<a href="/ammem/amlaw/lwcc.html">Journal of the Confederate Congress</a> --CONSTITUTION FOR THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA AND PERMANENT CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.

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Journal of the Confederate Congress --CONSTITUTION FOR THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA AND PERMANENT CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume I] PREVIOUS SECTION .. NEXT SECTION .. NAVIGATOR

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume I]
CONSTITUTION FOR THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA AND PERMANENT CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.

[Reprinted from the Confederate States Statutes at Large, published by authority of Congress, Richmond, Va., 1864.]

The Confederate States of America. At a Congress of the Sovereign and Independent States, of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, begun and holden at the Capitol in Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, on the fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one; and thence continued, by divers adjournments, until the eighth day of February in the same year:

CONSTITUTION FOR THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.

We, the Deputies of the Sovereign and Independent States Constitution for Provisional Government, established. of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, invoking the favor of Almighty God, do hereby, in behalf of these States, ordain and establish this Constitution for the Provisional Government of the same: to continue one year from the inauguration of the How long to continue. President, or until a permanent Constitution or Confederation between the said States shall be put in operation, whichsoever shall first occur.

- SECTION 1.
  All legislative powers herein delegated shall be vestedLegislative powers vested in Congress. in this Congress now assembled until otherwise ordained.
- SECTION 2.
  When vacancies happen in the representation from any Vacancies in the representation, how filled. State, the same shall be filled in such manner as the proper authorities of the State shall direct.
- - Congress to be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of members. Quorum, how constituted. What number may adjourn. 1. The Congress shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualification of its members; any number of Deputies from a majority of the States, being present, shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to Each State entitled to one vote. How State represented. compel the attendance of absent members; upon all questions before the Congress, each State shall be entitled to one vote, and shall be represented by any one or more of its Deputies who may be present.
  - Rules of proceeding. 2. The Congress may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.
  - Journal of proceedings to be kept. 8. The Congress 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. yeas and nays of the members on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, or at the instance of any one State, be entered on the journal.
- SECTION 4.
  Compensation of members, How paid. The members of Congress shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out In what cases members privileged from arrest. of the treasury of the Confederacy. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of the Congress, and in going to and returning from Not to be questioned for any speech or debate. the same; and for any speech or debate, they shall not be questioned in any other place.
- - Bills passed by Congress to be presented to President. Proceedings when the President disapproves. 1. Every bill which shall have passed the Congress, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the Confederacy; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it with his objections to the Congress, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the Congress shall agree to pass the bill, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the vote shall be determined by yeas and nays; and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall When bill retained by President becomes a law. be entered on the journal. 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 President may veto one and approve another appropriation in same bill. case it shall not be a law. The President may veto any appropriation or appropriations and approve any other appropriation or appropriations in the same bill.
  - Orders, resolutions, etc., to be presented to the President. If disapproved by him, how repassed by Congress. 2. Every order, resolution or vote, intended to have the force and effect of a law, shall be presented to the President, and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Congress, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
  - 3. Until the inauguration of the President, all bills, Until President inaugurated, bills, etc., of force, without his approval. orders, resolutions and votes adopted by the Congress shall be of full force without approval by him.
- - 1. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect Power of Congress to lay taxes to carry on the Government. taxes, duties, imposts and excises, for the revenue necessary to pay the debts and carry on the Government of the Confederacy; and all duties, imposts and excises shall be Duties to be uniform. uniform throughout the States of the Confederacy.
  - 2. To borrow money on the credit of the Confederacy: To borrow money.
  - 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and To regulate commerce. among the several States, and with the Indian tribes:
  - 4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and To establish uniform rule of naturalization and law of bankruptcy. uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the Confederacy:
  - 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof and of To coin money, To fix standard of weights and measures. foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures:
  - 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the To punish counterfeits. securities and current coin of the Confederacy:
  - 7. To establish post offices and post roads: To establish post offices and roads.
  - 8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, To promote 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:To constitute inferior tribunals.
  - 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed To define and punish piracies, etc. on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations:
  - 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, To declare war. and make rules concerning captures on land and water:
  - 12. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation To raise armies. of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years:
  - 13. To provide and maintain a navy: To provide a navy.
  - 14. To make rules for the government and regulation of Government of army and navy. the land and naval forces:
  - 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute Militia. the laws of the Confederacy, suppress, insurrections, and repel invasions:
  - 16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining Organization, etc., of the militia. the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the Confederacy, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress: and
  - 17. To make all laws that shall be necessary and proper To make all laws necessary to carry into effect the powers expressly delegated by the Constitution. for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers expressly delegated by this Constitution to this Provisional Government.
  - 18. The Congress shall have power to admit other States. To admit States.
  - 19. This Congress shall also exercise Executive powers To exercise Executive powers till President inaugurated. until the President is inaugurated.
- - Importation of African negroes forbidden. 1. The importation of African negroes from any foreign country other than the slaveholding States of the United States, is hereby forbidden; and Congress are required to pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the same.
  - Introduction of slaves prohibited. 2. The Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of slaves from any State not a member of this Confederacy.
  - Writ of Habeas Corpus. 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.
  - Bill of Attainder, or ex post facto law. 4. No Bill of Attainder, or ex post facto law shall be passed.
  - No preference to ports of one State over another. 5. No preference shall be given, by any regulation of commerce or revenue, to the ports of one State over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties, in another.
  - No money drawn from the treasury but by law. Receipts and expenditures published. 6. 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.
  - Appropriations of money from the treasury. When authorized. 7. Congress shall appropriate no money from the treasury, unless it be asked and estimated for by the President or some one of the heads of Departments, except for the purpose of paying its own expenses and contingencies.
  - No title of nobility to be granted. 8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the Confederacy; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under it, 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.
  - Religious freedom. 9. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercises thereof: Freedom of speech and of the press. or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition Right of petition. the Government for a redress of such grievances as the delegated powers of this Government may warrant it to consider and redress.
  - Right to bear and keep arms. 10. 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.
  - Quartering of soldiers. 11. 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.
  - Unreasonable searches and seizures prohibited. 12. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches No warrant to issue but on oath or affirmation. 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.
  - 13. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or Trials for capital offences, or infamous crimes. otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the No one to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, for same offence: nor compelled to testify against himself; nor be deprived of life, etc., without process of law. land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person i be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case. to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall Private property not to be taken for public use, without compensation. private property be taken for public use, without just, compensation.
  - 14. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy Trial by jury in criminal cases. 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 defence.
  - 15. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy Trial by jury in civil cases. shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the Confederacy, than according to the rules of the common law.
  - 16. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive Excessive bail not to be required, nor excessive fine imposed or punishment inflicted. fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
  - 17. The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Enumeration of certain rights not to be construed to deny others retained by people.
  - 18. The powers not delegated to the Confederacy by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are Reserved powers. reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
  - 19. The judicial power of the Confederacy shall not be Limitation of the judicial power. construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the States of the Confederacy, by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State.
- - 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; Limitation of the powers of the States. grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, 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 nett produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the Confederacy, and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
    
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    No State, shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, 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.
- - Executive power vested in President. 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the Confederate States of America. He, together with Duration of his office and of the office of Vice-President. the Vice President, shall hold his office for one year, or until this Provisional Government shall be superceded by a Permanent Government, whichsoever shall first occur.
  - Manner of electing President and Vice President. 2. The President and Vice-President shall be elected by ballot by the States represented in this Congress, each State casting one vote, and a majority of the whole being requisite to elect.
  - Qualifications of the President. 3. No person, except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of one of the States of this Confederacy at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, 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 of one of the States of this Confederacy.
  - Vacancy in office of President; how supplied. 4. in case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, (which inability shall be determined by a vote of two-thirds of the Congress,) 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.
  - Compensation for the services of the President. 5. The President shall at stated times receive for his services, during the period of the Provisional Government, a compensation at the rate of twenty-five thousand dollars per annum; and he shall not receive during that period any other emolument from this Confederacy, or any of the States thereof.
  - Oath of office of President. 6. Before he enter 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 of America, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution thereof.
- - Powers and duties of the President. 1. The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the Confederacy, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the Confederacy; he may require the opinion, in writing, of
    
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    the principal officer in each of the Executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices; and May grant reprieves and pardons. he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the Confederacy, except in cases of impeachment.
  - 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and May make treaties, by and with consent of Congress. consent of the Congress, to make treaties; provided two-thirds of the Congress concur: and he shall nominate; and by and with the advice and consent of the Congress, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, Appointments to office. judges of the courts, and all other officers of the Confederacy 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 President shall have power to fill up all vacancies Vacancies during the recess of Congress. that may happen during the recess of the Congress, by granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of their next session.
- - 1. He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress President to give Congress information of the state of the Confederacy. 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, May convene Congress on extraordinary occasions. convene the Congress at such times as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully Other powers and duties. executed; and shall commission all the officers of the Confederacy.
  - 2. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of Removals from office on conviction of crimes. the Confederacy shall be removed from office on conviction by the Congress of treason, bribery, or ether high crimes and misdemeanors: a vote of two-thirds shall be necessary for such conviction.
- - 1. The judicial power of the Confederacy shall be vested Judicial power vested in Supreme Court, etc. in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as are herein directed, or as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
  - 2. Each State shall constitute a District,^a in which there District Courts established; their jurisdiction. shall be a court called a District Court, which, until otherwise provided by the Congress, shall have the jurisdiction vested by the laws of the United States, as far as applicable, in both the District and Circuit Courts of the United States, for that State; the Judge whereof shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Congress, and shall, until otherwise provided by the Congress, exercise the power and authority vested by the
    [Note a: a This paragraph amended. See post, p. 9 [90].]
    
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    laws of the United States in the Judges of the District and Circuit Courts of the United States, for that State, and shall appoint the times and places at which the courts shall Appeals from District Courts to the Supreme Court. be held. Appeals may be taken directly from the District Courts to the Supreme Court, under similar regulations to those which are provided in cases of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, or under such regulations as When commissions of the judges expire. be provided by the Congress. The commissions of all the judges shall expire with this Provisional Government.
  - Supreme Court constituted of the District Judges; when and where to sit. 8. The Supreme Court shall be constituted of all the District Judges, a majority of whom shall be a quorum, and shall sit at such times and places as the Congress shall appoint.
  - Transfer of causes in the Courts of the United States, to the Courts of the Confederacy. 4. The Congress shall have power to make laws for the transfer of any causes which were pending in the courts of the United States, to the courts of the Confederacy, and for the execution of the orders, decrees and judgments Decrees, etc., of U. S. Courts. heretofore rendered by the said courts of the United States; Protection of parties to suits. and also all laws which may be requisite to protect the parties to all such suits, orders, judgments, or decrees, their heirs, personal representatives, or assignees.
- - Extent of judicial power. 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases of law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and of this Confederacy, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under its authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the Confederacy shall be a party; controversies between two or more States; between citizens of different States; between citizens of the same States claiming lands under grants of different States.
  - Original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. 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. Appellate 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.
  - Trial by jury. 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.
- - 1. Treason against this Confederacy shall consist only in What constitutes treason, and how to be proved. levying war against it, or in adhering to its 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 Punishment of treason. Not to Work corruption work corruption of blood, etc. of treason; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life, of the person attainted.
- - 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to The public acts, etc., of the States to have full faith and credit. 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 of such proof.
- - 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Citizens of the States entitled to equal privileges. privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.
  - 2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, Fugitives from justice. or other crime, 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 to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.
  - 3. A slave in one State, escaping to another, shall be Fugitive slaves delivered up on claim of the party to whom said slave may belong by the executive authority of the State in which such slave shall be found, and in case of any abduction or In case of abduction or rescue of slave, full compensation to be made. forcible rescue, full compensation, including the value of the slave and all costs and expenses, shall be made to the party, by the State in which such abduction or rescue shall take place.
- - 1. The Confederacy shall guarantee to every State in Republican form of government guaranteed to each States; and protection from invasion and domestic violence this union, 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 can not be convened,) against domestic violence.

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- Amendments to Constitution. 1. The Congress, by a vote of two-thirds, may, at any time, alter or amend this Constitution.
- The Constitution, laws of the Confederacy, and treaties the supreme law of the land. 1. This Constitution, and the laws of the Confederacy which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the Confederacy, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
- All matters between the States forming this Government, and their late confederates of the United States, to be settled. 2. The Government hereby instituted shall take immediate steps for the settlement of all matters between the States forming it, and their other late confederates of the United States in relation to the public property and public debt at the time of their withdrawal from them; these States hereby declaring it to be their wish and earnest desire to adjust everything pertaining to the common property, common liability, and common obligations of that union, upon the principles of right, justice, equity, and good faith.
- Seat of Government. 8. Until otherwise provided by the Congress, the city of Montgomery in the State of Alabama, shall be the seat of Government.
- Oath of members of Congress and of executive and judicial officers. 4. The members of the Congress and all executive and judicial officers of the Confederacy shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious No religious test required as qualification for office. test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this Confederacy.
  Done in the Congress, by the unanimous consent of all the said States, the Eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-One; and of the Confederate States of America, the first. In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

HOWELL COBB,
President of the Congress.

South Carolina.--R. Barnwell Rhett, R. W. Barnwell, James Chesnut, Jr., C. G. Memminger, Wm. Porcher Miles, Lawrence M. Keitt, William W. Boyce, Tho. J. Withers.
Georgia.--R. Toombs, Francis S. Bartow, Martin J. Crawford, E. A. Nisbet, Benjamin H. Hill, Augustus R. Wright, Thos. R. R. Cobb, A. H. Kenan, Alexander H. Stephens.
Florida.--Jackson Morton, Jas. B. Owens, J. Patton Anderson.
Alabama.--Richard W. Walker, Robt. H. Smith, Colin J. McRae, Jno. Gill Shorter, William Parish Chilton, Stephen F. Hale, David P. Lewis, Tho. Fearn, J. L. M. Curry.

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Mississippi.--W. P. Harris, Alex. M. Clayton, W. S. Wilson, James T. Harrison, Walker Brooke, William S. Barry, J. A. P. Campbell.
Louisiana.--John Perkins. Jr., Alex. De Clouet, C. M. Conrad, Duncan F. Kenner, Edward Sparrow, Henry Marshall.

By a vote of the Congress, on the second day of March, in the year 1861, the Deputies from the State of Texas were authorized to sign the Provisional Constitution above written.

Attest,J. J. HOOPER,
Secretary.

Texas.--Thomas N. Waul, Williamson S. Oldham, John Gregg, John H. Reagan, W. B. Ochiltree, John Hemphill, Louis T. Wigfall.

AMENDMENT TO THE PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES.

An Ordinance of the Convention of the Congress of the Confederate May 21, 1861. States.

Be it ordained by the Congress of the Confederate StatesAmendment to 2nd ¶ of 1st § 3rd art, of Provisional Constitution. of America, That the second paragraph of the first section of the third Article of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, be so amended in the first line of said paragraph, as to read, "Each state shall, until otherwise enacted by law, constitute a district;" and in the sixth line, after the word "judge," add "or judges."

Approved, May 21, 1861.

CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.

We, the people of the Confederate States, each State Purposes for which the Constitution was ordained and established. acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a permanent federal government, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, 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.
- All legislative powers herein delegated shall be vested in a Congress of the Confederate States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
- SECTION 2.House of Representatives; when chosen; qualification of electors.
  - 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.
  - Qualifications of Representative. 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.
  - How Representatives and direct taxes are apportioned. 3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States, which may be included within this Confederacy, according to their respective number, 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 Census to be taken every ten years. 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. Ratio of representation limited. 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.
  - Vacancies in the representation; how filled. 4. When vancancies happen in the representation from any State, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
  - House chooses its officers, and has power of impeachment. 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.
  - Senate; how composed. Senators; how chosen. 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.
  - Senators divided into three classes. 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled, in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally When seats of Senators vacated. 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
    
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    sixth year; so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, Executive of a State may fill vacancy during recess of Legislature. 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 Qualifications of Senators. attained the age of thirty years, and be a citizen of the Confederate States; and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of the State for which he shall be chosen.
  - 4. The Vice President of the Confederate States shall Vice-President is President of Senate; votes only on equal division. 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 Senate chooses its officers. When it may choose President pro tempore. 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. Senate has sole power to try 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; Chief Justice presides when President is tried. 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 Extent of judgment on impeachment. further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit, under the Confederate States; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, Party convicted subject to indictment at law. be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.
- SECTION 4.
  - 1. The times, places and manner of holding elections Time, place, and manner of electing Senators and Representatives; how prescribed. 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 How often and when Congress to meet. year; and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall, by law, appoint a different day.
- SECTION 5.
  - 1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, Each House the judge of elections, &c., of its own members. A majority to constitute a quorum. 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, Each House to determine its own rules. punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds of the whole number expel a member.
  - Each House to keep a journal. 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. 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.
  - Adjournment of one House by consent of the other. 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.
  - Compensation of members; their privileges. 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.
  - Disability to hold certain offices. 2. 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 Principal officers in the Departments may sit in Congress; and discuss certain measures. 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.
  - Bills for raising revenue; where to originate. 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.
  - Power of the President and Congress in enacting laws, and proceedings therein. 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, be shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law,
    
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    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 proceeding shall then be had as in case of other bills disapproved by the President.
  - 3. Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence Same as to resolutions, etc. 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 re-passed 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--
    1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, Power of Congress. for revenue necessary to pay the debts, provide for the To lay taxes; but not to grant bounties; nor to lay taxes or duties to foster any branch of industry. common defence, 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 Duties to be uniform. shall be uniform throughout the Confederate States:
  - 2. To borrow money on the credit of the Confederate To borrow money. States:
  - 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and To regulate commerce; but not to appropriate money for internal improvements, except for certain purposes. 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 When to lay duties on navigation. navigation facilitated thereby, as may be necessary to pay the costs and expenses thereof:
  - 4. To establish uniform laws of naturalization, and uniform To make laws as 10 naturalization and bankruptcy. 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 To coin money, and fix the standard of weights and measures. foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures:
  - 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the To punish counterfeiters. securities and current coin of the Confederate States:
  - 7. To establish post-offices and post-routes; but the To establish post-offices. expenses of the Post-office Department, after the first day
    
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    of March in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be paid out of its own revenues:
  - To promote science and useful arts. 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:
  - To constitute inferior Courts. 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court:
  - To punish piracies and felonies on the high seas.10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations:
  - To declare war, etc. 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water:
  - To raise armies. 12. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years:
  - To provide a Navy. 13. To provide and maintain a navy:
  - To make rules for Army and Navy. 14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces:
  - To provide for calling out the militia. 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Confederate States, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions:
  - To provide for organizing militia, etc. 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:
  - To exercise exclusive legislation over seat of government over the C.S., and certain other places. 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
  - To make all laws necessary and proper to execute other powers. 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.
  - Importation of African negroes forbidden. 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.
  - Introduction of slaves prohibited. 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.
  - Writ of habeas corpus not to be suspended. 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 Bills of attainder, or ex post facto laws, or laws impairing right of property in slaves. 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 token.
  - 6. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from No tax on articles exported from any State. any State, except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses.
  - 7. No preference shall be given by any regulation of No preference to ports of one State over another. commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another.
  - 8. No money, shall be drawn, from the treasury, but in No money drawn from the treasury but by law. Receipts and expenditures published. 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 Appropriations of money from the treasury; when authorized. 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 Bills appropriating money; what to specify. currency the exact amount of each appropriation and the purposes for which it is made; and Congress shall Congress to grant no extra compensation to contractors and officers. 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 Titles of nobility not to be granted. States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, Officers of C. S. not to accept presents from foreign States. 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 Religious freedom. of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; Freedom of speech and of the press. or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the Right of petition. government for a redress of grievances.
  - 13. A well-regulated militia being necessary to the Right to bear and keep arms. 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 Quartering of soldiers. 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, Unreasonable searches and seizures prohibited. houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall
    
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    No warrant to issue but on oath. 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.
  - Trials for capital offences or infamous crimes. 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 No one to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb for same offence. 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 offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor be compelled, in any criminal case, to Private property not to be taken without compensation. 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.
  - Trial by jury in criminal cases. 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 defence.
  - Trial by jury in civil cases. 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 re-examined in any court of the Confederacy, than according to the rules of common law.
  - Excessive bail not to be required nor excessive fines imposed or punishment inflicted. 19. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
  - Laws to relate to but one subject to be expressed in the title. 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.
  - Limitation of the powers of the States. 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; make any thing 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 consenter the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the nett produce of all duties find 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 sea-going 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
    
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    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 Executive powers vested in President. the Confederate States of America. He and the Vice President shall hold their offices for the term of six years; Term of office of President and Vice President. but the President shall not be re-eligible. The President and Vice President shall be elected as follows:
  - 2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature Electors of President and Vice President, Number for each State. 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 Meetings of electors, and their proceedings. 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 Election of President. 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 fourth 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.
  - Election of Vice 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.
  - Person ineligible to office of Vice President. 5. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the Confederate States.
  - Congress to prescribe time of choosing electors, and the day they vote. 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.
  - Eligibility to the office of President. 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.
  - Vice President to act when office of President vacant. 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 the 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.
  - Compensation of the President. 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.
  - Oath to be taken by President. 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.
  - Powers and duties of the President. 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
    
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    duties of their respective offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the May grant reprieves and pardons. Confederate States, except in cases of impeachment.
  - 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent May make treaties by and with the advice and consent of Congress. of the Senate, to make treaties; provided two-third 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, Appointments to office. 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, When, and by whom, officers may be removed from office. 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 President to fill vacancies during recess of Senate. 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 re-appointed to the same office during their ensuing recess.
- SECTION 3.
  - 1. The President shall, from time to time, give to the President to give Congress information of the State of the Confederacy. 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 May convene Congress on extraordinary occasions. occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them; and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to When he may adjourn Congress. the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors Shall receive ambassadors and ministers; and commission officers. and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the Confederate States.
- SECTION 4.
  - 1. The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of Removals from office by impeachment and conviction of crimes. the Confederate States, shall be removed from office on impeachment, for and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

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Article III.
- SECTION 1.
  - Judicial power vested in one Supreme Court, etc. Term of office and compensation of judges. 1. The judicial power of the Confederate States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
- SECTION 2.
  - Extent of the judicial power. 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.
  - When Supreme Court has original jurisdiction; when appellate. 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.
  - All crimes to be tried by jury. 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, Where such trials to be. 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.
  - What constitutes treason and how to be proved. 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.
  - Congress to prescribe punishment of treason. Not to work corruption of blood, etc. 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.

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Article IV.
- SECTION 1.
  - 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to Credit to be given in one State to public Acts, etc., of another. the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
- SECTION 2.
  - 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the Citizens of each State entitled to privileges, etc., in other States. 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, Fugitives from justice. 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 Fugitive slaves. 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.
  - 1. Other States may be admitted into this Confederacy New States may be admitted into the 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 Power of Congress over the property of the Confederate States. all needful rules and regulations concerning the property of the Confederate States, including the lands thereof.
  - 3. The Confederate States may acquire new territory; New territory may be acquired; Congress to prescribe government for its inhabitants. When they may form States. 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 States; 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 Negro slavery to be recognized and protected in territories. Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected by Congress and by the territorial government: and the inhabitants
    
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    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.
  - Republican form of government guaranteed to each State. 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 Protection of States against invasion, etc. 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.
  - Mode of amending the Constitution. 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.
- Character of the government established by this Constitution. 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 Officers appointed by the Provisional Government remain in office. 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.
- Debts, etc., heretofore contracted, valid against C. S. 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.
- What is the supreme law of the land. 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.
- Oath to support the Constitution; by whom to be taken. 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
  
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  affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious No religious test shall be required. 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 Enumeration of certain rights, not to deny others retained by people. 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 Reserved powers. 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 Ratification of this Constitution. be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.
- 2. When five States shall have ratified this Constitution, Congress, under the Provisional Constitution, to prescribe time for holding election of President and Vice President, meeting of the electors, etc., and time for holding first election of members of Congress. 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 How long Congress under the Provisional Constitution to exercise power. 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, Alabama, 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.

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EXTRACT FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE CONGRESS.

Congress, March 11, 1862 [1861].

On the question of the adoption of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, the vote was taken by yeas and nays; and the Constitution was unanimously adopted, as follows:

Those who voted in the affirmative being Messrs. Walker, Smith, Curry, Hale, McRae, Shorter, and Fearn, of Alabama, (Messrs. Chilton and Lewis being absent); Messrs. Morton, Anderson, and Owens, of Florida; Messrs. Toombs, Howell Cobb, Bartow, Nisbet, Hill, Wright, Thomas R. R. Cobb, and Stephens, of Georgia, (Messrs. Crawford and Kenan being absent); Messrs. Perkins, De Clouet, Conrad, Kenner, Sparrow, and Marshall, of Louisiana; Messrs. Harris, Brooke, Wilson, Clayton, Barry, and Harrison, of Mississippi, (Mr. Campbell being absent); Messrs. Rhett, Barnwell, Keitt, Chesnut, Memminger, Miles, Withers, and Boyce, of South Carolina; Messrs. Reagan, Hemphill, Waul, Gregg, Oldham, and Ochiltree, of Texas, (Mr. Wigfall being absent).

A true copy:J. J. HOOPER,
Secretary of the Congress.

Congress, March 11, 1861.

I do hereby certify that the foregoing are, respectively, true and correct copies of "The Constitution of the Confederate States of America," unanimously adopted this day, and of the yeas and nays on the question of the adoption thereof.

HOWELL COBB,
President of the Congress.

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Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume I]CONSTITUTION FOR THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA AND PERMANENT CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume I]
CONSTITUTION FOR THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA AND PERMANENT CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.