Best known as president of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, Jefferson Davis was also a Mexican War hero, served in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and was secretary of war under Franklin Pierce. After the Civil War he became a symbol of the Lost Cause.

The Papers of Jefferson Davis, a documentary editing project based at Rice University in Houston, Texas, is publishing a multi-volume edition of his letters and speeches, several of which can be found on this web site. The site also provides extensive information on Davis and his family and numerous images.


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© Copyright 1996-2004 by The Papers of Jefferson Davis

Volume 11 (September 1864-May 1865) is now available, published November 2003 

Inaugurated: April 9, 1996
Last updated: February 12, 2004
Founding webmaster (1996-2000): Kenneth H. Williams

Photograph by Mathew B. Brady, c1860. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.


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