The Daily History Chronicle

On February 4th, 1861, delegates from six Southern states met in Montgomery, Alabama, to create the Confederate States of America. Were they fighting over tariffs and trade? States' rights? Or slavery? Richard Backus goes back to the primary sources, the secession declarations, the Confederate Constitution, Alexander Stephens' Cornerstone Speech, to examine what these men actually said at the time, and why their own words matter more than the narratives that came later.