Friday, February 25, 2011

February 25, 1861: Confederate Commissioners

On Monday, February 25, 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed three men, A. B. Roman, Martin Crawford and John Forsyth, as commissioners.  They were to go to Washington and negotiate for Confederate recognition and for the surrender of Federal forts and other property in the seceded states.  They were unable to gain an official audience with anyone in the Lincoln administration.  It was Lincoln's view that the Southern states were still a part of the Union and negotiating with the commissioners would be giving tacit approval to the idea that they represented a foreign power.

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