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Montgomery: First
Capital of the Confederacy
 

February 4, 1861-May 21, 1861

BulletAt South Carolina's suggestion, Alabama invited the seceding states to meet in Montgomery to form the Confederate States of America.

Bullet Montgomery was selected because:

Bullet In February 1861, Montgomery had 8,843 people (4,443 whites and 4,400 blacks, slave and free). During the months Montgomery served as the capital of the Confederacy, the population of the city doubled.

Bullet The Confederate Congress convened February 4, with delegates from South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana. Texas delegates arrived March 2. The rest of the states that eventually made up the eleven Confederate States—Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee—seceded from the Union after the firing on Fort Sumter in April.

Bullet When Virginia seceded from the Union, the Confederate Congress met in secret session and resolved to move the capital to Richmond. The Congress adjourned in Montgomery on May 21 to reassemble in Richmond on July 20.

Bullet The reasons for removal to Richmond were: