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 THE 
 
 CONSTITUTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
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 d^crnfederatc ^tate55 of America. 
 
 ADO^^SBLliNAiinifoU&IrY BY THE 
 
 Congress of the Confederate States of America, 
 March lith, 1861. 
 

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EXTRACT FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE CONGRESS. 
 
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 Congress, March 11, 1861. 
 
 On the question of the adoption of the Constitution of the Confederate States of 
 America, the vote was taken by yeas and nays; and the Constitution was unanim- 
 ously adopted, as follows : 
 
 Those who voted in the afiSramtive being Messrs. Walker, Smith, Curry, Kale, 
 McRae, Shorter and Fearn, of Alabama, (Messrs. Chilton and Lewis being absent:) 
 Messrs. Morton, Anderson and Owens, of Florida; Messrs. Toombs, Howell Cobb, 
 Bartow, Nisbet, Hill, Wright, Thomas R. R. Cobb and Stephens, of Georgia, (Messrs. 
 Crawford and Kenan being absent;) Messrs. Perkins, de Clouet, Conrad, Kenner, 
 Sparrow and Marshall, of Louisiana; Messrs. Harris, Brooke, Wilson, Clayton, 
 Barry and Harrison, of Mississippi, (Mr. Campbell being absent;) Messrs. Rhett, 
 Barnwell, Keitt, Chesnut, Memminger, Miles, Withers and Boyce, of South Carolina ; 
 Messrs. Reagan, Hemphill, Waul, Gregg, Oldhata and Ochiltree, of Texas, (Mr. Wig- 
 fall being absent.) 
 
 A true copy: .T. J. HOOPER, 
 
 Secretary of the CongreaSt 
 
 Congress, March 11, 1861. 
 I do hereby certify that the foregoing are, respectively, true and correct copies of 
 "The Constitution of the Confederate States of America," unanimously adopted this 
 day, and of the yeas and nays, on the question of the adoption thereof. 
 
 HOWELL COBB, 
 President of the Congress. 
 
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 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 . 
 
 1. All legislative powers herein delegated shall be vested in a Con- 
 gress of the Confederate States, which shall consist of a Senate and 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 Section 2. 
 
 1. The House of Representatives shall he 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 mof!t numerous 
 branch of the State Legislature ; but no person of foreigli 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 sluiU not have attained 
 the age of twenty-five years, and be a citizen of the Confederate States, 
 and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitrtut 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 Confederacy, accord- 
 ing 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 aftel* 
 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 numl)er of Representatives shall not exceed one for 
 every fifty thousand, but each state shall have at least one Representa- 
 tive ; 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 Missisi<i2)pi seven ; the state of Louitiiana six, and the state of 
 Texas six. 
 
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4 Constitution of the Confederate States. 
 
 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 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. 
 
 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 expira- 
 tion of the fourth year ; and of 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 the age 
 of thirty years, and be a citizen of the Confederate States ; and who 
 shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of the state for which he shall 
 be chosen. 
 
 4. The Vice-President of the Confederate States shall 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 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 Confederate States is tried, the Chief Jus- 
 tice shall preside ; and no person shall be convicted without the con- 
 currence 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 Confederate States ; but the party 
 convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, 
 judgment and punishment according to law. 
 
Constitution of the Confederate States. 5 
 
 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 ou 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 qual- 
 ifications 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 authorised 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 ou 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 trea- 
 sury of the Confederate States. They shall, in all cases, except trea- 
 son, 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 
 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 contiuuanco in office. But Congress may, by 
 
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6 Constitution of the Confederate States. 
 
 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 raaesures appertaining to his department. 
 
 Section 1 . 
 
 1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as 
 on other bills. 
 
 2. Every bill which shall have passed both Houses, shall, before it 
 becomes a law, be presented to the President of the Confederate States ; 
 if he approve, he shall sign it ;- but if not, 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 ])ass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the 
 ot iier 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 adjourn- 
 ment, prevent its return ; in which case it shall not be a law. The Presi- 
 dent may approve any appropriation and disapprove any other appro- 
 l)riation 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 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 disap- 
 ]>roved by him, shall be re-passed by two-thirds of both Houses accord- 
 ing to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill. 
 
 Section 8. 
 
 The Congress shall have power — 
 
 1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, for revenue 
 necessary to pay the debts, provide for the common defence, and carry 
 on the government of the Confederate States; but no bounties shall be 
 granted from the treasury ; nor shall any duties or taxes on importa- 
 
Constitution" of the Confederate States. 7 
 
 tions from foreign nations be laid to promote or foster any branch of 
 industry ; and all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform through- 
 out the Confederate States : 
 
 2. To borrow money on the credit of the 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 the constitution, shall ever be construed to 
 delegate the power to Congress to appropriate money for any internal 
 improvement intended to facilitate commerce ; except for the purpose 
 of furnishing lights, beacotta, and buoys, and other aids of 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 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 : 
 
 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof and Qf 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 Confederate States : 
 
 7. To establisli postoffices and post routes ; but the expenses of the 
 Postoffice Department, after the first day of March in the year of our Lord 
 eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be paid out of its own revenues : 
 
 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 sapreme court : 
 
 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high 
 seas, and offences 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 
 Confederate States, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions : 
 
 10. 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 : 
 
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8 Constitution of the Confederate States. 
 
 11. 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 
 
 18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carry- 
 ing 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. 
 
 1. The importation of negroes of the African race, from any foreign 
 country, other than the slaveholding States or Territories of the United 
 States of America, is hereby forbidden ; and Congress is required to 
 pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the same. 
 
 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 corbus shall not be suspended, 
 unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may re- 
 quire it. 
 
 4. No bill of attainder, c.j: 2^0^ facto law, or law denying or imparing 
 the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed. 
 
 5. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in propor- 
 tion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore 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. 
 
 1. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or 
 revenue to the ports of one state over those of 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 the 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 department, 
 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 establi^^. 
 
Constitution of the Confederate States. 9 
 
 10. All bills 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 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 reli- 
 gion, 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. 
 
 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, sup- 
 ported 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 offence to be twice put in jeopardy of 
 life or limb ; nor 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 witness against 
 him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor ; 
 and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. 
 
 18. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
 exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved ; and 
 no fact so tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court 
 of the Confederacy, than according to the rules of the common law. 
 
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 19. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
 nor cruel and unusual punishment 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, aUiance, or confederation ; 
 grant lettei-g 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 jjost facto law, or law impairing the obligation of con- 
 tracts; 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 neces- 
 sary for executing its inspection laws ; and the nett produce of all 
 duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be 
 for the use of the treasury of the Confederate States ; and all such laws 
 shall be subject to the revision and control of Congress. 
 
 3. No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on 
 tonnage, except on sea-going vessels, for the improvement of its rivers 
 and harbors navigated by the said vessels ; but such duties shall not 
 conflict with any treaties of the Confederate States with foreign na- 
 tions ; and any surplus 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 TI. 
 
 Section 1 . 
 
 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the Con- 
 federate States of America. He and the Vice-President shall hold 
 their oflSces for the term of six years ; but the President shall not be 
 re-ehgible. The President and Vice-President shall be elected as 
 ■follows : 
 
 2. Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature there- 
 of may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of Sena- 
 tors 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. 
 
Constitution of the Confederate States. 11 
 
 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 namo 
 in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots 
 the person voted for as Yice-President, and they shall make distinct 
 lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for 
 as Yice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they 
 shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the govern- 
 ment 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 ma- 
 jority, then, from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceed- 
 ing 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 
 represantation from each state having one vote ; a quorum for this 
 purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the 
 states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. 
 And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President, 
 whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth 
 day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as Pre- 
 sident, as in 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 Confederate States. 
 
 6. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, 
 and the day on which they shall give their votes : which day shall be 
 the same throughout the Confederate States. 
 
 7. No person except a natural-born citizen of the Confederate States, 
 or a citizen thereof, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, 
 or a citizen thereof born in the United States prior to the 20th of 
 December, 1860, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither 
 shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained 
 the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within 
 the limits of the Confederate States, as they may exist at the time of 
 his election. 
 
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12 Constitution of the Confederate States. 
 
 8. Ill 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. 
 
 9. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a 
 compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during 
 the period for which he shall have been elected ; and he shall not re- 
 ceive within that period any other emolument from the Confederate 
 States, or any of them. 
 
 10. Before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the 
 following oath or affirmation : 
 
 " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the 
 office of President of the Confederate States, and will to the best of my 
 ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution thereof." 
 
 Section 2. 
 
 1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy 
 of the Confederate States, and of the militia of the several states, when 
 called into the actual service of the Confederate States ; he may re- 
 quire 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 offences against the Confederate States, 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 
 Confederate States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise pro- 
 vided 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 I'resident alone, in the courts of laws 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 department 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, thp removal shall be reported to the Senate, together 
 with the rpasons llierefor. 
 
Constitution of the Confederate States. 13 
 
 4. The President shall have power to fill all vacancies that may- 
 happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commission which 
 shall expire at the end of their next session ; but no person rejected by the 
 Senate shall be re-appointed to the same office during their ensuing recess. 
 
 Section 3. 
 
 1. The President shall, from time to time, give to the Congress in- 
 formation of the state of the Confederacy, and recommend to their con- 
 sideration such meausures 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 com- 
 mission all the oflScers of the Confederate States. 
 
 Section 4. 
 
 1. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the Con- 
 federate States, shall be remdved from office on impeachment for, and 
 conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 Section 1 . 
 
 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. 
 
 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases arising under this 
 Constitution, the laws of the Confederate States, and treaties made or 
 which shall be made under their authority ; to all cases affecting am- 
 bassadors, other public ministers and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty 
 and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the Confederate 
 States shall be a party ; controversies between two or more states ; be- 
 tween a state and citizen of another state where the state is plaintiff; be- 
 tween 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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14 Constitution of the Confederate States. 
 
 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and 
 consuls, and those in which a state shall be a party, the supreme court 
 shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, 
 the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and 
 fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as the Congress 
 shall make. 
 
 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 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 trea* 
 son, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of l)]ood, or for' 
 feiture, except during the life of the person attainted. 
 
 ARTICLE lY. 
 
 Section 1. 
 
 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 Con- 
 gress 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 b(! entitled to all the i>rivileges 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 })roperty : 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, oh demand of the executive authority of the 
 state from which he fled, be delivered up, to l^e removed to the state 
 having jurisdiction of the crime. 
 
 3. No slave or other person held to service or labor in any state or 
 territory of the Confederate States, under the laws thereof, escaping or 
 lawfully carried into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regula- 
 tion therein, be discharged from such service or labor: but shall be de- 
 
Constitution of the Confederate States. 15 
 
 livered up on claim of the party to whom such slave belongs, or to 
 whom such service or labor may be due. 
 
 Section 3. 
 
 1. Other states may be admitted into this Confederacy 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 ptate 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 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 inhabi* 
 tants 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 ad» 
 mitted into the Confederacy. In all such territory, the institution of 
 negro slavery as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be re- 
 cognized and protected by Congress, and by the territorial governments, 
 and the inhabitants of the several Confederate States and Territories, 
 shall have the riglit to take to such territory any slaves lawfully held 
 by them in any of the states or territories of the Confederate States. 
 
 4. The Confederate States shall guaranty to every state 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 is not in session) against domestic violence. 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 Section 1 , 
 
 1. Upon the demand of any three states, legally assembled in their 
 several conventions, the Congress shall summon a convention of all the 
 states, to take into consideration sucfi amendments to the Constitution 
 as the said states shall concur in suggesting at the time when the said 
 demand is made ) and should any of the proposed amendments to the 
 Constitution be agreed on by the said convention-=^voting by states — 
 and the same be ratified by the legislatures of two-thirds of the several 
 states, or by conventions in two-thirds thereof — as the one or the other 
 mode of ratification may be proposed by the general convention — they 
 shall thenceforward form a part of this Constitution. But no state shall, 
 without its consent, be deprived of its equal representation in the Senate: 
 
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3.^ 
 
16 Constitution of the Confederate States. 
 
 ARTICLE VI 
 
 1. The Government establised by this Constitution is the successor 
 of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, 
 and all the laws passed by the latter shall continue in force until the 
 same shall be repealed or modified ; and all the oflScers 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 Confederate 
 States under this Constitution as under the Provisional Government. 
 
 3. This Constitution, and the laws of the Confederate States, made 
 in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made under 
 the authority of the Confederate States, shall be the supreme law of the 
 land ; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything 
 in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 4. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
 members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial 
 officers, both of the Confederate States, and of the several states, shall 
 be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution ; and no 
 religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or 
 public trust under the Confederate States. 
 
 5. The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not 
 be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people of the 
 several states. 
 
 6. The powers not delegated to the Confederate States by the Con- 
 stitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states, 
 respectively, or to the people thereof. 
 
 ARTICLE VII 
 
 1. The ratification of the conventions of five states shall be sufficient 
 for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying 
 the same, 
 
 2. 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-Presi- 
 dent ; and, for the meeting of the Electoral College ; and, for countjttg 
 
 ,W" 
 
 the votes, and inaugurating the President, They shall, also, prescWiJ?« 
 the time for holding the first election of members of Congress und^rtlis 
 Constitution, and the time for assembling the same. IT<j^ii^Ui£.i as- 
 sembling of such Congress, the Congress undt;r tfie Provisional Consti- 
 tution shall continue to exercise the legislative powers granted them ; 
 not extending beyond the time limited by the Constitution of the Provi- 
 sional Government. 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
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