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.
SECTION 1
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 2
(1) 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.
SECTION 3
(1) 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
(1) 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
(1) 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
(1) 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
respectively. 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 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
(1) 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.
SECTION 10
(1) 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.
SECTION 1
(1) 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
(1) 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
(1) 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
(1) 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.
SECTION 1
(1) 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
(1) 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
(1) 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.
SECTION 1
(1) 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
(1) 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.
(1) 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.
SECTION 1
(1) 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.
(1) 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.
(1) 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.
HOWELLCOBB, 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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