Disunion: Nation Building

The month of March, 1861, found the once sleepy riverside town of Montgomery, Ala., suddenly awake with the efforts to build the new Confederate government. Delegates from the seceding states had gathered there in February, and they had already written a constitution for the Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis as president. Now the new Congress was busy with more routine matters like the postal service, liquor regulations and the salary of members.