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 tranquility, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity--invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty
God--do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Confederate States of
America.
Article
I.
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 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.
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.
No state shall enter into any
treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin
money; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts;
pass any bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, or law impairing the
obligation of contracts; or grant any title of nobility.
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.