The Rise of the Confederate Government

In this account of the life and death of an idea and social system, Jefferson Davis addresses the underlying principles of the Confederate experiment and the resultant calamity of the Civil War. He discusses the background issues of the conflict—the political ideas and events leading to the secession of the eleven Southern states. He defends the South’s right to secede, calling the act “Constitutional” and the actions of the Federal Government “Unconstitutional.” Davis further claims the war had nothing to do with America’s “tame” version of slavery. Though historians have discredited most of Davis’ arguments, his book has become key to understanding the enduring notion of “The Lost Cause,” the view that a noble Southern way of life was sacrificed, that the South was overmatched by a wealthier and more powerful—but not morally superior—North.