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Civil War Timeline
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December 20,1861 -
South Carolina secedes from the Union.
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February, 1861 - A
constitutional convention prepares a provisional constitution and chooses
members of a provisional government.
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March 11, 1861 - A permanent
constitution is ratified.
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February 18, 1862 -
A permanent legislature is established.
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January 5,1863 - Jefferson Davis
reacts to Emancipation Proclamation with speech calling for free blacks to be
reenslaved
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March 13, 1865 - Faced with
severe manpower shortages the CSA reluctantly agreed to use African American
troops.
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March 18, 1865 - The Congress
of the CSA adjourned for the last time.
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April 2, 1865 ->Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet flee the Confederate capital of
Richmond.
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April 3, 1865 - Union forces
capture the capital Richmond, Virginia.
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April 9, 1865 - Confederate
General Robert E. Lee surrenders
to Union General Ulysses S. Grant,
thereby effectively putting an end to the Confederacy.
As with any
war, the Confederate States of America (CSA) needed to raise
money to finance their huge war effort. The two
primary ways to do this was by taxes and debt.
Confederate Secretary of the Treasury Christopher G.
Memminger assumed his duties in February 1861 by floating
government loans and creating an instant national debt. In
1861 the Confederacy sold bonds worth $150 million in the
so-called Bankers Loan, which secured much-needed specie.
The government also tapped agricultural staples through the
Produce Loan, in which planters pledged their produce in
exchange for government paper. Against the receipts of these
loans, Memminger issued Treasury notes, circulating paper
money with which the government paid its bills. In August,
1861 the Confederate Congress passed a War Tax on various
kinds of property to increase government resources.
Unfortunately Memminger's department was inefficient in
collecting the produce subscribed to the Produce Loan, and
he allowed taxes to be paid in inflated state currency.
Consequently government paper money fed inflation, which
served as an inverse tax on Confederate citizens.
By 1863
Memminger realized that inflation was threatening the
government's ability to support itself and the war.
Accordingly he proposed and Congress passed a graduated
Income Tax and a 10% Tax In Kind on agricultural products.
In March, 1863 the Confederacy accepted a $15 million loan
from the French banking house of Emile Erlanger that yielded
much less than its face value (about $8.5 million), but
given the tenuous nature of Southern nationhood, the
Confederates made the best deal possible. Still, Memminger's
printing presses moved faster than the government could
collect revenue, and inflation accelerated. In desperation,
in 1864 Memminger imposed a Compulsory Funding Measure,
which devalued those Treasury notes not exchanged for non
circulating government bonds. This failed too, as
Confederates continued to exchange government paper for
goods and services.
In July 1864
Jefferson Davis replaced Memminger with another South
Carolinian, George A. Trenholm, but there was little
Trenholm could do. The Confederacy never had more than $27
million of specie. The national debt ran over $700 million
and the overall inflation was about 6,000%. That the
Confederacy persisted as long as it did amid this financial
chaos was a wonder. History from Historical Times
History of the Civil War |
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Confederate Bond Engravers |
Bond Signers |
Acts Authorizing Bonds |
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Alexander Clitherall served as first Register of
the Treasury
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Charles T. Jones, Acting Register
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Robert Tyler (1816-1877), the second Register of
the Treasury
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Charles A. Rose, Assistant Register
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E. Apperson, Assistant Register
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Henry Dickson Capers, Chief Clerk
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Act of February 28, 1861
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Act of May 16, 1861
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Act of August 19, 1861
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Act of August 24, 1861
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Act of December 19, 1861
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Act of December 24, 1861
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Act of April 18, 1862
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Act of
January 29, 1863
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Act of February 14, 1863
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Act of March 23, 1863
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Act of April 27, 1863
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Act of April 30, 1863
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Act of February 11, 1864
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Act of February 17, 1864
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Act of June 13, 1864
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Act of June 14, 1864
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