Download Jefferson Davis

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would soon come to a head.
Name
Jefferson Davis
By Mary L. Bushong
What do you know about Jefferson
Davis? You may not recognize his name
unless you are a student of the Civil War.
As the appointed President of the
Confederate States, he led the South
during the war, but it was not a position
he wanted.
Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky
on June 3, 1808. When he was three, his
father moved the family to a plantation
in Mississippi. As a young teenager, he
began attending Transylvania University
in Kentucky. When he was 16, he was appointed to West Point
Military Academy as a cadet, and he graduated four years later. Then
Davis was commissioned as a lieutenant and served during the Black
Hawk war.
In 1835, he married Sarah Knox Taylor, the daughter of a future U.S.
president. He resigned his commission, and they moved to Mississippi
to carve out a plantation. Their happiness was short-lived. She died
three months later from malaria. Davis was so grief stricken that he
stayed in seclusion and worked on his plantation for seven years. As
he worked on the plantation, he also studied Constitutional law.
Ten years after the death of his first wife, he was elected to the U.S.
House of Representatives, and married his second wife, Varina
Howell. Just a year later, Davis resigned from Congress to serve in the
war with Mexico. He was hailed as a hero for winning the battle of
Buena Vista. He was wounded and returned home. Once there, he was
appointed to finish the Senate term of Senator Speight who had died.
Davis enjoyed being in the Senate and made a point of staying away
from factions on both sides of the growing controversy over slavery.
Even after being appointed Secretary of War in 1853, he continued to
work tirelessly to smooth out differences between the North and
South. As more time passed, however, it became obvious that trouble
After Abraham Lincoln was elected, many in the South were
convinced that he would try to force them to change many aspects of
their culture. When the state of Mississippi seceded in 1861, Davis
resigned from his place in the Senate. He was not in favor of
secession himself, but he believed that the constitution allowed it.
A short time after returning home, he was notified that he had been
chosen to be President of the new Confederate States of America.
This was not a job he wanted. Davis saw the direction events were
going, and he sent a peace commission of several people to Lincoln in
an attempt to stop the coming war. Lincoln refused to see them. When
Union forces fired on Fort Sumter, in Charleston, SC, it signaled the
start of the Civil War.
The war was a very difficult time for Davis. The Southern army
started out winning many battles, but problems began to crop up more
and more often. Davis could not direct the battles well from a
distance, and many of the officers he appointed did not live up to
expectations. He disliked having to draft men into the army, and as
the war progressed, money and supply problems plagued every aspect
of the war.
When Lee surrendered in 1865, Davis did not. He and several of his
advisors attempted to escape to Mississippi (from Virginia) to regroup
and continue the battle. He was captured in Georgia and held in chains
by the Union military. They imprisoned him in a damp basement for a
short time, until public outcry forced them to keep him under house
arrest. He was charged with crimes but never given the trial he
demanded. It was not until three years later that he was released on
bond.
Davis traveled to Europe and spoke occasionally, but he avoided the
spotlight. He encouraged Southerners to maintain their principles. He
also wanted them to make the best possible use of their resources to
rebuild wisely. People admired his character and were sympathetic
regarding the troubles he endured.
Jefferson Davis died in New Orleans on December 5, 1889. His
funeral train took his body from there to Richmond, Virginia. As it
passed by, people lined the tracks to honor him. Even in the face of
overwhelming trouble, he kept his honor and continued to care for the
people in his trust. He never settled for doing less than the best that he
could.
5. Why would Davis work so hard to avoid a war between the
states?
Name
Jefferson Davis
Questions
1. Why would Davis not want to be President of the Confederate
states?
A. He wanted to stay with the Union.
B. He did not want to leave the Senate.
C. He did not want the South to split away from the Union.
D. He wanted peace.
6. Lincoln refused to meet with Davis's peace commission.
A. False
B. True
7. Why would a public outcry be needed to allow Davis a better
prison?
2. Davis was appointed to which military academy?
A. V.M.I.
B. West Point
C. Citadel
D. Old Navy
3. What event caused Davis to stay in seclusion for seven years?
8. Davis was thought to be a man of principles. Which of the
following would not reinforce that idea?
A. He would lie for his own benefit.
B. He tried to maintain the peace when he could.
C. He cared deeply for people.
D. He encouraged others to maintain their principles.
4. Why did Davis resign from Congress?
A. He wanted to join in the war with Mexico.
B. The Civil War was beginning.
C. He wanted to join in the Black Hawk war.
D. He wanted to get married again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFxxXKH8VbY
________________________________________________________________After General Lee surrendered at the end of the Civil War, Davis and
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his advisors tried to escape to Mississippi to continue the battle there.
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How could this have helped him if he had succeeded?
No Essay
Name
Jefferson Davis did not want to be President of the Confederacy. He
supported states' rights but did not want the Union dissolved. How
would this make his new position more difficult?