The Confederate States of America was a short-lived nation on the North American continent of the planet Earth. It was made up of states, beginning with South Carolina, that had declared themselves separate, or seceded, from the United States of America.
It existed from 1861 to 1865, during which time it was wholly concerned with establishing its legitimacy through a war with the United States. Its capital was Richmond, Virginia and its president was Jefferson Davis. Since it lost the war, it did not persist past April 1865, when its leading general, R. E. Lee, signed a document of surrender at the command of the Union general, U. S. Grant.
Known states of the Confederacy included Virginia, South Carolina and Alabama — although there were likely more.
Following the war, the former states of the Confederacy were re-absorbed into the United States of America — although Abraham Lincoln's government, judging from his final public speech, did not consider that they had ever, technically, seceded.
