Chapter 9: The Changing South

(Flag of Arizona Territory)

     It is no secret that the South had a rather sketchy past.  Arizona also shares its past with the South during the Civil War era.  Between 1856 and 1858, several proposals were presented to the government to turn Arizona into a territory.  However, these were dismissed by congress out of their perception that Arizona was under the influence of southern sympathizers who wanted to expand slavery into the area.  Congress was afraid Arizona would become a slave state.  Fed up with congress at the start of the Civil War, two secession conventions were held, one in Mesilla, New Mexico and another in Tuscon, Arizona.  The conventions subsequently established a provisional territorial government for the Confederate "Territory of Arizona."   The Confederate Territory of Arizona became officially recognized when President Jefferson Davis signed the proclamation on February 14, 1862. To commemorate this event, February 14, 1912, the fiftieth anniversary, was selected as official date of statehood for Arizona.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Territory_(CSA))