On this day 150 years ago, delegates from the seven seceded states met in Montgomery, Alabama, and declared the formation of a provisional government for the Confederate States of America.
The meeting took place in the historic Alabama State Capitol, which still stands atop Goat Hill at the end of Dexter Avenue in Montgomery. Eyewitness accounts indicate that large crowds gathered outside the building to await the results of the meeting as militia companies paraded in the streets.
The delegates had come to Montgomery at the invitation of the Alabama Secession Convention, which offered the capital city as a centrally located meeting place for a discussion of measures to provide for the common defense of the newly independent Southern states. They voted to declare themselves as a provisional legislature and quickly moved to unify their states. A committee was appointed to draft a Constitution for the new Southern nation, work on which began immediately. It would take four days to complete.
The Confederate States of America, however, was born with the meeting of the delegates at Montgomery, Alabama, 150 years ago today. To learn more about the historic First Capitol of the Confederacy, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/montgomerycapitol1.
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