The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government VI

Although not a household name like American Presidents such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or John F. Kennedy, Jefferson Davis still played a pivotal role in the history of the United States as President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. 

In The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Davis writes an extensive and heavily detailed history of the States he was responsible for. The book is controversial in that Davis refuses to condemn the formation of the Confederate States or slavery. In specific passages, he defends slavery as a tool for enlightenment. He argues that the enslaved were contented and happy in a world where they were introduced to civilization, harmony, and order.

Such views may be off-putting to the modern reader, but unfortunately, they were still widespread at the time of Davis’s writing. His repugnant opinions on slavery aside, Davis leaves no stone unturned when detailing the military and political structures of the Confederate Government. The book continues to enjoy a mixed response amongst critics. Nevertheless, the book that Oscar Wilde hailed as a “masterpiece” is a valuable first-hand account of a defining period in American history from the losing side.

Publishers Note.

This work was originally published in two volumes, of roughly equal length. Extensive appendixes were set in place at the end of Volume I. For the sake of a greater continuous narrative we have split the work into four volumes and placed the appendixes separately in the fourth and final volume. Volume I now  includes the first three ‘Parts’ of the work and form the pre-war section of the work. Volumes II and III split ‘Part IV – The War’ between themselves. No grammatical or period spelling has been altered.