Confederate States of America

When the American colonies on the Atlantic coast declared their independence from Britain in 1776, they had thirteen different governments. Each colony had its own ideas about “independence” and “freedom” and “liberty.” The main motive that tied them loosely together was the recognition that they had to stand together to defend themselves against Britain.

When the colonies agreed to work together on some—not all—decisions, they became “states” in a “federal” government that made some policies that all thirteen would support, at least to some degree. The new “states” each had their own legislatures, their own voting laws, their own ideas about taxes and how public funds would be spent. They also had different ideas about whether slavery should be allowed. States in the North found little advantage in slavery. States in the South felt they could not survive without enslaved people from Africa and the Caribbean.

The United States of America (USA) began with strong divisions. In 1861, those divisions became so strong that America split up. The Southern states became the Confederate States of America (CSA), with their own government, their own army, and even their own money. The photo below may or may not be authentic, but may be an example of the money that the South printed during the Civil War. Whether it is real or not is not important. What is important is that America became the “Untied States of America.”

And it is still that way today, more than a century and a half after the Civil War ended.

(256 words)