Davis

I think one of the reasons Davis would've kept things pretty closely under wraps was because he was trying to keep controversy within the Confederacy to a minimum. Part of the strength of the Confederacy in its perception by the North was that it was a cohesive group of people that disagreed with the Union, and therefore seceded. Once Davis established that the Southern states of the Confederacy were separate from the Northern Union states, he handled the rest of his business behind closed doors so that the rest of the "country" could focus on things that united them together, not political issues that could potentially divide them into further segregated groups (not like that didn't happen anyway).

The Confederate Politics

Why did Davis feel it was necessary to keep everything under wraps about the government, even public business, it doesn't seem like anyone would support someone who is trying to take total control of the government.

10 Percent Plan

I think the point of only having 10 percent and not a higher number was just to try to get things established. If a higher number would have been necessary, it would have taken too long to get the process going. It was a way to get a government started and try to get things back to normal.

Ten Percent Plan

With Lincoln's 10 percent plan, was it wise to let a state back wiht only 10 percent of its voters taking the oath and pledge to abide by emancipation? It would seem hard to form a new state government if 90 percent of the people disagree with it.

re-election

what did lincoln have working against him in 1864 and what worked to his benefit?

Freedpeople

What was the Union initaly planning to do with all the slaves once they were freed? No nation had ever dealt with such a large number of freed slaves before so what were the first steps to take?

Nov 5-7: Confederacy