Jefferson Davis

Can Rebellion Be Too Big To Fail? Reflections on Jefferson Davis and Trump

by Wallace Hettle

If Jefferson Davis's release on bail in 1867 and pardon before trial in 1868 seemed to signal his diminishment as a national figure, the rise of the Lost Cause mythology with Davis as its martyr showed it was a serious mistake to excuse insurrection. 

Wilentz: New Book Says Jefferson Davis was Right About the Constitution. What About Lincoln?

by Sean Wilentz

Noah Feldman's new books says that, in 1861, Jefferson Davis was right about the Constitution's sanction of slavery, and only the rupture of the Civil War could amend and reset the document. Sean Wilentz disagrees. 

How to Make Jim Jordan Talk about January 6? Ask Jefferson Davis

by Sidney Blumenthal

Jefferson Davis compelled the testimony of his Senate colleague William Seward about whether he had prior knowledge of John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry. Rep. There's no reason why Jim Jordan shouldn't be likewise made to answer questions. 

Stolen Confederate Monument will Become a 'Toilet' Unless ‘White Lies Matter’ Demands are Met, Group Vows

The group claiming responsibility has issued a ransom demand: the United Daughters of the Confederacy can secure the return of the chair by flying a banner quoting Black radical Assata Shakur over its Richmond, Virginia headquarters. 

Virginia House votes to turn ‘Jefferson Davis Highway’ into ‘Emancipation Highway’

The bill, which has bipartisan support, would rename any stretches of  US Route 1 still named for the Confederate president as "Emancipation Highway" but would not reflect segments of the road already renamed by local authorities. 

Trump Will Never Surrender, Just Like Jefferson Davis

by Jamie Stiehm

"Davis was imprisoned after the Civil War, a fate that may await the outgoing president. Too bad they can't be cellmates. They're soul mates."

Is There a Place for the President of the Confederacy?

Removing Confederate monuments from public grounds to museums is easier said than done, drawing on scarce resources and pleasing few parties in the conflict over memorializing the CSA. 

There’s Another Confederate Monument in the US Capitol: Jefferson Davis’ Old Desk

Once a symbol of treachery, his former Senate seat has become a tribute to his memory.

She Was Born Into Slavery, Was a Spy and Is Celebrated as a Hero—But We're Missing the Point of the 'Mary Bowser' Story

by Lois Leveen

As a historian, I’ve grown concerned that our impulse to celebrate a black spy in the Confederate White House is impeding us from getting history right, in troubling ways.

VA secretary praised Confederate president as a "martyr to 'The Lost Cause'" in 1995 speech

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie praised Confederate States President Jefferson Davis effusively in a 1995 speech, calling him a "martyr to 'The Lost Cause'" and an "exceptional man in an exceptional age."

What Happened When One University Moved a Confederate Statue to a Museum

Three years ago, the U. of Texas at Austin took down a monument to Jefferson Davis and moved it to the campus’s Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. That offers one possible solution to the question now facing the U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Memphis's Novel Strategy for Tearing Down Confederate Statues

In a surprise move Wednesday evening, the city sold two parks to a nonprofit corporation that promptly tore down monuments to Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis.

Alexandria will seek to move Confederate statue and rename Jefferson Davis Highway

In a town that once took considerable pride in its Confederate past, the Alexandria City Council voted unanimously Saturday to change the name of Jefferson Davis Highway and seek permission from the Virginia General Assembly to move a renowned statue of a Confederate soldier in historic Old Town.

Donald Trump is more like Jefferson Davis than Benito Mussolin, says USC historian Steve Ross

“What we’re seeing [with Trump’s rise] is what I would call the second Civil War.” -- Steve Ross, history professor at the University of Southern California

Two scholars from UT object to the Texas school's decision to remove the statue of Jefferson Davis

by Al Martinich and Tom Palaima

Al Martinich and Tom Palaima say the school president has made things worse than before.

72 history professors sign letter urging removal of Jefferson Davis statue from Kentucky Capitol

Seventy-two historians from 16 public and private colleges and universities in Kentucky want a controversial statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis removed from the state Capitol. A commission voted 7 to 2 to retain it.

The Republican Party fell through the looking glass and came out as the party of Jefferson Davis

by Dave Anderson

What’s surprising is that the party’s first president, Lincoln, was praised by none other than Karl Marx.

Jefferson Davis on Fire

by Peter Manseau

He’s always had a fraught place in the American imagination.

Richmond split over Confederate history

In the capital of the Confederacy, calls are rising to properly memorialize the slave trade

NYT praises James McPherson for finding a way to remain objective about Jeff Davis

by Steven Hahn

McPherson found himself “becoming less inimical toward Davis” than he expected, and clearly more engaged with the challenges that Davis himself had to face.