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Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis Quotes

Former President of the Confederate States of America

Jefferson Davis was the President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Born on June 3, 1808, in Kentucky, he was a soldier, politician, and statesman who played a significant role in American history. Davis served as a soldier in the U.S. Army before entering politics and becoming a member of the Democratic Party. He was appointed Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce and later became the President of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Davis is a controversial figure in American history, with his leadership during the Civil War being both praised and criticized.

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All Civil War War Government Slavery Men States Country May People Ifs Made Law Political Should Slave Southern Together American Civil War Confederate Constitution

Famous Jefferson Davis Quotes

“The Slave must be made fit for his freedom by education and discipline, and thus made unfit for slavery. And as soon as he becomes unfit for slavery, the master will no longer desire to hold him as a slave.”

Made Desire Masters Discipline Fit Slavery Slave

Author:Jefferson Davis

“I tried all in my power to avert this war. I saw it coming, for twelve years I worked night and day to prevent it, but I could not. The North was mad and blind; it would not let us govern ourselves, and so the war came, and now it must go on unless you acknowledge our right to self government. We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for Independence.”

Years War Self Government Night Fighting Saws Goes On Independence Slavery Blind Mad Acknowledge Twelve Self-government Avert

Author:Jefferson Davis

“African slavery, as it exists in the United States, is a moral, a social, and a political blessing.”

States Political Social United Moral United States Blessing Slavery

Author:Jefferson Davis

“If slavery be a sin, it is not yours. It does not rest on your action for its origin, on your consent for its existence. It is a common law right to property in the service of man; its origin was Divine decree.”

Ifs Men Doe Action Law Sin Common Existence Divine Slavery Property Consent Decree Common Law

Author:Jefferson Davis

“My own convictions as to negro slavery are strong. It has its evils and abuses...We recognize the negro as God and God's Book and God's Laws, in nature, tell us to recognize him - our inferior, fitted expressly for servitude...You cannot transform the negro into anything one-tenth as useful or as good as what slavery enables them to be.”

Book Law Evil Strong My Own Abuse Slavery Conviction Inferiors Servitude

Author:Jefferson Davis

“Slavery existed before the formation of this Union. It derived from the Constitution that recognition which it would not have enjoyed without the confederation. If the States had not united together, there would have been no obligation on adjoining States to regard any species of property unknown to themselves.”

Ifs Has Beens States Together United Constitution Regard Slavery Property Unions Species Obligation Recognition Enjoyed Formation Confederation

Author:Jefferson Davis

“Every one must understand that, whatever be the evil of slavery, it is not increased by its diffusion. Every one familiar with it knows that it is in proportion to its sparseness that it becomes less objectionable. Wherever there is an immediate connexion between the master and slave, whatever there is of harshness in the system is diminished.”

Knows Evil Masters Slavery Slave Familiar Proportion Harshness Diffusion Connexion Masters And Slaves

Author:Jefferson Davis

“The war...must go on till the last man of this generation falls in his tracks...unless you acknowledge our right to self-government. We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for Independence,and that, or extermination, we WILL have.”

Men War Self Government Lasts Fall Fighting Generations Goes On Independence Slavery Track Acknowledge Civil War This Generation Self-government Extermination

Author:Jefferson Davis

“Let the gentleman go to Revelation to learn the decree of God - let him go to the Bible. . . . I said that slavery was sanctioned in the Bible, authorized, regulated, and recognized from Genesis to Revelation. . . . Slavery existed then in the earliest ages, and among the chosen people of God; and in Revelation we are told that it shall exist till the end of time shall come. You find it in the Old and New Testaments - in the prophecies, psalms, and the epistles of Paul; you find it recognized - sanctioned everywhere.”

People Said Ends Age Religion Slavery Slave Chosen Gentleman Revelations Prophecy Testament End Times New Testament Genesis Decree Psalms Old And New Let Him Go Till The End

Author:Jefferson Davis