The 11 southern US states that seceded from the Union of the United States in 1860–61. Seven states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas) formed themselves into the Confederate States of America on 8 February 1861 at Montgomery, Alabama, with a constitution modelled on the US document but incorporating guarantees of states’ rights and the institution of slavery. Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens were elected President and Vice-President. After the bombardment of Fort Sumter, four further states joined the Confederacy (Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia). Although the Confederate flag contained thirteen stars, two represented Kentucky and Missouri, border states which in fact remained largely under federal control. Despite the relative weakness of its central government based at Richmond, Virginia, the Confederacy managed to sustain the civil war until its collapse in April 1865 after four years of war with most of its territory occupied, its armies defeated, and its economy in ruins. See american civil war.