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Historian Emory Thomas compared the correspondence sent by the Confederate government in the first year of its existence to different governments.  He writes, "The Southern nation was by turns a guileless people attacked by a voracious neighbor, an 'established' nation in some temporary difficulty, a collection of bucolic aristocrats making a romantic stand against the banalities of industrial democracy, a cabal of commercial farmers seeking to make a pawn of [[King Cotton]], an apotheosis of nineteenth-century nationalism and revolutionary liberalism, or the ultimate statement of social and economic reaction." <ref> Emory M. Thomas, ''The Confederate Nation: 1861-1865'' (1979), pp. 83-84. </ref>  

Historian Emory Thomas compared the correspondence sent by the Confederate government in the first year of its existence to different governments.  He writes, "The Southern nation was by turns a guileless people attacked by a voracious neighbor, an 'established' nation in some temporary difficulty, a collection of bucolic aristocrats making a romantic stand against the banalities of industrial democracy, a cabal of commercial farmers seeking to make a pawn of [[King Cotton]], an apotheosis of nineteenth-century nationalism and revolutionary liberalism, or the ultimate statement of social and economic reaction." <ref> Emory M. Thomas, ''The Confederate Nation: 1861-1865'' (1979), pp. 83-84. </ref>  

The example of the [[U. S. Constitution]] clearly guided the drafters of the [[Confederate Constitution]], enabling the latter group to complete their work in less than half as much time. <ref> Thomas, p. 63. </ref> However, this Confederate Constitution contained a provision banning efforts to end de jure slavery, found at Article I, Section 9, clause 4, lumped in with the provisions banning [[ex post facto laws]] and [[bills of attainder]].  Another clause banned the international [[slave trade]], but permitted the importation of slaves from the United States; this clause was consistent with the United States' banning of Atlantic slave trading in 1808, which had the effect of improving the domestic slave market, benefiting states such as [[Virginia]].  The wording of this clause demonstrates that the drafters clearly anticipated that not all slave states would secede, although they also included a provision for accepting new states into the Confederacy. This proved essential when [[Virginia]], [[Arkansas]], [[Tennessee]] and [[North Carolina]] seceded from the United States after the Confederate Constitution was in effect.  Although the Confederate document includes no [[bill of rights]], the [[Ninth Amendment]] and [[Tenth Amendment]] of the U.S. Bill of Rights are reproduced in Article VI as Sections 5 and 6.  The Confederate Constitution implemented a ban on a [[religious test for office]] in Section 4, notwithstanding the preamble's invocation of God's blessing on the Confederate experiment. <ref> Thomas, Appendix, pp. 306-322. </ref>  Other differences had to do with the [[appropriations]] process in Congress.  Not only was a [[line-item veto]] expressly included, but Congress required a two-thirds [[supermajority]] to appropriate any funds not specifically requested by the President, giving Jefferson Davis in a real sense more Constitutional power than Abraham Lincoln possessed - an irony, given the Confederate states' putative objection to centralized power.

The example of the [[U. S. Constitution]] clearly guided the drafters of the [[Full Text of the Confederate States Constitution|Confederate Constitution]], enabling the latter group to complete their work in less than half as much time. <ref> Thomas, p. 63. </ref> However, this Confederate Constitution contained a provision banning efforts to end de jure slavery, found at Article I, Section 9, clause 4, lumped in with the provisions banning [[ex post facto laws]] and [[bills of attainder]].  Another clause banned the international [[slave trade]], but permitted the importation of slaves from the United States; this clause was consistent with the United States' banning of Atlantic slave trading in 1808, which had the effect of improving the domestic slave market, benefiting states such as [[Virginia]].  The wording of this clause demonstrates that the drafters clearly anticipated that not all slave states would secede, although they also included a provision for accepting new states into the Confederacy. This proved essential when [[Virginia]], [[Arkansas]], [[Tennessee]] and [[North Carolina]] seceded from the United States after the Confederate Constitution was in effect.  Although the Confederate document includes no [[bill of rights]], the [[Ninth Amendment]] and [[Tenth Amendment]] of the U.S. Bill of Rights are reproduced in Article VI as Sections 5 and 6.  The Confederate Constitution implemented a ban on a [[religious test for office]] in Section 4, notwithstanding the preamble's invocation of God's blessing on the Confederate experiment. <ref> Thomas, Appendix, pp. 306-322. </ref>  Other differences had to do with the [[appropriations]] process in Congress.  Not only was a [[line-item veto]] expressly included, but Congress required a two-thirds [[supermajority]] to appropriate any funds not specifically requested by the President, giving Jefferson Davis in a real sense more Constitutional power than Abraham Lincoln possessed - an irony, given the Confederate states' putative objection to centralized power.

Despite the later romanticization of the Confederate cause, the perpetuation of Southern conceptions of race and slavery was of prime importance to the new nation. In his "Cornerstone Speech," Vice President Alexander Stephens argued that a major difference between the Confederate Constitution and the United States Constitution was the belief that blacks were not inherently equal. In describing this fundamental difference, Stephens said, "The new constitution has 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... Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man." <ref>[http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?documentprint=76]</ref> The rejection of slavery as a dominant ideology of the Confederate States began after the Civil War, as Confederate leaders sought to legitimize their failed rebellion.

Despite the later romanticization of the Confederate cause, the perpetuation of Southern conceptions of race and slavery was of prime importance to the new nation. In his "Cornerstone Speech," Vice President Alexander Stephens argued that a major difference between the Confederate Constitution and the United States Constitution was the belief that blacks were not inherently equal. In describing this fundamental difference, Stephens said, "The new constitution has 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... Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man." <ref>[http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?documentprint=76]</ref> The rejection of slavery as a dominant ideology of the Confederate States began after the Civil War, as Confederate leaders sought to legitimize their failed rebellion.