Nick+Confederate+Constitution

toc = Changes to the Constitution =

**Slavery**
Slavery in the United States caused great differences between the North and the South. Each had their own reasons for either wanting slavery or opposing it. The North was against slavery because they believed African Americans were people, and all people deserved basic freedoms. They did not consider them animals or anything outside the category of a human being. The South believed African Americans had no right to be a citizen or even a human. They thought slaves were only useful for work, and that work was mostly picking cotton and other kinds of field work. Slavery affected whites' attitude towards blacks. Even in the North, there was a great deal of racism, low pay, disrespect and countless other offences. But after the Civil War the North made efforts to making a fair and equal envionments for blacks. In the South, long after the Civil War people still carried their same mentality that blacks weren't humans and that they were inferior to whites. This pushed them into creating hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, which is desinded to keep the Southern mentalty.



**States Rights**
Before the secession of Southern States from the Union, there was a dispute between North and the South over states rights. The South, being pro-slavery, did not want the federal government to meddle with their own states' laws. The political ideology of the region (claimed by the citizens who had the influence to be heard) was centered around state and town legislating power. Power should reside within a given community to make laws for that community, and should help protect an individual's progress. These individuals were plantation owners and business owners who relied on trading with few restrictions, to maximize the amount they could make in any financial transaction. The North, however, did not need slavery to support their economy, and disapproved of the practice.

** Federal Powers **
The powers of the United States Federal Government were less than they are today, but were generally thought to be stronger and stricter than that of the Confederacy's. Many of the basic powers were the same in both constitutions, such as the vote of defending the country in war goes to the congress. However, there were some differences. The Union constitution, in its preamble, states that its purpose is to help establish a "more perfect union," where the Confederacy's instead puts the responsibility of peace and "sovereignty" on the individual states. The original draft also claims to aim to provide the "common defense" for the citizens of the country. That the Southern constitution lacks both these clauses makes clear that the C.S.A.'s leaders, who edited the constitution, did not intend for the country to be particularly unified. The Confederacy now had a much less powerful central government to control the states.

media type="youtube" key="B8gt0_EYlbc" height="349" width="425"

Fast Forward to "5:23"

**Federal Governments Powers**


The Federal government cannot change the time for choosing senators any more. An addition to the constitution states that state legislature chooses the new senator witin a set time before the old one's office expires.  A power granted by the Confederacy was the ability to place taxes and tariffs on inter-state imports. Any tariff could be applied to states when two thirds of the Confederacy's congress votes to do so.

**State Governments Powers**
The Confederates outlawed the trading of slaves with oth er nations, excluding the United States. Even through this opening, the C.S.A. could limit or prohibit certain states from the Union's abilities to trade slaves. No law could be passed that denied any citizen of the Confederate States the right to owns slaves as property (specifically "negro slaves").  The "institution of slavery", was to be protected under the law, but it is theoretically possible that a single state could vote to prohibit and abolish slavery on its own without violating and set laws. One of the rights the States had taken from themselves was the right to decide the eligibility of voters. The new country now explicitly states that only citizens of the Confederate States are allowed to vote.

Unexpected Changes and Non-Changes
The plan for the Confederacy, when condensed down, was to minimize a strong central government and give power to the states. Individuals would have more free trade and the ability to make their own way in the world, without a Federal government to interfere. While these expectations were met in some places, they were lacking in others. As mentioned above, the C.S.A. did in fact limit certain trading between states the foreign countries. They did stop the importation of slaves, and did not allow the slave trade to expand any further. An example of this unexpected restriction was that only certain states were allowed to trade with the Union. Another prime example of the Confederacy "going back on its promise", so to speak, would be its control over states' voter registrations. In the North, registration restrictions were generally chosen by the state for the citizen they were dealing with. The Confederacy set strict guidelines for all of its states to follow. This was one way to stop certain rules from encompassing slaves or blacks, to keep any abolitionist movement from forming or taking advantage of a certain law.