November 6: Davis Elected President

On 6 November 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected as President of the Confederate States of America.

Prior to serving as President, Davis had been a United States Senator from Mississippi and as Secretary of War under United States President Franklin Pierce. As a Senator, he opposed secession but argued that states did have the right to succeed from the union that made up the United States of America.

South Carolina succeeded from the union on 20 December 1860. On 9 January 1861, Mississippi followed suit. On 21 January 1861, Davis received official notice of Mississippi’s succession. On that same day, he gave his Farwell address and resigned from the United States Senate. He returned to Mississippi and was soon selected as the provisional president of the Confederacy.

On November 6, Davis—running unopposed—was elected as the first President of the Confederate States of America. He was officially inaugurated on 18 February 1861. He would serve as president until 5 May 1865 when, at a meeting of his cabinet, the Confederate Government was officially dissolved. Five days later, Davis was captured by the union army. Davis was initially charged with treason, but those charges were eventually dropped.

In other political news, on 6 November 1947, Meet the Press, made its television debut. Meet the Press is a talk show that specializes in interviewing national leaders on political issues. It is the longest running television series in American history.

On 6 November 2012, the United States of America will hold its 57th presidential election. The following six candidates are vying for the position.

  • Barack Obama (Democratic Party)
  • Mitt Romney (Republican Party)
  • Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
  • Jill Stein (Green Party)
  • Virgil Goode (Constitution Party)
  • Rocky Anderson (Justice Party)

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–Steven L. Berg, PhD

Photo Caption: Jefferson Davis


Although Today in History is primarily student written, there are some days when we do not have a student author. You will enjoy another student on November 8.

Posted on by stevenlberg
Categories: American History: Modern, American History: Nineteenth Century
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8 Responses

  1. Joe says:
    6 November 2012 at 5:40 am

    How can a
    Ph.D. confuse “secession” with “succession”?!

    Reply
  2. art johnson says:
    6 November 2012 at 8:19 am

    It’s secede, NOT succeed.

    I enjoy the daily comments.

    Reply
  3. Abby Vollick says:
    16 November 2012 at 8:39 pm

    Since this post is about presidency in the Confederate States, I find it interesting that exactly one year before, (November 6th, 1860) Abraham Lincoln had been elected as the 16th president of the United States. As most of us know, in 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which states “all persons held as slaves within any State…shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Obviously the confederates were not in favor of this action and in fact, Jefferson Davis gave a speech in response to the proclamation where he damns Lincoln for using black troops in the war, and also claims to make the whole country slave states. Since I didn’t even know there had been a president of the Confederate States, I found it interesting to find that Davis had such open animosity toward Lincoln.

    -Abby Vollick

    Reply
    • Marco Yaquinto says:
      18 November 2012 at 6:03 pm

      Davis didn’t like Lincoln because they were at war. They had to conflicting political interests. Davis wanted slavery issued around the country. Although Lincoln was my favorite president and the best president of all time next to Washington. He did not do a good job abolishing slavery. The Union was almost as racist as the Confederates. Slaves came to the north and found it to be equally as bad as the south.

      Reply
  4. Mikhala Ruonavaara says:
    2 December 2012 at 9:04 pm

    The term “democracy” first appeared in the Ancient Greek city-state of Athens. The ancient word for Democracy was “Demokratia” which meant “rule by the people.” Cleisthenes was named the father of Athenian Democracy. This form of ancient Democracy consisted of three establishments. The first was the Ekklesia or assembly. This was the sovereign governing body of Athens. This institution was held forty times per year and made decisions on foreign policy, matters of war, laws, and also approved or denied public officials. These matters were decided on with a majority vote. The second institution was the Boule or the Council of Five Hundred. This council decided on the topics presented to the Ekklesia. The final establishment was the Dikasteria or popular courts who heard court cases and prosecuted offenders. Only men born in Athens over age thirty were considered citizens and could participate in this form of government.

    Reply
  5. Evan DeFoe says:
    6 December 2012 at 3:39 pm

    Several things that lead to the Confederacy’s separation from the United States were also present around the time of the American Revolution.

    First of all, was slavery. While several of the founding fathers hated slavery, including Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton, it was mostly overlooked in order to promote unity between the Colonists before the war, and during the formation of the government. Of course, many events leading the the Civil War was disagreement over the postponed issue of slavery.

    Secondly would be the way the government was run. As a new nation, the US adopted the Articles of Confederation in 1777. The Articles presented many problems, namely limiting the power of the central government too much, and was unable to achieve cooperation among different states (ex: no universal currency). The Confederacy also had similar problems attempting to have the states cooperate (ex: the central government was not allowed to use funds from one states to aid another). The US would eventually disband the Articles, and instead implemented the new government under the United States Constitution in 1787. Some were skeptical of this constitution, including Benjamin Franklin when he said, “I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them.” Disagreements would continue, as one of the reasons for the start of the Civil War was arguments over state’s rights.

    -Evan DeFoe

    Reply
  6. Steve Barnhart says:
    11 December 2012 at 8:38 pm

    Mount Rushmore of the South?
    There is a little known monument to three men of the once Confederate States of America that resides outside of Atlanta, GA. Stone Mountain as it is called is a natural formed land mass of granite that is believed to have popped up out of the ground when the adjacent mountain range was formed. The site today is well-traveled and a tourist attraction that has a wonderful depiction of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. I have personally been to this location, and can say that it is truly mind-blowing. Having grown up in the north my entire life, I view the Civil War from only one perspective. This location helped me develop a certain amount of balance concerning the war. It was that powerful.

    Reply

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