Why are states not part of the original Confederacy in the target areas? There is a general misunderstanding that the Confederate States government was formed for the purpose of Southern independence from the United States. This is not true. The Confederate States Constitution of 1861 makes clear that the old Confederacy was an attempt to continue the limited American government of the founders of a voluntary union of states. That government was in great jeopardy by 1860, and was all but dissolved under the tyrannies of the Lincoln administration. We seek to reestablish that government of the founders, not just for Southrons, but for as many Americans as possible. No part of America whose people freely choose to enter into this Confederacy shall be denied entrance.
What are the special characteristics of the New Confederate Constitution? The New Confederate Constitution differs from the old 1861 Constitution in the following ways. 1. Explicit binding of government: judges within the United States have taken many liberties in establishing a special interest state serving a select few. The NCC severely restricts the powers of government, so that future governments cannot do this. 2. Method of secession: the NCC creates a legal mechanism for secession expressing a "Will of the People". 3. No lifetime terms for judges: judges and Justices of the Supreme Court must stand for retention. State courts and lower courts must all be elected. A restricted "lawyer class" is expressly forbidden. Judges are now answerable to the People. 4. Majority elections: all persons serving in office must have received a majority of the vote in elections. Party primaries are eliminated.
What are the special characteristics of the New Confederate Constitution? The New Confederate Constitution differs from the old 1861 Constitution in the following ways. 1. Explicit binding of government: judges within the United States have taken many liberties in establishing a special interest state serving a select few. The NCC severely restricts the powers of government, so that future governments cannot do this. 2. Method of secession: the NCC creates a legal mechanism for secession expressing a "Will of the People". 3. No lifetime terms for judges: judges and Justices of the Supreme Court must stand for retention. State courts and lower courts must all be elected. A restricted "lawyer class" is expressly forbidden. Judges are now answerable to the People. 4. Majority elections: all persons serving in office must have received a majority of the vote in elections. Party primaries are eliminated.
why would you not protect the copywrite for more than 5 years? how would that promote the progress of useful arts?? stevie wonder doesn't own any of his music?
[quote name='"tflga"']The south is too stupid to rise again They were smarter back then[/quote] More stereotypes...
The South's economy is doing a hell of a lot better than the North. The Sunbelt is stealing all the Northener's jobs.
Hey guys I necroed this thread because I would like to get some new opinions. Since that website is down, here is the entire constitution. New Constitution of the Confederate States of America We, the sovereign and independent People of the Sovereign States of North America, each State, Nation, Commonwealth and Republic, acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a federal government, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity--invoking divine favor and guidance--do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Confederate States of America. This Constitution of the Confederate States recognizes the continuance of the Confederate States of America as a lawful nation, a Constitutional Republic, existing since 1861 A. D., with a people, a flag, a history, and a heritage; that the Confederate States are an inheritor of the government of the founders of the United States that rebelled against imperial rule; that the Confederate States were unlawfully warred against, occupied and conquered; that since the unlawful occupation of the Confederate States, other States, Commonwealths, Nations and Republics not existant at the time of the occupation may seek admittance into the Confederacy, and that certain guarantees of individual rights and freedoms not heretofore considered need inclusion in a Constitution designed to bind Government from abuses against the People. Government has no inherent rights or powers, neither implicit nor explicit. This Constitution assigns certain functions to the artificial entities called governments created by this Constitution and authorizes those artificial entities to take certain actions necessary to accomplish the assigned functions, but at no time shall a government demand service of its people, nor shall the supreme and sovereign right of the individual be infringed. All powers which the federal government shall have shall be enumerated in this Constitution, and there shall be no unenumerated powers. ARTICLE I. Section I. Territory The territory of the Confederate States of America shall consist of the territory of three or more States, Commonwealths, Nations, or Republics who shall have ratified this Constitution when it shall come to pass that it shall be ratified. The Confederate States shall be open for inclusion to all jurisdictions and territories who may petition to become a part of the Confederate States, and who by their regional convention, election, or plebecite, agree to ratify this Constitution. The States and Provinces to which the Confederate States of America shall automatically offer statehood to are: the thirteen original States of the Confederacy and its territories, the States of the Northwest Ordinance, the States of California and Oregon, the State of Maryland, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as well as the Yukon Territory, and all states of the United States which had not been admitted to the United States prior to 1860 A. D. These States, Commonwealths, Nations, Republics, Provinces and Territories shall be offered statehood in the Confederate States at such time as they, in whole or in part, ratify this Constitution, and upon ratification, the Confederate States shall agree to preserve, protect and defend their borders from hostile invasion and subversion. No jurisdiction may be admitted to the Confederate States as a State which shall not be comprised either of at least 800,000 sovereign freemen, or of territory exceeding 4800 square miles. Section II. Freemanship The original inhabitants of the United States were not called citizens, which denotes a term of ownership and compulsion by the state, but were called freemen and freeholders. And it shall be the practice of the Confederate States, in acknowldeging the sovereignty of the individual person, to refer to what other countries would call citizens, as sovereign freemen. The status of sovereign freeman in the Confederate States of America shall at the current time, be open to those legally and lawfully residing in the original Thirteeen States of the Confederacy and its territories or Maryland, as of January 1, 2000, to those legally and lawfully residing in a State, Commonwealth, Nation, Republic, Province or Territory at the time of its ratification of this Constitution according to the entity's boundaries at admission, those having descent or lineage from the original Thirteen States of the Confederacy and its territories or Maryland, those born within the territory of a State, Commonwealth, Nation, Republic, Province or Territory which shall ratify this Constitution, and those swearing an oath to the Confederate States or one of the several states. A single Confederate state may not deny sovereign freemanship to a resident sovereign freeman of the Confederate States, but every state may grant state freemanship to persons who are not Confederate citizens as they shall so by law include; except that no person having waged war against the Confederate States shall be eligible for Confederate States sovereign freemanship. Section III. Secession and Ratification A. States of the First Category: the original Confederacy It is recognized that the original Thirteen States of the Confederacy were never voluntarily and lawfully dissolved. Therefore, the original Thirteen States of the Confederacy are a lawfully constituted government. It shall be recognized that ratification of this Constitution by one of the original Thirteen States of the Confederacy will reaffirm their intent to continue as a Sovereign State of the Confederate States. A State in the First Category shall have been considered to have ratified this Constitution, when, a majority of its counties shall have agreed to ratify this Constitution, by either, the majority of the popular vote of its citizens or residents, or the majority of a county convention wherein a quorom of its citizens or residents have met; or when a majority of one branch of the State's legislature shall ratify this Constitution, or when a majority of the statewide popular vote shall elect to ratify this Consitution, and each county may choose the manner in which they choose to ratify this Constitution, and all counties do not have to ratify this Constitution in the same manner. The whole of such States shall be reaffirmed into the Confederate States, excepting such counties which shall elect, by a majority of the popular vote of its citizens or residents, or the majority of a county convention, to refuse to be admitted to, or to officially secede from, both the Confederate States and the State which has ratified the Constitution of the Confederate States, and no state of this category shall exclude any territory within its borders not having so formally elected, excepting that the states of Arizona and New Mexico, and the states of Viriginia and West Virginia, may apply for inclusion either in their current configuration or together in their historical configuration as Arizona Territory and the Commonwealth of Virginia respectively. If a state of the first category shall fail to ratify this Constitution, the residents of such a state may elect to apply for ratification again in a configuration of their choosing, electing to exclude certain lands, territories, cities, or counties from their application, as they will. Because Maryland was denied the opportunity by force of arms to have joined the Confederate States, when they had a vote prepared to do so, Maryland shall be recognized as a State of the First Category. B. States and Provinces of the Second Category It is recognized that all other invited States, Commonwealths, Nations, Republics, and Provinces into the Confederate States may apply for admission into the Confederate States either as they are currently configured, or in a configuration in which the residents of the counties and lower jurisdictions of those states may choose to apply for admission. It shall be recognized that ratification of this Constitution by one of the States, Commonwealths, Nations, Republics or Provinces of the Second Category will affirm their intent to become a Sovereign State of the Confederate States, and such states are to be automatically admitted into the Confederate States upon such affirmation. A State in this category shall have been considered to have ratified this Constitution, when, a majority of its counties shall have agreed to ratify this Constitution, by either, the majority of the popular vote of its citizens or residents, or the majority of county conventions wherein a quorom of its citizens or residents have met; or when a majority of one branch of the State or Province's legislature, shall vote to ratify this Constitution, or a majority of the statewide popular vote shall elect to ratify this Consitution, and each county may choose the manner in which they choose to ratify this Constitution, and all counties do not have to ratify this Constitution in the same manner. The People of a State or Province of the Second Category may elect via one of these processes to exclude certain territories within their states and not require them to vote for secession or ratification, and such territories shall not be admitted into the Confederate States unless and until such territories apply for admission under the provisions for territiories of the Third Category, or until such territories become part of a currently admitted Confederate State. A State or Province of the Second Category may make the election as to whether to include territories within their borders having not ratified this Constitution. However, by a majority of the popular vote of its citizens or residents, or the majority of county conventions, a county or territory so included may refuse to be admitted to, or officially secede from, both the Confederate States and the State or Province which has ratified the Constitution of the Confederate States. C. Territories of the Third Category Other States may be admitted into this Confederacy by a vote of two-thirds of the whole House of Representatives and two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate voting by States; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other Confederate State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more Confederate States, or parts of Confederate States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress; but no Indian Nation or Confederation of Indian Nations shall require such legislative and congressional consent. No jurisdiction may be admitted to the Confederate States as a State which shall not be comprised either of at least 800,000 sovereign freemen, or of territory exceeding 4800 square miles. D. States may acquire territory Any state within the Confederate States may acquire additional territory not then a part of the Confederate States by annexation, purchase, plebecite or other means, and such territory shall be consdered part of the Confederate States within the territory of the acquiring state. E. Intervention to Halt Secession If any State or Province, county or administrative unit shall be forcibly prevented from holding a popular vote, legislative vote, or convention for the purpose of ratifying or affirming this Constitution, or seceding from the United States and Canada, the Confederate States may elect to regard such entity as having ratified this Constitution, and having seceded successfully, until such time as that entity is free to make its own determination, and are authorized to defend and liberate such territories from all enemies. Section IV: Federal Property of the United States and Canada Any property within the borders of States admitted into the Confederate States, or ratifying this Constitution, belonging to the federal governments of the United States, Canada, or any other nation, excepting lands reserved as Indian reservations and military bases, and property held to enable the operation of the government of the Confederate States, shall upon the admission of said State into the Confederate States, immediately revert in ownership to the new State in which the property lay, and the States shall reserve what property they need for their administration, and auction the remainder to individual citizens of the State in a fair and equitable manner to be determined by the legislature thereof. But States may retain and administer up to 5% of such federal lands as parks, monuments, and wilderness preserves. Any property within the borders of States admitted into the Confederate States, or ratifying this Constitution, being held by any Government as an Indian Reservation on behalf of Native Tribes, shall upon the admission of said State into the Confederate States, immediately revert to the full ownership of the Tribe for which it is held. Such Tribes may, upon a vote of all its members, continue under the jurisdiction of the State in which they lay, or vote to petition the Confederate States to be admitted as a separate State should their territory or population be sufficient, join with other Tribes to unite for admission as a separate State, or vote to be a nation independent from the Confederate States and be a separate Sovereign Nation not subject to the jurisdiction or laws of the Confederate States, and Tribes may combine their adjacent lands for the purpose of qualifying as a State under this Constitution. All current federally owned lands which can be determined by deed or by treaty to have belonged to an Indian Nation prior to its acquisition by the federal government, other than land used as a military base or property held to enable the operation of the government of the Confederate States, shall be considered as a part of an Indian Reservation, and shall revert to the last Tribe to possess it. The Confederate States and the several States shall honor lease agreements made by the governments of the United States and Canada so long as national security is not compromised by such agreements. Section V: Agencies of the United States and Canada Any agency under the United States and Canada, operating within the borders of States admitted into the Confederate States, or ratifying this Constitution, shall upon the admission of said State into the Confederate States, be immediately assumed by the Confederate States should the agency be conducting enumerated duties under the Confederate Constitution, but if the agencies are not conducting enumerated duties under the Confederate Constitution, they shall be dissolved, and the Confederate States shall not assume any of the debts or obligations of the United States or Canada. ARTICLE II. Section I. Legislative Powers 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 II. The House of Representatives The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States in a primary ballot regardless of party, and a secondary ballot between the two greatest votegetters regardless of party should no candidate receive a majority; and the electors in each State shall be sovereign freemen of the Confederate States or of the single State, and have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature; but no person of foreign birth, not a sovereign freeman of the Confederate States of America or of the single State, shall be allowed to vote for any officer, civil or political, State or Federal. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, and be a sovereign freeman of the Confederate States or of the State he represents, and who shall not when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen, and no person shall continually be a Representaitve for longer than three consecutive full terms. 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 sovereign freemen. 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, and such enumeration shall be limited to the counting of the number of sovereign freemen and residents, and such enumeration shall be forbidden by any government for any other purpose. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every one hundred fifty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the States shall have the following number of Representatives when first admitted into the Confederacy: Alabama 30, Alaska 4, Arizona 38, Arkansas 18, California 195, Colorado 30, Florida 87, Georgia 58, Idaho 9, Illinois 84, Indiana 41, Kansas 18, Kentucky 27, Louisiana 30, Michigan 67, Mississippi 19, Missouri 38, Montana 6, Nebraska 11, Nevada 15, New Mexico 12, North Carolina 56, North Dakota 2, Oklahoma 23, Ohio 76, Oregon 23, South Carolina 27, South Dakota 5, Tennessee 39, Texas 130, Utah 15, Virginia 49, Washington State 41, West Virginia 12, Wisonsin 36, Wyoming 3, British Columbia 27, Alberta 21, Saskatchewan 6, Manitoba 7, Yukon 1, and Virginia and West Virginia in their original configuraton, 61, Arizona and New Mexico in their original configuration, 50. Notwithstanding these conditions, at no time shall a State be entitled to a number of Representatives exceeding 150% of the number of Representatives allocated to the next lowest populous State. Additonal States other than these granted entrance into the Confederate States, and portions of States smaller than 75% of the current configuration admitted as States, shall enter with one Representative, and their representation shall be appropriately increased after the next decennial census. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State the Governor thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 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 III. The Senate The Senate of the Confederate States of America shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen for six years, in a manner to be determined by the Legislature thereof, and each Senator shall have one vote. 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 otherwise, another Senator shall be appointed by the Governor of the State to serve until such time as another Senator may be chosen in the manner regularly determined by the Legislature. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the age of thirty years, and be a sovereign freeman of the Confederate States of America or of the State he represents; and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of the State for which he shall be chosen, nor shall any Senator be eligible to serve more than two consecutive full terms. The Vice President of the Confederate States shall be president of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided. 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. 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. 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 IV. Choosing and Assembling the Congress 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. All Representatives, and all Senators directly elected by the people, shall be chosen for their regular terms at a single and simultaneous General Election once every two years in the following manner: the candidates shall stand for election all at the same time, without regard to party, and if no candidate shall receive a majority of the vote, a secondary election between the two gretaest votegetters shall occur not more than 35 days after the original vote. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year; and such meeting shall be on the first Tueday after the first Monday in January, unless they shall, by law, appoint a different day. Section V. Operation of the Congress A majority of each House 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. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of four-fifths of the whole number, expel a member. However, when a Senator or Rperesentative is so expelled, he shall be entitled to a re-election, or re-selection, within 60 days, under the same manner in which he became a Senator or Representative. And should either a Senator or a Representative having been expelled, be successful in their re-election, they may not be removed from office on the same charges. 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 three or more of those present, be entered on the journal, excepting that no votes shall be conducted in secret or be kept in secret, and all votes on all matters shall be published. 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. 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, but no Senator or Representative may vote to raise his own compensation for current or future terms, nor shall a Senator or Representative be immune from the laws by which their constituents must abide. 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. No 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. Judgment concerning the elections, returns, and qualifications of House members are to be made at the state or local level, in a manner which the the Legislature of the State the member serves shall designate, and if any candidate or member whose assumption of, or continuance in office, is in jeopardy, he shall be entitled to a speedy trial by a jury of his peers. Section VI. Legislation All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; and shall require a two-thirds vote of each House to pass, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills. 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 respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within twelve days 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 law. The President may approve any appropriation and disapprove any other appropriation presented 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. 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 VIII. Powers of the Congress The Congress shall have power: 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 exercise of these and only these Enumerated Powers; 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; but no taxes or other mandated payments shall be imposed upon or extracted from wages, or upon the income or property of individuals. To borrow money on the credit of the Confederate States. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, 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. 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. To coin and print money , regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin and tender of the Confederate States. To establish post offices and post routes; but the expenses of the Postal Service shall be paid out of its own revenues. 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; except that no inventor may continue a copyright for longer than five years of an invention not in use. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years. To provide and maintain a navy, and an air force. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land, air and naval forces. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Confederate States, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions. 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 and the People, respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress, and To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over such property as may 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. ARTICLE III. Section I. The Executive Branch The executive power shall be vested in a President of the Confederate States of America. He and the Vice President shall hold their offices for the term of six years; but the President shall not be eligible to succeed himself, unless he becomes President within a year of his election. The President and Vice President shall be elected as follows: Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative or person holding an office of trust or profit under the Confederate States shall be appointed an elector. Electors committed to a given candidate for President and Vice President, must cast votes for those candidates, unless such candidates shall by written agreement discharge their commitment, in which case the electors are free to cast votes for whomever eligible person they will. But if the candidate for President has died, then electors shall be committed to vote for the candidate they are committed to for Vice President as President, and may cast votes for Vice President for whomever eligible person they will. The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the Government of. the Confederate States, directed to the President of the Senate, unless the President of the senate shall be one of the candidates, wherein his duties devolve upon the President pro tempore of the Senate; the President of the Senate, or President pro tempore if the President of the Senate shall be one of the candidates, shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President the votes shall be taken by States~the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the 20th Day of January next following, then the Vice President shall act as President, as in case of the death, or other constitutional disability of the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice President shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then, from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the Confederate States. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the Confederate States. No person except a natural-born sovereign freeman of the Confederate States, or a sovereign freeman thereof at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, or a sovereign freeman thereof born in the United States or Canada prior to the 1st of Janaury 2000, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and, fourteen years after the adoption of this Constitution, been fourteen years a resident within the limits of the Confederate States, as they may exist at the time of his election. Except that a person who is a sovereign freeman born at a location which subsequently becomes part of the Confederate States is eligible to become President. But no person having engaged in war against the Confederate States shall be eligible to be President. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President; and the Congress may, by law, provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President; and such officer shall act accordingly until the disability be removed or a President shall be elected, and such officer shall have to have been elected to his office. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected; and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the Confederate States, or any of them. Before he enters on the execution of his office he shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the Confederate States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution thereof." Section II. Powers of the President The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Navy, and Air Force of the Confederate States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the Confederate States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the Executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the Confederate States and the several States, except in cases of impeachment. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties; provided three-fourths of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate shall appoint, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the Confederate States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. The principal officer in each of the Executive Departments, and all persons connected with the diplomatic service, may be removed from office at the pleasure of the President. All other civil officers of the Executive Departments may be removed at any time by the President, or other appointing power, when their services are unnecessary, or for dishonesty, incapacity, inefficiency, misconduct, or neglect of duty; and when so removed, the removal shall be reported to the Senate, together with the reasons therefor. The President shall have power to fill all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session; but no person rejected by the Senate shall be reappointed to the same office during their ensuing recess. The President shall have the ability to issue a finding that a law, or portion thereof, be found not in conformance with the Constitution of the Confederate States, and to take appropriate enforcement action accordingly if necessary, but said finding shall be immediately subject to the review of the Supreme Court for final opinion.. The President shall have the power to dissolve an Executive Department, or any office in the Executive Department not specifically enumerated in the Constitution. Section III. State of the Confederacy The President shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the Confederacy, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them; and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the Confederate States. Section IV. Impeachment The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the Confederate States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Section V. No Confidence The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the Confederate States, as well as the Congress, may be recalled from office in a Vote of No Confidence. A Vote of No Confidence is called with the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress, or with the concurrence of two-thirds of the votes of two-thirds of the Confederacy's State Legislatures meeting in a joint session of all houses of that State Legislature, or with the valid signature petitions of ten percent of the registered voters of two-thirds of the States. If in a Vote of No Confidence, a majority of voters shall vote to remove the officer, that officer shall be removed from office.And if a majority of voters shall vote to remove either House of Congress, then all members of that House of Congress shall be deemed removed from office, and the offices declared vacant. Once a No Confidence Vote is successful upon either the President or Vice President, or both, or upon the Congress, there shall be held a special election in which the question of removal of the President, or Vice President, or both, or of one or both houses of Congress, shall be put to the People of the Confederate States, such election being held not less than sixty nor more than ninety days from the date of the No Confidence Vote. The President and Vice President may be recalled through a Vote of No Confidence together as one ticket, or separately. Should the President and Vice President both be removed through a Vote of No Confidence, or should the office of Vice President be vacant during the recall of the President, the Speaker of the House shall serve as President, or whomever shall be next in the order of succession, until the next nationwide regular General Election occuring more than 120 days after the People have voted to remove the President and Vice President. Except that this clause shall not apply if a new President and Vice President are already going to be elected at the next nationwide regular General Election. The persons elected as President and Vice President in this election shall serve full six year terms, and the replacement President shall be eligible. Should either or both Houses of Congress be removed through a Vote of No Confidence, there shall be a special election held not less than sixty nor more than ninety days to fill the unexperied terms of the members of the House of Representatives, and the Governor of each state shall appoint a Senator to fill the unexpired term of removed Senators until the next regular General Election. In both cases, the representatives removed with a No Confidence Vote shall be ineligible. A No Confidence Vote upon any other officer of the Confederate States shall take place at the next regular General Election. ARTICLE IV. Section I. The Supreme Court and Federal Courts The judicial power of the Confederate States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The judges of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President, subject to the approval of the Senate, and shall hold their office not more than six years before standing for retention by a popular vote, after which if retained they shall stand for retention every ten years, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. The judges of the inferior courts shall be appointed by the President, subject to the approval of the Senate, and hold their office not more than two years before standing for retention by a popular vote of the district of their appointment at the next general Federal election, after which if retained they shall stand for retention every six years. No qualification, or public or private membership in any organization, shall be required of any judge of the Supreme Court or of the inferior courts. Section II. Federal Judicial Powers The judicial power shall extend to all cases arising under this Constitution, the laws of the Confederate States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the Confederate States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States; between a State and soveregin freemen of another State, where the State is plaintiff; between sovereign freemen claiming lands under grants of different States; and between a State or the sovereign freemen thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects; but no State shall be sued by a citizen or subject of any foreign state. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. The Supreme Court shall be the sole court of appeal of an Executive Branch finding of non-constitutionality and of any executive order issued by the Executive Branch. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. Section III. Treason Treason against the Confederate States shall consist in levying war against.the States and the People, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort, or in engaging in fraud or duress undermining a fair and free election, or in actively violating the rights of sovereign freemen under this Constitution. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted, and a person convicted of Treason may be punished by the death penalty, regardless of any other provision of this Constitution. ARTICLE V. Section I. Limitations on Government Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the Confederate States of America, or any place subject to their jurisdiction, and no person shall be compelled to service in the armed forces or any other part of Government. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of holding property, or law taxing the possession of property, shall be passed. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any of the Confederate States to another Confederate State. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another. 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, all expenditures being public knowledge. 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. 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. No title of nobility shall be granted by the Confederate States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national or state religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed, nor shall any government prohibit the free exercise of religion; Neither shall any government abridge the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the Government for a redress of grievances. A government shall never promote, control, tax, nor interfere with any religious or philosophical organization or activity, and shall neither restrict nor control the free flow of ideas using any present or future form or medium of expression. 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. The right of the individual to keep and bear arms, ammunition, transportation, and weapons of war, for the purposes of defense of self, household, community, enterprise, State, Nation, or Republic, shall be sacrosanct, as shall the right to such defense, and no Government, corporation, artificial entity, or private individual shall infringe upon these rights, nor shall any Government regulate, tax, impede, prohibit, survey, or in any other manner interfere in the free possession, transport, import, export, sale, or keeping of arms, ammunition, transportation or devices or publications involved in maintaining these rights. 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. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, vehicles, papers, communications, data, 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 or surveyed, and the persons or things to be seized or surveyed. Government shall not invade the privacy of any individual, nor survey him, without due process of law to which he is entitled to be informed. No person shall be held to answer for a capital crime or felony, 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 by any Government once tried under one Government; nor be compelled, in any criminal case, or in any potential criminal matter, 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; and in all criminal trials a presumption of innocence of the accused shall attach, until a unanimous jury of not less than twelve persons shall convict the defendant, and no seizure of property not admitted as evidence shall occur, nor permanent forfeiture of property occur without the conviction of its owner. No law shall be used to indict a defendant on the basis of his thoughts or his political or religious beliefs. 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 of his choosing for his defense, and to have his counsel compensated by the court, in an amount equivalent to the expenditures of the prosecution. 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. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. No bail shall be required of a defendant for the purpose of defending himself against a charge. Every law, or resolution having the force of law, shall relate to but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title. All political power is inherent in the People, and all Governments exist by the will of the people. The people of the Confederate States, the several States, and any Government under them, retain the right of altering, reforming, or abolishing their Government in any manner they believe proper, at any time. Congress may not delegate that which is reserved to the People to any part of the Executive branch. Every individual has the inherent right of liberty, which is the unrestrained exercise of free will, which shall never be infringed provided the exercise thereof does not violate the rights of any other individual. Every individual's body, life, labor, ideas, thoughts, and possessions that the individual has lawfully created or acquired are that individual's property. Every individual has the inherent right of the ownership, non-coercive acquisition, and use of property. All rights are retained by each individual and shall never be denied, infringed, or violated in any way except in the sole circumstance of conviction of a crime or tort by due process of law, and then only as directed in the particular case. No Government shall grant monopolies or perpetuities nor in any way restrict or control the free flow of trade within or across the geographical boundaries of the Confederate States. No Government shall craft any law favoring one class of adult sovereign freemen over another, nor provide for punishment under the law for crimes committed against one class of adult persons as opposed to another. No juror shall be tried for any decision rendered while serving on a jury, and jurors shall be empowered to try both the facts and the law, and in a criminal matter before a jury, all arguments as to the law must be in the presence of the jury. The right of the individual to medicate themself for illness, malady or health, as well as the right to refuse medication, shall not be infringed. No citizen shall be limited in their right to travel within the jurisdiction of the Confederate States, the several States, and its territories, and no jurisdiction shall license the right of the individual to travel upon any of its public roads and thoroughfares, nor shall a jurisdiction compel the license of the use of the individual's vehicles not used for commerce, nor shall any jurisdiction be empowered to demand proof of identity from any citizen without due process. No artificial entity such as a corporation or a Government may be interpreted to have rights superior to the rights of individuals, nor is a Government madated under this Constitution to consider such artifical entity equal to an individual, and when the rights of individuals and the rights of artificial entities conflict, the rights of individuals shall be held to be superior to the rights of artificial entities. No mark, computer chip, number, enumeration, or identity marker, nor any oath or vow of loyalty, shall be required to buy and sell within the Confederate States. Section II. Elections All elections in all Governments under the Confederate States, shall be conducted without regard to party, and shall consist of a primary election and a general election. In elections with single districts, the primary election shall consist of candidates listed on the ballot regardless of party, and if a candidate garner more than 50 percent of the vote, he shall be declared elected, but if no candidate garners 50 percent, the two top votegetters from the primary, regardless of party, shall be voted upon in a general election. In multiple candidate districts, a similar principle shall apply: if 50% of voters choose a given candidate, they shall be declared elected, and of any such candidates not being voted for by 50% of the voters, there shall be chosen two candidates times the number of such seats for a runoff, such candidates having recieved the greatest numbers of votes, except that any candidate having finished last shall be eliminated. A State or lower jurisdiction may elect to implement a "None of these Candidates" provision in any election, in which case, if "None of the Candidates" garners the most votes, a new election is called, in which the candidates on the ballot in the current election are ineligible, and the office shall be vacant until filled by the new election. A State may implement a "None of these Candidates" provision for Electors for President of the Confederate States, but must allow for the election of independent Electors at the same election should "None of these Candidates" receive the greatest number of votes. All elections under the Confederate States shall require a paper ballot, said ballots to be preserved for the entirety of the longest term of office voted upon. No person shall be required to possess any degree of proficiency, any degree of law, any certificate of law enforcement training, or any membership in a bar association or any other organization, in order to stand for election for any office under the Confederate States: all sovereign freemen shall be eligible for all offices, excepting for requirements based on a minimum age, or based on limitation of terms. No official shall be empowered to craft, nor shall be eligible to vote concerning, district lines under which he shall have been elected to serve. District lines organized after the decennial census shall be submitted to the voters at the next election in which the whole of the State, or the whole of the territory of the local Government elected body, shall vote, and if not approved by a majority of the voters voting, such district lines shall be invalid for the next election, and new district lines must be drawn, and the same body who drew the lines so rejected shall be ineligible to draw any new lines until another decennial census has occured. No sovereign freeman of the Confederate States, or of a single State, shall be denied the right to vote because of gender, race, religious affiliations, national origin, previous conviction of or imprisonment for any crime, or any other cause if he is of a majority age in his State of residence, or if he is serving in the armed forces of the Confederate States, nor shall any person be compelled to pay a poll tax, show ownership of property, or possess any certificate of literacy, or possess state or national identification, in order to vote. No sovereign freeman of the Confederate States, or of a single State, shall be restricted in his ability to speak openly about candidates, or publish opinion or factual information about them, for any election under the Confederate States. No filing period for any election under the Confederate States shall close earlier than 120 days prior to the scheduled election. All bodies of Government under the Confederate States must be headed either by a single elected Executive, or by an elected Board of Executives, or both, and no Chief Executive of any Government body on a State level or lower may be appointed. All vacancies in any Government office under the Confederate States must be filled by special or regular election. Section III. Judicial and Law Enforcement Elections In all States, the offices of Attorney General, District Attorney, County Attorney, and City or Township Attorneys, must be filled by election. In all States, the offices of County Sheriff, Chief of Police, Commissioner of Police, and the Chief Executive of any State Police agency, must be filled by election. In all States, all Judges, Justices of the Peace, Magistrates, and Justices of the Supreme Court, must be filled by election. Every jurisdiction which shall prosecute individuals for crimes shall provide for a Grand Jury to be elected annually, except for federal Grand Jurors, who shall be elected biannually. All Grand Jurors must be elected, and no Grand Juror may succeed himself in office. Vacancies for Grand Jurors must be provided for by special elections. Section IV. Treaties and Taxes 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. 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. 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. No State shall be compelled to enact any law by the Confederate States, or by any foreign state or nation, or by any international body or tribunal, and any such laws passed under duress of any sort shall be considered null, void, and no officer of any jurisdiction shall attempt to enforce it. Section V. Full Faith and Credit Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State; and the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. Section VI. Travel and Extradition The sovereign freemen of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of sovereign freemen in the several States; and shall have the right of transit and sojourn in any State of this Confederacy, with their property; and the right of possesion of their property shall not be thereby impaired. A person charged in any State with treason or a felony against the laws of such State, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. Government shall never infringe the right of the free movement of sovereign freemen within or across the geographical boundaries of the Confederate States. Section VII. Territorial Matters The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations concerning the property of the Confederate States, including the lands thereof. The Confederate States, as well as the several States, may acquire new territory; and Congress shall have power to legislate and provide governments for the inhabitants of all territory belonging to the Confederate States, lying without the limits of the several States; and may permit them, at such times, and in such manner as it may by law provide, to form States to be admitted into the Confederacy, and territory acquired by a Sovereign State shall be immediately considered to be part of the Confederate States. The Confederate States shall guarantee to every State that now is, or hereafter may become, a member of this Confederacy, a republican form of government and a common law judiciary; and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the Legislature or of the Executive when the Legislature is not in session, against domestic violence. ARTICLE VI. Section I. Constitutional Conventions Upon the demand of any three States, legally assembled in their several conventions, the Congress shall summon a convention of all the States, to take into consideration such amendments to the Constitution as the said States shall concur in suggesting at the time when the said demand is made; and should any of the proposed amendments to the Constitution be agreed on by the said convention~voting by States~and the same be ratified by the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, or by conventions in two-thirds thereof~as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the general convention~they shall thenceforward form a part of this Constitution. But no State shall, without its consent, be deprived of its equal representation in the Senate. ARTICLE VII. Section I. Succession from the Provisional Government The Government established by this Constitution is the successor of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, and all the laws passed by the latter shall continue in force until the same shall be repealed or modified, unless they are contrary to this Constitution; and all the officers appointed by the same shall remain in office until their successors are appointed and qualified, or the offices abolished. Section II. Debts of the Provisional Government All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the Confederate States under this Constitution, as under the Provisional Government. Section III. Supreme Law of the Land This Constitution, and the laws of the Confederate States made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the Confederate States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. No Government under the Confederate States shall ever impose emergency powers nor suspend any part of this Constitution, neither in time of war nor for any other reason. No Government under this Constitution shall suspend any election under its laws except in case of divine act or act of war, but no suspension of elections shall exceed a period of two weeks, and no term of service of any elected official may be extended for any cause whatsoever. Section IV. Oaths The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the Confederate States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the Confederate States. Section V. Rights Not to be Denied 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. Section VI. Reservation of Powers The powers not delegated to the Confederate States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the People thereof. Section VII. Verbiage of Gender All uses of the pronoun "he" are implied to include all persons male and female under the Constitution, and neither this Constitution nor any law of any Government shall be construed to exclude either males or females. ARTICLE VIII. The ratification of the conventions of three States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. When three States shall have ratified this Constitution, in the manner before specified, the Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall prescribe the time for holding the election of President and Vice President; and for the meeting of the Electoral College; and for counting the votes, and inaugurating the President. They shall, also, prescribe the time for holding the first election of members of Congress under this Constitution, and the time for assembling the same. Until the assembling of such Congress, the Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall continue to exercise the legislative powers granted them; not extending beyond the time limited by the Constitution of the Provisional Government.
And here is the FAQ: Why a new nation? A combination of reasons. One is that many Southrons know that the Confederate States of America under the Constitution of 1861 was illegally conquered and occupied, and in law, legally is still a nation in occupation. Two is that the United States of the founders, a nation of limited government that honors individual liberty, is not a nation that viably exists in present time. What now exists is an Empire. And we Confederates never wished to live under an Empire. Three is that the current government of the United States, is pending collapse: at the same time, it is an agressive, asset grabbing Empire. We must now act to form a company of states, republics and nations, which adhere to the freedom of a limited government, a federal government governed by the will of the states and the people. We must end the occupation of the United States, and must prevent our occupation by a successor nation. Why a new Constitution? Several reasons. One is that many of the institutions considered valid under the old Constitution, such as slavery, are now obsolete, as well as abhorrent to the concept of a nation based on individual freedoms. Two is that a mechanism is needed by which the people, separate and distinct from their governments, may elect to secede from the United States and the state governments, and form new governments befitting a free people: the New Confederate Constitution provides such a framework. Three is that we have learned through the oppressive history of the governments of the United States, that governments must be more strictly bound than either the current United States constitution, or the Confederate Constitution of 1861 binds them: otherwise, these selfsame abuses will reappear. Why are states not part of the original Confederacy in the target areas? There is a general misunderstanding that the Confederate States government was formed for the purpose of Southern independence from the United States. This is not true. The Confederate States Constitution of 1861 makes clear that the old Confederacy was an attempt to continue the limited American government of the founders of a voluntary union of states. That government was in great jeopardy by 1860, and was all but dissolved under the tyrannies of the Lincoln administration. We seek to reestablish that government of the founders, not just for Southrons, but for as many Americans as possible. No part of America whose people freely choose to enter into this Confederacy shall be denied entrance. Why are western provinces of Canada included in the target territory of the new CSA? Canada is not a separate country in North America which chose of its own volition to be a separate country. Canada is the surviving occupied territory of the British under the truce from the War of 1812. We believe the westernmost provinces and territories of Canada have a common ideological bond with the westernmost states of the United States, and would consider an alliance of North American nations separate from both the United States and Canada. We offer independence not only for states within the current United States, but true independence for the first time to any province of Canada seeking a free nation. Canadians are, like the rest of us, occupied Americans. Why are Indian nations of sufficient size offered statehood? The entire movement of a new American nation is to craft a nation by voluntary choice, and not by force. In seeking to offer a partnership with the Indians of America, we must offer them something more substantial than simply "inclusion". Their countries, like our country, was occupied by the American Empire, and remain so unto this day. If we offer a free nation to the people of the United States, and offer a free nation to Canadians, how can we not offer the same to our Indian brethren, who were also betrayed, as we were? Why are Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin part of the target territory? Under the Northwest Ordinance, these states are supposed to be soveregin not under the 1787 Constitution but under the prior Articles of Confederation. To that extent, they also represent occupied territories of the Empire. Why is Maryland considered a Category I state? Under the NCC, a state which has scheduled a secession process, but is prevented from engaging that process by force or occupation, is considered as having ratified the Constitution. Well, this is exactly what happened in Maryland in 1861. Abraham Lincoln had the Maryland legislature arrested, so that it could not secede. Since if we were using our current rules then, we would have considered Maryland's secession legal, after much consideration, we now recognize Maryland as a Category I state of the original Confederacy. What about slavery and the right to vote? The New Confederate Constitution specifically forbids slavery, and requires equal suffrage for citizens of all genders and races. Many of us believe that slavery and its attached evils was a key reason God chose not to bless us with victory, and has left us in the wilderness of slavery for 138 years. The New Confederates acknowledge this sin against God and humanity and repent of it. What is a "sovereign freeman"? A sovereign freeman is the formal form of Confederate citizenship. Prior to the US Constitution's fourteenth amendment, people were freemen and freeholders, denoting individual sovereignty. Whereas the term citizen implies a manner of subservience to the almighty state. This is reversed in the New Confederacy: individuals are sovereign freemen with God-given individual rights, not servants of the state. Therefore, we call ourselves not citizens, but sovereign freemen. What are the special characteristics of the New Confederate Constitution? The New Confederate Constitution differs from the old 1861 Constitution in the following ways. 1. Explicit binding of government: judges within the United States have taken many liberties in establishing a special interest state serving a select few. The NCC severely restricts the powers of government, so that future governments cannot do this. 2. Method of secession: the NCC creates a legal mechanism for secession expressing a "Will of the People". 3. No lifetime terms for judges: judges and Justices of the Supreme Court must stand for retention. State courts and lower courts must all be elected. A restricted "lawyer class" is expressly forbidden. Judges are now answerable to the People. 4. Majority elections: all persons serving in office must have received a majority of the vote in elections. Party primaries are eliminated. Why isn't there a "Bill of Rights" in the NCC? There is. It is called Article V - Limitations on Government. The Bill of Rights to the US Constitution represented amendments to the original document. In the 1861 Confederate Constitution, these articles are part of the body of the document and not separate articles, and the NCC follows the model set forth by the 1861 Constitution. For example, the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is Article V- Section 12 in the NCC.
I would be all for a new constitution honestly, the more infuriatingly explicit it is the better. Though in all honesty it probably wouldnt matter for very long, they would just change the definition of an otherwise explicit meant word into something else to still get what they want. I doubt even a new constitution could keep america from collapsing at this point. Remember the Alien and Sedition act? It was passed by the very same generation that ratified the constitution..... how are we to say this would be any different in that regard?
Not that I disagree but one of the great things about this constitution is that it specifically provides for secession in the event shit like that happens.
Subbed, I'll read it later. Here's something interesting. Maybe we're all so unhappy with who we elect because one person cannot accurately represent 700,000 people views. The original constitution called for 30-40,000 for each congressman. I know nobody wants to hear it but it might be better if we had more politicians. http://thirty-thousand.org/
So ive got a question. if say, 10 or so states decided to seperate, and become their own "confederate states of america" or something along those lines, 100% peaceful intentions, their people just wanted to start over as a new country, what would happen?
Most likely the US Government would crush the rebellion with overwhelming military force irregardless of whether the revolution is peaceful or not.
It's interesting that they included a clause to allow slavery and indentured servitude "as a punishment for crime". I'm sure that in the very unlkely event that a government like this were to exist, it's leaders would soon be inclined to revise this part to more closely match the laws and culture of the Old South, prior to their losing the Civil War.
Its an acknowledgement that being confined to prison is slavery. But I agree the best and only trustworthy government is no government.
I do not share the interpretation of this clause as a comparison of prison and slavery. I think that they want prisoners used in chain gangs, work crews, etc., for private and government interests, and less violent prisoners would be sold and used as indentured servants for long periods as an alternative to keeping them in prison.