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Constitution of the Confederate States of America
We, the people of the Confederate States, each State
acting in its sovereign and independent character,
in order to form a permanent federal government, establish
justice, insure domestic tranquillity, and secure
the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity--invoking
the favor and guidance of Almighty God--do ordain
and establish this Constitution for the Confederate
States of America.
ARTICLE I.
Section 1. All legislative powers herein
delegated, shall be vested in a Congress of the Confederate
States, which shall consist of a Senate and House
of Representatives.
Section 2. 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.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not
have attained to 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. Representatives and direct
taxes shall be apportioned among the several States
which may be included within this Confederacy, according
to their respective numbers, which shall be determined
by adding to the whole number of free persons, including
those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding
Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all slaves. The
actual enumeration shall be made within three years
after the first meeting of the Congress of the Confederate
States, and within every subsequent term of ten years,
in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number
of Representatives shall not exceed one for every
fifty thousand, but each State shall have at least
one Representative; and until such enumeration shall
be made, the State of South Carolina shall be entitled
to choose six; the State of Georgia ten; the State
of Alabama nine; the State of Florida two; the State
of Mississippi seven; the State of Louisiana six;
and the State of Texas six.
When vacancies happen in the representation from
any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue
writs of election to fill such vacancies.
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. 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. 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.
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have
attained the age of thirty years, and be a Citizen
of the Confederate States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an inhabitant of the State for which he
shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the Confederate States shall
be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote,
unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other officers; and
also a President pro tempore in the absence of the
Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office
of President of the Confederate States.
The Senate shall have the sole power to try all
impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they
shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President
of the Confederate States is tried, the Chief Justice
shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without
the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.
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 Confederate States; but the party convicted
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment,
trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.
Section 4. 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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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. The Senators and Representatives
shall receive a compensation for their services, to
be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury
of the Confederate States. They shall in all cases,
except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be
privileged from arrest during their attendance at
the session of their respective Houses, and in going
to and returning from the same; and for any speech
or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned
in any other place. No Senator or Representative shall,
during the time for which he was elected, be appointed
to any civil office under the authority of the Confederate
States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments
whereof shall have been increased during such time;
and no person holding any office under the Confederate
States, shall be a member of either House during his
continuance in office. But Congress may, by law, grant
to the principal officer in each of the executive
departments a seat upon the floor of either House,
with the privilege of discussing any measures appertaining
to his department.
Section 7. 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.
Every bill which shall have passed both Houses,
shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the
President of the Confederate States; if he approve,
he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it,
with his objections, to that House in which it shall
have originated, who shall enter the objections at
large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider
it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that
House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent,
together with the objections, to the other House,
by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if
approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become
a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both Houses
shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names
of the persons voting for and against the bill shall
be entered on the journal of each House 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 sgned 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.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence
of both Houses may be necessary (except on a question
of adjournment) shall be presented to the President
of the Confederate States; and before the same shall
take effect, shall be approved by him; or, being disapproved,
shall be repassed by two thirds of both Houses, according
to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case
of a bill.
Section 8. The Congress shall have power--
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,
for revenue necessary to pay the debts provide for
the common defense, and carry on the government of
the Confederate States; but no bounties shall be granted
from the treasury, nor shall any duties or taxes on
importations from foreign nations be laid to promote
or foster any branch of industry; and all duties,
imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the
Confederate States.
To borrow money on the credit of the Confederate
States;
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.
To establish uniform laws of naturalization, and
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout
the Confederate States; but no law of Congress shall
discharge any debt contracted before the passage of
the same.
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and
measures.
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting
the securities and current coin of the Confederate
States.
To establish post offices and post routes; but the
expenses of the Post Office 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.
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 tribunals inferior to the Supreme
Court.
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed
on the high seas, and offenses against the law of
nations.
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal,
and make rules concerning captures on land and water.
To raise and support armies; but no appropriation
of money to that use shall be for a longer term than
two years.
To provide and maintain a navy.
To make rules for the government and regulation
of the land and naval forces. To provide for calling
forth the militia to execute the laws of the Confederate
States, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.
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, 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 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. 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.
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.
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.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law,
or law denying or impairing the right of property
in negro slaves shall be passed.
No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid,
unless in proportion to the census or enumeration
herein before directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported
from any State, except by a vote of two-thirds of
both Houses.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of
commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over
those of another.
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.
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.
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.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the Confederate
States; and no person holding any office of profit
or trust under them shall, without the consent of
the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office,
or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince,
or foreign state.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and petition the government for a redress of grievances.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Confederacy, than according to the rules of the common
law.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
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. To state shall enter into any
treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters
of marque and reprisal; coin money; make anything
but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts;
pass any bill of attainder, or ex post facto law,
or law impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant
any title of nobility. No state shall, without the
consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties
on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely
necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the
net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any
State on imports or exports, shall be for the use
of the Treasury of the Confederate States; and all
such laws shall be subject to the revision and control
of the Congress.
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 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. The executive power shall be
vested in a President of the Confederate States of
America. He and the Vice President shall hold their
offices for the term of six years; but the President
shall not be re-eligible. The President and the Vice
President shall be elected as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the
Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors
equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives
to which the State may be entitled in the Congress;
but no Senator or Representative or person holding
an office of trust or profit under the Confederate
States shall be appointed an elector.
The electors shall meet in their respective States
and vote by ballot for President and Vice President,
one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant
of the same State with themselves; they shall name
in their ballots the person voted for as President,
and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice
President, and they shall make distinct lists of all
persons voted for as President, and of all persons
voted for as Vice President, and of the number of
votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify,
and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government
of the Confederate States, directed to the President
of the Senate; the President of the Senate shall,
in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then
be counted; the person having the greatest number
of votes for President shall be the President, if
such number be a majority of the whole number of electors
appointed; and if no person have such majority, then
from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding
three, on the list of those voted for as President,
the House of Representatives shall choose immediately,
by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President
the votes shall be taken by States-- the representation
from each State having one vote; a quorum for this
purpose shall consist of a member or members from
two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the
States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the
House of Representatives shall not choose a President
whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them,
before the 4th day of March next following, then the
Vice President shall act as President, as in the case
of the death, or other constitutional disability of
the President.
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.
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the
office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice
President of the Confederate States. 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.
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 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
limits of the Confederate States, as they may exist
at the time of this election.
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.
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. 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."
Section 2. The President shall be Commander-in-Chief
of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States, and
of the militia of the several States, when called
into the actual service of the Confederate States;
he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal
officer in each of the executive departments, upon
any subject relating to the duties of their respective
offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves
and pardons for offenses against the Confederacy,
except in cases of impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, to make treaties; provided
two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he
shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate shall appoint ambassadors, other public
ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court,
and all other officers of the Confederate States whose
appointments are not herein otherwise provided for,
and which shall be established by law; but the Congress
may, by law, vest the appointment of such inferior
officers, as they think proper, in the President alone,
in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
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.
The President shall have power to fill all vacancies
that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by
granting commissions which shall expire at the end
of their next session; but no person rejected by the
Senate shall be re-appointed to the same office during
their ensuing recess.
Section 3. The President shall from time
to time give to the Congress information of the state
of the Confederacy, and recommend to their consideration
such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;
he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses,
or either of them; and in case of disagreement between
them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he
may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper;
he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers;
he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed,
and shall commission all the officers of the Confederate
States.
Section 4. The President, Vice President,
and all civil officers of the Confederate States,
shall be removed from office on impeachment for and
conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes
and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE III
Section 1. 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. 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 the plaintiff; between
citizens claiming lands under grants of different
States; and between a State or the citizens thereof,
and foreign states, citizens or subjects; but no State
shall be sued by a citizen or subject of any foreign
state.
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