Jefferson Davis

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Jefferson Finis Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865.

He represented Mississippi in the Senate and the House of Representatives before the American Civil War.

He served as the United States Secretary of War from 1853 to 1857 under President Franklin Pierce. Davis was born in Fairview, Kentucky, to a moderately wealthy farmer, the youngest of ten children.

He grew up in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, and later lived in Louisiana.

Joseph Emory Davis, Davis' elder brother, gained the younger Davis' admission to the United States Military Academy.

Jefferson Davis served as a lieutenant in the United States Army for six years after graduating.

Early life

Jefferson F. Davis was born in Fairview, Kentucky, on June 3, 1808. Davis, the youngest of ten children born to Jane (née Cook) and Samuel Emory Davis, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, after son Paul Davis, who had Welsh roots, came to Georgia from Philadelphia. Samuel served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and was given a land-grant for his work near Washington, Georgia. He married Jane Cook in 1783, a woman of Scot-Irish descent who had been visiting during his military service in South Carolina. Samuel and Jane moved to Kentucky about 1793. The family was born in Davisburg, a village Samuel had founded that later became Fairview.

In 1810, the Davis family immigrated to Bayou Teche in 1810. They moved from Woodville, Mississippi, where Samuel began raising the number of slaves he owned from six to twelve less than a year ago. The property was turned into a plantation by Janet's name Rosemont later in life. Three of Davis' brothers left to serve in the army during the War of 1812, three of whom went back to serve in the military. Davis received a rudimentary education at a small schoolhouse near Woodville when he was five years old. His father took him with relatives to Saint Thomas' College, a Catholic preparatory school operated by Dominicans near Springfield, Kentucky, when he was about eight years old. In 1818, Davis returned to Mississippi. He attended Jefferson College in Washington for a short time. He then attended Wilkinson County Academy near Woodville for five years. Davis was a student at Transylvania University in Lexington, 1823. Although Davis was still enrolled in college in 1824, he learned that his father Samuel had died. He had been in debt before he died and had sold Rosemont and his slaves to his eldest son Joseph Emory Davis, who also owned a large plantation along the Mississippi River in Davis Bend, Mississippi.

Joseph Davis, who was 23 years older than him, assumed the role of his surrogate father. In 1824, Joseph Davis was admitted to the West Point Military Academy. Albert Sidney Johnson and Leonidas Polk, both of his classmates, became friends with him. During his time in the academy, he regularly criticized the academy's teaching. He was arrested and jailed for intoxication at a nearby tavern in his first year, but was pardoned. Davis was arrested in the upcoming year for his participation in the Eggnog Riot in 1826, when students defied superintendent Sylvanus Thayer's discipline by getting inebriated and disorderly, but he was not dismissed. He finished 23rd in a class of 33.

Following his discharge, Second Lieutenant Davis was posted to the 1st Infantry Regiment. He was stationed in Forts Crawford and Winnebago, Michigan Territory, under the command of Colonel Zachary Taylor, who would later become president of the United States. Davis carried James Pemberton, an enslaved African-American who inherited from his father, as his personal servant while serving in the military. Davis's health suffered during the northern winters, and he had a bad case of pneumonia in the winter. He was prone to respiratory diseases and bronchitis after his bout with pneumonia. Davis went to Mississippi on furlough in March 1832, just days before the Black Hawk War began. After being apprehended by Black Hawk's capture and escorted for detention in St. Louis, Davis returned to him. Black Hawk's autobiography said that Jefferson treated him with compassion.

Sarah, his uncle, had been involved in Fort Crawford since returning to Fort Crawford in January 1833. Davis asked Taylor if he should marry Sarah, but Taylor refused. Under Colonel Henry Dodge, Taylor was transferred to the United States Regiment of Dragoons in spring. Davis was promoted to first lieutenant and deployed at Fort Gibson, Arkansas Territory. Davis was jailed in February 1835 for insubordination. He was cleared, but he had requested a furlough and resigned as of June 30th. He was twenty-six years old.

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Planting career and first marriage

When Davis returned to Mississippi, he decided to become a planter. Joseph converted his large holdings at Davis Bend, about 15 miles (24 km) south of Vicksburg, Mississippi, into Hurricane Plantation, which would eventually have 1,700 acres (690 ha) of cultivated fields and over 300 slaves, but Joseph kept the name. Davis also loaned Davis the money to buy ten slaves to clear and plant the property, which Jefferson would name Brierfield Plantation.

Davis had continued his correspondence with Sarah, and they decided to marry; Taylor had implied assent. Sarah went to Louisville, where she had relatives, and Davis went on his own to visit here. They married in Beechland on June 17, 1835. Davis and Sarah returned to Locust Grove Plantation in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, in August. Both people became seriously ill with malaria within days. Sarah died on September 15, 1835, at the age of 21, 1835. They were married for just three months. Davis' progress slowed. He briefly travelled to Havana, Cuba, to recover his health and returned home via New York and Washington, D.C., where he met George Wallace Jones, his old schoolmate from Transylvania College.

Sarah spent a considerable amount of his time clearing Brierfield and planting his plants in the years after Sarah's death. He owned 23 slaves by 1836, by 1840, he had 40; and 113 by 1860. He made James Pemberton, his first slave, overroverr, which he remained until his death in 1850. Davis also developed intellectually. Joseph maintained a large library on Hurricane Plantation, allowing Davis to read up on politics, the constitution, and economics. Joseph, who became particularly worried about national attempts to limit slavery in new territories at the time, served as Davis' advisor and guide as they increased involved in politics; historian Steven E. Woodworth says Jefferson was the beneficiary of his brother's political popularity.

Early political career and second marriage.

Davis first became involved in politics in 1840 at a Democratic Party conference in Vicksburg and served as a delegate to the party's state convention in Jackson; he served again in 1842. He was picked to be the Democratic nominee for Warren County by the original contender in November 1843, but Davis declined the nomination.

Davis was elected to serve as a delegate to the state convention for the second time in 1844. Davis, a student at the University of Jackson, received Varina Banks Howell, then 18 years old, as he received an invitation from Joseph for her to remain at the Hurricane Plantation for the holiday season. She was a granddaughter of New Jersey Governor Richard Howell; her mother's family came from the South. Davis was named one of Mississippi's six presidential candidates for the 1844 presidential election at the convention.

Despite her parents' initial questions about his age and politics, the 35-year-old Davis, 35, invited Varina to marry him, and the two became engaged a month after. Davis also campaigned for the Democratic Party, which had selected James K. Polk as the party's presidential nominee for the remainder of the year. Davis and Varina married on February 26, 1845, just a few months after the campaign ended. They had six children during their marriage: Samuel Emory, who died of yellow fever at the age of eight, was married to a widow and lived to be 34 years old; and Jefferson Davis, Jr., born 1854, who died of diphtheria at the age of 21; and Varina Anne, born 1854, who died of yellow fever at age five; and Margaret Howell, born 1854, who died of diphtheria in 1859; and Stephen Davis, Jr.

Davis ran for office in July 1845 and began canvassing for the presidency. He ran on a platform that emphasized a strict constructionist view of the constitution, states' rights, a reduction of tariffs, and opposition to the establishment of a national bank. He won the election and moved into the 29th Congress.

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