confederacy

Plural: confederacies

Noun

• the southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861
• a union of political organizations
• a group of conspirators banded together to achieve some harmful or illegal purpose
• a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act
• An alliance.
• A state where the sovereign constituent units delegate their authority to the centre. As opposed to a federation, where the central and regional governments are each equal and sovereign in their own sphere.
• Specifically, an instance of a decentralized governing structure among the indigenous peoples of North America.

Examples

• The Blackfoot, Iroquois, and Sioux peoples all were governed as confederacies. There were also multi-ethnic confederacies, such as the Iron Confederacy made up of the Plains Cree, Assiniboine, Stoney, and Saulteaux.

Synonyms

Confederate States, Confederate States of America, confederation, conspiracy, Dixie, Dixieland, federation, South