CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES
We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in
its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a
permanent federal government, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquillity, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves
and our posterity-invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty
God-do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Confederate
States of America.
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 2.
(I) The House of Representatives shall be composed of members
chosen every second year by the people of the several States; and
the electors in each State shall be citizens of the Confederate
States, and have the qualifications requisite for electors of the
most numerous branch of the State Legislature; but no person of
foreign birth, not a citizen of the Confederate States, shall be
allowed to vote for any officer, civil or political, State or
Federal.
(2) No person shall be a Representative who shall not have
attained the age of twenty-five years, and be a citizen of the
Confederate States, and who shall not when elected, be an
inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
(3) Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among
the several States, which may be included within this
Confederacy, according to their respective numbers, which shall
be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons,
including those bound to service for a term of years, and
excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all slaves. ,The
actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the
first meeting of the Congress of the Confederate States, and
within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they
shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not
exceed one for every fifty thousand, but each State shall have at
least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be
made, the State of South Carolina shall be entitled to choose
six; the State of Georgia ten; the State of Alabama nine; the
State of Florida two; the State of Mississippi seven; the State
of Louisiana six; and the State of Texas six.
(4) When vacancies happen in the representation from any State
the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to
fill such vacancies.
(5) The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and
other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment;
except that any judicial or other Federal officer, resident and
acting solely within the limits of any State, may be impeached by
a vote of two-thirds of both branches of the Legislature thereof.
Section 3.
(I) The Senate of the Confederate States shall be composed of two
Senators from each State, chosen for six years by the Legislature
thereof, at the regular session next immediately preceding the
commencement of the term of service; and each Senator shall have
one vote.
(2) Immediately after they shall be assembled, in consequence of
the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be
into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class
shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year; of the
second class at the expiration of the fourth year; and of the
third class at the expiration of the sixth year; so that
one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies
happen by resignation, or other wise, during the recess of the
Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make
temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature,
which shall then fill such vacancies.
(3) No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the
age of thirty years, and be a citizen of the Confederate States;
and who shall not, then elected, be an inhabitant of the State
for which he shall be chosen.
(4) The Vice President of the Confederate States shall be
president of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be
equally divided.
(5) The Senate shall choose their other officers; and also a
president pro tempore in the absence of the Vice President, or
when he shall exercise the office of President of the Confederate
states.
(6) The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.
When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or
affirmation. When the President of the Confederate States is
tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no person shall be
convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members
present.
(7) Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further
than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold any
office of honor, trust, or profit under the Confederate States;
but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and
subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according
to law.
Section 4.
(I) The times, places, and manner of holding elections for
Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by
the Legislature thereof, subject to the provisions of this
Constitution; but the Congress may, at any time, by law, make or
alter such regulations, except as to the times and places of
choosing Senators.
(2) The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year; and
such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless
they shall, by law, appoint a different day.
Section 5.
(I) Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall
constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the
attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such
penalties as each House may provide.
(2) Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of
two-thirds of the whole number, expel a member.
(3) Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in
their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the
members of either House, on any question, shall, at the desire of
one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.
(4) Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor
to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be
sitting.
Section 6.
(I) The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation
for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the
Treasury of the Confederate States. They shall, in all cases,
except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged
from arrest during their attendance at the session of their
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same;
and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be
questioned in any other place. 'o Senator or Representative
shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to
any civil office under the authority of the Confederate States,
which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased during such time; and no person holding any
office under the Confederate States shall be a member of either
House during his continuance in office. But Congress may, by law,
grant to the principal officer in each of the Executive
Departments a seat upon the floor of either House, with the
privilege of discussing any measures appertaining to his
department.
Section 7.
(I) All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with
amendments, as on other bills.
(2) Every bill which shall have passed both Houses, shall, before
it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the
Confederate States; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not,
he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which
it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large
on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such
reconsideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the
bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the
other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if
approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But
in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be determined
by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and
against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House
respective}y. If any bill shall not be returned by the President
within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been
presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if
he had signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment,
prevent its return; in which case it shall not be a E law. The
President may approve any appropriation and disapprove any other
appropriation in the same bill. In such case he shall, in signing
the bill, designate the appropriations disapproved; and shall
return a copy of such appropriations, with his objections, to the
House in which the bill shall have originated; and the same
proceedings shall then be had as in case of other bills
disapproved by the President.
(3) Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of
both Houses may be necessary (except on a question of
adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the
Confederate States; and before the same shall take effect, shall
be approved by him; or, being disapproved by him, shall be
repassed by two-thirds of both Houses, according to the rules and
limitations prescribed in case of a bill.
Section 8.
The Congress shall have power-
(I) To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises for
revenue, necessary to pay the debts, provide for the common
defense, and carry on the Government of the Confederate States;
but no bounties shall be granted from the Treasury; nor shall any
duties or taxes on importations from foreign nations be laid to
promote or foster any branch of industry; and all duties,
imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the Confederate
States.
(2) To borrow money on the credit of the Confederate States.
(3) To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the
several States, and with the Indian tribes; but neither this, nor
any other clause contained in the Constitution, shall ever be
construed to delegate the power to Congress to appropriate money
for any internal improvement intended to facilitate commerce;
except for the purpose of furnishing lights, beacons, and buoys,
and other aids to navigation upon the coasts, and the improvement
of harbors and the removing of obstructions in river navigation;
in all which cases such duties shall be laid on the navigation
facilitated thereby as may be necessary to pay the costs and
expenses thereof.
(4) To establish uniform laws of naturalization, and uniform laws
on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the Confederate
States; but no law of Congress shall discharge any debt
contracted before the passage of the same.
(5) To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.
(6) To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the
securities and current coin of the Confederate States.
(7) To establish post offices and post routes; but the expenses
of the Post Office Department, after the 1st day of March in the
year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be paid
out of its own revenues.
(8) To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by
securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive
right to their respective writings and discoveries.
(9) To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court.
(10) To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the
high seas, and offenses against the law of nations.
(11) To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and
make rules concerning captures on land and water.
(12) To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money
to that use shall be for a longer term than two years. (13) To
provide and maintain a navy.
(14) To make rules for the government and regulation of the land
and naval forces.
(15) To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws
of the Confederate States, suppress insurrections, and repel
invasions.
(16) To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the
militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed
in the service of the Confederate States; reserving to the
States, respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the
authority of training the militia according to the discipline
prescribed by Congress.
(17) To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever,
over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by
cession of one or more States and the acceptance of Congress,
become the seat of the Government of the Confederate States; and
to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the
consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall
be, for the . erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards,
and other needful buildings; and
(18) To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for
carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other
powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the
Confederate States, or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 9.
(I) The importation of negroes of the African race from any
foreign country other than the slaveholding States or Territories
of the United States of America, is hereby forbidden; and
Congress is required to pass such laws as shall effectually
prevent the same.
(2) Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction
of slaves from any State not a member of, or Territory not
belonging to, this Confederacy.
(3) The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be
suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the
public safety may require it.
(4) No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or
impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.
(5) No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to
be taken.
(6) No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any
State, except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses.
(7) No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or
revenue to the ports of one State over those of another.
(8) No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence
of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and
account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money
shall be published from time to time.
(9) Congress shall appropriate no money from the Treasury except
by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses, taken by yeas and nays,
unless it be asked and estimated for by some one of the heads of
departments and submitted to Congress by the President; or for
the purpose of paying its own expenses and contingencies; or for
the payment of claims against the Confederate States, the justice
of which shall have been judicially declared by a tribunal for
the investigation of claims against the Government, which it is
hereby made the duty of Congress to establish.
(10) All bills appropriating money shall specify in Federal
currency the exact amount of each appropriation and the purposes
for which it is made; and Congress shall grant no extra
compensation to any public contractor, officer, agent, or
servant, after such contract shall have been made or such service
rendered.
(11) No title of nobility shall be granted by the Confederate
States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under
them shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any
present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from
any king, prince, or foreign state.
(12) Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble and petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
(13) A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of
a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall
not be infringed.
(14) No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any
house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but
in a manner to be prescribed by law.
(15) The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue but
upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons
or things to be seized.
(16) No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand
jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in
the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public
danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to
be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor be compelled, in
any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be
deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of
law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without
just compensation.
(17) In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the
State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed,
which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and
to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be
confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the
assistance of counsel for his defense.
(18) In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be
preserved; and no fact so tried by a jury shall be otherwise
reexamined in any court of the Confederacy, than according to the
rules of common law.
(19) Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
(20) Every law, or resolution having the force of law, shall
relate to but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the
title.
Section 10.
(I) No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or
confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money;
make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of
debts; pass any bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, or law
impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of
nobility.
(2) No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the
net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on
imports, or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the
Confederate States; and all such laws shall be subject to the
revision and control of Congress.
(3) No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty
on tonnage, except on seagoing vessels, for the improvement of
its rivers and harbors navigated by the said vessels; but such
duties shall not conflict with any treaties of the Confederate
States with foreign nations; and any surplus revenue thus derived
shall, after making such improvement, be paid into the common
treasury. Nor shall any State keep troops or ships of war in time
of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State,
or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually
invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
But when any river divides or flows through two or more States
they may enter into compacts with each other to improve the
navigation thereof.
Section I.
(I) The executive power shall be vested in a President of the
Confederate States of America. He and the Vice President shall
hold their offices for the term of six years; but the President
shall not be reeligible. The President and Vice President shall
be elected as follows:
(2) Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature
thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole
number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be
entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative or
person holding an office of trust or profit under the Confederate
States shall be appointed an elector.
(3) The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote
by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at
least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with
themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for
as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as
Vice President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons
voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice
President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they
shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the
Government of. the Confederate States, directed to the President
of the Senate; the President of the Senate shall,in the presence
of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person
having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the
President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of
electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then
from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three,
on the list of those voted for as President, the House of
Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the
President. But in choosing the President the votes shall be taken
by States~the representation from each State having one vote; a
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from
two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall
be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives
shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall
devolve upon them, before the 4th day of March next following,
then the Vice President shall act as President, as in case of the
death, or other constitutional disability of the President.
(4) The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice
President shall be the Vice President, if such number be a
majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no
person have a majority, then, from the two highest numbers on the
list, the Senate shall choose the Vice President; a quorum for
the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of
Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary
to a choice.
(5) But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of
President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the
Confederate States.
(6) The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors,
and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall
be the same throughout the Confederate States.
(7) No person except a natural-born citizen of the Confederate;
States, or a citizen thereof at the time of the adoption of this
Constitution, or a citizen thereof born in the United States
prior to the 20th of December, 1860, shall be eligible to the
office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that
office who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years,
and been fourteen years a resident within the limits of the
Confederate States, as they may exist at the time of his
election.
(8) In case of the removal of the President from office, or of
his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and
duties of said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice
President; and the Congress may, by law, provide for the case of
removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President
and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as
President; and such officer shall act accordingly until the
disability be removed or a President shall be elected.
(9) The President shall, at stated times, receive for his
services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor
diminished during the period for which he shall have been
elected; and he shall not receive within that period any other
emolument from the Confederate States, or any of them. (10)
Before he enters on the execution of his office he shall take the
following oath or affirmation:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully
execute the office of President of the Confederate States, and
will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend
the Constitution thereof."
Section 2.
(I) The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and
Navy of the Confederate States, and of the militia of the several
States, when called into the actual service of the Confederate
States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal
officer in each of the Executive Departments, upon any subject
relating to the duties of their respective offices; and he shall
have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against
the Confederate States, except in cases of impeachment.
(2) He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate, to make treaties; provided two-thirds of the Senators
present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate shall appoint, ambassadors, other
public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and
all other officers of the Confederate States whose appointments
are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be
established by law; but the Congress may, by law, vest the
appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in
the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of
departments.
(3) The principal officer in each of the Executive Departments,
and all persons connected with the diplomatic service, may be
removed from office at the pleasure of the President. All other
civil officers of the Executive Departments may be removed at any
time by the President, or other appointing power, when their
services are unnecessary, or for dishonesty, incapacity.
inefficiency, misconduct, or neglect of duty; and when so
removed, the removal shall be reported to the Senate, together
with the reasons therefor.
(4) The President shall have power to fill all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions
which shall expire at the end of their next session; but no
person rejected by the Senate shall be reappointed to the same
office during their ensuing recess.
Section 3.
(I) The President shall, from time to time, give to the Congress
information of the state of the Confederacy, and recommend to
their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both
Houses, or either of them; and in case of disagreement between
them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn
them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive
ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that
the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the
officers of the Confederate States.
Section 4.
(I) The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the
Confederate States, shall be removed from office on impeachment
for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanors.
Section I.
(I) The judicial power of the Confederate States shall be vested
in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress
may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of
the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during
good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their
services a compensation which shall not be diminished during
their continuance in office.
Section 2.
(I) The judicial power shall extend to all cases arising under
this Constitution, the laws of the Confederate States, and
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to
all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to
controversies to which the Confederate States shall be a party;
to controversies between two or more States; between a State and
citizens of another State, where the State is plaintiff; between
citizens claiming lands under grants of different States; and
between a State or the citizens thereof, and foreign states,
citizens, or subjects; but no State shall be sued by a citizen or
subject of any foreign state.
(2) In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers
and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the
Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other
cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate
jurisdiction both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and
under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
(3) The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment,
shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where
the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed
within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as
the Congress may by law have directed.
Section 3.
(I) Treason against the Confederate States shall consist only in
levying war against.them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving
them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason
unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act,
or on confession in open court.
(2) The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of
treason; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of
blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person
attainted.
Section I.
(I) Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other
State; and the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the
manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be
proved, and the effect thereof.
Section 2.
(I) The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States; and
shall have the right of transit and sojourn in any State of this
Confederacy, with their slaves and other property; and the right
of property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired.
(2) A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other
crime against the laws of such State, who shall flee from
justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the
executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered
up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.
(3) No slave or other person held to service or labor in any
State or Territory of the Confederate States, under the laws
thereof, escaping or lawfully carried into another, shall, in
consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from
such service or labor; but shall be delivered up on claim of the
party to whom such slave belongs,. or to whom such service or
labor may be due.
Section 3.
(I) Other States may be admitted into this Confederacy by a vote
of two-thirds of the whole House of Representatives and
two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate voting by States; but no new
State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any
other State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or
more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the
Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress.
(2) The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all
needful rules and regulations concerning the property of the
Confederate States, including the lands thereof.
(3) The Confederate States may acquire new territory; and
Congress shall have power to legislate and provide governments
for the inhabitants of all territory belonging to the Confederate
States, lying without the limits of the several Sates; and may
permit them, at such times, and in such manner as it may by law
provide, to form States to be admitted into the Confederacy. In
all such territory the institution of negro slavery, as it now
exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and
protected be Congress and by the Territorial government; and the
inhabitants of the several Confederate States and Territories
shall have the right to take to such Territory any slaves
lawfully held by them in any of the States or Territories of the
Confederate States.
(4) The Confederate States shall guarantee to every State that
now is, or hereafter may become, a member of this Confederacy, a
republican form of government; and shall protect each of them
against invasion; and on application of the Legislature or of the
Executive when the Legislature is not in session) against
domestic violence.
Section I.
(I) Upon the demand of any three States, legally assembled in
their several conventions, the Congress shall summon a convention
of all the States, to take into consideration such amendments to
the Constitution as the said States shall concur in suggesting at
the time when the said demand is made; and should any of the
proposed amendments to the Constitution be agreed on by the said
convention~voting by States~and the same be ratified by the
Legislatures of two- thirds of the several States, or by
conventions in two-thirds thereof~as the one or the other mode of
ratification may be proposed by the general convention~they shall
thenceforward form a part of this Constitution. But no State
shall, without its consent, be deprived of its equal
representation in the Senate.
I. The Government established by this Constitution is the
successor of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States
of America, and all the laws passed by the latter shall continue
in force until the same shall be repealed or modified; and all
the officers appointed by the same shall remain in office until
their successors are appointed and qualified, or the offices
abolished.
2. All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the
adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the
Confederate States under this Constitution, as under the
Provisional Government.
3. This Constitution, and the laws of the Confederate States made
in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority of the Confederate States, shall be the
supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be
bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State
to the contrary notwithstanding.
4. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the
members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and
judicial officers, both of the Confederate States and of the
several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support
this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required
as a qualification to any office or public trust under the
Confederate States.
5. The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights shall
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the
people of the several States.
6. The powers not delegated to the Confederate States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to
the States, respectively, or to the people thereof.
I. The ratification of the conventions of five States shall be
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the
States so ratifying the same.
2. When five States shall have ratified this Constitution, in the
manner before specified, the Congress under the Provisional
Constitution shall prescribe the time for holding the election of
President and Vice President; and for the meeting of the
Electoral College; and for counting the votes, and inaugurating
the President. They shall, also, prescribe the time for holding
the first election of members of Congress under this
Constitution, and the time for assembling the same. Until the
assembling of such Congress, the Congress under the Provisional
Constitution shall continue to exercise the legislative powers
granted them; not extending beyond the time limited by the
Constitution of the Provisional Government.
Adopted unanimously by the Congress of the Confederate States of
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, and Texas, sitting in convention at the capitol, 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. Lewis,
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.