Short answers, pulled from the story.
South Carolina became the first state to vote for secession on the 20th of December 1860. This act triggered a chain reaction that saw seven other states follow suit before Abraham Lincoln took office in March 1861.
Historians widely agree that preserving slavery was the principal aim of this breakaway republic. Cotton-based economies across the Deep South depended entirely on enslaved labor to function and anti-slavery sentiment grew rapidly in Northern states.
The provisional Confederate capital was established in Montgomery Alabama on the 4th of February 1861 when delegates from seven states gathered there. The capital moved from Montgomery to Richmond Virginia in May 1861 after four Upper South states declared secession following Lincoln's call for troops.
No foreign government ever officially recognized the Confederacy during its four-year existence. European nations maintained diplomats in place who had been appointed to the U.S. but no country appointed any diplomat to the Confederacy.
Confederate general Robert E Lee surrendered on the 9th of April 1865 which extinguished any doubt regarding the war outcome. Most Confederate land naval forces surrendered or ceased hostilities by May 1865 after four years of heavy fighting.