|
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 tranquility, 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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