A Government of Our Own: The Making of the Confederacy

by William C. Davis

Chronicling four decisive months in 1861, the unique story of the birth of a nation within a nation examines the leaders of the Confederacy--from those who wanted war to those who wanted reconciliation--and their struggle to form a southern nation.

Genres: Civil War, History, Politics, American Civil War, Government

550 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Currently professor of history at Virginia Tech, William C. Davis has written over fifty books, most about the American Civil War. He has won the Jefferson Davis Prize for southern history three times, the Jules F. Landry Award for Southern history once, and has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

For several years, he was the editor of the magazine Civil War Times Illustrated. He has also served as a consultant on the A&E television series Civil War Journal.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Gerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reads like a story and is a fun read. The text is not difficult; I confess to not having an easy time following the finances, a frequent problem with me. There are a lot of personalities involved; the major characters seem to be Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stephens (“Little Aleck”) Stephens, the brothers Cobb, and Robert Rhett, firebrand in chief. There are the senators and representatives who will form the Confederate Congress who are also interesting, but I found it difficult to keep remember or keep track of all of them. Luckily, there is no test. “Little Aleck” comes out best; he didn’t become a real foe of his president until later.

The story begins with the succession of the seven Deep South states upon the election of Lincoln, and concludes with the move to Richmond after Virginia’s secession in April 1861. Along the way, the Confederacy is formed, a government is formed based closely upon the U.S.— with the main exception being the Peculiar Institution — officials are appointed, and the machinery gets moving. It was not an instantaneous happening, but they can git ‘er done in four hundred pages.

As he was collecting material for this story, author Davis visited Montgomery and made several good friends there, learning a lot about the city. The city itself becomes a major character.

Davis spoke at 2020’s American Civil War Museum’s Annual Symposium, the theme of which was “20/20 Hindsight — and Insight — on the American Civil War.” He’s been around a long time and authored a number of works on the late great Confederacy, including Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour, An Honorable Defeat: The Last Days of the Confederate Government, and Robert Barnwell Rhett: The Turbulent Life and Times of a Fire-Eater. He was having fun at the convention and confessed to developing an intense dislike for ol’ Rhett as he was writing his biography (he also edited Rhett’s memoirs which probably did nothing to increase his respect for him).

Again, not short, but recommended for folks who want more of the Late Unpleasantness than the military action.

[Frank Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book about a little known aspect of the Civil War. This book deals solely with the formation of the government of the Confederate States of America. The men who formed this government ranged from hard core succesionists to those who hoped for reconciliation with the US. While revisionist history attempts to portray tariffs as the main cause for succession, there was little debate on this issue. There was no doubt that slavery was the main issue. The provision prohibiting the further importation of slaves was not based on moral qualms, but the hope that this would make border states more inclined to join the Confederacy. Lastly, the seeds of the Confederacy's collapse were sown in the beginning. Because of State's Rights, sometimes there was little cooperation between the various states and the central government. Many of their presumptions proved to be false. Yes, the US would fight to save the Union. No, one Confederate soldier was not the equal to ten Union soldiers. No, Europe was not so dependent on Southern cotton that they would recognize the Confederacy. And lastly, the most fatal delusion, that this war would be short. This book should be read by anyone interested in the Civil War.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers the beginnings of secession to just before the war breaks out. Very in-depth. Chapter II had a fun 'on the ground' description of the town of Montgomery, about to become the capital. The epilogue nearly brought tears to my eyes.

[Mary Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. If a Civil War buff this is a great book to read.

[The Angry Lawn Gnome · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit that I found this book some pretty tough going. And that the "tough going" was in large part due to what I'd almost consider an excess of the sort of thing I usually appreciate. Namely, details. Viz:

>>> 98 pages of endnotes, in a book where the text by itself ran to just over 400. I think this is first time I've ever felt diverted by the superscript to the endnotes. Most pages had at least one reference, many had, well, many.

>>> A downright microscopic view of the daily life of the delegates sent to Montgomery, as in their hotel rooms, their rivalries, their dining habits, and so forth.

>>> A text that was choc a block full of curious anecdotes of the denizens of the Montgomery, from mayors to prostitutes to dogs. The mayor obviously wanted the CSA capital in Montgomery, the prostitutes did what prostitutes have done from time immemorial and the dogs yammered and snarled at passersby just about 24/7. (Though this being the tail end of the antebellum South, the author's description of an attempt at a duel between two rival "madams" was not as odd as it might seem at first glance, at least to this pair of twenty-first century eyes. Even if it was every bit as amusing to those eyes as it seemed to be to most in the nineteenth.)

All of which I'd usually take to like a pig to, errm, mud. But there was just so MUCH of it. To the point where this little piggy felt in danger of being engulfed and overwhelmed by said mud. Thus, I'm left with a haunted sense that I may have missed one or several truly vital themes in the text as I wended my way through discussions of oysters on the half shell, bedbugs, train schedules, muddy streets and the editorial policies of the Charleston Mercury.

In sum, I'd have to put this one down as being interesting, perhaps very interesting, but, as that irritating song says, also "strictly for the hard-core."

==================================

Notes on the text. What follows may or may not be fair, and may or may not qualify as a "spoiler." Read at yer own risk. This is some stuff I'm noting more for myself than as part of a review.

Narrative - Doubtless using the time the provisional and actual CSA government spent in Montgomery, AL makes sense as both a starting and end-point from a narrative perspective, but for all that it strikes me as a somewhat artificial way to approach a work of history. Though I could be wrong, I thought the CSA constitution and its provisions were kicked back and forth throughout the entire existence of the CSA. Meaning, did the CSA ever truly and in a final sense ever "form?" Or was it always a work in process, a "forming?" Can't say from the text.

Jefferson Davis - He comes across more like a stereotypical Yankee than a son of the South. Cold, forbidding, downright anal. Does this make sense? Contra that, Lincoln. (Just a thought.)

Judah Benjamin - Speculation on his sexual preferences, I'm not sure this is truly fair. But I'm also not sure it is unfair, either, since it was commented upon several times by contemporaries. What is curious is that, fair or not, true or not, it did not seem in the final analysis to bother his contemporaries much. Leading to the curious thought that the antebellum South was far more tolerant of such things than current South.

William Barnwell Rhett - If there was a villain of the piece, 'twas him. But is this fair? From the text, yes. But did the author give the reader a complete picture? Perhaps, perhaps not. Rhett did note -- and the text credits him for it -- that Jefferson Davis had effectively rendered useless his foreign emissaries through his micro-managing ways. But the text also gloated in an unseemly way about Rhett's later reduction to poverty and his disfigurement from skin cancer. Seems a bit beyond the pale from where I'm sitting, even if he had ghastly ideas about resuming the African slave trade, etc.

[Timothy Klob · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Davis is by far one of my favorite Civil War writers, right up there with Bruce Catton and James McPherson. His focus on the home front and the political context of the Civil War adds context to the majority of popular writings that focus primarily or exclusively on battles and campaigns. This book provides a fascinating history of the makings of the Confederacy and the challenges faced in forming a new country and government by a confederation of states and strong personalities from each respective state where none of the major players were inclined to work together toward recreating a federal system or in giving up the rights and strengths of their respective states. His book "Look Away!" that portrays the economic and social aspects of the Confederacy is also worth reading and one that I would highly recommend as well.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly incredible look into the making of the Confederacy and the men at the center of it. I was riveted from start to finish, an excellent read.