Confederate States Constitution

     From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Confederate States Constitution was signed on March 11, 1861. It is the document that set out the framework of government for the Confederate States of America.

In most cases, the document is a word-for-word duplicate of the United States Constitution. The major differences between them was the Confederacy's greater emphasis on the rights of individual member states, and an explicit support of slavery.

Organs

The constitution outlines a three branch government, consisting of:

• an elected House of Represenatives
• a Senate appointed by the state legislatures
• a President of the Confederate States and Vice President chosen by an electoral college
• a Supreme Court nominated by the President and approved by the Senate

Signers

The signers of the Constitution were:

• Howell Cobb, President of the Congress.
• South Carolina: R. Barnwell Rhett, C. G. Memminger, Wm. Porcher Miles, James Chesnut, Jr., R. W. Barnwell, William W. Boyce, Lawrence M. Keitt, T. J. Withers.
• Georgia: Francis S. Bartow, Martin J. Crawford, Benjamin H. Hill, Thos. R. R. Cobb.
• Florida: Jackson Morton, J. Patton Anderson, Jas. B. Owens.
• Alabama: Richard W. Walker, Robt. H. Smith, Colin J. McRae, William P. Chilton, Stephen F. Hale, David P. Lewis, Tho. Fearn, Jno. Gill Shorter, J. L. M. Curry.
• Mississippi: Alex. M. Clayton, James T. Harrison, William S. Barry, W. S. Wilson, Walker Brooke, W. P. Harris, J. A. P. Campbell.
• Louisiana: Alex. de Clouet, C. M. Conrad, Duncan F. Kenner, Henry Marshall.
• Texas: John Hemphill, Thomas N. Waul, John H. Reagan, Williamson S. Oldham, Louis T. Wigfall, John Gregg, William Beck Ochiltree.