ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY
February 4, 1861
The Confederate States of America is Established
On this day in 1861, the Confederate States or America was formed in Montgomery Alabama. The CSA began as seven
Southern states (eventually increasing to eleven) that had seceded from the Union.
Shortly after establishing a government, the CSA seized control of federal forts and other properties within their
borders. President James Buchanan did little to stop them but when Abraham Lincoln took office on March 4,
hostilities increased.
The American Civil War officially began on April 12 when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina
(although Confederate forces had actually fired on the supply ship Star of the West on January 9 while it was
trying to resupply the fort).
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