Jonah Patel
The Confederate Constitution, also known as the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, was approved on March 11, 1861, in Montgomery, Alabama. The Confederate Constitution was the supreme law of the Confederate States of America and superseded the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States, the Confederate State's first constitution, in 1862. The Confederate Constitution explicitly supported slavery and reasserted the principle of state's rights.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of adoption | March 11, 1861 |
| Date proposed | March 1861 |
| Location of adoption | Montgomery, Alabama |
| Location of original document | Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia |
| Superseded | Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States |
| Supreme law of | Confederate States of America |
| Years in effect | 1862-1865 |
| Authors' intention | To give a different feel to the new preamble |
| Rights | Same as in the First Amendment |
| Rights application | To the Confederacy, not the states |
| Basis | U.S. Constitution |
| Differences with U.S. Constitution | Tone and legal content, primarily regarding slavery |
| Amendments | IX and X |
| Presidential term | Six years, non-renewable |
| Presidential powers | Line-item veto, initiation of appropriation bills |
| Supreme Court | Envisaged but never established |
| Main purpose | To preserve slavery and white supremacy |
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What You'll Learn
- The Confederate Constitution was adopted on March 11, 1861
- It superseded the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States in 1862
- The Confederate Constitution explicitly supported slavery and white supremacy
- It was found in a wagon in April 1865 and is now stored in a vault
- The Confederate Constitution was written after a Confederate Provisional Constitution was drafted in early 1861
The Confederate Constitution was adopted on March 11, 1861
The Confederate Constitution was proposed and subsequently approved in Montgomery, Alabama, in February 1861, following the inauguration of Jefferson Davis as President of the Confederate States of America. The Confederate Constitution included the same rights as in the First Amendment, applying it to the Confederacy, not the states. The preamble of its constitution begins with: "We, the People of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character...".
The Confederate Constitution has the 9th and 10th Amendments as its Article 6, which covers miscellaneous matters. It modifies the 9th Amendment to specify that 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". The Confederate Constitution also includes a non-renewable six-year term for the president and a line-item veto. It explicitly supports slavery and reasserts the principle of state rights that had dominated under the Articles of Confederation (1781-1789).
The Confederate Constitution made alterations to individual rights easier than under the U.S. Constitution. It also included specific provisions to protect slavery, although it did prohibit the African slave trade. The Confederate Constitution is a controversial document, with some arguing that it was a tool to uphold white supremacy and slavery.
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It superseded the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States in 1862
The Confederate Constitution was approved on March 11, 1861, and superseded the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States on February 22, 1862. The Provisional Constitution was drafted by a committee of twelve, appointed by the Provisional Congress, and was formally adopted on February 8, 1861. It served as the first constitution for the Confederate States of America.
The Confederate Constitution was the supreme law of the Confederate States of America. It remained in effect until the end of the American Civil War in 1865. The original Provisional Constitution is located at the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia. The final, handwritten Constitution can be found in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia.
The Confederate Constitution was modelled on the U.S. Constitution, with many similarities. However, there were also crucial differences in tone and legal content, particularly regarding slavery. The Confederate Constitution included a non-renewable six-year term for the president and a line-item veto. It explicitly supported slavery and reasserted the principle of state rights.
The Confederate Constitution also included Amendments IX and X as its Article VI, which covers miscellaneous matters. It modified the 9th Amendment to specify that:
> "enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people of the several States."
The Confederate Constitution differed from the U.S. Constitution in its approach to the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment.
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The Confederate Constitution explicitly supported slavery and white supremacy
The Confederate Constitution was written in 1861, and it explicitly supported slavery and white supremacy. The document, which was approved on March 11, 1861, included provisions that protected and promoted the institution of slavery.
The Confederate Constitution's preamble, which begins with "We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character...", sets the tone for the document. It emphasizes the sovereignty and independence of each state within the Confederacy, which was crucial in upholding the right to own slaves.
One of the most explicit mentions of slavery in the Confederate Constitution is in Article IV, Section 3(1), which states: "In all such territory, the institution of negro slavery, as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected by Congress and by the Territorial government." This section also granted the inhabitants of the Confederate States the right to take their slaves to any territory within the Confederacy.
The Confederate Constitution also included a provision that prevented any bill from being passed that would deny or impair the right to own slaves. This was a crucial difference from the United States Constitution, which did not explicitly mention slavery.
The Confederacy's commitment to slavery and white supremacy was a driving force behind the secession of Southern states from the Union. Southern states had a history of endorsing white supremacy and protecting slavery in their state constitutions. For example, North Carolina's 1776 constitution refused to acknowledge that all men were created equal, and Georgia's 1777 constitution limited voting rights to white males only.
The Confederate Constitution, therefore, served as a way to enshrine and protect the institution of slavery and the principles of white supremacy, which were seen as fundamental to the Confederate cause.
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It was found in a wagon in April 1865 and is now stored in a vault
The Confederate Constitution, a document that laid out the legal framework of a government built to preserve slavery, was found in a wagon in April 1865. The Confederate Constitution was approved on March 11, 1861, a month before the Civil War started. It was drafted by a Committee of Twelve and approved in a convention held in Montgomery, Alabama. The Confederate Constitution explicitly addresses the issue of slavery throughout, with language such as:
> No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves, shall be passed.
The Confederate Constitution also includes a non-renewable six-year term for the president and a line-item veto. It differs from the U.S. Constitution in a number of ways, including its approach to the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment. The Confederate Constitution is currently stored in a vault at the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia. The university purchased the document from an estate in 1939. The Confederate Constitution is composed of faded ink on five large sheets of animal skin connected in a single scroll more than 12 feet (3.7 meters) long. It is rarely seen by the public.
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The Confederate Constitution was written after a Confederate Provisional Constitution was drafted in early 1861
The Confederate Constitution of 1861 was written to establish a permanent federal government, invoking the guidance of God. It was designed to secure the blessings of liberty for the people of the Confederate States and their posterity. The Confederate Constitution included a non-renewable six-year term for the president and a line-item veto. It also explicitly supported slavery and reasserted the principle of state rights.
The Confederate Constitution was based on the US Constitution, with most of its provisions being word-for-word duplicates. However, there were some crucial differences in tone and legal content, particularly regarding slavery. The Confederate Constitution included the same rights as in the First Amendment, but applied them to the Confederacy rather than the individual states.
The Confederate Constitution modified the 9th Amendment to specify that the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution would not be used to deny or disparage other rights retained by the people of the states. It also included provisions for the establishment of a supreme court, although one was never created due to the Confederate leaders' suspicion of federal powers.
The Confederate Constitution provided a process for proposing amendments, requiring only three states to request a constitutional convention, rather than two-thirds of states, and a lower threshold for ratification. It also included specific language addressing slavery, stating that no law impairing the right to property in negro slaves shall be passed.
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Frequently asked questions
The Confederate Constitution was written in early 1861 and approved on March 11, 1861.
The Confederate Constitution was the supreme law of the Confederate States of America. It laid out the legal framework of a government built to preserve slavery and white supremacy.
The Confederate Constitution was found in a wagon at the end of the Civil War in April 1865. It has been housed for decades in the University of Georgia's Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
