ARTICLE I.
Section I.
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.
(I) 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
political, 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.
,The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after 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 number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every fifty
thousand, 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
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.
(I) 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 vacancies
happen by resignation, or other wise, 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, then 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 Justice shall
preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence 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 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.
(I) 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 on the first Monday in December, unless they shall, by
law, appoint a different day.
Section 5.
(I) Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and
qualifications 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 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 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
place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section 6.
(I) 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 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. 'o 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 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.
(I) All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives; 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 pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the
other 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 respective}y. 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 adjournment, prevent its
return; in which case it shall not be a E law. The President may approve
any appropriation and disapprove any other appropriation 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 disapproved by him,
shall be repassed by two-thirds of both Houses, according to the rules and
limitations prescribed in case of a bill.
Section 8.
The Congress shall have power-
(I) To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises for revenue,
necessary to pay the debts, provide for the common defense, 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 importations from
foreign nations be laid to promote or foster any branch of industry; and
all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout 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, beacons, and buoys, and other aids 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 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 of 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 establish post offices and post routes; but the expenses of the
Post Office Department, after the 1st 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 Supreme Court.
(10) To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offenses 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.
(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
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 carrying
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.
(I) 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 corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may
require it.
(4) No 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 articles 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 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 establish.
(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 religion,
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,
supported 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 offense 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 witnesses against him;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to
have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
(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 reexamined in any court of the
Confederacy, than according to the rules of common law.
(19) Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments 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.
(I) No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation;
grant letters 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 post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; 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 necessary
for executing its inspection laws; and the net 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 seagoing 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 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.
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