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 PERKINS LIBRARY 
 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/permanentconstitOOconf 
 
1* 
 
 1. 
 
 PERMANENT CONSTITUTION 
 
 OF THt; 
 
 ^^I'N 
 
 J 
 
 NFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA! 
 
 ADOPTED BY THE 
 
 CONFEDERATE CONGRESS, 
 
 MARCH 11, 1861 
 
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PERMANENT CONSTITUTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COIFEDERATE SIHES OF AIERICA 
 
 ADOPTED BY THE 
 
 CONFEDERATE CONGRESS, 
 
 MARCH 11, 18G1. 
 
 RICHMOND: 
 
 PRINTED BY JAMES E. GOODE, 
 1861. 
 
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 cojntederate constitution. 
 
 J 
 
 "We, the people of the Confederate States, each state acting in its sove- 
 reign 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 constitu- 
 tion 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. 
 
 1. The house of representatives shall be composed of members chosen 
 every second year by the people of the several states; and the electors 
 in each state shall be citizens of the Confederate States, and have the 
 qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the 
 state legislature; but no person of foreign birth, not a citizen of the 
 Confederate States, shall be" allowed to vote for any officer, civil or po- 
 litical, state or federal. 
 
 2. No person shall be a representative who shall 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 inhabitant of that state in which he 
 shall be chosen. 
 
 3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the 
 several states, which may be included within this 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. Tho 
 
actual enumeration shall be made within three j'^ears after the first meet- 
 ing of the congress of the Confederate States, and within every subse- 
 quent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. 
 The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every fifty thou- 
 sand, 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. 
 
 4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the 
 executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such va- 
 cancies. 
 
 5. The house of representatives shall choose their speaker and other 
 officers; and shall have the sole power of impeacliment; 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 expiration 
 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 vacan- 
 cies happen by resignation or otherwise during the recess of the legisla- 
 ture of any state, the executive thereof may make temporary appoint- 
 ments 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 Avho 
 shall not, Avhcn elected, be an inhabitant of the state for whicli 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 ^^liall choose their officers; and also a president p7'o 
 
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 justice 
 shall preside ; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence 
 of two-tliirds of the members present. 
 
 7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than 
 to removal from office and disqualification to hold and onjoy 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. 
 
 1. The times, place and manner of holding elections for senators and 
 represenatives shall be prescribed in eacli state by the legislature thereof, 
 subject to the provisions of this constitution; but the congress may, at 
 any time, by law, make or alter such regulations except as to the times 
 and places of choosing senators. 
 
 2. The congress shall assemble at least once in every year; and such 
 meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall, by 
 law, appoint a different day. 
 
 SECTION 5. 
 
 1. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualfi- 
 cations 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 mem- 
 bers 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 tlie whole number expel a member. 
 
 8. p]ach liouse shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time 
 to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment 
 require secresy; and the yeas and nays of' the members of either house, 
 on any question, shall at the de'iire of one-fifth of those present, be en- 
 tered on the journal. 
 
 .4. Neither house during the session of Congress shall, without the 
 consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
 
 plnrp lli.-ri tV»nf ^1^ vW-A, i\c ♦v,-/-, housCS }-hal1 V,C lejttin"'. 
 
SECTION 6. 
 
 1. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for 
 their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of 
 the Confederate States. They shall in all cases except treason, felony 
 and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their atten- 
 dance at the session of their respective houses and in going to and re- 
 turning 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 Av.hich 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. 
 
 1. All bills for raising the revenue shall originate in the house of rep- 
 resentatives ; but the senate may propose or concur Avith amendments as 
 on other bills. 
 
 2. Every bill which shall have passed both houses, shall, before it be- 
 comes 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 sliall 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 tlie 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 pre- 
 
sident may approve any appropriation and disapprove any other appro- 
 priation 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 eflfect, 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 case of a bill. 
 
 SECTION 8. 
 
 The congi-ess 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- 
 tions from foreign nations be laid to promote or foster any branch of 
 industr}^ 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 tliis, 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, beacons, and buoys, and other aid 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 navi- 
 gation 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 of foreign coin, and 
 fix the standard of weights and measures: 
 
8 
 
 C. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and 
 current coin of the Confederate States: 
 
 7. To establish post-offices and post-routes; but the expenses of the 
 post-office 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 respec- 
 tive vvritin2;s and discoveries : 
 
 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court : 
 
 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high 
 seas, and ofiences against the law of nations : 
 
 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make 
 rules concerning captures on land and on water : 
 
 12. To raise and support armies ; bnt 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: 
 
 16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, 
 and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service 
 of the Confederate States; reserving to the states, respectively, the 
 appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia 
 according to the discipline prescribed by congress : 
 
 17. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over 
 such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of 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 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 carryr 
 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 
 
9 
 
 country other than the sLaveholding states or territories of the United 
 States of America, is hereby forbidden; and congress is required to 
 pass such Laws as shall effectually prevent the same. 
 
 2. Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of 
 slaves from any state not a member of, or territory not belonging to, 
 this Confederacy. 
 
 3. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, 
 unless when in case of rebellion or invasion the public safety may 
 require it. 
 
 4. Tn bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing 
 the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed. 
 
 5. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion 
 to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 
 
 6. No tax or duty shall be laid on ai tides exported from any state, 
 except by a vote of two-thirds of both houses. 
 
 7. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or 
 revenue to the ports of one state over those of another. 
 
 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 departments, 
 and submitted to Congress by the president; or for the purpose of pay- 
 ing its own expenses and contingencies; or for tlie 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 estab- 
 lish. • 
 
 10. All bills appropriating money shall specify in federal currency 
 the exact amount of each appropriation, and the purposes for Avhich it 
 is made; and congress sliall 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. 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 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 Avell regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free 
 state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be in- 
 fringed, 
 
 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 infa- 
 mous 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 pro- 
 cess 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. 
 
 13. 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 jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court 
 of the Confederacy, than according to the rules of the common law. 
 
 19. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
 nor cruel and unusual 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. 
 
11 
 
 SECTION 10. 
 
 1. No state shall enter into any treaty, allianc^W)r confederation ; 
 grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money; make any thinfi; but 
 gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill of 
 attainder, or ex j^ost facto law, or law ini])airing the obligation of con- 
 tracts ; or grant .any title of nobility. 
 
 2. No state shall, without the consent of the congress, lay any im- 
 posts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely 
 necessary for executing its inspection lows ; and the net produce of all 
 duties and imposts, laid b}'^ 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 nations ; 
 and any surplus revenue, thus derived, shall, after making such improve- 
 ment, be paid into the common treasmy. 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 I. 
 
 1. The executive poAvcr shall be vested in a president of tlie Confede- 
 rate States of America. He and the vice-president shall hold their 
 oflices for the term of six years ; but the president shall not be re- 
 eligible. The president and vice-president shall bo elected as follows: 
 
 2. Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thcrco> 
 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 thr Confederate States, shall be appointed an elector. 
 
 3. The electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by bal- 
 lot for president and vice-president, one of whom, at least, shall not bo 
 
12 
 
 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 fi#^as vice-president, and they shall mate 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 goverment 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 numher be a majority of the whole num- 
 ber 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 repre- 
 sentatives 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 president, 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 thai 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 ; Avhich 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 De- 
 cember, 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 
 
13 
 
 of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident witliin tlie limits 
 of the Confederate States, as they may exist at the time of his election. 
 8. 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 in- 
 ability, both of the president and vice-president, declaring what officer 
 shall then act as president ; and such officers shall act accordingly, until 
 the disability be removed or a president shall be elected. 
 
 0. The president shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com- 
 pensation, 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. 
 
 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 of America, 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 par- 
 dons for offences against the Confederacy, except in cases of impeach- 
 ment. 
 
 2. lie 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 app<tint amiiassadors, other public ministers and 
 consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the Con- 
 federate States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided 
 for, and which shall be established by law. But the congress may, by 
 law, vc.«t the appointment of such' inferior officers, as they may think 
 jiroper, in the president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of 
 departments. 
 
14 
 
 C. The principal officer in each executive departments, and all per- 
 sons connected with the diplomatic service, may be removed from office 
 at the pleasure of the president. All other civil officers of the execu- 
 tive departments may be removed at any time by the president, or other 
 appointing power, when their services are unnecessary, or for dishonesty, 
 incapacity, inefficiency, misconduct, or neglect of duty ; and when so 
 removed, the removal shall be reported to the senate, together with the 
 reasons therefor. 
 
 4. The president shall have the 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 reappointed to the same office during their ensuing 
 recess. 
 
 SECTION 3. 
 
 The president shall, from time to time, give to the congress infor- 
 mation of the state of the Confederacy, and recommend to their consi- 
 deration 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 pro- 
 per ; 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. 
 
 SECTioisr 4. 
 
 The president, vice-president, and all 'civil officers of the Confede- 
 rate States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and con- 
 viction 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 durin.q; their continuance in office. 
 
. . SECTION 2. 
 
 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases arising under this con- 
 stitution, the lawr? 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 ; to controversies between two or more states ; 
 between a state and a citizen of another state, where the state is plain- 
 tiff; 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 
 foreio;n state. 
 
 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and con- 
 suls, and those in which a state shall be a part}', the supreme court shall 
 have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the 
 supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction both as tf) law and fact, 
 Avith such exceptions and under such regulations as the congress shall 
 make. 
 
 8. 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 coiumitted; but when not committed witliin any state, 
 the trial shall be at such place or phaces as tlic 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 testi- 
 mony 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 blood, or for- 
 feiture, except during the life of the person attainted. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 SECTION 1. 
 
 Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, 
 records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the con- 
 
16 
 
 gross may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in wliicli such acts, 
 records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 
 
 SECTION 2. 
 
 1. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all the privileges and 
 immunities of citizens in the several states ; and shall have the riirht of 
 transit and sojourn in any state of this Confederacy, Avith their slaves 
 and other property ; and the right of property in said slaves shall not 
 be thereby impaired. 
 
 2. A person charged in any state with treason, felony or other crime 
 against the laws of such state, who shall flee from justice and be found 
 in another state, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the 
 state from which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the state 
 having jurisdiction of the crime. 
 
 3. No slave or other person held to service or labor in any state or 
 territory of the Confederate States under the laws thereof, escaping or 
 unlawfully cah-ied into another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
 regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor; but shall 
 be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such slave belongs or to 
 whom such service or labor may be due. 
 
 SECTION 3. 
 
 1. 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 nf w state 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 inhabitants 
 of all territory belonging to the Confederate States lying without the 
 limits of the several states ; and may permit them at such times and in 
 such manner as it may by law provide to form states to be admitted into 
 the confederacy. In all such territol-y the institution of negro slavery, 
 as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and pro- 
 tected by congress and by the territorial government: and the inhabi- 
 
17 
 
 tants of the several Confederate States and territories shall have the 
 right to take to such territory any slaves lawfully held hy them in any 
 of the states or territories of the Confederate States. 
 
 4. The Confederate States shall guarantee to every state that now is 
 or hereafter may become a member of this confederacy a republican form 
 of government; and sliall protect each of tliem against invasion; and on 
 application of the legislature, (or of the executive when the legislature 
 is not in session,) against domestic violence. 
 
 ARTICLE Y. 
 
 , section!. 
 
 Upon the demand of any three states legally assembled in their 
 several conventions, the congress shall summon a convention of all the 
 states to take into consideration such amendments to the constitution as 
 the said states shall concur in suggesting at the time when the said de- 
 mand is made ; and should any of the proposed amendments to the con- 
 stitution be agreed on by tlie said convention — voting by states — and the 
 same be ratified by the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states or 
 l)y conventions in two-thirds thereof — as the one or the other mode 
 of ratification may be proposed by the general convention — the}' shall 
 thenceforward form a part of this constitution. But no state shall, 
 without its consent be deprived of its equal representation in the senate. 
 
 ARTICLE YI. 
 
 1. The government established by this constitution is the successor of 
 the provisional government of the Confederate States of America, and 
 all the laws passed b}" the latter slnill continue in force until the same 
 shall be repealed or modified; and all the officers appointed by the same 
 shall remain in office until their successors arc appointed and qualified 
 or the offices abolished. 
 
 2. All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adop- 
 tion 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 
 tlie authority of the Confederate States, shall be the supreme law of the 
 land; and the judges in every state shall be bound tliertby, anything in 
 the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 4. The senators and representatives before mentioned and the mem- 
 
18 
 
 bcrs of the several state legislatures and all executive and, judicial offi- 
 cers, both of the Confederate States and of the several states, shall be 
 bound by oath or affirmation to support tliis constitution ; but 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 sev- 
 eral states. 
 
 6. The powers not delegated to the Confederate States by the consti- 
 tution nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states re- 
 spectively or to the people thereof. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. 
 
 1. The ratification of the convention of five states shall be sufficient 
 for the establishment of this constitution betAveen 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 counting the 
 votes and inaugurating the president. They shall also prescribe the time 
 for holding the first election of members of congress under this consti- 
 tution and the time for assembling the same. Until the assembling of 
 such congress, the congress under the provisional constitution shall con- 
 tinue to exercise the legislative powers granted them; not extending 
 beyond the time limited by the constitution of the provisional govern- 
 ment. 
 
19 
 
 AN ACT 
 
 To admit the Commonwealth of Virginia as a member of the 
 Confederate States of America, 
 
 The commonwealth of Virginia having in a convention of her people 
 ratified and adopted the constitution of the provisional government of 
 the Confederate States of America : therefore, 
 
 Tlie congress of the Confederate States of America do enact. That 
 the commonwealtli of Virginia he and is herehy admitted as a meml)cr 
 of the said Confederate States, upon an equal footing with the other 
 Confederate States, under the constitution for the provisional goveiii- 
 mcnt of the same. 
 
 Approved May 7, 1861.