Jefferson davis biography civil war movies

Director Brian Gary. Brian Gary Wendi Berman. Gerald McRaney. See production info at IMDbPro. Photos Add photo. Top cast 1 Edit. Brian Gary. Storyline Edit. User reviews 1 Review. Featured review. House of Representatives from Mississippi. It was the only electoral success of his career; all of his later posts would be appointed. Did you know?

An year-old Jefferson Davis was placed under house arrest while at West Point for his role in the Eggnog Riot, which started after cadets were caught smuggling whiskey into their barracks. When the Mexican-American War broke out inDavis resigned his congressional seat to serve as colonel of the First Mississippi Rifle regiment. As part of a force commanded by his former father-in-law, Davis distinguished himself in battle at Monterrey and Buena Vista.

As a senator, Davis fiercely defended the interests of the South in the growing sectional battle over slavery that would put the nation on the path to division and civil war. He led a generation of southern Democrats who joined the proslavery crusade launched by John C. He opposed letting the Oregon territory bar slavery, and battled against the Compromise ofespecially the admission of California to the Union as a free state.

InDavis resigned from the Senate to run unsuccessfully for governor of Mississippi. Two years later, President Franklin Pierce appointed Davis as secretary of war. Davis returned to the Senate in Lee began the Seven Days Battles less than a month later, pushing the Union forces back down the peninsula [ ] and eventually forcing them to withdraw from Virginia.

Knowing Davis desired an offensive into the North, Lee invaded Maryland[ ] but retreated back to Virginia after a bloody stalemate at Antietam in September. In the West, Bragg shifted most of his available forces from Tupelo to Chattanooga in July for an offensive toward Kentucky. Frankfort was briefly captured and a Confederate governor was inaugurated, but the attack collapsed, in part due to lack of coordination between the two generals.

In response to the defeat and the lack of coordination, Davis reorganized the command in the West in November, combining the armies in Tennessee and Vicksburg into a department under the overall command of Joseph Johnston. In the winter ofDavis decided to join the Episcopal Church ; in Mayhe was confirmed at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond.

On January 1, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Davis saw this as attempt to destroy the South by inciting its enslaved people to revolt, [ ] declaring the proclamation "the most execrable measure recorded in the history of guilty man". The law also stated that captured black soldiers would be turned over to the states they were captured in to be dealt with as the state saw fit.

In May, Lee broke up another invasion of Virginia at the Battle of Chancellorsville[ ] and countered with an invasion into Pennsylvania. Davis approved, thinking that a victory in Union territory could gain recognition of Confederate independence, [ ] but Lee's army was defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in July. In April, Union forces resumed their attack on Vicksburg.

Pemberton withdrew his army into Vicksburg, and after a siegesurrendered on July 4. Davis relieved Johnston of his department command. Davis acknowledged that Bragg did not have the confidence of his subordinates but kept him in command. Davis had to address faltering civilian morale.

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In early spring, there were riots in Confederate cities as people began to suffer food shortages and price inflation. Davis went to the scene and addressed the protesters, reminding them of their patriotic duty and promising them that he would get food. He then ordered them to disperse or he would command the soldiers to open fire; they dispersed.

In his address to the Second Confederate Congress on May 2,[ ] Davis outlined his strategy of achieving Confederate independence by exhausting the Union will to fight: [ ] If the South could show it could not be subjugated, the North would elect a president who would make peace. In earlyDavis encouraged Joseph E. Johnston to take action in Tennessee, but Johnston refused.

Hood[ ] who immediately engaged the Union forces in a series of battles around Atlanta. The battles did not stop the Union army and Hood abandoned the city on September 2. The victory raised Northern morale and assured Lincoln's reelection. Union forces began a new advance into northern Virginia. Lee put up a strong defense and they were unable to directly advance on Richmond, but managed to cross the James River.

In JuneLee fought the Union armies to a standstill; both sides settled into trench warfare around Petersburgwhich would continue for nine months. Davis signed a Congressional resolution in February making Lee general-in-chief. Davis sent envoys to Hampton Roads for peace talks, but Lincoln refused to consider any offer that included an independent Confederacy.

Kennerthe chief Confederate diplomat, on a mission to Great Britain and France, offering to gradually emancipate the enslaved people of the South for political recognition. Davis initially suppressed it, but by the end of the year, he reconsidered and endorsed the idea. It left the principle of slavery intact by leaving it to the states and individual owners to decide which slaves could be used for military service, [ ] but Davis's administration accepted only African Americans who had been freed by their masters as a condition of their being enlisted.

The Union army broke through the Confederate trench lines at the end of March, forcing Lee to withdraw and abandon Richmond, Virginia. He issued a proclamation on April 4, [ ] encouraging the people of the Confederacy to continue resistance, [ ] but Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9. Davis wanted to cross the Mississippi River and continue the war, but his generals stated that they did not have the forces.

He gave Johnston authorization to negotiate the surrender of his army, [ ] but Davis headed south to carry on the fight.

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They said they could not. On May 5, he met with the remainder of his cabinet in Washington, Georgia, and officially dissolved the Confederate government. He tried to evade them, but was captured wearing a loose-sleeved cloak and covering his head with a black shawl, [ ] which gave rise to depictions of him in political cartoons fleeing in women's clothes.

Davis's central concern during the war was to achieve Confederate independence. Though Davis supported states' rights, he believed the Confederate constitution empowered him with the right to centralize authority to prosecute the war. He worked with the Congress to bring military facilities in the South, which had been controlled by the states, under Confederate authority.

Davis knew he needed to deploy military forces to defend the Confederacy as a whole and created a centralized army that could enlist volunteers directly. The main objective of Davis's foreign policy was to achieve foreign recognition, [ ] allowing the Confederacy to secure international loans, receive foreign aid to open trade, [ ] and provide the possibility of a military alliance.

Davis was confident that most European nations' economic dependence on cotton from the South would quickly convince them to sign treaties with the Confederacy. There was no consensus on how to use cotton to gain European support. Davis did not want an embargo on cotton, [ ] he wanted to make cotton available to European nations, but require them to acquire it by violating the blockade declared by the Union.

The majority of Congress wanted an embargo to coerce Europe to help the South. Davis did not take executive action to create the needed financial structure for the Confederacy. He knew very little about public finance, largely deferring to Secretary of the Treasury Memminger. Davis's failure to argue for needed financial reform allowed Congress to avoid unpopular economic measures, [ ] such as taxing planters' property [ ] —both land and slaves—that made up two-thirds of the South's wealth.

In his opening address to the fourth session of Congress in December[ ] Davis demanded the Congress pass a direct tax on property despite the constitution. Initially, he was confined to a casemateforced to wear fetters on his ankles, required to have guards constantly in his room, forbidden contact with his family, and given only a Bible and his prayerbook to read.

Burtonwho permitted Davis to live with Varina in a four-room apartment. President Andrew Johnson 's cabinet was unsure what to do with Davis. He had been arrested for complicity in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In late summerAttorney General James Speed determined that it was best to try Davis for treason in a civil criminal trial. In FebruaryAttorney General William Evarts informed the court that the federal government declared it was no longer prosecuting the charges against him.

Despite his financial situation after his prison release, Davis refused work that he perceived as diminishing his status as a former senator and president. On his arrival to Tennessee, the University of the South offered him their top position, but he declined because the salary was insufficient. Davis received numerous invitations to speak during this time, [ ] declining most.

Lee at the Lee Monument Association in Richmond in which he avoided politics and emphasized Lee's character. The Panic of adversely affected the Carolina Life Company, and Davis resigned in August when the directors merged the company over his objections. He declined because Varina also did not want to live in Texas, [ ] recommending Thomas S.

Gathright instead. When he and Varina went to Europe again inhe determined the company was failing. He returned to the United States while Varina stayed in England.

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Davis sought to reclaim Brierfield as well. After Davis's elder brother, Joseph, successfully applied for a pardon, he regained ownership of Davis Bend. Davis litigated to obtain Brierfield. He appealed, and the Mississippi supreme court found in his favor in He foreclosed on the Montgomerys, who were in default on their mortgage. By DecemberBrierfield was legally his, [ ] although he did not live there, and it did not produce a reliable income.

In Januarythe author Sarah Dorsey invited him to live on her estate at BeauvoirMississippi, and to begin writing his memoirs. He agreed, but insisted on paying board. When Varina came back to the United States, she initially refused to come to Beauvoir because she did not like Davis's close relationship with Dorsey, who was serving as his amanuensis.

In the summer ofVarina relented, moving to Beauvoir and taking over the role of Davis's assistant. InHenry W. Gradyan advocate for the New Southconvinced Davis to lay the cornerstone for a monument to the Confederate dead in Montgomery, Alabama, and to attend the unveilings of statues memorializing Davis's friend Benjamin H. At each stop along the way, large crowds came out to cheer Davis, solidifying his image as an icon of the South and the Confederacy.

In NovemberDavis embarked on a steamboat in New Orleans in a cold rain, intending to visit his Brierfield plantation. He fell ill during the trip, but refused to send for a doctor. An employee telegrammed Varina, who came to get him. Davis was diagnosed with acute bronchitis complicated by malaria. Chaille pronounced him too ill to travel further.

He was taken to the home of Charles Erasmus Fennerthe son-in-law of his friend J. Payne, where he died at a. Davis's funeral was one of the largest held in the South; overmourners were estimated to have attended. Davis was buried according to the Episcopal rites and a brief eulogy was pronounced by Bishop John Nicholas Galleher. After Davis's funeral, various Southern states requested to be the final resting site for Davis's remains.

Along the way, the train stopped at various cities, receiving military honors and visits from governors, and the coffin was allowed to lie in state in three state capitols: Montgomery, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; and Raleigh, North Carolina. During his years as a senator, Davis was an advocate for the Southern states' right to slavery. In an speech on the Oregon Bill, [ ] he argued for a strict constructionist understanding of the Constitution.

He insisted that the states are sovereign, all powers of the federal government are granted by those states, [ ] the Constitution recognized the right of states to allow citizens to have slaves as property, and the federal government was obligated to defend encroachments upon this right. Davis's speeches after secession acknowledged the relationship between the Confederacy and slavery.

In his resignation speech to the Senate, delivered 12 days after his state seceded, he said Mississippi "has heard proclaimed the theory that all men are created free and equal, and this made the basis of an attack upon her social institutions and the sacred Declaration of Independence has been invoked to maintain the position of the equality of the races.

Davis came to the role of commander in chief confident in his military abilities. Some historians argue that Davis's personality contributed to the defeat of the Confederacy. His constant attention to minor military details has been used to illustrate an inability to delegate, [ ] which led him to lose focus on larger jeffersons davis biography civil war movies. Other historians have pointed out his strengths.

Davis quickly mobilized the Confederacy despite the South's focus on states' rights, and he stayed focused on gaining independence. Though he was unable to win the war, [ ] he rose to the challenge of the presidency, [ ] pursuing a strategy that not only enabled the Confederacy to hold out as long as it did, but almost achieved its independence.

Although Davis served the United States as a soldier and a war hero, a politician who sat in both houses of Congress, and a cabinet officer, [ ] his legacy is mainly defined by his role as president of the Confederacy. Pollardwho first popularized the Lost Cause mythology, [ ] placed much of the blame for losing the war on Davis. Some scholars argued that he was a capable leader, while acknowledging his skills were insufficient to overcome the challenges the Confederacy faced [ ] and exploring how his limitations may have contributed to the war's outcome.

Davis's standing among white Southerners was at a low point at the end of the Civil War, [ ] but it rebounded after his release from prison. Aroundpeople attended the unveiling of the Jefferson Davis Memorial at Richmond, Virginia, in On October 17,Davis's U. President Jimmy Carter described it as an act of reconciliation reuniting the people of the United States and expressing the need to establish the nation's founding principles for all.

In the twenty-first century, most historians agree that Davis's participation in the Confederacy constituted treason. The Library of Congress. Retrieved February 8, Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Wikidata item.

President of the Confederate States from to This article is about the president of the Confederate States. For the governor of Arkansas, see Jefferson Davis Arkansas politician. For other uses, see Jefferson Davis disambiguation. Photograph by Mathew Bradyc. Sarah Knox Taylor. Varina Howell. First lieutenant Colonel Major General. Birth and family background.

West Point and early military career. Planting career and first marriage. Early political career and second marriage. Mexican—American War. Senator and Secretary of War. President of the Confederate States. Further information: American Civil War. End of the Confederacy and capture. See also: King Cotton and Cotton diplomacy. See also: Confederate war finance.

See also: Funeral and burials of Jefferson Davis. Political views on slavery. Performance as commander in chief. See also: List of memorials to Jefferson Davis. Collections of letters, speeches, and papers. Some historians argue that the claim that it was "Finis" originated in Davis's biography by Hudson Strodewho provides no citation. William Davis argues that is more likely correct based on Davis's own writings, his West Point muster rolls, and an biography by Collin S.

Tarpley written in collaboration with Davis; [ 7 ] Cooper argues that is more likely correct because Davis stated in two letters written in and that this was the year his mother told him. LeeP. BeauregardSterling PriceJoseph E. Until the summer ofDavis continued his service on the battlefield against Indian tribes, including the Comanche and Pawnees.

Because his commanding officer, none other than future president Zachary Taylorwas opposed to the marriage, Davis abruptly resigned his military post to take up civic duties prior to the wedding. Sadly, Sarah died of malaria just a few months later, in September After leaving the military, Davis became a cotton farmer while preparing for a career in politics as a Democrat.

Inhe participated in the gubernatorial campaign and served as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention. His powerful speeches there placed him in high demand. In DecemberDavis won election to the U. House of Representatives and claimed a seat in Congress, which caused him to gain more public attention. Additionally, he remarried, this time to a woman named Varina Howell.

As a congressman, Davis was known for his passionate and charismatic speeches, and he quickly became actively involved in jeffersons davis biography civil war movies about Texas, Oregon and tariffs. He held the rank of colonel under his former father-in-law, General Taylor. At the Battle of Monterrey, he led his men to victory in an assault at Fort Teneria.

He was injured at the Battle of Buena Vista when he blocked a charge of Mexican swords — an incident that earned him nationwide acclaim. Davis held his Senate seat until and went on to run for the Mississippi governorship, but lost the election. Explaining the way his position on the Union had evolved during his time in the Senate, Davis once stated, "My devotion to the Union of our fathers had been so often and so publicly declared; I had on the floor of the Senate so defiantly challenged any question of my fidelity to it; my services, civil and military, had now extended through so long a period and were so generally known, that I felt quite assured that no whisperings of envy or ill-will could lead the people of Mississippi to believe that I had dishonored their trust by using the power they had conferred on me to destroy the government to which I was accredited.

Then, as afterward, I regarded the separation of the states as a great, though not the greater evil.