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