The Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States, and the CSA) was the government set up from 1861 to 1865 by eleven southern states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S. The CSA's de facto control over its claimed territory varied during the course of the American Civil War, depending on the success of its military in battle.

Asserting that states had a right to secede, seven states declared their independence from the United States before the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as President on March 4, 1861; four more did so after the Civil War began at the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter (April 1861). The government of the United States of America (The Union) regarded secession as illegal and refused to recognize the Confederacy. Although British and French commercial interests sold the Confederacy warships and materials, no European or other foreign nation officially recognized the CSA as an independent country.The CSA won most of the battles of the american civil war from 1861 to early 1863.Until a confederate offensive into pennsylvania failed in disaster the tide soon after turned in favor of the Union.

The CSA effectively collapsed when Generals Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston surrendered their armies in April 1865. The last meeting of its Cabinet took place in Georgia in May. Union troops captured the Confederate President Jefferson Davis near Irwinville, Georgia on May 10, 1865. Nearly all remaining Confederate forces surrendered by the end of June, with the very last Confederate surrender taking place on November 6, 1865, aboard the CSS Shenandoah.

To arms in Dixie
Bonnie Blue Flag