}
{{Portal|Kentucky|Mississippi|Virginia}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="n"}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography==

===Secondary sources===
* Allen, Felicity (1999). ''[http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=106229784 Jefferson Davis: Unconquerable Heart]''. Columbia: The University of Missouri Press.
* Ballard, Michael B. (1986). ''[http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14023352 Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy]''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
* Collins, Donald E. (2005). ''The Death and Resurrection of Jefferson Davis''. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
* Cooper, William J. (2000). ''Jefferson Davis, American''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
* Cooper, William J. (2008). ''Jefferson Davis and the Civil War Era''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
* Current, Richard, ''et al.'' (1993). ''Encyclopedia of the Confederacy''. New York: Simon & Schuster.
* Davis, William C. (1991). ''Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour''. New York: HarperCollins.
* Dodd, William E. (1907). ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=xtJ2AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Jefferson Davis]''. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs and Company.
* Eaton, Clement (1977). ''Jefferson Davis''. New York: The Free Press.
* Escott, Paul (1978). ''After Secession: Jefferson Davis and the Failure of Confederate Nationalism''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
* Hattaway, Herman and Beringer, Richard E. (2002). ''Jefferson Davis, Confederate President''. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
* Neely Jr., Mark E. (1993). ''[http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=29306356 Confederate Bastille: Jefferson Davis and Civil Liberties]''. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.
* Patrick, Rembert W. (1944). ''Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
* Rable, George C. (1994). ''[http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=10417084 The Confederate Republic: A Revolution against Politics]''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
* Stoker, Donald, "There Was No Offensive-Defensive Confederate Strategy," ''Journal of Military History,'' 73 (April 2009), 571–90.
* Strode, Hudson (1955). ''Jefferson Davis, Volume I: American Patriot''. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company.
* Strode, Hudson (1959). ''Jefferson Davis, Volume II: Confederate President''. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company.
* Strode, Hudson (1964). ''Jefferson Davis, Volume III: Tragic Hero''. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company.
* Swanson, James L. (2010). ''Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse''. New York: HarperCollins.
* Thomas, Emory M. (1979). ''The Confederate Nation, 1861–1865''. New York: Harper & Row.

===Primary sources===
* {{cite book
|last=Davis
|first=Jefferson
|title=Jefferson Davis: The Essential Writings
|editor-first=William J
|editor-last=Cooper, Jr.
|year=2003}}
* {{cite book
|last=Davis
|first=Jefferson
|title=The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government
|year=1881}}
* {{cite book
|editor-first=Dunbar
|editor-last=Rowland
|title=Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist: His Letters, Papers, and Speeches
|location=Jackson
|publisher=Mississippi Department of Archives and History
|year=1923}}
* {{cite book
|editor1-last=Monroe, Jr.
|editor1-first=Haskell M.
|editor2-last=McIntosh
|editor2-first=James T.
|editor3-last=Crist
|editor3-first=Lynda L.
|title=The Papers of Jefferson Davis
|year=1971–2008
|publisher=Louisiana State University Press}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|s=Author:Jefferson Davis}}
*[http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Davis_Jefferson_1808-1889 Jefferson Davis in ''Encyclopedia Virginia'']
*[http://www.virginia.org/Listings/HistoricSites/HollywoodCemetery/ Jefferson Davis's final resting place]
*[http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/162328-1/William+Cooper.aspx ''Booknotes'' interview with William Cooper on ''Jefferson Davis, American'', April 8, 2001.]
*{{gutenberg author| id=Davis+Jefferson | name=Jefferson Davis}}
{{CongBio|D000113}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-par|us-hs}}
{{USRepSuccessionBox
| state=Mississippi
| district=AL
| before=[[William H. Hammett]]<br/>[[Robert W. Roberts]]<br/>[[Jacob Thompson]]<br/>[[Tilghman Tucker|Tilghman M. Tucker]]
| after=[[Henry T. Ellett]]
| years=March 4, 1845 – June 1846<br/><small>Served alongside: '''[[Stephen Adams (politician)|Stephen Adams]], [[Robert W. Roberts]] and [[Jacob Thompson]]'''</small>
}}
{{S-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box|state=Mississippi|class=1|before=[[Jesse Speight]]|after=[[John J. McRae]]|alongside=[[Henry S. Foote]]|years=August 10, 1847 – September 23, 1851
}}
{{U.S. Senator box|state=Mississippi|class=1|before=[[Stephen Adams (politician)|Stephen Adams]]|after=[[Adelbert Ames]]<sup>(1)</sup>|alongside=[[Albert G. Brown]]|years=March 4, 1857 – January 21, 1861}}
{{S-off}}
{{U.S. Secretary box
| before= [[Charles Magill Conrad]]
| after= [[John B. Floyd]]
| years= March 7, 1853 – March 4, 1857
| president= [[Franklin Pierce]]
| department= Secretary of War}}
{{Succession box| title=[[President of the Confederate States of America]] | before=''Office established'' | after=''Office abolished'' | years= February 18, 1861 – May 10, 1865}}
{{S-ref|Because of Mississippi's secession, the Senate seat was vacant for nine years before Ames succeeded Davis.}}
{{CSCabinet}}
{{American Civil War}}
{{Black Hawk War (1832)}}
{{SenArmedServiceCommitteeChairs}}
{{USSenMS}}
{{Pierce cabinet}}
{{USSecWar}}

{{Persondata
|NAME= Davis, Jefferson
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= [[Confederate States of America|President of the Confederate States of America]]
|DATE OF BIRTH= June 3, 1808
|PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Christian County, Kentucky|Christian County]], [[Kentucky]]
|DATE OF DEATH= December 6, 1889
|PLACE OF DEATH= [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Jefferson}}
[[Category:1808 births]]
[[Category:1889 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:American military personnel of the Mexican–American War]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American people of Welsh descent]]
[[Category:American pro-slavery activists]]
[[Category:Burials at Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)]]
[[Category:Burials at Metairie Cemetery]]
[[Category:Confederate States Army generals]]
[[Category:Confederate States of America political leaders]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States Senators]]
[[Category:Heads of state of the United States]]
[[Category:Heads of state of unrecognized or largely unrecognized states]]
[[Category:Historians of the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Jefferson College (Mississippi) alumni]]
[[Category:Jefferson Davis family]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi]]
[[Category:Mississippi Democrats]]
[[Category:People from Christian County, Kentucky]]
[[Category:People of Mississippi in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:People of the Black Hawk War]]
[[Category:Recipients of American presidential pardons]]
[[Category:Transylvania University alumni]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:United States Secretaries of War]]
[[Category:United States Senators from Mississippi]]
[[Category:Zachary Taylor family]]

[[ar:جيفيرسون ديفيس]]
[[az:Cefferson Devis]]
[[zh-min-nan:Jefferson Davis]]
[[be-x-old:Джэфэрсан Дэвіс]]
[[bg:Джеферсън Дейвис]]
[[bs:Jefferson Davis]]
[[ca:Jefferson Davis]]
[[cs:Jefferson Davis]]
[[cy:Jefferson Davis]]
[[da:Jefferson Davis]]
[[de:Jefferson Davis]]
[[et:Jefferson Davis]]
[[el:Τζέφερσον Ντέηβις]]
[[es:Jefferson Davis]]
[[eo:Jefferson Davis]]
[[eu:Jefferson Davis]]
[[fa:جفرسون دیویس]]
[[fr:Jefferson Davis]]
[[gl:Jefferson Davis]]
[[ko:제퍼슨 데이비스]]
[[hi:जेफरसन डेविस]]
[[hr:Jefferson Davis]]
[[id:Jefferson Davis]]
[[it:Jefferson Davis]]
[[he:ג'פרסון דייוויס]]
[[ka:ჯეფერსონ დევისი]]
[[la:Jefferson Davis]]
[[lv:Džefersons Deiviss]]
[[hu:Jefferson Davis]]
[[ms:Jefferson Davis]]
[[nl:Jefferson Davis]]
[[ja:ジェファーソン・デイヴィス]]
[[no:Jefferson Davis]]
[[nn:Jefferson Davis]]
[[pap:Jefferson Davis]]
[[pl:Jefferson Davis]]
[[pt:Jefferson Davis]]
[[ro:Jefferson Davis]]
[[ru:Дэвис, Джефферсон]]
[[simple:Jefferson Davis]]
[[sk:Jefferson Davis]]
[[sl:Jefferson Davis]]
[[sr:Џеферсон Дејвис]]
[[fi:Jefferson Davis]]
[[sv:Jefferson Davis]]
[[ta:ஜெபர்சன் டேவிஸ்]]
[[tr:Jefferson Davis]]
[[uk:Джефферсон Девіс]]
[[vi:Jefferson Davis]]
[[zh:傑佛遜·戴維斯]]

Revision as of 18:16, 21 September 2012

Jefferson Davis is a racist white man

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jefferson_Davis&oldid=513906571"