Saturday, January 21, 2012

Jefferson Davis In Montgomery

I was looking through the 2011 Reunion Program for the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, and saw an interesting article about Jefferson Davis. It says that, as we know, when he was sworn in as provisional President of the Confederacy on February 18, 1861, it was to the cheers of thousands.

Echoing the Declaration of Independence,  he told the crowd "governments rest upon the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish governments whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they were established".

Long after the war he returned to Montgomery in 1886 for three days to the thunderous cheers and applause of adoring throngs up and down Dexter Avenue.

His last trip to Montgomery was to lie in state in 1893 and once again was honored by thousands, but this time in mournful silence. Over his portrait next to the coffin were the words, "He suffered for us".

The article goes on to say that in later life, Jefferson Davis made the statement that if he had it all to do over again he would have pursued the same course he had from 1861 on.

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