Confederate States of America or Confederacy Government of the 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union in 1860-61 until its defeat in the American Civil War in 1865. In the months following Abraham Lincoln’s election as president in 1860, seven states of the Deep South (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Caro¬ lina, and Texas) seceded. After the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia joined them. The gov¬ ernment was directed by Jefferson Davis as president, with Alexander H. Stephens as vice president. Its principal goals were the preservation of states' rights and the institution of slavery. The government’s main con¬ cern was raising and maintaining an army. It counted on the influence of King Cotton to exert financial and diplomatic pressure on the Union from sympathetic European governments. Battlefield victories for the South in 1861-62 gave the Confederacy the moral strength to continue fighting, but from 1863 dwindling finances and battlefield reverses increasingly led to demoralization. The surrender at Appomattox Court House by Gen. Rob¬ ert E. Lee precipitated its dissolution.
Confederation, Articles of See Articles of Confederation
Confederation of the Rhine (1806-13) Union of all the states of Germany, except Austria and Prussia, under the aegis of Napoleon. Napo¬ leon’s primary interest in the confederation, which enabled the French to unify and dominate the country, was as a counterweight to Austria and Prussia. The confederation was abolished after Napoleon’s fall from power, but the consolidation it entailed contributed to the movement for German unification.
Confessing Church German Bekennende Kirche Movement for revival within the German Protestant churches that developed in the 1930s in resistance to Adolf Hitler’s attempt to make the churches an instrument of Nazi propaganda and politics. The Confessing Church, whose leaders included Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, opposed Hitler’s “Ger¬ man Christians” and was forced underground as Nazi pressure intensi¬ fied. The movement continued in World War II, though it was hampered by the conscription of clergy and laity. In 1948 the church ceased to exist when the reorganized Evangelical Church was formed.
confession In the Judeo-Christian tradition, acknowledgment of sin¬ fulness, in public or private, regarded as necessary for divine forgiveness. In the Temple period, Yom Kippur included a collective expression of sin¬ fulness, and the day continues in Judaism as one of prayer, fasting, and confession. The early Christian Church followed John the Baptist’s prac¬ tice of confession before baptism, but soon instituted confession and pen¬ ance for the forgiveness of sins committed after baptism. The fourth Lateran Council (1215) required annual confession. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches consider penance a sacrament, but most Protestant churches do not.
confidential communication See privileged communication
configuration In chemistry, the arrangement in space of the atoms in a molecule. It is especially important in organic chemistry (see organic compound), in which each carbon atom in a molecule can form from two to four covalent bonds (see bonding) with as many as four other atoms. A carbon atom with four single bonds, for example, lies at the centre of a tetrahedron, with one bond extending to each comer; if three or all four atoms bonded to the carbon are different, the structure that results has two different mirror-image (see optical activity; isomer) forms, similar to left- and right-handed gloves. Configuration issues also apply to some inor¬ ganic compounds. Until late in the 20th century, chemists struggled to determine the true three-dimensional form (absolute configuration) of a molecule experimentally, but modem optical and chemical methods have greatly simplified the task. The term electronic configuration refers to the number of electrons in the various shells of an atom, which defines its chemical reactivity and the type of bonding in which it participates.
confirmation Christian rite in which believers reaffirm the faith into which they were baptized as infants or young children. The rite admitting adults to full membership in the community of the faithful did not exist as a distinct ceremony in the early church but probably coincided with baptism, since those who joined did so as adults and were baptized after instruction. As baptism of infants became common, some means of ascer¬ taining their knowledge and commitment as young adults became neces¬ sary. A period of instruction was introduced, after which the candidates were examined and confirmed. In Roman Catholicism confirmation became a sacrament, usually performed by a bishop. The rite is also used in the Anglican and Lutheran churches.
confiscation In law, the act of seizing property without compensation and submitting it to the public treasury. Illegal items such as narcotics or firearms, or profits from the sale of illegal items, may be confiscated by the police. Additionally, government action (e.g., zoning or rate setting) that reduces the value of property to an owner so as to make it nearly worthless has been held to constitute confiscation. See also eminent domain, SEARCH AND SEIZURE.
conflict In psychology, a struggle resulting from incompatible or oppos¬ ing needs, drives, wishes, or demands. Interpersonal conflict represents such a struggle between two or more people, while internal conflict is a mental struggle. A child experiencing internal conflict, for example, may be dependent on his mother but fear her because she is rejecting and puni¬ tive. Conflicts that are not readily resolved may cause the person to suf¬ fer helplessness and anxiety. See also learned helplessness.
conformal map In mathematics, a transformation of one graph into another in such a way that the angle of intersection of any two lines or curves remains unchanged. The most common example is the Mercator map, a two-dimensional representation of the surface of the earth that pre¬ serves compass directions. Other conformal maps, sometimes called orth- omorphic projections, preserve angles but not shapes.
Confucianism Scholarly tradition and way of life propagated by Con¬ fucius in the 6th-5th century bc and followed by the Chinese for more than two millennia. Though not organized as a religion, it has deeply influenced East Asian spiritual and political life in a comparable manner.
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The core idea is ren (“humaneness,” “benevolence”), signifying excellent character in accord with li (ritual norms), zhong (loyalty to one’s true nature), shu (reciprocity), and xiao (filial piety). Together these constitute de (virtue). Mencius, Xunzi, and others sustained Confucianism, but it was not influential until Dong Zhongshu emerged in the 2nd century bc. Con¬ fucianism was then recognized as the Han state cult, and the Five Classics became the core of education. In spite of the influence of Daoism and Bud¬ dhism, Confucian ethics have had the strongest influence on the moral fab¬ ric of Chinese society. A revival of Confucian thought in the 11th century produced Neo-Confucianism, a major influence in Korea during the Choson dynasty and in Japan during the Tokugawa period.
Confucius Chinese Kongfuzi or K'ung-fu-tzu Vkuq-'fu-'dzoV (b. 551 bc, Ch’ii-fu, state of Lu—d. 479, Lu) Ancient Chinese teacher, phi¬ losopher, and political theorist. Born into a poor family, he managed stables and worked as a bookkeeper while educating himself. Mastery of the six arts—ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and arithmetic—and familiarity with history and poetry enabled him to begin a brilliant teaching career in his thirties. Confucius saw education as a process of constant self-improvement and held that its primary function was the training of noblemen (junzi ). He saw public service as the natu¬ ral consequence of education and sought to revitalize Chinese social insti¬ tutions, including the family, school, community, state, and kingdom. He served in government posts, eventually becoming minister of justice in Lu, but his policies attracted little interest. After a 12-year self-imposed exile during which his circle of students expanded, he returned to Lu at age 67 to teach and write. His life and thoughts are recorded in the Lunyu C Analects ). See also Confucianism.