| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Journal of the Confederate Congress --PROVISIONAL CONGRESS OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES.
FIRST SESSION, FEBRUARY 4, 1861, TO MARCH 16, 1861.
In the Capitol of the State of Alabama,
Montgomery, February 4, 1861.
OPEN SESSION.
Be it remembered that on the fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and in the Capitol of the State of Alabama, in the city of Montgomery, at the hour of noon, there assembled certain deputies and delegates from the several independent Southern States of North America, to wit: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina; the said delegates and deputies being thus assembled and convened under and by virtue of divers ordinances and resolutions adopted by the several conventions of the peoples of the independent States aforenamed; which said ordinances and resolutions are severally as follows:
An ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of South Carolina and the other States united with her under the compact entitled "The Constitution of the United States of America."
We the people of the State of South Carolina in convention assembled do declare and ordain and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the ordinance adopted by us in convention, on the 23d day of May, in the year of our Lord 1788, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts of the general assembly of this State, ratifying amendments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, and that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States under the name of the United States of America is hereby dissolved.
Unanimously adopted 20th day of December, A. D. 1860.
An ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Georgia and other States united with her under a compact of Government entitled "The Constitution of the United States of America," passed January 19, 1861.
We the people of the State of Georgia in convention assembled do declare and ordain and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the ordinance adopted by the people of the State of Georgia in convention on the 2d day of January, in the year of our Lord 1788, when the Constitution of the United States was assented to, ratified, and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts of the general assembly of this State, ratifying and adopting amendments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded, and abrogated.
We do further declare and ordain, That the Union now subsisting between the State of Georgia and other States under the name of the United States of America is hereby dissolved, and that the State of Georgia is in the full possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State.
The ordinance of secession of the State of Florida.
We the people of the State of Florida in convention assembled do solemnly ordain, publish, and declare, That the State of Florida hereby withdraws herself from the Confederacy of States existing under the name of the United States of America and from the existing Government of said States, and that all political connection between her
Page 8 | Page image
and the Government of the said States, ought to be, and the same is hereby, totally annulled and said Union of States dissolved, and the State of Florida is hereby declared a sovereign and independent nation, and that all ordinances heretofore adopted, in so far as they create or recognize said Union, are rescinded, and all laws or parts of laws in force in this State, in so far as they recognize or assent to said Union he, and they are hereby, repealed.
Adopted, January 11, A. D. 1861.
An ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Alabama and the other States under the compact and style of the United States of America.
Whereas the election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to the office of President and Vice-President of the United States of America by a sectional party avowedly hostile to the domestic institutions and peace and security of the people of the State of Alabama, following upon the heels of many and dangerous infractions of the Constitution of the United States by many of the States and people of the northern section, is a political wrong of so insulting and menacing a character as to justify the people of the State of Alabama in the adoption of prompt and decided measures for their future peace and security: Therefore,
Be it declared and ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in convention assembled, That the State of Alabama now withdraws from the Union known as the United States of America and henceforth ceases to be one of the said United States, and is, and of right ought to be, a sovereign independent State.
And as it is the desire and purpose of the people of Alabama to meet the slaveholding States, who approve of such purpose, in order to frame a provisional or a permanent government, upon the principles of the Government of the United States;
Be it also resolved by the people of Alabama in convention assembled, That the people of the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri be, and they are hereby, invited to meet the people of the State of Alabama by their delegates in convention, on the 4th day of February next, in Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, for the purpose of consultation with each other as to the most effectual mode of securing connected, harmonious action in whatever measure may be deemed most desirable for the common peace and security.
And be it further resolved, That the president of this convention be, and he is hereby, instructed to transmit forthwith a copy of the foregoing preamble, ordinance, and resolutions to the governors of the several States named in the said resolutions.
Done by the people of Alabama in convention assembled at Montgomery, this 11th day of January, 1861.
An ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Mississippi and other States united with her under the compact entitled "The Constitution of the United States of America."
The people of Mississippi in convention assembled do ordain and declare and it is hereby ordained and declared as follows, to wit:
Adopted, 11th day of January, A. D. 1861.
Page 9 | Page image
An ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Louisiana and other States united with her under the compact entitled "The Constitution of the United States."
We the people of the State of Louisiana in convention assembled do declare and ordain and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the ordinance passed by us in convention on the 22d day of November, in the year 1811, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America and the amendments of said Constitution were adopted, and all laws and ordinances by which the State of Louisiana became a member of the Federal Union be, and the same are hereby, repealed and abrogated, and that the Union now subsisting between Louisiana and other States under the name of "The United States of America" is hereby dissolved.
We do further declare and ordain, That the State of Louisiana hereby resumes all rights and powers heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America; that her citizens are absolved from all allegiance to said Government, and that she is in full possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which appertain to a free and independent State.
We do further declare and ordain, That all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or any act of Congress, or treaty, or under any law of this State, and not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force and have the same effect as if this ordinance had not been passed.
Adopted in convention at Baton Rouge, this 26th day of January, 1861.
Resolution of the convention of Louisiana in reference to the free navigation of the Mississippi River.
Resolved, That we the people of the State of Louisiana recognize the right of the free navigation of the Mississippi River and its tributaries by all friendly States bordering thereon, and we also recognize the right of egress and ingress of the mouths of the Mississippi River by all friendly States and powers, and we do hereby declare our willingness to enter into any stipulations to guarantee the exercise of said rights.
Adopted in convention at Baton Rouge, this 26th day of January, 1861.
Resolutions adopted by the convention of South Carolina.
Resolutions adopted by the convention of Alabama, January 17, 1861.
Resolved, That this convention cordially approve of the suggestions of the convention of the people of South Carolina to meet them in convention at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, on the 4th day of February, 1861, to frame a provisional government upon the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and also to prepare and consider upon a plan for the creation and establishment of a permanent government for the seceding States upon the same principles, which shall be submitted to conventions of such seceding States for adoption or rejection.
Resolved, That we approve of the suggestion that each State shall send to said convention as many deputies as it now has or has lately had Senators and Representatives in the Congress of the United States; and that each State shall have one vote upon all questions upon which a vote may be taken in said convention.
Page 10 | Page image
Resolved, That this convention will proceed to elect by ballot one deputy from each Congressional district in this State and two deputies from the State at large at 12 o'clock m. on Friday, the 18th day of January instant, who shall be authorized to meet in convention such deputies as may be appointed by the other slaveholding States who may secede from the Federal Union, for the purpose of carrying into effect the foregoing and the resolutions attached to the ordinance dissolving the Union; and that deputies shall be elected separately, and each deputy shall receive a majority of the members voting.
An ordinance to provide for the appointment of delegates to a convention to form a southern confederacy.
We the people of Louisiana in convention assembled do declare and ordain and it is hereby declared and ordained:
Adopted in convention at the city of New Orleans, this 29th day of January, 1861.
Resolutions by the convention of the State of Georgia.
Resolved, That the delegates sent from this State by this convention to the proposed congress to assemble at Montgomery, Ala., on the 4th day of February next, be fully authorized and empowered, upon free conference and consultation with delegates that may be sent from other seceding States to said congress, to unite with them in forming and putting into immediate operation a temporary or provisional government for the common safety and defense of all the States represented in said congress, such temporary or provisional government not to extend beyond the period of twelve months from the time it goes into operation, and to be modeled as nearly as practicable, on the principles and basis of the late Government of the United States of America, the powers of the delegates so appointed by this convention in this particular being hereby declared full and plenary.
Be it further resolved, That said delegates be likewise authorized, upon like conference and consultation with the delegates from the other States in said congress, to agree upon a plan of permanent government for said States upon the principles and basis of the Constitution of the late United States of America, which said plan or constitution of permanent government shall not be binding or obligatory upon the people of Georgia until submitted to, approved, and ratified by this convention.
Mr. William P. Chilton, of Alabama, called the Congress to order, and moved that Mr. Robert W. Barnwell, of South Carolina, be appointed to preside temporarily over the Congress and until its permanent organization; and said motion was unanimously concurred in.
Mr. Barnwell assumed the chair, and tendered his thanks to the Congress for the proof of their confidence and respect.
The Chairman then called on the Roy Dr Basil Manly, of Montgomery, who offered up an impressive prayer to Almighty God in behalf of the Congress and the States whose interests it represents.
Page 11 | Page image
On motion of Mr. John Gill Shorter, of Alabama, A. R. Lamar, esq., of Georgia, was appointed temporary secretary.
Mr. Robert B. Rhett, of South Carolina, suggested that the proper time had arrived for the presentation of their credentials by the deputies of this Congress.
Mr. Christopher G. Memminger, of South Carolina, then moved that the deputies from the several independent Southern States now present their credentials to the secretary, in the alphabetical order of the several States, and that they also sign the roll of the Congress.
And thereupon the deputies whose names are underwritten appeared and signed said roll, to wit:
From the State of--
Page 12 | Page image
And the said several deputies presented, respectively, their credentials, which are severally as follows, to wit:
State of Alabama.
At a convention of the people of the State of Alabama, begun and holden at Montgomery, on Monday, the 7th day of January, 1861.
Report and resolutions adopted by the convention on the 17th day of January, 1861.
Report and resolutions from the Committee of Thirteen upon the formation of a provisional and permanent government between the seceding States.
The Committee of Thirteen beg leave to report that they have had under consideration the "Report and resolutions from the Committee on Relations with the Slave-holding States," providing for the formation of a provisional and permanent government by the seceding States, adopted by the people of the State of South Carolina, in convention, on the 31st day of December, 1860, and submitted to this body by the Hon. A. P. Calhoun, commissioner from South Carolina, which report and resolutions were referred to this committee.
They have also had under consideration the resolutions upon the same subject, referred to them, which were submitted by the delegates from Barbour and from Tallapoosa. All of these resolutions contemplate the purpose of forming confederate relations with such of our sister States of the South as may desire to do so. The only disagreement between them is as to the details in effecting that object. The committee unanimously concur in the purpose and plan proposed by the convention of the people of South Carolina. In the opinion of the committee there has never been any hostility felt by any portion of the people of Alabama against the Constitution of the United States of America. The widespread dissatisfaction of the people of this State, which has finally induced them to dissolve the Union, styled the United States of America, has been with the conduct of the people and legislatures of the Northern States setting at naught one of the plainest provisions of the Federal compact, and with other dangerous misinterpretations of that instrument, leading them to believe that the Northern people design, by their numerical majority, acting through the forms of government, ultimately to destroy many of our most valuable rights.
With the people of South Carolina we believe that the Federal Constitution "presents a complete scheme of confederation, capable of being speedily put into operation;" that its provisions and true import are familiar to the people of the South, "many of whom are believed to cherish a degree of veneration for it," and that all "would feel safe under it when in their own hands for interpretation and administration, especially as the portions that have been by perversion made potent for mischief and oppression, in the hands of adverse and inimical interests, have received a settled construction by the South; that a speedy confederation by the South is desirable in the highest degree,which it is supposed must be temporary at first (if accomplished as soon as it should be), and no better basis than the Constitution of the United States is likely to be suggested or adopted." This convention, in the resolutions accompanying the ordinance dissolving the Union have already responded to the invitation of the people of South Carolina to Inter them in convention for the purpose indicated in their resolutions, and have named Montgomery, in this State, and the 4th day of February, as the appropriate place and time at which to meet. In fixing the time and place this convention hut concurred in the suggestions of the honorable gentleman representing the people of South Carolina before this body. We are aware that several of our sister States, which have indicated a disposition to secede from the Union, and have called conventions of their people, may not be able to meet us at so early a day, but the great importance to the States which have already seceded, and which are likely to secede by that date, of having a common government to manage their Federal and foreign affairs in the emergency now pressing upon them outweighed, in the opinion of the committee, the consideration which suggested delay. The committee more readily come to this conclusion, as the convention which will meet on the 4th of February will at first be engaged in the formation of a provisional government, leaving the more important question of a permanent government to be considered of at a later day, by which time it is hoped and believed that all the Southern States will be in a condition to send deputies to the convention and participate in its councils. It was thought also that the preposition to form the provisional government upon the basis of the Federal Constitution, so much revered by all the Southern States, will meet with the approval of all those who may secede. The committee are also of opinion that the election of the deputies to meet the people of our sister States in convention should be made by this convention. To submit the election to the people
Page 13 | Page image
would involve a dangerous delay and it would be impracticable to secure an election by the people before the 4th of February next.
The committee therefore recommend to the convention the adoption of the following resolutions, viz:
Resolved, That this convention cordially approve of the suggestions of the convention of the people of South Carolina to meet them in convention at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, on the 4th day of February, to frame a provisional government upon the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and also to prepare and consider upon a plan for the creation and establishment of a permanent government for the seceding States upon the same principles, which shall be submitted to the conventions of such seceding States for adoption or rejection.
Resolved, That we approve of the suggestion that each State shall send to said convention as many deputies as it now has, or has lately had, Senators and Representatives in the Congress of the United States: and that each State shall have one vote upon all questions upon which a vote may be taken in said convention.
Resolved, therefore, That this convention will proceed to elect, by ballot, one deputy from each Congressional district in this State, and two deputies from the State at large, at 12 o'clock meridian, on Friday, the 18th of January instant, who shall be authorized to meet in convention such deputies as may be appointed by the other slaveholding States who may secede from the Federal Union, for the purpose of carrying into effect the foregoing and the resolutions attached to the ordinance dissolving the Union; and that said deputies shall be elected separately, and each deputy shall receive a majority of the members voting.
Adopted, January 17, 1861.
And in pursuance of said resolutions the following deputies were elected by said convention:
The foregoing is a true copy.
In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand this the 29th day of January, A. D. 1861.
WILLIAM M. BROOKS,
President of the Convention.
Attest:
A. G. Horn,
Secretary of the Convention.
In the name and by the authority of the State of Florida.
To all to whom these presents may come, greeting:
Whereas J. Patton Anderson hath been appointed by the governor and approved by the convention of said State, by virtue of an ordinance of said convention, to be a delegate to represent the State of Florida in a convention of States composed of such slaveholding States as have now, or shall have before the final adjournment of said convention, dissolved their connection with the late Federal Union:
Now, therefore, the said J. Patton Anderson is hereby duly commissioned to be such delegate, according to the ordinance aforesaid, to represent this State in the convention of slaveholding States (as have now, or shall have before the final adjournment of said convention, dissolved their connection with the late Federal Union), to be holden at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, on the 13th day of February next, or at such other time and place as may be agreed upon by the delegates appointed for the purpose of forming a provisional government for a southern confederacy, to continue of force until superseded by the organization of a permanent government; and after said provisional government shall have been organized said delegates shall proceed to form a permanent government for said confederacy.
Page 14 | Page image
In testimony whereof the governor of said State has signed this commission and caused the great seal of the State to be affixed thereto, at the capitol in Tallahassee, this 21st day of January, anne Domini 1861.
[SEAL]M. S. PERRY,
Governor of Florida.
By the governor.
Attest:
F. L. Villepigue,
Secretary of State.
In the name and by the authority of the State of Florida.
To all to whom these presents may come, greeting:
Whereas James B. Owens hath been appointed by the governor and approved by the convention of said State, by virtue of an ordinance of said convention, to be a delegate to represent the State of Florida in a convention of States composed of such slaveholding States as have now, or shall have before the final adjournment of said convention, dissolved their connection with the late Federal Union:
Now, therefore, the said James B. Owens is hereby duly commissioned to be such delegate, according to the ordinance aforesaid, to represent this State in the convention of slaveholding States (as have now, or shall have before the final adjournment of said convention, dissolved their connection with the late Federal Union), to be holden at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, on the 13th day of February next, or at such other time and place as may be agreed upon by the delegates appointed for the purpose of forming a provisional government for a southern confederacy, to continue of force until superseded by the organization of a permanent government; and after said provisional government shall have been organized said delegates shall proceed to form a permanent government for said confederacy.
In testimony whereof the governor of said State has signed this commission and caused the great seal of the State to be affixed thereto, at the capitol in Tallahassee, this 21st day of January, A. D. 1861.
[SEAL]M. S. PERRY,
Governor of Florida.
By the governor.
Attest:
F. L. Villepigue,
Secretary of State.
State of Georgia.
The people of the State of Georgia in convention assembled having passed a resolution authorizing the appointment of, and having appointed, two delegates at large and eight other delegates, corresponding in number to the representation of said State in the Congress of the late United States, and having also instructed said delegates to meet a Congress of the delegates of the States which have withdrawn from the Government of the United States at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, on the 4th day of February next, with such other instructions as shall be given them by this convention.
Be it therefore known, in obedience to and by virtue of said resolutions, I, the president of said convention, do hereby commission the Hon. Robert Toombs and the Hon. Howell Cobb as delegates at large, and the Hens. F. S. Bartow, M. J. Crawford, E. A. Nisbet, B. H. Hill, A. R. Wright, T. R. R. Cobb, A. H. Kenan, and A. H. Stephens as delegates to said Congress, at the time and place aforesaid, and to do and perform all acts in conformity to said resolutions and instructions.
In witness whereof I, the said president, have hereto get my hand, at Milledgeville, on the 29th of January, A. D. 1861.
GEO. W. CRAWFORD,
President of the Convention.
The people of the State of Louisiana in convention assembled.
To all to whom it may concern, greeting:
This shall certify that by virtue of an ordinance adopted on the 29th day of January, 1861, by the people of the State of Louisiana in convention assembled, Messrs. John Perkins, jr., Alexander De Clonet, Charles M. Conrad, Duncan F. Kenner, Edward Sparrow, and Henry Marshall were duly elected and are hereby fully authorized and empowered to act as delegates, to represent the people of the State of Louisiana
Page 15 | Page image
in the convention of the seceding States, to be held at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, on the 4th day of February, 1861, or in any other convention of seceding States which may meet at any other time and place.
Given under my hand and seal of the convention, at the city of New Orleans, this 31st day of January in the year of our Lord 1861.
[SEAL.]A. MOUTON,
President of the Convention.
A true copy from the original.
J. Thomas Wheat,
Secretary of the Convention.
I, William S. Barry, president of the Mississippi State convention, do hereby certify that A. M. Clayton, James T. Harrison, William S. Barry, J. A. P. Campbell, Wiley P. Harris, Walker Brooke, and William S. Wilson were on the 23d January, 1861, duly elected by said convention delegates to represent said State in the convention of the seceding States to meet at Montgomery, Ala., on the 4th of February, 1861.
WILLIAM S. BARRY,
President Mississippi State Convention.
The State of South Carolina.
By Francis W. Pickens, governor of the State of South Carolina:
Whereas at a convention of the people of South Carolina, begun and holden at Columbia, on the 17th day of December, in the year of our Lord 1860, and thence continued by adjournment to Charleston, and there by divers adjournments to the 22d day of December in the same year, it was
Whereas Robert Barnwell Rhett, Robert W. Barnwell, Christopher Gustavus Memminger, James Chesnut, jr., William Porcher Miles, Lawrence M. Keitt, Thomas J Withers, and William W. Boyce were duly elected deputies as aforesaid by said convention, now know ye, that reposing special trust and confidence in the ability, integrity, and fitness of Robert Barnwell Rhett, Robert W. Barnwell, Christopher G. Memminger, James Chesnut, jr., William P. Miles, Lawrence M. Keitt, Thomas J. Withers, and William W. Boyce, do hereby, in compliance with the appointment made by the said convention of the people of this State, under authority from that body, commission you the said Robert Barnwell Rhett, Robert W. Barnwell, Christopher G. Memminger, James Chesnut, jr., William P. Miles, Lawrence M. Keitt, Thomas J. Withers, and William W. Boyce to proceed to the place designated for holding said convention and there to discharge the duties intrusted to you by the said resolutions, with full power and authority to do all legal and proper acts in the premises.
Page 16 | Page image
Given under my hand and the seal of the State at Charleston, this 31st day of January, in the year of our Lord 1861, and in the eighty-fifth year of the sovereignty and independence of the State of South Carolina.
[SEAL.]F. W. PICKENS.
By the governor:
James A. Duffus,
Deputy Secretary of State.
Mr. Rhett moved that the Congress now proceed to the election of a president of the same, and put in nomination the name of Mr. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, and further moved that he be declared president by acclamation.
The motion prevailed, and Mr. Cobb was chosen permanent President by acclamation.
Mr. Rhett moved that a committee of three be appointed to inform Mr. Cobb of his election and conduct him to the chair.
The motion prevailed, and the Chairman appointed Messrs. Rhett, Walker, and Anderson to perform that duty; which being done
Mr. Cobb, after taking the chair, addressed the Congress as follows:
Accept, gentlemen of the convention, my sincere thanks for the honor you have conferred upon me. I shall endeavor, by a faithful and impartial discharge of the duties of the Chair, to merit, in some degree at least, the confidence you have reposed in me.
The occasion which assembles us together is one of no ordinary character. We meet as representatives of sovereign and independent States, who by their solemn judgment have dissolved the political association which connected them with the Government of the United States. Of the causes which have led to this decision it is unnecessary now to speak. It is sufficient to announce that, by the judgment of our constituents, they have been pronounced ample and sufficient. It is now a fixed and an irrevocable fact. The separation is perfect, complete, and perpetual.
The great duty is now imposed upon us of providing for these States a government for their future security and protection. We can and should extend to our sister States--our late sister States--who are identified with us in interests, feelings, and institutions, a cordial welcome to unite with us in a common destiny, desirous at the same time of maintaining with our former Confederates, as with the world, the most peaceful and friendly relations, both political and commercial.
Our responsibilities, gentlemen, are great, and I doubt not we shall prove equal to the occasion. Let us assume all the responsibility which may be necessary for the successful completion of the great work committed to our care, placing before our countrymen and the world our acts and their results as the justification for the course we may pursue and the policy we may adopt. With a consciousness of the justice of our cause, and with confidence in the guidance and blessing of a kind Providence, we will this day inaugurate for the South a new era of peace, security, and prosperity.
On motion of Mr. Chilton, the Congress proceeded to the election of a secretary.
Mr. Chilton put in nomination the name of Johnson J. Hooper, of the State of Alabama.
On motion of Mr. Toombs, Mr. Hooper was elected Secretary by acclamation.
On motion of Mr. Withers, the President was authorized to appoint a doorkeeper and messenger.
On motion of Mr. Stephens, the President was authorized to appoint a committee of five to report rules for the government of the Congress; which committee as announced by the President is Messrs. Stephens, Keitt, Curry, Harrison, and Perkins.
On motion of Mr. Boyce, the Congress adjourned until to-morrow, 12 o'clock m.
Page 17 | Page image
PREVIOUS SECTION .. NEXT SECTION .. NAVIGATOR
| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |