10 Awesome Facts About Jefferson Davis

1. Fact Number One: Jefferson Davis’s name was named after the United States’ third president Thomas Jefferson. Actually, his father Samuel Davis was a big fan of Thomas Jefferson. Therefore, he named his youngest child after the third United States president’s name.

2. Fact Number Two: Although Davis was the president of the Confederate States of America, the United States government never tried to accuse him in the case of treason after the Civil War. He was imprisoned for only two years and later released on May 1867.

3. Fact Number Three: After Davis was released from jail on May 1867, he faced a severe financial problem. To get rid of the situation, he even had to work for a life insurance company in Memphis, Tennessee.

4. Fact Number Four: Jefferson Davis served as a military leader during the Mexican-American war (1846-1848). Even he was awarded because of his brave service by the United States authority.

5. Fact Number Five: Although Jefferson Davis failed to make Confederacy successful and fully independent from the Union, people in the Southern states still remember him as a great hero. States like Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Kentucky still celebrate his birthday every year.

6. Fact Number Six: Before the American Civil War, Jefferson Davis served as the representative of Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party. Also, in 1853, he served as the US secretary of War under Pierce’s administration.

7. Fact Number Seven: Before the Civil War, in 1858, Davis was against secession. However, soon he changed his attitude and began arguing that the states of the Union had an unquestionable right to leave it.

8. Fact Number Eight: Davis owned 113 slaves at his cotton plantation in Mississippi. Actually, his brother Joseph Davis gave him the cotton plantation farm. Because of this reason, still in the 21st century, many people criticize him as a supporter of slavery and racism.

9. Fact Number Nine: Davis married Sarah Knox Taylor at age 17 in 1835. She was the daughter of Zachary Taylor. However, she died just three months later of their marriage. He married again at age 36 to Varina Howell. They had six children.  

10. Fact Number Ten: Jefferson Davis’s parents had 10 children. He was the 10th youngest child of them.