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Wikipedia / Provisional Congress of the Confederate States

The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, fully the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a unicameral congress of deputies and delegatess called together from the Southern States which became the governing body of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States from February 4, 1861, to February 17, 1862. It sat in Montgomery, Alabama, until May 21, 1861, when it adjourned to meet in Richmond, Virginia, on July 20, 1861. In both cities, it met in the existing state capitols which it shared with the respective secessionist state legislatures. It added new members as other separatist states seceded from the Union and directed the election on November 6, 1861, at which a permanent government was elected.

First Session

The First Session of the Provisional Congress was held at Montgomery from February 4, 1861, to March 16, 1861. Members were present from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. It drafted a provisional constitution and set up a government. For president and vice president, it selected Jefferson Davis of Mississippi and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia.

Constitutional Convention

The Confederate States Constitutional Convention was held at Montgomery from February 28, 1861, to March 11, 1861.

Second Session

The Second Session of the Provisional Congress was held at Montgomery from April 29, 1861, to May 21, 1861. Members were present from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Arkansas.

Third Session

The Third Session of the Provisional Congress was held at Richmond from July 20, 1861, to August 31, 1861. Members were present from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

Fourth Session

The Fourth Session of the Provisional Congress was held at Richmond on September 3, 1861. Members were present from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

Fifth Session

The Fifth Session of the Provisional Congress was held at Richmond from November 18, 1861, to February 17, 1862. Members were present from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, and Kentucky. One non-voting member was present from the Arizona Territory.

Leadership

Members

Deputies

Deputies from the first seven states to secede formed the first two sessions of the Congress.

Alabama

John Gill Shorter (resigned November 1861)

David P. Lewis (resigned April 29, 1861)

Thomas Fearn (resigned April 29, 1861)

Florida

James Patton Anderson (resigned April 8, 1861)

Georgia

Francis S. Bartow (killed July 21, 1861 at the First Battle of Bull Run)

E. A. Nisbet (resigned December 10, 1861)

Louisiana

Mississippi

Alexander M. Clayton (resigned May 11, 1861)

William Sydney Wilson (resigned April 29, 1861)

South Carolina

Thomas Jefferson Withers (resigned May 21, 1861 after second session)

Texas

Delegates

Representatives from states that seceded after the Battle of Fort Sumter were referred to as delegates, in contrast to the deputies from the original seven states, even though they all had the same obligations.

Arkansas

Kentucky

Missouri

North Carolina

Tennessee

Virginia

Arizona Territory

Notes

References

Further reading