Jefferson Davis Carte de Visite, Civil War president of the Confederate States

  

Carte de Visite for Jefferson Davis - printed on the card Jeff. Writing on front "Rebel" and note on the back- see images. 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.

As a member of the Democratic Party, he represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives before the American Civil War. He previously served as the United States Secretary of War from 1853 to 1857 under President Franklin Pierce. Before the American Civil War, he operated a large cotton plantation in Mississippi, which his brother Joseph gave him, and owned as many as 113 slaves. Although Davis argued against secession in 1858, he believed states had an unquestionable right to leave the Union.

Many historians attribute some of the Confederacy's weaknesses to Davis's poor leadership. His preoccupation with detail, reluctance to delegate responsibility, lack of popular appeal, feuds with powerful state governors and generals, favoritism toward old friends, inability to get along with people who disagreed with him, neglect of civil matters in favor of military ones, and resistance to public opinion all worked against him.

Historians agree he was a much less effective war leader than his Union counterpart, President Abraham Lincoln. After Davis was captured in 1865, he was accused of treason and imprisoned at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia. He was never tried and was released after two years.

While not disgraced, Davis had been displaced in ex-Confederate affection after the war by his leading general, Robert E. Davis wrote a memoir entitled The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, which he completed in 1881. By the late 1880s, he began to encourage reconciliation, telling Southerners to be loyal to the Union. Ex-Confederates came to appreciate his role in the war, seeing him as a Southern patriot. He became a hero of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy in the post-Reconstruction South.

This item is in the category "Collectibles\Militaria\Civil War (1861-65)\Original Period Items\Photographs". The seller is "bjstamps" and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped to United States.

• Production Technique: Albumen Print
• Format: Carte de Visite (CDV)
• Type: Photograph
• Modified Item: No
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
• Theme: Militaria
• Original/Reproduction: Original
• Date of Creation: 1860-1869
• Photo Type: CDV
• Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
• Year of Production: 1860s
• Time Period Manufactured: 1850-1899
• Original/Reprint: Original Print
• Conflict: Civil War (1861-65)