Cranks, Libertarians, and Zealots: An Examination of Opposition to Jefferson Davis in the Provisional and First Confederate Congresses

• Main Author: Edmondson, Tereal Wayne
• Other Authors: Charles Shindo
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: LSU 2004
• Subjects: History
• Online Access: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07062004-111717/

While many historians have maintained that the Provisional and First Confederate Congresses both served as legislatures intent on obstructing Jefferson Davis's policies, these southern assemblies actually provided little notable resistance to the president. Congressmen who did oppose Davis's policies never coalesced into a formal opposition. This lack of cohesion resulted from two factors: the Confederacy's eschewal of political parties following secession from the Union and the inability of disgruntled solons to organize an oppositional faction thereafter. When objections to increased centralization of the war effort came, they were from individuals who acted alone or in small factions. Consequently, Davis had a vast majority of his desired policies enacted during the period from February 1861 to February 1864.