“not fit to govern themselves”
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Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis was the only president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, leading the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Before the war, he was a member of the Democratic Party who represented Mississippi in the House of Representatives from 1845 to 1846 and in the United States Senate from 1857 to 1861. From 1853 to 1857, he served as the 23rd United States secretary of war d…
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business · President of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865 · military officer · politician · businessperson · political writer · writer · also Jefferson Davis, Jeff. Davis, Jefferson F. Davis, President Jefferson Davis, President Jeff. Davis, President Davis
Born 3 June 1808 · Died 6 December 1889 · Q162269
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2026· 1 entry
2025· 4 entries
wtvr: Jefferson Davis statue from Richmond museum heads to Los Angeles exhibit
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Richmond: Jefferson Davis statue leaves for 6 months to LA museum
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Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama still celebrates Jefferson Davis' birthday. Will there be closures on June 2?
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The Clarion-Ledger: MS celebrates Jefferson Davis' birthday, Memorial Day as state holiday. What to know
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2021· 1 entry
Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Guest column: Jefferson Davis' name shouldn't be on our maps
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2018· 1 entry
Snopes.com rated the claim “Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith posted photographs of herself wearing a Confederate soldier's hat during a visit to the home of Jefferson Davis.” True.
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2017· 2 entries
Snopes rated the claim “Both Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis disavowed the Confederacy after the Civil War.” Mixture.
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Snopes rated the claim “A recently removed statue of Jefferson Davis is being replaced with a large bronze tribute to Barack Obama.” False.
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1961· 1 entry
A centennial celebration reenacted Davis's inauguration in Montgomery, Alabama, with fireworks and a cast of thousands in period costumes
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1889· 4 entries
At the age of 81, holding Varina's hand and surrounded by several friends
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Died 1889-12-06.
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“Are we, in this age of civilization and political progress... to roll back the whole current of human thought, and again return to the mere brute force which prevails between beasts of prey, as the only method of settling questions between men?”
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“We recognize the negro as God and God's Book and God's Laws, in nature, tell us to recognize him. Our inferior, fitted expressly for servitude.”
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1876· 1 entry
Was offered the presidency of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas
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1874· 2 entries
To seek opportunities to earn money, but was still not able to find any
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Davis continued to explore ways to make a living, including investments in railroads, mining, and manufacturing an ice-making machine
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1870· 1 entry
Had made Davis one of his executors but did not deed any land to him in the will
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1865· 3 entries
Davis was imprisoned in Fort Monroe, Virginia, under the watch of Major General Nelson A
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Davis's commitment to independence led him to even compromise slavery when he advocated for allowing African Americans to earn their freedom by serving in the military
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Davis was captured, arrested for alleged complicity in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, accused of treason, and imprisoned at Fort Monroe
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1864· 2 entries
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
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Challenged property rights by recommending a direct 5% tax on land and slaves, and implemented the impressment of supplies and slave labor for the military effort
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1862· 2 entries
Johnston engaged the Union army less than ten miles from Richmond at the Battle of Seven Pines, where he was wounded
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Davis instituted the first conscription in American history
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1861· 5 entries
Davis was elected president for a six-year term
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Pettus appointed him a major general of Mississippi's army
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Though Davis stayed in Washington until he received official notification on January 21
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When Mississippi seceded from the United States
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Career landmark: President of the Confederate States (1861–1865).
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1859· 1 entry
Career landmark: United States senator (1859–1861).
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1858· 2 entries
Davis stated "if an Abolitionist be chosen President of the United States
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“rights were violated or one section of the country imposed its will on another. Speaking to the Mississippi Legislature on November 16, 1858, Davis stated”
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1857· 4 entries
Who died of yellow fever at age 21; Joseph Evan, born 1859, who died from an accidental fall at age five; William Howell, born 1861, who died of diphtheria at age 10; and Varina Anne, born 1864, who remained single and l
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Career landmark: United States senator (1857–1859).
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Davis returned to the Senate
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Davis ran for the Senate once more and re-entered it on March 4, 1857
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1855· 1 entry
But they failed to clarify the best route and sectional problems prevented any choice being made
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1854· 1 entry
By allowing President Pierce to endorse it before it came up for a vote
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1853· 2 entries
Career landmark: United States Secretary of War (1853–1857).
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President Franklin Pierce appointed him Secretary of War
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1852· 1 entry
Who died of an undiagnosed disease two years later; Margaret Howell, born in 1855, who married, raised a family and lived to be 54; Jefferson Davis Jr
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1851· 1 entry
Career landmark: United States senator (1851–1851).
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1849· 1 entry
Career landmark: United States senator (1849–1851).
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1847· 3 entries
Career landmark: board member (1847–1851).
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Career landmark: United States senator (1847–1849).
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Resigning to unsuccessfully run for governor of Mississippi
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1845· 2 entries
Davis married Varina Howell
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Career landmark: United States representative (1845–1846).
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1840· 1 entry
When he attended a Democratic Party meeting in Vicksburg and served as a delegate to the party's state convention in Jackson; he served again in 1842
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1836· 1 entry
Possessed 23 slaves; by 1840, he possessed 40; and by 1860, 113
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1835· 1 entry
Davis married Sarah Knox Taylor, daughter of future president Zachary Taylor
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1828· 1 entry
Studied at United States Military Academy, Bachelor of Science (1824–1828).
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1824· 2 entries
Where he became friends with classmates Albert Sidney Johnston and Leonidas Polk
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Learned that his father Samuel had died
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1823· 1 entry
Davis attended Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky
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1818· 1 entry
Davis returned to Mississippi, where as a 10-year-old he briefly studied at Jefferson College in Washington
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1811· 1 entry
The Davis family moved to the vicinity of Bayou Teche, in Attakapas County, Orleans Territory, now St
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1808· 2 entries
At the family homestead in Davisburg, a village Samuel had established that later became Fairview, Kentucky
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Born 1808-06-03.
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