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War between the
States
Constitution of the Confederate States |
- We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in
its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a permanent federal government,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity--invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God--do ordain
and establish this Constitution for the Confederate States of America.
ARTICLE I.
Section I.
- All legislative powers herein delegated shall be vested in a
Congress of the Confederate States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives.
Section II.
- The House of Representatives shall be composed of members
chosen every second year by the people of the several States; and the electors in each
State shall be citizens of the Confederate States, and have the qualifications requisite
for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature; but no person of
foreign birth, not a citizen of the Confederate States, shall be allowed to vote for any
officer, civil or political, State or Federal.
- No person shall be a Representative who shall not have
attained the age of twenty-five years, and be a citizen of the Confederate States, and who
shall not when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
- Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among
the several States, which may be included within this Confederacy, according to their
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free
persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not
taxed, three-fifths of all slaves. ,The actual enumeration shall be made within three
years after the first meeting of the Congress of the Confederate States, and within every
subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of
Representatives shall not exceed one for every fifty thousand, but each State shall have
at least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of South
Carolina shall be entitled to choose six; the State of Georgia ten; the State of Alabama
nine; the State of Florida two; the State of Mississippi seven; the State of Louisiana
six; and the State of Texas six.
- When vacancies happen in the representation from any State the
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
- The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and
other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment; except that any judicial or
other Federal officer, resident and acting solely within the limits of any State, may be
impeached by a vote of two-thirds of both branches of the Legislature thereof.
Section III.
- The Senate of the Confederate States shall be composed of two
Senators from each State, chosen for six years by the Legislature thereof, at the regular
session next immediately preceding the commencement of the term of service; and each
Senator shall have one vote.
- Immediately after they shall be assembled, in consequence of
the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The
seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second
year; of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class at
the expiration of the sixth year; so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and
if vacancies happen by resignation, or other wise, during the recess of the Legislature of
any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of
the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
- No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the
age of thirty years, and be a citizen of the Confederate States; and who shall not, then
elected, be an inhabitant of the State for which he shall be chosen.
- The Vice President of the Confederate States shall be
president of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.
- The Senate shall choose their other officers; and also a
president pro tempore in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the
office of President of the Confederate states.
- The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.
When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of
the Confederate States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no person shall be
convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.
- Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than
to removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit
under the Confederate States; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and
subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.
Section IV.
- The times, places, and manner of holding elections for
Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof,
subject to the provisions of this Constitution; but the Congress may, at any time, by law,
make or alter such regulations, except as to the times and places of choosing Senators.
- The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year; and
such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall, by law, appoint
a different day.
Section V.
- Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do
business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to
compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each
House may provide.
- Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of the whole
number, expel a member.
- Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require
secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House, on any question, shall, at
the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.
- Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than
that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section VI.
- The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation
for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the
Confederate States. They shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the
peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or
debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. 'o Senator or
Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil
office under the authority of the Confederate States, which shall have been created, or
the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding
any office under the Confederate States shall be a member of either House during his
continuance in office. But Congress may, by law, grant to the principal officer in each of
the Executive Departments a seat upon the floor of either House, with the privilege of
discussing any measures appertaining to his department.
Section VII.
- All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills.
- Every bill which shall have passed both Houses, shall, before
it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the Confederate States; if he approve,
he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in
which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal,
and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that House
shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other
House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that
House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be
determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill
shall be entered on the journal of each House respective}y. If any bill shall not be
returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been
presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless
the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which case it shall not be a E
law. The President may approve any appropriation and disapprove any other appropriation in
the same bill. In such case he shall, in signing the bill, designate the appropriations
disapproved; and shall return a copy of such appropriations, with his objections, to the
House in which the bill shall have originated; and the same proceedings shall then be had
as in case of other bills disapproved by the President.
- Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of
both Houses may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to
the President of the Confederate States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be
approved by him; or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of both
Houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill.
Section VIII.
The Congress shall have power-
- To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises for
revenue, necessary to pay the debts, provide for the common defense, and carry on the
Government of the Confederate States; but no bounties shall be granted from the Treasury;
nor shall any duties or taxes on importations from foreign nations be laid to promote or
foster any branch of industry; and all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform
throughout the Confederate States.
- To borrow money on the credit of the Confederate States.
- To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the
several States, and with the Indian tribes; but neither this, nor any other clause
contained in the Constitution, shall ever be construed to delegate the power to Congress
to appropriate money for any internal improvement intended to facilitate commerce; except
for the purpose of furnishing lights, beacons, and buoys, and other aids to navigation
upon the coasts, and the improvement of harbors and the removing of obstructions in river
navigation; in all which cases such duties shall be laid on the navigation facilitated
thereby as may be necessary to pay the costs and expenses thereof.
- To establish uniform laws of naturalization, and uniform laws
on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the Confederate States; but no law of Congress
shall discharge any debt contracted before the passage of the same.
- To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.
- To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities
and current coin of the Confederate States.
- To establish post offices and post routes; but the expenses of
the Post Office Department, after the Ist day of March in the year of our Lord eighteen
hundred and sixty-three, shall be paid out of its own revenues.
- To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by
securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their
respective writings and discoveries.
- To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court.
- To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the
high seas, and offenses against the law of nations.
- To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make
rules concerning captures on land and water.
- To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to
that use shall be for a longer term than two years.
- To provide and maintain a navy.
- To make rules for the government and regulation of the land
and naval forces.
- To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws
of the Confederate States, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.
- To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the
militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the
Confederate States; reserving to the States, respectively, the appointment of the
officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed
by Congress.
- To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever,
over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of one or more
States and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of the
Confederate States; and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the
consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the . erection of
forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings; and
- To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for
carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this
Constitution in the Government of the Confederate States, or in any department or officer
thereof.
Section IX.
- The importation of negroes of the African race from any
foreign country other than the slaveholding States or Territories of the United States of
America, is hereby forbidden; and Congress is required to pass such laws as shall
effectually prevent the same.
- Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of
slaves from any State not a member of, or Territory not belonging to, this Confederacy.
- The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be
suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.
- No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or
impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.
- No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.
- No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any
State, except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses.
- No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or
revenue to the ports of one State over those of another.
- No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence
of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and
expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.
- Congress shall appropriate no money from the Treasury except
by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses, taken by yeas and nays, unless it be asked and
estimated for by some one of the heads of departments and submitted to Congress by the
President; or for the purpose of paying its own expenses and contingencies; or for the
payment of claims against the Confederate States, the justice of which shall have been
judicially declared by a tribunal for the investigation of claims against the Government,
which it is hereby made the duty of Congress to establish.
- All bills appropriating money shall specify in Federal
currency the exact amount of each appropriation and the purposes for which it is made; and
Congress shall grant no extra compensation to any public contractor, officer, agent, or
servant, after such contract shall have been made or such service rendered.
- No title of nobility shall be granted by the Confederate
States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the
consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind
whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
- Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the Government
for a redress of grievances.
- A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
- No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house
without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by
law.
- The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated;
and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
- No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases
arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of
war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put
in jeopardy of life or limb; nor be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness
against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law;
nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
- In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the
crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by
law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with
the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his
favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
- In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact so tried
by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the Confederacy, than according to
the rules of common law.
- Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
- Every law, or resolution having the force of law, shall relate
to but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.
Section X.
- No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or
confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; make anything but gold
and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, or ex post facto
law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of nobility.
- No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for
executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any
State on imports, or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the Confederate
States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of Congress.
- No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty
on tonnage, except on seagoing vessels, for the improvement of its rivers and harbors
navigated by the said vessels; but such duties shall not conflict with any treaties of the
Confederate States with foreign nations; and any surplus revenue thus derived shall, after
making such improvement, be paid into the common treasury. Nor shall any State keep troops
or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State,
or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent
danger as will not admit of delay. But when any river divides or flows through two or more
States they may enter into compacts with each other to improve the navigation thereof.
ARTICLE II.
Section I.
- The executive power shall be vested in a President of the
Confederate States of America. He and the Vice President shall hold their offices for the
term of six years; but the President shall not be reeligible. The President and Vice
President shall be elected as follows:
- Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature
thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or
Representative or person holding an office of trust or profit under the Confederate States
shall be appointed an elector.
- The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by
ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant
of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for
as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President, and they
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted
for as Vice President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign
and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the Government of. the Confederate
States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President of the Senate shall,in the
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the
votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest number of votes for President
shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors
appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest
numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of
Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the
President the votes shall be taken by States~the representation from each State having one
vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of
the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the
House of Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall
devolve upon them, before the 4th day of March next following, then the Vice President
shall act as President, as in case of the death, or other constitutional disability of the
President.
- The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice
President shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of
electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then, from the two highest numbers
on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice President; a quorum for the purpose shall
consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number
shall be necessary to a choice.
- But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of
President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the Confederate States.
- The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors,
and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout
the Confederate States.
- No person except a natural-born citizen of the Confederate;
States, or a citizen thereof at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, or a
citizen thereof born in the United States prior to the 20th of December, 1860, shall be
eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office
who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a
resident within the limits of the Confederate States, as they may exist at the time of his
election.
- In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of said office, the
same shall devolve on the Vice President; and the Congress may, by law, provide for the
case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice
President, declaring what officer shall then act as President; and such officer shall act
accordingly until the disability be removed or a President shall be elected.
- The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services
a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for
which he shall have been elected; and he shall not receive within that period any other
emolument from the Confederate States, or any of them.
- Before he enters on the execution of his office he shall take
the following oath or affirmation:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully
execute the office of President of the Confederate States, and will, to the best of my
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution thereof."
Section II.
- The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy
of the Confederate States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the
actual service of the Confederate States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the
principal officer in each of the Executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the
duties of their respective offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons
for offenses against the Confederate States, except in cases of impeachment.
- He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties; provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall
nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate shall appoint, ambassadors,
other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of
the Confederate States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which
shall be established by law; but the Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of such
inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or
in the heads of departments.
- The principal officer in each of the Executive Departments,
and all persons connected with the diplomatic service, may be removed from office at the
pleasure of the President. All other civil officers of the Executive Departments may be
removed at any time by the President, or other appointing power, when their services are
unnecessary, or for dishonesty, incapacity. inefficiency, misconduct, or neglect of duty;
and when so removed, the removal shall be reported to the Senate, together with the
reasons therefor.
- The President shall have power to fill all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the
end of their next session; but no person rejected by the Senate shall be reappointed to
the same office during their ensuing recess.
Section III.
- The President shall, from time to time, give to the Congress
information of the state of the Confederacy, and recommend to their consideration such
measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions,
convene both Houses, or either of them; and in case of disagreement between them, with
respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think
proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that
the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the Confederate
States.
Section IV.
- The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the
Confederate States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of
treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE III.
Section I.
- The judicial power of the Confederate States shall be vested
in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time,
ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold
their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services
a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
Section II.
- The judicial power shall extend to all cases arising under
this Constitution, the laws of the Confederate States, and treaties made, or which shall
be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers
and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to
which the Confederate States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more
States; between a State and citizens of another State, where the State is plaintiff;
between citizens claiming lands under grants of different States; and between a State or
the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects; but no State shall be
sued by a citizen or subject of any foreign state.
- In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have
original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall
have appellate jurisdiction both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such
regulations as the Congress shall make.
- The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall
be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have
been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place
or places as the Congress may by law have directed.
Section III.
- Treason against the Confederate States shall consist only in
levying war against.them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No
person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same
overt act, or on confession in open court.
- The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of
treason; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except
during the life of the person attainted.
ARTICLE IV.
Section I.
- Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State; and the Congress may,
by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall
be proved, and the effect thereof.
Section II.
- The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States; and shall have the right of
transit and sojourn in any State of this Confederacy, with their slaves and other
property; and the right of property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired.
- A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other
crime against the laws of such State, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another
State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be
delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.
- No slave or other person held to service or labor in any State
or Territory of the Confederate States, under the laws thereof, escaping or lawfully
carried into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be
discharged from such service or labor; but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to
whom such slave belongs; or to whom such service or labor may be due.
Section III.
- Other States may be admitted into this Confederacy by a vote
of two-thirds of the whole House of Representatives and two-thirds of the Senate, the
Senate voting by States; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the
jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more
States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States
concerned, as well as of the Congress.
- The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all
needful rules and regulations concerning the property of the Confederate States, including
the lands thereof.
- The Confederate States may acquire new territory; and Congress
shall have power to legislate and provide governments for the inhabitants of all territory
belonging to the Confederate States, lying without the limits of the several Sates; and
may permit them, at such times, and in such manner as it may by law provide, to form
States to be admitted into the Confederacy. In all such territory the institution of negro
slavery, as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected by
Congress and by the Territorial government; and the inhabitants of the several Confederate
States and Territories shall have the right to take to such Territory any slaves lawfully
held by them in any of the States or Territories of the Confederate States.
- The Confederate States shall guarantee to every State that now
is, or hereafter may become, a member of this Confederacy, a republican form of
government; and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the
Legislature or of the Executive when the Legislature is not in session) against domestic
violence.
ARTICLE V.
Section I.
- Upon the demand of any three States, legally assembled in
their several conventions, the Congress shall summon a convention of all the States, to
take into consideration such amendments to the Constitution as the said States shall
concur in suggesting at the time when the said demand is made; and should any of the
proposed amendments to the Constitution be agreed on by the said convention~voting by
States~and the same be ratified by the Legislatures of two- thirds of the several States,
or by conventions in two-thirds thereof~as the one or the other mode of ratification may
be proposed by the general convention~they shall thenceforward form a part of this
Constitution. But no State shall, without its consent, be deprived of its equal
representation in the Senate.
ARTICLE VI.
- Section I.
-
The Government established by this
Constitution is the successor of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of
America, and all the laws passed by the latter shall continue in force until the same
shall be repealed or modified; and all the officers appointed by the same shall remain in
office until their successors are appointed and qualified, or the offices abolished.
- Section II.
-
All debts contracted and engagements entered
into before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the Confederate
States under this Constitution, as under the Provisional Government.
- Section III.
-
This Constitution, and the laws of the
Confederate States made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority of the Confederate States, shall be the supreme law of the land;
and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws
of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
- Section IV.
-
The Senators and Representatives before
mentioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and
judicial officers, both of the Confederate States and of the several States, shall be
bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall
ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the Confederate
States.
- Section V.
-
The enumeration, in the Constitution, of
certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people
of the several States.
- Section VI.
-
The powers not delegated to the Confederate
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the
States, respectively, or to the people thereof.
ARTICLE VII.
- The ratification of the conventions of five States shall be
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the
same.
- When five States shall have ratified this Constitution, in the
manner before specified, the Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall prescribe
the time for holding the election of President and Vice President; and for the meeting of
the Electoral College; and for counting the votes, and inaugurating the President. They
shall, also, prescribe the time for holding the first election of members of Congress
under this Constitution, and the time for assembling the same. Until the assembling of
such Congress, the Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall continue to exercise
the legislative powers granted them; not extending beyond the time limited by the
Constitution of the Provisional Government.
- Adopted unanimously by the Congress of the Confederate States
of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, sitting
in convention at the capitol, in the city of Montgomery, Ala., on the eleventh day of
March, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-one.
-
- HOWELL COBB,
President of the Congress.
South Carolina: R. Barnwell Rhett, C. G.
Memminger, Wm. Porcher Miles, James Chesnut, Jr., R. W. Barnwell, William W. Boyce,
Lawrence M. Keitt, T. J. Withers.
Georgia: Francis S. Bartow, Martin J. Crawford, Benjamin H. Hill, Thos.
R. R. Cobb.
Florida: Jackson Morton, J. Patton Anderson, Jas. B. Owens.
Alabama: Richard W. Walker, Robt. H. Smith, Colin J. McRae, William P.
Chilton, Stephen F. Hale, David P. L,ewis, Tho. Fearn, Jno. Gill Shorter, J. L. M. Curry.
Mississippi: Alex. M. Clayton, James T. Harrison, William S.
Barry, W. S. Wilson, Walker Brooke, W. P. Harris, J. A. P. Campbell.
Louisiana: Alex. de Clouet, C. M. Conrad, Duncan F. Kenner, Henry
Marshall.
Texas: John Hemphill, Thomas N. Waul, John H. Reagan, Williamson S.
Oldham, Louis T. Wigfall, John Gregg, William Beck Ochiltree.
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