Editing Confederate States of America (section)

===Capitals===
{{multiple image
 | align = right
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 | width = 150
 | image1 = Alabama Capitol NW 1886.jpg
 | caption1 = The first Capitol of the Confederacy in [[Montgomery, Alabama]]
 | image2 = Virginia Capitol 1865.jpg
 | caption2 = The second Capitol of the Confederacy in [[Richmond, Virginia]]
}}
[[File:William T Sutherlin Mansion Danville Virginia.JPG|thumb|[[William T. Sutherlin]]'s mansion in [[Danville, Virginia]] was the temporary residence of [[Jefferson Davis]] and dubbed the "last Capitol of the Confederacy".]]

[[History of Montgomery, Alabama#Montgomery in the Civil War|Montgomery, Alabama]], served as capital of the Confederate States from February 4 until May 29, 1861, in the [[Alabama State Capitol]]. Six states created the Confederacy there on February 8, 1861. The Texas delegation was seated at the time, so it is counted in the "original seven" states of the Confederacy; it had no roll call vote until after its referendum made secession "operative".<ref>The Texas delegation was seated with full voting rights after its statewide referendum of secession on March 2, 1861. It is generally counted as an "original state" of the Confederacy. Four upper south states declared secession following Lincoln's call for volunteers: Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina. "The founders of the Confederacy desired and ideally envisioned a peaceful creation of a new union of all slave-holding states, including the border states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri." Kentucky and Missouri were seated in December 1861. Kenneth C. Martis, ''The Historical Atlas of the Congresses of the Confederate States of America 1861–1865'' (1994) p. 8</ref><ref>The sessions of the Provisional Congress were in Montgomery, Alabama, (1) First Session February 4 – March 10, and (2) Second Session April 29 – May 21, 1861. The Capital was moved to Richmond May 30. The (3) Third Session was held July 20 – August 31. The (4) Fourth Session called for September 3 was never held. The (5) Fifth Session was held November 18, 1861 – February 17, 1862.</ref> The Permanent Constitution was adopted there on March 12, 1861.<ref>Martis, ''Historical Atlas'', pp. 7–8.</ref>

The permanent capital provided for in the Confederate Constitution called for a state cession of a 100 square mile district to the central government. Atlanta, which had not yet supplanted [[Milledgeville, Georgia#Life in the antebellum capital|Milledgeville]], Georgia, as its state capital, put in a bid noting its central location and rail connections, as did [[Opelika, Alabama]], noting its strategically interior situation, rail connections and deposits of coal and iron.<ref>Coulter, ''The Confederate States of America'', p. 100</ref>

[[Richmond in the American Civil War|Richmond, Virginia]], was chosen for the interim capital at the [[Virginia State Capitol]]. The move was used by Vice President Stephens and others to encourage other border states to follow Virginia into the Confederacy. In the political moment it was a show of "defiance and strength". The war for Southern independence was surely to be fought in Virginia, but it also had the largest Southern military-aged white population, with infrastructure, resources, and supplies. The Davis Administration's policy was that "It must be held at all hazards."<ref>Coulter, ''The Confederate States of America'', p. 101. Virginia was practically promised as a condition of secession by Vice President Stephens. It had rail connections south along the east coast and into the interior, and laterally west into Tennessee, parallel the U.S. border, a navigable river to the Hampton Roads to menace ocean approaches to Washington DC, trade via the Atlantic Ocean, an interior canal to North Carolina sounds. It was a great storehouse of supplies, food, feed, raw materials, and infrastructure of ports, drydocks, armories and the established Tredegar Iron Works. Nevertheless, Virginia never permanently ceded land for the capital district. A local homeowner donated his home to the City of Richmond for use as the Confederate White House, which was in turn rented to the Confederate government for the Jefferson Davis presidential home and administration offices.</ref>

The naming of Richmond as the new capital took place on May 30, 1861, and the last two sessions of the Provisional Congress were held there.<ref>Martis, ''Historical Atlas'', p. 2.</ref> As war dragged on, Richmond became crowded with training and transfers, logistics and hospitals. Prices rose dramatically despite government efforts at price regulation. A movement in Congress argued for moving the capital from Richmond. At the approach of Federal armies in mid-1862, the government's archives were readied for removal. As the [[Overland Campaign|Wilderness Campaign]] progressed, Congress authorized Davis to remove the executive department and call Congress to session elsewhere in 1864 and again in 1865. Shortly before the end of the war, the Confederate government evacuated Richmond, planning to relocate further south. Little came of these plans before Lee's surrender.<ref>Coulter, ''The Confederate States of America'', p. 102.</ref> Davis and most of his cabinet fled to [[Danville, Virginia]], which served as their headquarters for eight days.