The Confederate Constitution

Starting with South Carolina in December 1860, seven states of the deep South seceded from the Union within the first three months of Abraham Lincoln’s election. Southern states thought that since they gave the constitution power by ratifying it, it was their right to refuse to recharter it / leave the Union. The victory of a Republican candidate (Lincoln) in 1860 guaranteed to these states that their way of life could not be maintained if they stayed in the Union. Joined by four states of the upper South in 1861, the seceded states formed the Confederate States of America, led by Jefferson Davis. The Constitution of the Confederate States of America was adopted in 1861 and was in effect from February 1862 until the end of the Civil War in April 1865. Although largely inspired by the document of the founding fathers, the Confederate Constitution had some key differences from the US Constitution.

One of the biggest differences was the mention of slavery. While slavery was an “untouchable” subject during the writing and ratification of the US Constitution, the Confederate Bill of Rights explicitly granted whites the right to own slaves. Their constitution declared that no state could deny “the right of property in negro slaves.” By the point of secession, Southern plantation owners didn’t just believe that slavery was a “necessary evil”, but rather an economically important and morally correct institution. Although these Southerners always saw the abolishment of slavery as unconstitutional because they considered slaves property, they probably wanted their constitution to ensure that slavery would never be politically restricted. In addition to protecting slavery, the Confederate Constitution differed from the US Constitution in that it mentioned religion. This is seen through the inclusion of the phrase “the favor and guidance of Almighty God” in the Confederate preamble. This shows how Southerners really did believe that their ways of life, including slavery, were supported by God.

Furthermore, the Confederate Constitution focused more on states’ rights. This is seen through how the US Constitution began with, “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union…” while Confederate Constitution wrote, “We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character…” instead. Since the birth of the US, there was always tension regarding state vs. federal power, starting with the original Federalist / Democratic-Republican split. Typically, agricultural Southerners favored state power while urban Northerners favored the power of a centralized government. The nullification crisis of 1832 was when Southerners started to feel threatened because the national government was taking authority over the states. This explains why Southerners chose to constitutionally protect states’ rights when they split from the Union. In this respect, the Confederate Constitution was similar to the Articles of Confederation. The lack of a strong, central government during the Civil War was a great obstacle for the South.

Overall, the differences between the US Constitution and the Confederate Constitution exemplify the opposing ideologies of the North and South which caused Southern secession and the Civil War. The fundamental differences in political, social, and economic beliefs that developed show why some historians believe that conflict between the two sides was inevitable.

Sources:

http://www.ushistory.org/us/32e.asp

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/860/constitution-of-the-confederate-states-of-america

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/looking-back-at-the-confederate-constitution

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Confederate-States-of-America