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11
maart 1861
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We,
the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its
sovereign and independent character, in order to form a
permanent federal government, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquillity, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves
and our posterity--invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty
God--do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
Confederate States of America.
ARTICLE
I.
Section
I.
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All
legislative powers herein delegated shall be vested in a
Congress of the Confederate States, which shall consist of a
Senate and House of Representatives.
Section
II.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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When
vacancies happen in the representation from any State the
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to
fill such vacancies.
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The
House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other
officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment; except
that any judicial or other Federal officer, resident and acting
solely within the limits of any State, may be impeached by a
vote of two-thirds of both branches of the Legislature thereof.
Section
III.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The
Vice President of the Confederate States shall be president of
the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally
divided.
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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.
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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.
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Judgment
in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal
from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor,
trust, or profit under the Confederate States; but the party
convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to
indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.
Section
IV.
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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.
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The
Congress shall assemble at least once in every year; and such
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they
shall, by law, appoint a different day.
Section
V.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Neither
House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to
any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be
sitting.
Section
VI.
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The
Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for
their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the
Treasury of the Confederate States. They shall, in all cases,
except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged
from arrest during their attendance at the session of their
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same;
and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be
questioned in any other place. 'o Senator or Representative
shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to
any civil office under the authority of the Confederate States,
which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased during such time; and no person holding any
office under the Confederate States shall be a member of either
House during his continuance in office. But Congress may, by law,
grant to the principal officer in each of the Executive
Departments a seat upon the floor of either House, with the
privilege of discussing any measures appertaining to his
department.
Section
VII.
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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.
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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.
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Every
order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of both
Houses may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment)
shall be presented to the President of the Confederate States;
and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him;
or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of
both Houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed
in case of a bill.
Section
VIII.
The
Congress shall have power-
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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.
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To
borrow money on the credit of the Confederate States.
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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.
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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.
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To
coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and
fix the standard of weights and measures.
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To
provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the Confederate States.
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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.
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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.
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To
constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court.
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To
define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offenses against the law of nations.
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To
declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make
rules concerning captures on land and water.
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To
raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that
use shall be for a longer term than two years.
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To
provide and maintain a navy.
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To
make rules for the government and regulation of the land and
naval forces.
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To
provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the
Confederate States, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.
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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.
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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
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To
make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested
by this Constitution in the Government of the Confederate States,
or in any department or officer thereof.
Section
IX.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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No
bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or
impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.
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No
capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to
be taken.
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No
tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State,
except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses.
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No
preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or
revenue to the ports of one State over those of another.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Excessive
bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
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Every
law, or resolution having the force of law, shall relate to but
one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.
Section
X.
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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.
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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.
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No
State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on
tonnage, except on seagoing vessels, for the improvement of its
rivers and harbors navigated by the said vessels; but such
duties shall not conflict with any treaties of the Confederate
States with foreign nations; and any surplus revenue thus
derived shall, after making such improvement, be paid into the
common treasury. Nor shall any State keep troops or ships of war
in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with
another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless
actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit
of delay. But when any river divides or flows through two or
more States they may enter into compacts with each other to
improve the navigation thereof.
ARTICLE
II.
Section
I.
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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But
no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President
shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the Confederate
States.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Before
he enters on the execution of his office he shall take the
following oath or affirmation:
"I
do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute
the office of President of the Confederate States, and will,
to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution thereof."
Section
II.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The
President shall have power to fill all vacancies that may happen
during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which
shall expire at the end of their next session; but no person
rejected by the Senate shall be reappointed to the same office
during their ensuing recess.
Section
III.
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The
President shall, from time to time, give to the Congress
information of the state of the Confederacy, and recommend to
their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary
and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both
Houses, or either of them; and in case of disagreement between
them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn
them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive
ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that
the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the
officers of the Confederate States.
Section
IV.
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The
President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the
Confederate States, shall be removed from office on impeachment
for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanors.
ARTICLE
III.
Section
I.
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The
judicial power of the Confederate States shall be vested in one
Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may,
from time to time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of the
Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during
good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their
services a compensation which shall not be diminished during
their continuance in office.
Section
II.
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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.
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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.
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The
trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by
jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where the said
crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within
any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the
Congress may by law have directed.
Section
III.
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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.
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The
Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason;
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or
forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.
ARTICLE
IV.
Section
I.
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Full
faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State;
and the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in
which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and
the effect thereof.
Section
II.
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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.
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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.
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No
slave or other person held to service or labor in any State or
Territory of the Confederate States, under the laws thereof,
escaping or lawfully carried into another, shall, in consequence
of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such
service or labor; but shall be delivered up on claim of the
party to whom such slave belongs; or to whom such service or
labor may be due.
Section
III.
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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.
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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.
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The
Confederate States may acquire new territory; and Congress shall
have power to legislate and provide governments for the
inhabitants of all territory belonging to the Confederate States,
lying without the limits of the several Sates; and may permit
them, at such times, and in such manner as it may by law provide,
to form States to be admitted into the Confederacy. In all such
territory the institution of negro slavery, as it now exists in
the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected by
Congress and by the Territorial government; and the inhabitants
of the several Confederate States and Territories shall have the
right to take to such Territory any slaves lawfully held by them
in any of the States or Territories of the Confederate States.
-
The
Confederate States shall guarantee to every State that now is,
or hereafter may become, a member of this Confederacy, a
republican form of government; and shall protect each of them
against invasion; and on application of the Legislature or of
the Executive when the Legislature is not in session) against
domestic violence.
ARTICLE
V.
Section
I.
-
Upon
the demand of any three States, legally assembled in their
several conventions, the Congress shall summon a convention of
all the States, to take into consideration such amendments to
the Constitution as the said States shall concur in suggesting
at the time when the said demand is made; and should any of the
proposed amendments to the Constitution be agreed on by the said
convention~voting by States~and the same be ratified by the
Legislatures of two- thirds of the several States, or by
conventions in two-thirds thereof~as the one or the other mode
of ratification may be proposed by the general convention~they
shall thenceforward form a part of this Constitution. But no
State shall, without its consent, be deprived of its equal
representation in the Senate.
ARTICLE
VI.
- Section I.
-
The
Government established by this Constitution is the successor of
the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America,
and all the laws passed by the latter shall continue in force
until the same shall be repealed or modified; and all the
officers appointed by the same shall remain in office until
their successors are appointed and qualified, or the offices
abolished.
- Section II.
-
All
debts contracted and engagements entered into before the
adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the
Confederate States under this Constitution, as under the
Provisional Government.
- Section III.
-
This
Constitution, and the laws of the Confederate States made in
pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority of the Confederate States, shall be
the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall
be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any
State to the contrary notwithstanding.
- Section IV.
-
The
Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members
of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and
judicial officers, both of the Confederate States and of the
several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support
this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required
as a qualification to any office or public trust under the
Confederate States.
- Section V.
-
The
enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people of
the several States.
- Section VI.
-
The
powers not delegated to the Confederate States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved
to the States, respectively, or to the people thereof.
ARTICLE
VII.
-
The
ratification of the conventions of five States shall be
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between
the States so ratifying the same.
-
When
five States shall have ratified this Constitution, in the manner
before specified, the Congress under the Provisional
Constitution shall prescribe the time for holding the election
of President and Vice President; and for the meeting of the
Electoral College; and for counting the votes, and inaugurating
the President. They shall, also, prescribe the time for holding
the first election of members of Congress under this
Constitution, and the time for assembling the same. Until the
assembling of such Congress, the Congress under the Provisional
Constitution shall continue to exercise the legislative powers
granted them; not extending beyond the time limited by the
Constitution of the Provisional Government.
Adopted
unanimously by the Congress of the Confederate States of South
Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and
Texas, sitting in convention at the capitol, in the city of
Montgomery, Ala., on the eleventh day of March, in the year eighteen
hundred and sixty-one.
HOWELL
COBB,
President of the Congress.
South
Carolina: R. Barnwell Rhett, C. G. Memminger, Wm. Porcher Miles,
James Chesnut, Jr., R. W. Barnwell, William W. Boyce, Lawrence M.
Keitt, T. J. Withers.
Georgia: Francis S. Bartow, Martin J. Crawford, Benjamin H. Hill,
Thos. R. R. Cobb.
Florida: Jackson Morton, J. Patton Anderson, Jas. B. Owens.
Alabama: Richard W. Walker, Robt. H. Smith, Colin J. McRae, William
P. Chilton, Stephen F. Hale, David P. L,ewis, Tho. Fearn, Jno. Gill
Shorter, J. L. M. Curry. Mississippi: Alex. M. Clayton, James T.
Harrison, William S. Barry, W. S. Wilson, Walker Brooke, W. P.
Harris, J. A. P. Campbell.
Louisiana: Alex. de Clouet, C. M. Conrad, Duncan F. Kenner, Henry
Marshall.
Texas: John Hemphill, Thomas N. Waul, John H. Reagan, Williamson S.
Oldham, Louis T. Wigfall, John Gregg, William Beck Ochiltree.
  
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