Senate of the Confederate States
| Confederate States Congress | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | Senate, House of Representatives |
| Leadership | |
|
President pro tempore ad interim
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| Seats |
135 26 Senators 109 Representatives |
| Constitution | |
| Confederate States Constitution | |
The Confederate States Congress was both the provisional and "permanent" legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861 to 1865. Its actions were for the most part concerned with measures to establish a new national government for the Southern "revolution", and to prosecute a war that had to be sustained throughout the existence of the Confederacy. At first, it met as a provisional congress both in Montgomery, Alabama and Richmond, Virginia.
The precursor to the permanent legislature was the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, which helped establish the Confederacy as a state. Following elections held in states, refugee colonies and army camps in November 1861, the 1st Confederate Congress met in four sessions. The 1863 elections led to many former Democrats losing to former Whigs. The 2nd Confederate Congress met in two sessions following an intercession during military campaign season beginning November 7, 1864 and ending on March 18, 1865, shortly before the downfall of the Confederacy.
Responding to a call from the South Carolina Secessionist Convention in Charleston held in December 1860 before Abraham Lincoln's inauguration as president, another six states called secession conventions of their own, held statewide elections to select delegates, convened and passed secession ordinances between January 9 and February 1, 1861.
Deputies from the first seven states to convene as the Confederate Provisional Congress, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, met in the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, in two sessions in February through May 1861. There was one vote for each sovereign state. They drafted and approved the Confederate States Constitution on February 8, and elected Jefferson Davis President of the Confederate States on February 9.
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Wikipedia