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59-592: According to the Constitution of the Confederate States , the vice president's office was almost entirely identical to that of the vice president of the United States . The vice president was elected by an electoral college (closely modeled after the U.S. Electoral College ) along with the president. Electors had to cast one of their votes for someone not from their State. If no candidate won

118-752: A Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility . Article I Section 9(7) No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. Article I Section 10(3) No State shall, without

177-447: 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. Changes to Article III Changes to Article IV Other states may be admitted into this Confederacy by a vote of two-thirds of the whole House of Representatives, and two-thirds of

236-604: A majority in the Electoral College, the Confederate Senate would elect the vice president from the top two vote-getters. Like the president, the vice president had to be a natural-born citizen of the Confederacy or a natural-born citizen of the U.S. born prior to December 20, 1860, and a resident in the Confederacy for over 14 years. The major difference between the U.S. and the C.S. vice presidencies

295-520: A military conflict not to free the slaves but to put down a rebellion.) According to historian Kenneth M. Stampp , each side supported states' rights or federal power only when it was convenient to do so. Stampp also cited Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens 's A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States as an example of a Southern leader who said that slavery was

354-496: A rival state might derive greater benefit from their own appropriations, others consider these events in a different light. The preliminary report of the Inland Waterways Commission issued in 1908, provides a unique topical perspective on these and other concurrent historical events on-going at the time. It notes: "The earliest movement toward developing the inland waterways of the country began when, under

413-434: A tariff to protect and promote American industry; a national bank to foster commerce; and federal subsidies for roads, canals, and other "internal improvements" to develop profitable markets for agriculture. Funds for these subsidies would be obtained from tariffs and sales of public lands. Clay argued that a vigorously maintained system of sectional economic interdependence would eliminate the chance of renewed subservience to

472-612: Is located in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia . Most of its provisions are word-for-word duplicates from the United States Constitution ; however, there are crucial differences between the two documents in tone and legal content, primarily regarding slavery . The Confederate Constitution followed the U.S. Constitution for the most part in the main body of

531-501: 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; and all the officers appointed by the same shall remain in office until their successors are appointed and qualified, or the offices abolished. Changes to Article VII When five states shall have ratified this Constitution, in

590-850: The Confederate States of America . It superseded the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States , the Confederate State's first constitution, in 1862. It remained in effect until the end of the American Civil War in 1865. The original Provisional Constitution is located at the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia , and differs slightly from the version later adopted. The final, handwritten Constitution

649-639: The Whig Party , led by Henry Clay from 1832 until its demise in 1852, and then by the Republican Party from its formation in 1856. Support for internal improvements became a part of the economic plan , and the economic school of thought that would develop, but it would not come easily. While the Federalist strand of republicanism defended internal improvements as agents of the "general welfare" or "public good", another strand unraveled from

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708-552: The " cornerstone of the Confederacy " when the war began but, after the Southern defeat, said that the war had been instead about states' rights. According to an 1861 speech delivered by Alabama politician Robert Hardy Smith , the State of Alabama declared its secession from the United States to preserve and to perpetuate the practice of slavery, the debate over which he referred to as the "Negro quarrel." In his speech, Smith praised

767-553: The 'rock upon which the old Union would split.' He was right." Internal improvements Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure : roads, turnpikes , canals, harbors and navigation improvements. This older term carries

826-506: The American coastal plain did share an interest in developing the transportation infrastructure of the country. Unlike Europe, they were isolated from one another by poor inland transportation links and the legacy of their colonial trading patterns , and separated from their interior lands by formidable geographic obstacles . George Washington repeatedly pressed his vision of a network of canals and highways to be created and overseen through

885-530: The Confederate Congress, especially on matters of military necessity. Contemporary historians overwhelmingly agree that secession was motivated by the preservation of slavery. There were numerous causes for secession, but the preservation and the expansion of slavery were easily the most important of them. The confusion may come from blending the causes of secession with the causes of the war, which are separate but related issues. (Lincoln entered

944-616: The Confederate capital. He eventually spent much of his time trying, without success, to maintain diplomatic channels with the U.S. and pushed for a negotiated end to the war. He was sent by Davis to represent the Confederate government at the Hampton Roads peace conference . Constitution of the Confederate States The Constitution of the Confederate States was the supreme law of

1003-487: The Confederate constitution for its lack of euphemisms and its succinct protections of the right to own "Negro" slaves: We have dissolved the late Union chiefly because of the negro quarrel. Now, is there any man who wished to reproduce that strife among ourselves? And yet does not he, who wished the slave trade left for the action of Congress, see that he proposed to open a Pandora's box among us and to cause our political arena again to resound with this discussion. Had we left

1062-477: The Confederate vice president, stated within his Cornerstone Speech that the Confederate constitution was "decidedly better than" the American one, as the former "put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution. African slavery as it exists amongst us; the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson in his forecast, had anticipated this, as

1121-556: The Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; Article I Section 8(3) added quite a bit to the U.S. Constitution in an attempt to block the Confederate Congress from appropriating money to build " internal improvements " to "facilitate commerce," with some exceptions allowing for safety and improvement to waterways. To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among

1180-515: 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 . The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay

1239-671: The Legislature thereof. Article I Section 10(1) 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 enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit ; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin

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1298-541: The Senate, the Senate voting by states; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress. Changes to Article V Changes to Article VI Article VI Section 1(1) The Government established by this Constitution

1357-630: The Treasury Albert Gallatin 's 1808 Report on the Subject of Public Roads and Canals was one such early plan. Henry Clay 's American System , devised in the burst of nationalism that followed the War of 1812 , remains one of the most historically significant examples of a government-sponsored program to harmonize and balance the nation's agriculture, commerce, and industry. This "System" consisted of three mutually reinforcing parts:

1416-462: The U.S. vice president presides and breaks ties in the U.S. Senate. He was also the first person in the line of succession. If the president died, resigned, or was removed from office, the vice president would become the new president for the remainder of his term; this never happened. During his tenure in office, Stephens grew increasingly distant from Davis and spent less and less time in Richmond,

1475-640: The Union states retained. Article I Section 9(6) No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State, except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses. The signers and the states they represented were: Congress began to move for ratification of the Confederate States Constitution on March 11, 1861: Although the Confederate States Supreme Court was never constituted, the supreme courts of

1534-514: The auspices of wise leaders at the head of an active republican government. This initial thrust for internal improvements fell victim to what Washington considered the narrow-minded and provincial outlook of the individual states, and federal authority hamstrung by the Articles of Confederation to the point of impotence. The fledgling government , however, set historic precedent and broad transportation policy in 1787 concerning new lands west of

1593-425: The benefit of another, creating self-perpetuating bureaucracies, distant governments undermining local authority, and subsidizing the schemes of the wealthy at public expense. The federal role in funding and constructing internal improvements was one of the most persistent and contentious issues of American politics in the years after the revolution. With independence, elites based in the various regional economies of

1652-421: 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. 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

1711-454: The connotation of a political movement that called for the exercise of public spirit as well as the search for immediate economic gain. Improving the country's natural advantages by developments in transportation was, in the eyes of George Washington and many others, a duty incumbent both on governments and on individual citizens. While the need for inland transportation improvements was universally recognized, there were great differences over

1770-497: The consent of Congress, lay any duty on tonnage, except on sea-going 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

1829-415: 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. The Confederate States lost a few rights that

Vice President of the Confederate States of America - Misplaced Pages Continue

1888-561: The end of the 1790s, leaders of the emerging Democratic-Republican Party regularly assaulted the "monied gentry" and their improvement plans as visionary and extravagant, and gradually eroded public confidence in government action and authority. In their assaults on the Federalists' national agenda, Old Republicans perfected a language of opposition that provided the template for almost all future critiques of federal power: fear of centralized power, burdening taxpayers, taxing one locale for

1947-476: 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. Every law or resolution having the force of law, shall relate to but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title. Then in Section 10: No State shall, without

2006-466: The free-trade, laissez-faire "British System." In the years from 1816 to 1828, Congress enacted programs supporting each of the American System's major elements. After the 1829 inauguration of Andrew Jackson , with his administration's emphasis on a limited role for the federal government and sectional autonomy, the American System became the focus of anti-Jackson opposition that coalesced into

2065-504: The heads of Department, 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

2124-570: The influence of George Washington, Virginia and Maryland appointed commissioners primarily to consider the navigation and improvement of the Potomac; they met in 1785 in Alexandria and adjourned to Mount Vernon, where they planned for extension, pursuant to which they reassembled with representatives of other States in Annapolis in 1786; again finding the task a growing one, a further conference

2183-424: The introduction of slaves from any State not a member of, or Territory not belonging to, this Confederacy. Article I Section 9(4) No bill of attainder , ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed. Article IV Section 2(1) The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States; and shall have

2242-430: 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. In all such territory, the institution of negro slavery as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected by Congress, and by the territorial government: and the inhabitants of the several Confederate States and Territories, shall have

2301-489: 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

2360-488: The original colonies in the Northwest Ordinance ; it established free usage of its inland waterways and their connecting portages , and expressed this intent for any other lands and resources in future states. While some consider that Washington watched as rivalries between the states of Maryland and Virginia gradually rendered his Potomac Company null and void by withholding public monies, out of fear that

2419-503: The product of contentious congressional factions and an executive branch generally concerned with avoiding unconstitutional federal intrusions into state affairs. Late project successes, both European and pre-revolutionary, demonstrated the time and cost savings as well as greater potential commerce and profit which these improvements created, but the early inability of Congress to develop a system of appropriations hobbled federal efforts; this threw responsibility for internal improvements on

Vice President of the Confederate States of America - Misplaced Pages Continue

2478-677: The question unsettled, we should, in my opinion, have sown broadcast the seeds of discord and death in our Constitution. I congratulate the country that the strife has been put to rest forever, and that American slavery is to stand before the world as it is, and on its own merits. We have now placed our domestic institution, and secured its rights unmistakably, in the Constitution. We have sought by no euphony to hide its name. We have called our negroes 'slaves', and we have recognized and protected them as persons and our rights to them as property. Georgia Democrat Alexander H. Stephens, who would become

2537-402: The questions of how these should be planned, funded, developed, and constructed. Also, with various routes available, questions of where these improvements should be made, and by whom (the federal government, the individual states, or local jurisdictions), became the basis of political and regional contention. Federal assistance for "internal improvements" evolved slowly and haphazardly; it became

2596-442: The republican tapestry to denounce such schemes as "corruption", taxing the many to benefit the few. Critics of internal improvement schemes did not have to dig deep under the veneer of "public good" to uncover self-interest. Washington's scheme for Potomac River improvement also happened to pass conveniently by his Mount Vernon estate and extend westward toward some 60,000 acres (24,000 ha) of undeveloped land in his possession. By

2655-411: The right of transit and sojourn in any State of this Confederacy, with their slaves and other property; and the right of property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired. Article IV Section 3(3) The Confederate 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

2714-430: The right to impeach federal judges and other federal officers if they worked or lived solely in their state. Article I Section 2(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

2773-429: The right to take to such territory any slaves lawfully held by them in any of the states or territories of the Confederate states. The Confederate Constitution's preamble included the phrase "each State acting in its sovereign and independent character," which focused the new constitution on the rights of the individual states. States of the Confederacy gained several rights that states of the Union do not have, such as

2832-502: 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. There were several major differences between the constitutions concerning slavery. Article I Section 9(1) The importation of Negroes of the African race from any foreign country, other than

2891-580: The several States, and with the Indian Tribes. 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

2950-603: The slave-holding 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. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. Article I Section 9(2) Congress shall also have power to prohibit

3009-660: The states, following the veto of the Bonus Bill of 1817 . New York scored fabulous success in 1825 with completion of its Erie Canal , but other state programs sank due to a combination of excessive ambition, shaky financing, and internal squabbling. One early government-funded project was the Cumberland Road , which Congress approved in 1806 to build a road between the Potomac River and the Ohio River; it

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3068-495: The text but with some changes: 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. 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

3127-744: The various Confederate states issued numerous decisions interpreting the Confederate Constitution. Unsurprisingly, since the Confederate Constitution was based on the United States Constitution, the Confederate State Supreme Courts often used U.S. Supreme Court precedents. The jurisprudence of the Marshall Court thus influenced the interpretation of the Confederate Constitution. The state courts repeatedly upheld robust powers of

3186-522: The world, the 1803 Louisiana Purchase greatly enhanced the area claimed, as well as the need for developmental improvement. The acquisition brought the combined lands of the Missouri , Ohio , and Mississippi River basins all under federal control. Many Americans also shared the belief that increased inter-regional communications would strengthen the fragile union by fostering shared economic interests. The case for federally funded internal improvements

3245-455: Was a key point of contention between the two major political factions in America for the first sixty years of the 19th century, specifically the mercantilist Hamiltonian Federalists and the more-or-less laissez faire Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans . Political support began with Alexander Hamilton and his Report on Manufactures at the turn of the 19th century, and continued with

3304-465: Was arranged in Philadelphia in 1787, with delegates from all the States. There the deliberations resulted in the framing of the Constitution , whereby the thirteen original States were united primarily on a commercial basis —the commerce of the times being chiefly by water." Although the country already had an extensive coastline, inland river systems, and the largest freshwater lake system in

3363-677: Was later pressed on through Ohio and Indiana and halfway through Illinois, as well along what is now U.S. Route 40. It became the National Road and was the single largest project of the antebellum era , with nearly US$ 7 million in federal dollars spent between 1806 and 1841. The debates on Ohio statehood and on the Cumberland Road apparently included no significant discussion of the Constitutional questions involved. The issue of government subsidies for internal improvements

3422-446: Was that the Confederate term in office was six years long. The president was explicitly forbidden from running for a second term by the constitution, but the vice president was not. It was unclear whether or not a vice president, if he succeeded to the presidency, in the middle of a term, could run for a full presidential term afterward. The vice president's primary duty was presiding over the Confederate Senate and breaking tied votes, as

3481-471: Was thus strong, because such a program could serve both local and national economic interests as well as a critical nation-building role. Promoters furthermore made a convincing case that only the federal government could effect the desired projects, since the federal budget typically operated in surplus while the states lacked adequate resources, and the states faced difficult coordination problems best solved through national political institutions. Secretary of

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