Congress of the Confederate States of America

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The Congress of the Confederate States of America (short Confederate Congress ) was the legislature of the Confederate States of America during the period of the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. It consisted of the House of Representatives (lower house), whose members were elected by the people of the individual states, and the Senate (upper house) occupied by the parliaments of the states.

History of origin

Delegates from the first seven states that had split off from the Union ( Alabama , Louisiana , Florida , Mississippi , Georgia , South Carolina, and Texas ) met for two sessions in Montgomery, Alabama , from February to May 1861 and formed the so-called Provisional Confederate Congress . It was here that the Constitution of the Confederate States was ratified, its flag was drafted and Jefferson Davis was elected President of the Confederate States . After the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, the provisional legislature came in still three more sessions Richmond ( Virginia together).

The Capitol in Richmond, Virginia in 1865

The elections for the first Confederate Congress took place on November 6, 1861. Unlike its predecessor, this congress consisted of a lower house and an upper house. Because of the victory of the Northern States in 1865, there were only two elections to Congress and the second Congress could only meet for two sessions.

First Confederate Congress

Meetings

  • First session: February 18, 1862 to April 21, 1862
  • Second session: August 18, 1862 to October 13, 1862
  • Third session: January 12, 1863 to May 1, 1863
  • Fourth session: December 7, 1863 to February 17, 1864

Chair

Senate :

House of Representatives :

Second Confederate Congress

Meetings

  • First session: May 2, 1864 to June 14, 1864
  • Second session: November 7, 1864 to March 18, 1865

Chair

Senate :

  • President of the Senate: Alexander Hamilton Stephens
  • President pro tempore: Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter
  • President pro tempore ad interim: William Alexander Graham

House of Representatives :

legislation

One of the laws was the Partisan Ranger Act , which was passed on April 21, 1862. Originally intended to increase the military strength of the southern states by promoting the formation of partisan units , the law was repealed on February 17, 1864 at the urging of Robert Edward Lee . It was feared that the lack of discipline in such units was more of a disadvantage for the overall strength of the troops . Only two associations, the Mosby's Raiders and the McNeill's Rangers , which were known for their military discipline, were allowed to continue to exist until the end of the Civil War.

Since the Confederate States did not have naval forces , the Bounty Law was passed in an amendment to the declaration of war on May 21, 1861 . In this type of letter of piracy , private individuals who sank enemy units with their ships were initially awarded 20 percent later 50 percent of the value of the sunk ship. In the course of this a number of new inventions emerged, such as torpedoes or the CSS Hunley submarine .

In a proclamation from December 1862, Jefferson Davis called for the execution of the captured Afro-American units of the northern states or their white leaders. The northern states reacted to this threat accordingly by wanting to do the same to the Confederate States if it were implemented, which led to this "official" demand being reversed. The conditions in the life of African American troops during the Civil War was also taken up in the 1989 historical drama Glory .

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