The Permanent Constitution of the Confederate States Constitution was nearly identical to the United States Constitution. This file allows a comparison of the two documents.
The sections where the C.S. Constitution differs from that of the U.S. will be indicated in the following way: those parts of the U.S. Constitution that were deleted will be placed in braces, and the new words inserted in the C.S. Constitution will be placed in brackets. Punctuation, spelling, and capitalization follow the C.S. Constitution except in the parts unique to the U.S. Constitution. Note that Amendments 1-8 of the U.S. Constitution are found in Art I, Sec 9, Par 12-19, of the C.S. Constitution; Amendments 9 and 10 are found in Art VI, Sec 5 and 6; Amendment 11 is incorporated in Art III, Sec 2, Par 1; and Amendment 12 is found in Art II, Sec 1, Par 3. -- Justin M. Sanders
We, the people of the {United States} [Confederate States, each State
acting in its sovereign and independent character,] in order to form a
{more perfect Union} [permanent federal government], establish justice,
insure domestic tranquility {provide for the common defence, promote the
general Welfare}, 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 {United} [Confederate] States of
America.
Article I.
Section 1. All legislative powers herein {granted} [delegated], shall
be vested in a Congress of the {United} [Confederate] States, which shall
consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section 2. (1) The House of Representatives shall be composed of
members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and
the electors in each State shall [be citizens of the Confederate States,
and] have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous
branch of the State Legislature; [but no person of foreign birth, not a
citizen of the Confederate States, shall be allowed to vote for any
officer, civil or political, State or Federal.]
(2) No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to
the age of twenty-five Years and {been seven Years a Citizen of the
United} [be a citizen of the Confederate] States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
(3) Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this {Union} [Confederacy],
according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding
to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for
a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all
{other Persons} [slaves]. The actual enumeration shall be made within
three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the {United}
[Confederate] States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in
such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives
shall not exceed one for every {thirty} [fifty] thousand, but each State
shall have at least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall
be made, the State of {New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three,
Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one,
Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight,
Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South
Carolina five, and Georgia three} [South Carolina shall be entitled to
choose six; the State of Georgia ten; the State of Alabama nine; the State
of Florida two; the State of Mississippi seven; the State of Louisiana
six; and the State of Texas six].
(4) When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies.
(5) The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and
other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment; [except
that any judicial or other federal officer resident and acting solely
within the limits of any State, may be impeached by a vote of
two-thirds of both branches of the Legislature thereof].
Section 3. (1) The Senate of the {United} [Confederate] States
shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen {by the
Legislature thereof, for six Years;} [for six years by the Legislature
thereof, at the regular session next immediately preceding the
commencement of the term of service]; and each Senator shall have one
vote.
(2) Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the
first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three
classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated
at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the
expiration of the fourth year, and the third class at the expiration
of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year;
and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the
recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make
temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature,
which shall then fill such vacancies.
(3) No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained {to}
the age of thirty years, and {been nine Years a Citizen of the United
States} [be a Citizen of the Confederate States,] and who shall not,
when elected, be an inhabitant of {that} [the] State for which he
shall be chosen.
(4) The Vice President of the {United} [Confederate] States shall
be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be
equally divided.
(5) The Senate shall choose their other officers; and also a
President pro tempore in the absence of the Vice President, or when he
shall exercise the office of President of the {United} [Confederate]
States.
(6) The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.
When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation.
When the President of the {United} [Confederate] States is tried, the
Chief Justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without
the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.
(7) Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than
to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any
office of honor, trust or profit under the {United} [Confederate]
States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and
subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to
law.
Section 4. (1) The times, places, and manner of holding elections
for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by
the Legislature thereof [, subject to the provisions of this
Constitution]; but the Congress may, at any time, by law, make or
alter such regulations, except as to the [times and] places of
choosing Senators.
(2) The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and
such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they
shall, by law, appoint a different day.
Section 5. (1) Each House shall be the judge of the elections,
returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each
shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the
attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties
as each House may provide.
(2) Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of
two-thirds [of the whole number], expel a member.
(3) Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their
judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of
either House, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of
those present, be entered on the journal.
(4) Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any
other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section 6. (1) The Senators and Representatives shall receive a
compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid
out of the Treasury of the {United} [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.
(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 {United} [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 {United} [Confederate]
States, shall be a member of either House during his continuance in
office. [But Congress may, by law, grant to the principal officer in
each of the executive departments a seat upon the floor of either
House, with the privilege of discussing any measures appertaining to
his department.]
Section 7. (1) All bills for raising [the] revenue shall originate
in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur
with amendments, as on other bills.
(2) Every bill which shall have passed {the House of
Representatives and the Senate} [both Houses], shall, before it
becomes a law, be presented to the President of the {United}
Confederate States; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he
shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall
have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their
journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration
two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be
sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it
shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that
House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both
Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the
persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the
journal of each House 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, in like manner as
if he had signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment,
prevent its return; in which case it shall not be a law. [The
President may approve any appropriation and disapprove any other
appropriation in the same bill. In such case he shall, in signing the
bill, designate the appropriations disapproved; and shall return a
copy of such appropriations, with his objections, to the House in
which the bill shall have originated; and the same proceedings shall
then be had as in case of other bills disapproved by the President.]
(3) Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of
{the Senate and House of Representatives} [both Houses] may be
necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to
the President of the {United} [Confederate] States; and before the
same shall take effect, shall be approved by him; or, being
disapproved {by him}, shall be repassed by two thirds of {the Senate
and House of Representatives} [both Houses], according to the rules
and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 8. The Congress shall have power--
(1) To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, [for
revenue necessary] to pay the debts {and} provide for the common
defense, {and general Welfare of the United States; but} [and carry on
the government of the Confederate States; but no bounties shall be
granted from the treasury, nor shall any duties or taxes on
importations from foreign nations be laid to promote or foster any
branch of industry; and] all duties, imposts, and excises shall be
uniform throughout the {United} [Confederate] States.
(2) To borrow money on the credit of the {United} [Confederate]
States;
(3) To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the
several States, and with the Indian tribes; [but neither this, nor any
other clause contained in this Constitution, shall ever be construed
to delegate the power to Congress to appropriate money for any
internal improvement intended to facilitate commerce; except for the
purpose of furnishing lights, beacons, and buoys, and other aids to
navigation upon the coasts, and the improvement of harbors and the
removing of obstructions in river navigation; in all which cases such
duties shall be laid on the navigation facilitated thereby, as may be
necessary to pay the costs and expenses thereof.]
(4) To establish {an} uniform {Rule} [laws] of naturalization, and
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the {United}
[Confederate] States; [but no law of Congress shall discharge any debt
contracted before the passage of the same.]
(5) To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin,
and fix the standard of weights and measures.
(6) To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities
and current coin of the {United} [Confederate] States.
(7) To establish post offices and post {roads;} [routes; but the
expenses of the Postoffice Department, after the 1st day of March in
the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be paid
out of its own revenue.]
(8) To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing
for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to
their respective writings and discoveries.
(9) To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court.
(10) To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the
high seas, and offenses against the law of nations.
(11) To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make
rules concerning captures on land and water.
(12) To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to
that use shall be for a longer term than two years.
(13) To provide and maintain a navy.
(14) To make rules for the government and regulation of the land
and naval forces.
(15) To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws
of the {Union} [Confederate States], suppress insurrections and repel
invasions.
(16) To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the
militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the
service of the {United} [Confederate] States; reserving to the States
respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of
training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by
Congress.
(17) To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever,
over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession
of {particular} [one or more] States and the acceptance of Congress,
become the seat of the government of the {United} [Confederate]
States; and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by
the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall
be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and
other needful buildings; and
(18) To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for
carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers
vested by this Constitution in the government of the {United}
[Confederate] States, or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 9. (1) {The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be
prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight
hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty may be imposed on such
Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.} [The
importation of negroes of the African race from any foreign country
other than the slaveholding States or territories of the United States
of America, is hereby forbidden; and Congress is required to pass such
laws as shall effectually prevent the same.]
[(2) Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of
slaves from any State not a member of, or Territory not belonging to,
this Confederacy.]
(3) The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be
suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public
safety may require it.
(4) No bill of attainder or ex post facto law [, or law denying or
impairing the right of property in negro slaves] shall be passed.
(5) No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be
taken.
(6) No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any
State [, except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses].
(7) No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or
revenue to the ports of one State over those of another {: nor shall
Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear or
pay Duties in another}.
(8) No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence
of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of
receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from
time to time.
[(9) Congress shall appropriate no money from the Treasury except
by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses, taken by yeas and nays, unless
it be asked and estimated for by some one of the heads of departments
and submitted to Congress by the President; or for the purpose of
paying its own expenses and contingencies; or for the payment of
claims against the Confederate States, the justice of which shall have
been judicially declared by a tribunal for the investigation of claims
against the Government, which it is hereby made the duty of Congress
to establish.]
[(10) All bills for appropriating money shall specify in Federal
currency the exact amount of each appropriation and the purposes for
which it is made; and Congress shall grant no extra compensation to
any public contractor, officer, agent, or servant, after such contract
shall have been made or such service rendered.]
(11) No title of nobility shall be granted by the {United}
[Confederate] States; and no person holding any office of profit or
trust under them shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of
any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from
any king, prince, or foreign state.
(12) Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and {to} petition the government for a redress
of grievances.
(13) A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a
free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be
infringed.
(14) No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house
without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner
to be prescribed by law.
(15) The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall
not be violated; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the
place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
(16) No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury,
except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the
militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor
shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in
jeopardy of life or limb; nor 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 be taken for public use, without just compensation.
(17) In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which
district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted
with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for
obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of
counsel for his defense.
(18) In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved;
and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any
court of the {United States} [Confederacy], than according to the
rules of the common law.
(19) Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
[(20) Every law, or resolution having the force of law, shall
relate to but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.]
Section 10. (1) No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or
confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; {emit
Bills of Credit;} make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in
payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, [or] ex post facto law,
or law impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of
nobility.
(2) No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely
necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of
all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall
be for the use of the Treasury of the {United} [Confederate] States;
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the
Congress.
(3) No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty
{of} [on] tonnage, [except on sea-going vessels, for the improvement
of its rivers and harbors navigated by said vessels; but such duties
shall not conflict with any treaties of the Confederate States with
foreign nations; and any surplus of revenue thus derived shall, after
making such improvement, be paid into the common treasury. Nor shall
any State] keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into
any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power,
or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger
as will not admit of delay. [But when any river divides or flows
through two or more States they may enter into compacts with each
other to improve the navigation thereof.]
Article II
Section 1. (1) The executive power shall be vested in a President
of the {United} [Confederate] States of America. {He shall hold his
Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice
President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:} [He and
the Vice President shall hold their offices for the term of six years;
but the President shall not be re-eligible. The President and the
Vice President shall be elected as follows:]
(2) Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature
thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of
Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the
Congress; but no Senator or Representative or person holding an office
of trust or profit under the {United} [Confederate] States shall be
appointed an elector.
(3) The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by
ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall
not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall
name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in
distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President, and they
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and
of all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of votes
for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit,
sealed, to the seat of the government of the {United} [Confederate]
States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President of the
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then
be counted; the person having the greatest number of votes for
President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the
whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such
majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not
exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the
House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the
President. But in choosing the President the votes shall be taken by
States-- the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds
of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to
a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a
President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before
the 4th day of March next following, then the Vice President shall act
as President, as in the case of the death, or other constitutional
disability of the President.
(4) The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice
President shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority of
the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a
majority, then, from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate
shall choose the Vice President; a quorum for the purpose shall
consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority
of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.
(5) But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of
President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the {United}
[Confederate] States.
(7) 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 {United} [Confederate] States.
(8) No person except a natural-born citizen {, or a Citizen of the
United States,} [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 day 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 to the age of
thirty five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the
{United States} [limits of the Confederate States, as they may exist
at the time of this election].
(9) 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.
(10) 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 {United}
[Confederate] States, or any of them.
(11) 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 {United} [Confederate] States [of America],
and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution {of the United States} [thereof]."
Section 2. (1) The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the
Army and Navy of the {United} Confederate States, and of the militia
of the several States, when called into the actual service of the
{United} [Confederate] States; he may require the opinion, in writing,
of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon
any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices; and he
shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against
the {United States} [Confederacy], except in cases of impeachment.
(2) He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties; provided two-thirds of the Senators present
concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the
{United} [Confederate] States whose appointments are not herein
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the
Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of such inferior officers,
as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or
in the heads of departments.
(3) [The principal officer in each of the Executive Departments,
and all persons connected with the diplomatic service, may be removed
from office at the pleasure of the President. All other civil
officers of the Executive Departments may be removed at any time by
the President, or other appointing power, when their services are
unnecessary, or for dishonesty, incapacity, inefficiency, misconduct,
or neglect of duty; and when so removed, the removal shall be reported
to the Senate, together with the reasons therefor.]
(4) The President shall have power to fill {up} all vacancies that
may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions
which shall expire at the end of their next session; [but no person
rejected by the Senate shall be re-appointed to the same office during
their ensuing recess.]
Section 3. {He} [The President] shall from time to time give to the
Congress information of the state of the {Union} [Confederacy], and
recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge
necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene
both Houses, or either of them; and in case of disagreement between
them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to
such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and
other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully
executed, and shall commission all the officers of the {United}
[Confederate] States.
Section 4. The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of
the {United} [Confederate] States, shall be removed from office on
impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high
crimes and misdemeanors.
Article III
Section 1. The judicial power of the {United} [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. (1) The judicial power shall extend to all cases {, in
Law and Equity,} arising under this Constitution, the laws of the
{United} United 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 {United} [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
the plaintiff]; between citizens [claiming lands under grants] of
different States; {between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands
under Grants of different States,} and between a State or the citizens
thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects [; but no State
shall be sued by a citizen or subject of any foreign state].
(2) In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court
shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before
mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both
as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as
the Congress shall make.
(3) The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall
be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where the said
crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any
State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may
by law have directed.
Section 3. (1) Treason against the {United} [Confederate] States,
shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to
their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be
convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the
same overt act, or on confession in open court.
(2) The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of
treason; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood,
or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.
Article IV
Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to
the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other
State; and the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in
which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the
effect thereof.
Section 2. (1) The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States [; and
shall have the right of transit and sojourn in any State of this
Confederacy, with their slaves and other property; and the right of
property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired].
(2) A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other
crime [against the laws of such State], who shall flee from justice,
and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive
authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be
removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.
(3) No [slave or other] person held to service or labor in {one
State} [any State or Territory of the Confederate States], under the
laws thereof, escaping [or unlawfully 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) {New States may be admitted by the Congress into
this Union} [Other States may be admitted into this Confederacy by a
vote of two-thirds of the whole House of Representatives and
two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate voting by States]; but no new
States shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other
State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States,
or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the
States concerned, as well as of the Congress.
(2) The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all
needful rules and regulations {respecting the Territory or other
Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this
Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the
United States, or of any particular State} [concerning the property of
the Confederate States, including the lands thereof].
[(3) The Confederate States may acquire new territory; and Congress
shall have power to legislate and provide governments for the
inhabitants of all territory belonging to the Confederate States,
lying without the limits of the several 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 Confederate
States, shall be recognized and protected by Congress and by the
Territorial government; and the inhabitants of the several Confederate
States and Territories shall have the right to take to such Territory
any slaves lawfully held by them in any of the States or Territories
of the Confederate States.]
(4) The {United} [Confederate] States shall guarantee to every
State {in this Union} [that now is, or hereafter may become, a member
of this Confederacy,] a republican form of government; and shall
protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the
Legislature (or of the Executive when the Legislature {cannot be
convened} [is not in session]) against domestic violence.
Article V
{The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the
Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States,
shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either
Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this
Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of
the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the
one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress;
provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first
and fourth Clauses in the ninth Section of the first Article; and that
no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage
in the Senate.}
[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 it made; and should any of the proposed amendments to the
Constitution be agreed on by the said convention-- voting by States--
and the same be ratified by the Legislatures of two-thirds of the
several States, or by conventions in two-thirds thereof-- as the one
or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the general
convention-- they shall thenceforward form a part of this
Constitution. But no State shall, without its consent, be deprived of
its equal representation in the Senate.]
Article VI
[1. The Government established by this Constitution is the
successor of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of
America, and all laws passed by the latter shall continue in force
until the same shall be repealed or modified; and all the officers
appointed by the same shall remain in office until their successors
are appointed and qualified, or the offices abolished.]
2. All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the
adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the {United}
[Confederate] States under this Constitution, as under the
{Confederation} [Provisional Government].
3. This Constitution, and the laws of the {United} [Confederate]
States which shall be made in pursuance thereof. and all treaties
made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the {United}
[Confederate] States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the
judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the
constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
4. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the
members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and
judicial officers, both of the {United} [Confederate] States and of
the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support
this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office or public trust under the {United}
[Confederate] States.
5. The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights shall
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people
[of the several States].
6. The powers not delegated to the {United} [Confederate] States by
the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to
the States respectively, or to the people [thereof].
Article VII
The ratification of the conventions of {nine} [five] States, shall
be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the
States so ratifying the same.
[When five States shall have ratified this Constitution, in the
manner before specified, the Congress under the Provisional
Constitution shall prescribe the time for holding the election of
President and Vice President; and for the meeting of the Electoral
College; and for counting the votes, and inaugurating the President.
They shall, also, prescribe the time for holding the first election of
members of Congress under this Constitution, and the time for
assembling the same. Until the assembling of such Congress, the
Congress under the Provisional Government shall continue to exercise
the legislative powers granted them; not extending beyond the time
limited by the Constitution of the Provisional Government.]
{Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the
Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United
States of America the Twelfth.}
[Adopted unanimously by the Congress of the Confederate States of
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and
Texas, sitting in convention at the capitol, in the city of
Montgomery, Ala., on the eleventh day of March, in the year eighteen
hundred and sixty-one.]
[ Howell Cobb,
President of the Congress
South Carolina: R. Barnwell Rhett, C.G. Memminger, Wm. Porcher Miles,
James Chestnut, 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, 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.]
***End Constitution.CSA ***
Justin M. Sanders "I shot an arrow into the air. It fell
Dept. of Physics to earth I know not where." --Henry
Univ. of South Alabama Wadsworth Longfellow confessing
jsanders@jaguar1.usouthal.edu to a sad ignorance of ballistics.