Constitution of the Confederate States and Talk:Torn and Frayed: Difference between pages
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[[Image:confederateconstitution1.jpg|right|frame|250px|The Confederate States Constitution]] |
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{{wikisource|Constitution of the Confederate States of America}} |
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The '''Constitution of the Confederate States of America''' was the supreme [[law]] of the [[Confederate States of America]], as adopted on [[March 11]], [[1861]] and in effect through the conclusion of the [[American Civil War]]. The Confederacy also operated under a [[Provisional Confederate States Constitution|Provisional Constitution]] from [[February 8]], [[1861]] to [[March 11]], [[1861]]. |
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The image [[:Image:ExileMainSt.jpg]] is used in this article under a claim of [[WP:NFC|fair use]], but it does not have an adequate explanation for why it meets the [[WP:NFCC|requirements for such images]] when used here. In particular, for each page the image is used on, it must have an [[Wikipedia:Non-free use rationale guideline|explanation]] linking to that page which explains why it needs to be used on that page. Please check |
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In regard to most articles of the Constitution, the document is a word-for-word duplicate of the [[United States Constitution]]. The original, hand-written document is currently located in the [[University of Georgia]] archives at [[Athens, Georgia]]. The major differences between the two constitutions was the Confederacy's greater emphasis on the rights of individual member states, and an explicit support of [[slavery]]. |
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This is an automated notice by [[User:FairuseBot|FairuseBot]]. For assistance on the image use policy, see [[Wikipedia:Media copyright questions]]. --00:21, 11 September 2008 (UTC) |
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== Branches == |
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The constitution outlines a three branch government, consisting of the: |
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*[[Congress of the Confederate States]], consisting of an elected [[Confederate House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and a [[Confederate Senate|Senate]] appointed by the state legislatures. |
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*[[President of the Confederate States]] and Vice President chosen by an [[electoral college]] and given one six year term. |
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*[[Supreme Court]] nominated by the President and approved by the Senate. While the Constitution established the Supreme Court as head of the judicial branch, no justices were ever appointed, for fear that the Supreme Court would wield too much power over the states.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schwab|first=John Christopher|title=The Confederate States of America, 1861–1865|year=1901|pages=pp. 219–220|location=New York|publisher=C. Scribner's Sons|oclc=1612925}}</ref>. |
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== Slavery == |
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The constitution forbade the practice of importing slaves from outside the Confederacy, but explicitly disallowed the national government from outlawing slavery in the following key provision: |
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:''No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed [by Congress]'' |
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The constitution likewise prohibited the Confederate Congress from abolishing or limiting slavery in Confederate territories (unlike the United States, where, prior to the [[Dred Scott v. Sandford|Dred Scott decision]], Congress had prohibited slavery in some territories). The legal basis for slavery in the Confederacy is largely presented as an extension of [[property]] rights. |
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A proposal to prohibit free states from joining the Confederate States of America was narrowly defeated, largely due to the efforts of moderates such as [[Alexander Stephens]]. Stephens reasoned that economics might persuade free states with strong economic ties to the South to join the Confederacy. |
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== Changes from U.S. constitution == |
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*The President was elected for a single six-year [[Term limit|term]], rather than an unlimited (at that time) number of four-year terms or a maximum of two four-year terms (today). |
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*Several provisions in Article I, as follows: prohibited non-citizens from voting (Sec. 2, Cl. 1 - a [[nativist]] provision showing the lingering influence of the [[Know-Nothing movement]], though it was past its peak by the time of the Civil War){{Or|date=May 2008}}, extended the power of impeachment of federal officials to state legislatures in certain cases (Sec. 2, Cl. 5), granted cabinet officers opportunity to address the House of Representatives (Sec. 6), and gave the Confederate President a [[line item veto]] over certain appropriations legislation (Sec. 7, Cl. 2). |
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* The first twelve amendments to the U.S. Constitution, including the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]], were directly incorporated into the Confederate Constitution. This was originally suggested by James Madison for the Bill of Rights in the time after the Constitution Convention, but he was defeated. |
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* There were several minor technical changes in the text adopted from the U.S. Constitution. Each clause within a section was numbered, whereas in the U.S. constitution clause numbers were only inferred, capitalization of nouns was closer to modern usage, and "Confederate States" was substituted for "United States" wherever necessary. |
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* The preamble maintained the structure of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution with several distinctions. The Confederate preamble added the words "each State acting in its sovereign and independent character" after "We the people of the Confederate States"; substituted "permanent federal government" for "more perfect Union"; deleted the phrases referring to providing for the "common defence" and "general welfare"; and inserted the words "invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God". |
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* Despite some opposition, the international slave trade was banned in the Confederacy, as it had been in the U.S. since [[1808]]. Delegates feared that European governments would not recognize a CSA that did not prohibit the international trade. The international slave trade was distasteful to many slaveowners. Prohibition of foreign slave trade also protected the substantial domestic slave trade in [[Virginia]] and [[Maryland]], who had yet to join the CSA. |
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* Confederate officials serving within a state could be impeached by the legislature of that state, as well as by the Confederate Congress. |
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* The phrase "to promote or foster any branch of industry" was added to the "tax uniformity clause" in Section I, Article 8 to stress the opposition of the Confederacy to non-uniform tariffs such as the [[Tariff of 1828]], also known as the Tariff of Abominations. |
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* The process of amendment became easier, requiring two-thirds of the states rather than three-fourths. |
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* A bill, or any resolution carrying the force of law, could only deal with a single subject, which had to be stated in the title. |
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* If there was a vacancy in the House of Representatives, the governor of the state represented could fill the vacancy. He could do so for a Senate vacancy only during the recess of the legislature, and only for a term until the legislature met and made its own choice. |
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== States' rights == |
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The Preamble to the Confederate Constitution begins: "We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character..." |
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The Confederate Constitution contains little evidence of an agenda to advance the cause of states' rights.<ref name="filibuster">{{cite web|url=http://www.filibustercartoons.com/CSA.htm|title=Constitution of the Confederate States of America- what was changed?|date=2008-06-18|accessdate=2008-07-04|last=McCullough|first=JJ|work=Filibuster Cartoons.com}}</ref>. The constitution contained many of the phrases and clauses which had led to disagreement among the states in the original Union, including a [[supremacy clause]], a [[commerce clause]] (albeit a more restrained version than in the U.S. Constitution, which itself had not been construed nearly as broadly as it is today), and a [[necessary and proper clause]]. By these clauses, the Confederate Congress had powers almost identical to those of the U.S. Congress. The Confederate Constitution contained clauses which increased the powers of the Executive Branch, such as the line item veto power given to the president. The Confederate Constitution also provided for a Supreme Court, which, through the supremacy clause, could acquire all the powers claimed for the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] by [[John Marshall]]. The Confederate Constitution was to take effect upon ratification by five states, like the U.S. Constitution, which took effect after nine states ratified it. This had been a major point of contention in the [[Anti-Federalist Papers]]. The framers of the Confederate Constitution, having studied the various [[constitutional crisis|constitutional crises]] which had arisen in the United States between 1787 and 1860, tried to revise the constitution to eliminate the grievances which had been raised by the southern States in that period, in particular by hedging the institution of slavery with Constitutional protections. |
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== Signatories == |
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The signatories of the constitution were: |
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*[[Howell Cobb]], President of the Congress. |
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*'''[[South Carolina]]''': [[Robert Rhett|Robert Barnwell Rhett]], [[Christopher Memminger|C. G. Memminger]], [[William Porcher Miles]], [[James Chesnut, Jr.]], [[Robert Woodward Barnwell|R. W. Barnwell]], [[William W. Boyce]], [[Lawrence M. Keitt]], T. J. Withers. |
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*'''[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]''': [[Francis S. Bartow]], [[Martin J. Crawford]], Benjamin H. Hill, [[Thomas R. R. Cobb]]. |
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*'''[[Florida]]''': [[Jackson Morton]], J. Patton Anderson, Jas. B. Owens. |
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*'''[[Alabama]]''': [[Richard Wilde Walker|Richard W. Walker]], Robert H. Smith, [[Colin J. McRae]], [[William Parish Chilton, Sr.|William P. Chilton]], [[Stephen F. Hale]], [[David P. Lewis]], [[Thomas Fearn]], [[John Gill Shorter]], [[Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry|J. L. M. Curry]]. |
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*'''[[Mississippi]]''': Alex. M. Clayton, James T. Harrison, [[William S. Barry]], W. S. Wilson, Walker Brooke, W. P. Harris, J. A. P. Campbell. |
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*'''[[Louisiana]]''': Alex. de Clouet, C. M. Conrad, [[Duncan F. Kenner]], Henry Marshall. |
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*'''[[Texas]]''': [[John Hemphill (politician)|John Hemphill]], [[Thomas N. Waul]], [[John Henninger Reagan|John H. Reagan]], Williamson S. Oldham, [[Louis T. Wigfall]], John Gregg, [[William Beck Ochiltree]]. |
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*'''[[Missouri]]''': [[Edward Davidson]], [[Johnny J. Davis, Jr.]] |
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== References == |
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{{Reflist}} |
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== External links == |
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* [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/csa/csa.htm Text of the constitution] |
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* [http://www.filibustercartoons.com/CSA.htm Study on the differences between the United States and Confederate States Constitutions] |
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* [http://www.mises.org/freemarket_detail.asp?control=353 The Confederate Constitution, by Randall G. Holcombe] A libertarian study of the Confederate Constitution. |
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[[Category:1861 in law]] |
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[[Category:Government of the Confederate States|Constitution]] |
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[[Category:Secession crisis of 1860-1861]] |
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[[Category:Constitutions of former countries|Confederate States of America]] |
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[[de:Verfassung der Konföderierten Staaten]] |
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[[fr:Constitution des États Confédérés]] |
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[[he:חוקת קונפדרציית המדינות של אמריקה]] |
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Revision as of 02:47, 13 October 2008
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Image copyright problem with Image:ExileMainSt.jpg
The image Image:ExileMainSt.jpg is used in this article under a claim of fair use, but it does not have an adequate explanation for why it meets the requirements for such images when used here. In particular, for each page the image is used on, it must have an explanation linking to that page which explains why it needs to be used on that page. Please check
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This is an automated notice by FairuseBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. --00:21, 11 September 2008 (UTC)