Jefferson Davis Rallies the Rebels (1863)

Jefferson Davis Rallies the Rebels (1863) deals with the efforts of Jefferson Davis to buck up the Confederates and to carry the Civil War to a successful conclusion for the Rebels. He offered several solutions to the grave situation the Rebels found themselves. He also placed blame for the Confederate failures (mostly Lincoln and England). Throughout, he never relented in his message that the Rebels would prevail. The author employs the December 7, 1863 Annual Message to the Confederate Congress as a starting point. However, the author utilizes various other sources to expand upon - and sometimes refute - the opinions Davis expressed. Throughout his message Davis expressed the following beliefs: (1) The situation of the Confederacy in December 1863 was bad, even desperate. However, it was not hopeless. (2) Congress could repair the internal problems facing the Confederacy, if it followed his plan and instituted those remedies he demanded immediately. (3) The Union led by Lincoln was ruthless, brutal, immoral, and ungodly. Lincoln had allowed, even encouraged, the commission of war crimes by his underlings. (4) The Union refused to accept a just peace. The Yankees were willing to destroy their own prosperity and rip their Constitution to shreds in order to coerce the Southerners to remain under their control. (5) The Union had poisoned foreign nations against the Confederacy. It had even managed to join with those foreign nations, especially England, in an unlawful alliance against the Rebels. (6) The citizens of the Confederacy were loyal and were willing to accept any sacrifice, even death, to support the Rebel cause. (7) Davis bore no responsibility for the terrible situation that the Confederate found itself. He never once admitted any single error on his point. Every Confederate mistake was, according to Davis, the blame of the Congress or of military commanders