CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
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.
Sec. 2. (I) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) When vacancies happen in the representation from any State the executive
authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
(5) 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.
Sec. 3. (I) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) The Vice President of the Confederate States shall be president of
the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.
(5) 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.
(6) 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.
(7) 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. 4. (I) 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.
(2) 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 5. (I) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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 6. (I) 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 7. (I) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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 8. The Congress shall have power- (I) 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.
(2) To borrow money on the credit of the Confederate States.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
(5) To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and
fix the standard of weights and measures.
(6) To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the Confederate States.
(7) 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.
(8) 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.
(9) To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court.
(10) To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offenses against the law of nations.
(11) To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules
concerning captures on land and water.
(12) To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that
use shall be for a longer term than two years.
(13) To provide and maintain a navy.
(14) To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and
naval forces.
(15) To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of
the Confederate States, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.
(16) 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.
(17) 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
(18) 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 9. (I) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing
the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.
(5) No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion
to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.
(6) No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State,
except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses.
(7) No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue
to the ports of one State over those of another.
(8) 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.
(9) 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.
(10) 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.
(11) 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.
(12) 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.
(13) 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.
(14) 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.
(15) 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.
(16) 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.
(17) 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.
(18) 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.
(19) Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
(20) Every law, or resolution having the force of law, shall relate to
but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.
Sectiion 10. (I) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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. (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:
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
(5) But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President
shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the Confederate States.
(6) 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.
(7) 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.
(8) 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.
(9) 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.
(10) 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 2. (I) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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 3. (I) 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 4. (I) 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. (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 2. (I) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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 3. (I) 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.
(2) 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. (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 2. (I) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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 3. (I) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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
be 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.
(4) 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. (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. 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
(5) 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.
( 6). 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. I. The ratification of the conventions
of five States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution
between the States so ratifying the same. (2) 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, m 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.
Sources:
Library of Congress
"The History and Debates of the Convention of the People of Alabama Smith
(Montgomery, Ala: White, Pfister, & Co, 1861;
reprint Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Company Publishers, 1975), pp. 93-94
This document was prepared by Blaine R. Mossburg.
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