The Constitution Of The Confederate States Of America
The 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 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.
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 to 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 3.
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 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 otherwise,
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, when
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 and enjoy 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.
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 5.
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 6.
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.
No 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.
All bills for raising the 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 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 sgned 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.
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, shall be repassed by two
thirds of both Houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the
case of a bill.
Section 8.
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
this 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
Postoffice Department, after the 1st day of March in the year of our Lord
eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be paid out of its own revenue.
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 9.
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 or 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 herein before 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 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 for 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 shall 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 tried by a jury,
shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the Confederacy, than according
to the rules of the 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 10.
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 the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on tonnage,
except on sea-going vessels, for the improvement of its rivers and harbors
navigated by said vessels; but such duties shall not conflict with any treaties of
the Confederate States with foreign nations; and any surplus of 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.
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