Jefferson Davis By: Cheyenne Bennett

Jefferson Davis: ConfederateJefferson Davis served as president of the

United States of America during the Civil War.He was never always admired by the South

during the war.Afterwards they won his affection by him

suffering in prison.

Early Life• Jefferson Davis was born June 3rd ,1808.• He was born in Christian County, Kentucky.• A few months later moved to Mississippi.

Davis’ FamilyIn 1835 he married Sarah Taylor she was the

daughter of his commander.Three months later she got ill and died so did

he but he didn’t die.In 1845 he married Varina Howell.

Political CareerHis political career. Davis became interested in running

for office in 1843, and won a seat as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1845. He resigned from Congress in June 1846 to become a colonel in a regiment of Mississippi volunteers in the Mexican War.

He served under General Zachary Taylor in northern Mexico, and distinguished himself for bravery in the battles of Monterrey and Buena Vista. His deployment of his men in a V shape gave him credit for winning the battle of Buena Vista.

At a key moment in the Battle of Buena Vista, he deployed his men in a V shape to repel a Mexican attack. Despite a foot wound, Davis continued to lead his men throughout the battle.

Secretary of warSecretary of war. President Franklin Pierce appointed Davis

secretary of war in 1853. Davis improved and enlarged the Army during his term. He introduced an improved system of infantry tactics and brought in new and better weapons

He sent expeditions to explore routes for railroads from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. He even tried the experiment of importing camels for Army use in the western deserts.

At the close of the Pierce Administration in 1857, Davis was reelected to the Senate from Mississippi. In the Senate, Davis no longer advocated secession, but he defended the rights of the South and slavery.

He opposed Stephen A. Douglas' "Freeport Doctrine," which held that the people of a territory could exclude slavery by refusing to protect it. Davis also opposed Douglas' ambition to be the Democratic presidential candidate in 1860.

Secretary of war

Spokesman for the South. Davis became the champion of the South’s claim that slavery must be legal in all the nation’s territories. He demanded that Congress protect slavery. In the positions he took, Davis considered himself the heir of Calhoun.

After Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States, Mississippi passed an Ordinance of Secession, and Davis resigned from the Senate.

Davis hoped to become head of the Army of the Confederate States. But shortly after his return to Mississippi, the convention at Montgomery, Alabama, named him provisional president of the Confederacy. He took the oath of office on Feb. 18, 1861. He was inaugurated as regular president of the Confederacy on Feb. 22, 1862.

His last years•His last years. Davis spent his last years writing and studying at Beauvoir, his home at Biloxi, Mississippi, near the Gulf of Mexico. Davis published The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government in 1881 as a defense against his critics. •Davis appeared often at Confederate reunions, and he eventually won the admiration of his fellow Southerners. He died on Dec. 6, 1889, and was buried in New Orleans. His body was moved to Richmond in 1893. The state of Mississippi presented a statue of Davis to Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol in 1931. Several Southern states celebrate an official holiday each year on or around Davis's birthday, June 3.

References

World book encyclopedia.Jefferson Davis: his life as a book