Jefferson Davis Was Not a United States Citizen After the Civil War! Georgia & Southern History!

After the war, an amnesty bill restored citizenship to Confederate leaders in 1876, but it specifically excluded Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Confederate President Davis refused to fight the decision.

Portrait of Jefferson Davis by Matthew Benjamin Brady

When asked by the Mississippi Legislature, Jefferson stated “It has been said that I should apply to the United States for a pardon. But repentance must precede the right of pardon, and I have not repented”. He later also added that “If it were all to do over again, I would again do just as I did in 1861.”

Confederate President Jefferson Davis remained without a United States citizenship for more than a century until Georgia native and United States President Jimmy Carter signed a measure passed by the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C. that restored American citizenship to Confederate President Davis on October 17th, 1978.