Jefferson Davis

On November 6, 1861, American history was changed forever. Jefferson Davis, a statesman from Kentucky was elected President of the Confederate States of America. Davis was responsible for the appointment of Robert E. Lee. This was a highly successful move because Lee was a man of high military skill and had great experience in war. He helped Davis win several key battles at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Deep Bottom. However, he also lost the most important battle of the war, at Gettysburg.

However, Davis was also a very flawed President. He refused to elect a general-in-chief and instead did those duties himself. Davis also made several mistakes late in the war, the most costly being when he allowed the Union to take control of the Mississippi River, effectively splitting the entire Confederate army. Additionally, Davis ignored the common person and focused more on the war rather than the survival of the South.

When the war ended in 1865, Davis fled to Virginia. Southern leaders planned to have Davis flee to Cuba and arrange further meetings to continue the war. These never happened. Davis was tried for treason and sent to prison. He lived out the rest of his life in solitude, and died in 1889 in his home at the age of 81.

How much do you think history would have been changed if the sixteenth president was Jefferson Davis instead of Abraham Lincoln? Would we still have slaves and be called the Confederate states of America?