History glossary
Confederate States of America
the breakaway slaveholding republic formed by seceding southern states in 1861.
- Category
- State
- Region
- United States
- Date range
- 1861-1865
What it means
The Confederate States of America was the breakaway government formed in 1861 by seceding southern states. Its constitution explicitly protected slavery, and its defeat in 1865 destroyed the political structure created to defend that system.
