Confederate Civil Service

The Civil Service was created by the Provisional Government meeting on February 4, 1861, copying the same basic pattern as the United States federal government that it just seceded from.van Riper (1959) p.448 The decision to expand slavery into western territories led to a "total war" setting for the Confederates, with all resources dedicated towards forcing slavery upon Kansas and westward. This included conscription, radical taxation, and the seizure of goods, and as such the Treasury and War Departments were heavily expanded during the war to cope with the work. Of the 70,000-odd employees of the Confederate Civil Service over the course of the war, 57,124 worked for the Department of War. The department employed large numbers of children and women to handle the work.van Riper (1959) p.449 The Civil Service ceased to exist in 1865, when the Confederacy was defeated by Union forces and slavery was abolished.van Riper (1959) p.459

There were six departments:

• Department of State
• Department of the Treasury
• War Department
• Department of the Navy
• Department of the Post Office
• Department of Justice

The Confederate government after its secession to preserve slavery set up a nearly identical copy of the U.S. government, yet did not permit the existence of a Department of the Interior.van Riper (1959) p.449 The Department of State was tasked with "King Cotton diplomacy" to attempt to establish trade with anyone willing to perpetuate slavery. The department was relatively unsuccessful, given that most slavery already had been banned worldwide, and thus employed only a small number of civilians - around thirty.van Riper (1959) p.453

The Treasury Department was modeled around the previous, federal office, with a Comptroller, Auditor, Register, Treasurer, and Assistant Secretary. Additional sub-departments were created during the war, including the Office of the Second Auditor to audit accounts of the War Department, a War Tax Office, the Treasury Note Bureau, and the Produce Loan Office.van Riper (1959) p.454 The department included customs collection, although with the decline of Southern trade this was a small area.van Riper (1959) p.454

The Department of War controlled conscription, the production of munitions, the collection of food, and the construction of additional mining and munition-production facilities. These were considered an entirely war-related thing, and were delegated to the department with no civilian involvement.van Riper (1959) p.456 The South had previously contained large munitions factories, such as in New Orleans following the Mexican–American War, and by 1863 the department was running seventeen arsenals and depots.van Riper (1959) p.457

The Department of Justice was run by an Attorney General. This Attorney General also supervised the costs of the courts, the Patent Office and the Printing Bureau. Attempts to create a Supreme Court never passed because of "fierce opposition" by states that preferred the Attorney General himself to have final legal authority rather than accept the ruling of a court.Peterson (2016) p.32

{{Reflist|3}}

• {{cite journal|last=van Riper|first=Paul|year=1959|title=The Confederate Civil Service|journal=Journal of Southern History|publisher=Southern Historical Association|volume=25|issue=4|issn=0022-4642}}
• {{cite book|last=Peterson|first=Dennis|year=2016|title=Confederate Cabinet Departments and Secretaries|publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1476625140}}

Category:1861 establishments in the Confederate States of America

Category:Civil services

Category:Government of the Confederate States of America

Category:1865 disestablishments in the Confederate States of America