On the 7th a resolution was received by the Convention, from the Alabama Legislature, placing at the disposal of the “Provisional Government of the Confederacy of the Seceding States” the sum of five hundred thousand dollars as a loan, for the purpose of setting the machinery of the new government in motion. It was accepted with thanks. The preliminary measures for the formation of that provisional government had been taken. Mr. Memminger, Chairman of the Committee to report a plan, had submitted one.1 It was discussed that day and a part of the next, in secret session, when the Constitution of the United States, with some important modifications, was adopted as a form of government for the new “Confederacy,” which was afterward known by the false title of “Confederate States of America.” It was a false title, because no States, as States, were parties to the unholy league. The “government,” so called, was composed only of a band of confederated traitors, who had usurped the powers and trampled upon the rights of the people, who constitute the State, and were about to make war upon the Republic to the hurt of that people.
The Provisional Constitution declared that the Convention at Montgomery was a “Congress,” vested with all the legislative powers of that of the United States. It provided that the Provisional President should hold his office for one year, unless superseded by the establishment of a permanent government; that each State should be a judicial district, and that the several district judges should compose the supreme court of the Confederacy; that the word “Confederacy” should be substituted for “Union,” as used in the National Constitution; that the President might veto a separate appropriation without affecting a whole bill; that the African Slave-trade should be prohibited; that the Congress should be empowered to prohibit the introduction of slaves from any State not a member of the Confederacy ;2 that all appropriations should be made upon demands of the President or heads of departments; and that members of the Congress might hold offices of honor and emolument under the Provisional Government. No mention was made of taxes, excepting those in the form of a tariff for revenue; nor the keeping of troops and ships of war by the States; nor for any ratification of the Constitution, it being only provisional. The word “slave” was used where, in the National Constitution, it is avoided. The Provisional Government was required to take immediate steps for a settlement of all matters concerning property, between the United States and the “Confederacy.” All legislative powers were vested in the “Congress” then assembled, until otherwise ordained. Only in the above-named features did the Provisional Constitution adopted by the Convention differ essentially from the National Constitution.
Notwithstanding the Provisional Constitution received the unanimous vote of the Convention, it did not satisfy all the members. The violent
