Jefferson Davis

An Analysis of Jefferson Davis
By: Blayden McLeod

History 131-2101
John D. Sulentic
September 3
Thesis Statement: Jefferson Davis was a very incompetent President and showed it by his policies and lack of action during the Civil War

      Jefferson Davis was born June 3rd, 1808 on a small farm in southwestern Kentucky from his parents Samuel Davis and Jane Cook Davis.   After spending most of his childhood life in the southern frontier of Mississippi, he decided to receive a quality education, mainly because of his brilliance and strong intelligence.   He attended many schools before he went on to complete a four year term at West Point Military Academy which later appointed him a Second Lieutenant in 1828.   Davis was then commissioned to the frontier to supervise construction along the frontier until he was called upon for the Blackhawk War in Mississippi. He himself escorted Blackhawk to prison, and it is said that Blackhawk appreciated and liked Davis for his kindness.   After he resigned from the army in 1835 he decided to marry the daughter of Colonel Zachary Taylor and to tend to his plantation.   After his wife’s sudden death of malaria, Davis became somewhat of a social hermit for eight years and read many books about politics and philosophy.   Then he decided to strengthen his ties to the Mississippi planter class by marrying a woman with vast social status in the area.   Shortly after, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat.   When the Mexican-American war happened, Davis decided to resign from congress and become the commander of a Mississippi regiment.   He achieved the status of a war hero by his gallant efforts and his strategic military bravery in the siege at Monterrey and at the Battle of Buena Vista.   After the war, he was elected to the Senate and fought the right of slavery in new territories and the admission of California as a free state.   In a political move, Davis stepped down from the senate to run...