History of the United States (1849–1865) and South met in Virginia to try to hold together the Union, but the proposals for amending the Constitution were unsuccessful. In February 1861, the seven states met in Montgomery, Alabama, and formed a new government: the Confederate States of America. The first Confederate Congress was held on February 4, 1861, and adopted a provisional constitution. On February 8, 1861, Jefferson Davis was nominated President of the Confederate States. On April 12, 1861, after President Lincoln refused to give up Fort Sumter, the federal base in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, the new Confederate government under President Jefferson Davis
Congress of the Confederate States among the states in the Confederacy, and on March 6 it authorized raising 100,000 troops for Confederate national forces for a year, with additional levies of state militias for six months. Following President Davis’ assault on Fort Sumter in April, Lincoln responded with a call for a call up of 75,000 troops among loyal states to restore federal property ceded by southern state legislatures to the United States. The Provisional Congress answered by removing its limit on enlistment durations, and following the victory at First Manassas, it authorized a Confederate army of 400,000 for the duration. Davis was authorized an