1861 CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES by Confederate States of America - 1861

[Slavery] The Constitution of the Confederate States of America, Adopted March 11, 1861. Richmond, Virginia: [William F. Ritchie], 1862. Printed self-wraps. [1-2], 3-15, 5.5" x 8.25". Disbound. Corner stain. Age toning. Scattered foxing.

Originally published as fourth part of the Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Virginia, passed in 1861-62, in the eighty-sixth year of the Commonwealth (Richmond: William F. Ritchie, 1862). From February 8 to February 22, 1861, the Confederacy operated under a Provisional Constitution. The official Constitution of the Confederate States of America was adopted on March 11, 1861 and ratified by the seven original Confederate states (South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas) by April 22. It served as the Confederacy's constitution until the conclusion of the Civil War (May 1865).

The adopted constitution differed only slightly from the original Provisional Constitution. Most of the provisions of the Confederacy's constitution were word-for-word duplicates from the United States Constitution. There were, however, crucial differences between the two documents in tone and legal content, primarily regarding slavery and states' rights. There were several passages related to slavery that were much different. Concerning slavery, the Confederate version used the word "slaves," unlike the U.S. Constitution. One article banned any Confederate state from making slavery illegal, and another ensured that slave owners could travel between Confederate states with their slaves. Like the U.S. Constitution at this time, the Confederate counterpart counted slaves as three-fifths of a state's population, but it diverged from the U.S. Constitution by requiring that any new territory acquired by the Confederacy allow slavery.

In terms of states' rights, the Confederate constitution emphasized states' rights and limited powers of the federal government. For example, the Confederate constitution preamble begins, "We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character," whereas the U.S. Constitution starts with the more familiar, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union."