Provisional Confederate States Constitution The Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States of America was an interim constitution adopted by the Confederacy and in force from February 8 , 1861 to March 11 , 1861 . On March 11 it was superseded by the more permanent Constitution of the Confederate States of America . It is presently housed at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond , Virginia . Montgomery Convention and the Committee of Twelve . On February 4 , 1861 , in Montgomery , Alabama , a convention consisting of delegates from South Carolina , Florida , Alabama , Mississippi , Georgia , and Louisiana met to set about creating a new form of government based on that of the United States of America . Their efforts resulted in , among other achievements , the drafting of a Provisional Constitution for what came to be known as the Confederate States of America . Before the Montgomery Convention could accomplish anything , it required a set of guidelines to follow . On February 5 , Christopher Memminger proposed a committee of thirteen be created for the purpose of drafting a provisional constitution in order to grant congressional power to the convention . Thomas R . R . Cobb , of Georgia , moved that the committee be twelve , with two members from each state delegation . The Convention settled on the latter , nominating Memminger and Robert W . Barnwell from South Carolina , William T . S . Barry and Wiley P . Harris from Mississippi , James Patton Anderson and James B . Owens from Florida , Richard W . Walker and Robert H . Smith from Alabama , Stephens and E . A . Nisbet from Georgia , and John Perkins and Duncan F . Kenner from Louisiana to the Committee of Twelve . The committee elected Memminger , who had arrived at the convention with a draft already prepared , as their chair . Key points and differences . All committee members were well educated and had extensive legislative experience . Due to the necessity of a constitution , they worked considerably fast , reporting back to the convention on February 7 . Copies were then made and distributed to convention members who spent relatively little time on debate . Their key changes to the committee ’ s draft was an inclusion of the phrase “ Invoking the favor of Almighty God ” into the preamble , the addition of an executive item veto , a removal of a congressional restriction of fifteen percent on import tariffs , and a combining of the circuit and district court systems into one district system where each state comprised one district . The Provisional Constitution was then unanimously ratified near midnight on February 8 , 1861 and was signed by all present members at noon the day of Jefferson Davis ’ s inaugural address on February 18 , 1861 . There are fifty signatures in all , including those of the Texas delegation who were admitted on March 2 . The Provisional Constitution was nullified with the ratification of the permanent Constitution of the Confederate States of America on March 11 , 1861 . The framers of the Provisional Constitution used the Constitution of the United States as a basis for their own , and thus there are many similarities . There were also several noticeable differences , including the aforementioned changes , as well as a clause which allowed Congress to use a two - thirds vote to declare the president unable to perform his duties . Article IV permitted Congress to amend the constitution with another two - thirds vote , while Article VI granted Congress the power to admit other states into the confederacy . And in their haste , the Committee of Twelve neglected to include important features such as a ratification process and decided to omit any mention of controversial issues regarding slavery , and tariffs . Such issues were to be decided in the permanent Constitution . But the most significant difference from the United States Constitution was that under the Provisional Constitution , the Provisional Confederate Congress was a unicameral legislature , that is , it had only one chamber . This was changed to the more familiar bicameral legislature in the Permanent Constitution . Perhaps the most notable of the neglected issues was slavery . Given the importance of slavery to the secessionist movement of the south , the issue is mentioned rather sparingly in the provisional constitution . The constitution only mentions slavery twice : once in the prohibition of the slave trade , and again in a constitutional guarantee of the return of fugitive slaves or financial compensation equal to the “ value of the slave and all costs and expenses . ” This absence of further regulations on slavery reflects , among other things , the complexity and variety of political and moral beliefs among convention members . Interpretations . In his inaugural address , Jefferson Davis said : “ We have changed the constituent parts but not the system of government . The Constitution framed by our fathers is that of these Confederate States ” and that it differed “ only from that of our fathers insofar as it is explanatory of their well - known intent … ” Some scholars agree with Davis that the Provisional Constitution sought to clarify many of the ambiguities of the original Constitution . The language of the constitution , however , leads most historians to view the Provisional Constitution as an attempt to grant greater power to the states . For instance , in the preamble , “ We the people ” is replaced with “ We the deputies of the sovereign and independent States . ” Words such as “ delegated ” and “ expressly granted ” were also used to emphasize the power of the states within the Confederacy .