Southern Confederacy

Confederate States of America
Unrecognized state
1861–1865
Flag (1861–63) Great Seal (1863–65)
Motto "Deo Vindice" (Latin) "Under God, our Vindicator"
Anthem None official "God Save the South" (unofficial) "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (popular) "Dixie" (traditional)
The Confederate States in 1862. Light green denotes claims made by the Confederacy. Medium green denotes western counties of Virginia that separated from that State and were admitted to the Union as West Virginia. Teal denotes the still contested Indian Territory.
Capital		Montgomery (until May 29, 1861) Richmond (until April 3, 1865)
Languages		English (de facto)
Government		Federal/Confederal presidential non-partisan republic
President		Jefferson Davis
Vice President		Alexander Stephens
Legislature		Congress
•	Upper house	Senate
•	Lower house	House of Representatives
Historical era		American Civil War / International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)
•	Provisional constitution	February 8, 1861
•	Permanent constitution	February 22, 1862
•	Battle of Fort Sumter	April 12, 1861
•	Siege of Vicksburg	May 18, 1863
•	Military collapse	April 9, 1865
•	Dissolution	May 5, 1865
Area
•	18601	1,995,392 km2 (770,425 sq mi)
Population
•	18601 est.	9,103,332
Density		5/km2 (12/sq mi)
•	Slaves2 est.	3,521,110
Currency		Confederate States dollar State currencies
Preceded by Succeeded by South Carolina Mississippi Florida Alabama Georgia Louisiana Texas Virginia Arkansas Tennessee North Carolina United States
Today part of		United States
1 Area and population values do not include Missouri and Kentucky nor the Confederate Territory of Arizona. Water area: 5.7%. 2 Slaves included in above population count (1860 Census).

The Confederate States of America (CSA or C.S.), commonly referred to as the Confederacy, was a self-proclaimed nation of 11 secessionist slave-holding states of the United States, existing from 1861 to 1865. The Confederacy was originally formed by seven states – South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas – in the Lower South region of the United States whose regional economy was mostly dependent upon agriculture, particularly cotton, and a plantation system that relied upon the labor of African-American slaves.

Each state declared its secession from the United States following the November 1860 election of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln to the U.S. presidency on a platform which opposed the expansion of slavery. Before Lincoln took office in March, a new Confederate government was established in February 1861, which was considered illegal by the government of the United States. After the Civil War began in April, four slave states of the Upper South – Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina – also declared their secession and joined the Confederacy. The Confederacy later accepted Missouri and Kentucky as members, although neither officially declared secession nor were they ever largely controlled by Confederate forces; Confederate attempted to control the two states but were later exiled from them.