Confederate States of America

State · 1861–1865

The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederacy, was a republic in the Southern United States from 1861 to 1865, unrecognized as a sovereign nation by either foreign governments or the United States. It was formed on February 8, 1861, by seven states that seceded from the Union, with four more joining after the Civil War began; its principal aim was safeguarding slavery amid fears of northern abolitionist influence and federal interference in slave property. It fought the American Civil War against the United States following the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln. After four years of fighting, its forces surrendered by May 1865, most significantly Robert E. Lee's surrender on April 9, and the Confederate states were readmitted to the Union after ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery.