Can they supersede the Constitution? Can a president and the Senate ratify a treaty banning private gun ownership in the U.S.?
They obviously thought they could. As for the latter question, its a real concern that some future US government may try exactly that.
Davis surely sent the delegation abroad. He may well have told them to promise an end to slavery. But when did the Confederate Congress authorize it?
1864. Had it been strictly up to President Davis, he'd have done so sooner. This was something he had been lobbying the Confederate Congress for for a while.
Assuming for the sake of argument that they had, concern for what was constitutional and what was not was not a hallmark of the Confederate government or the Confederate Congress.
I disagree. Relative to the US federal government at the time they were quite scrupulous about it.
Thought they could? Or didn't care what their constitution said? After all they ignored the requirement to establish the third branch of government. What was ignoring the slavery protections compared to that? Who was going to tell them they couldn't?
1864. Had it been strictly up to President Davis, he'd have done so sooner. This was something he had been lobbying the Confederate Congress for for a while.
Authorized how? Was their legislation approving an end to slavery in exchange for recognition? If so, when was it passed?
I disagree. Relative to the US federal government at the time they were quite scrupulous about it.
Really? Name one member of the Confederate Supreme Court.
“This was something he had been lobbying the Confederate Congress for for a while.”
If Davis had been lobbying the Confederate Congress for a while on the issue of emancipation in exchange for Diplomatic recognition by the Brits and French, there should be s series of letters, minutes of meetings or statements in Memoires to this effect. You would substantiate your case considerable if you were to provide documented references to those discussions or meetings.
Otherwise all we are left with is your opinion that Davis did such a thing.
If they did would you agree that such actions were constitutional via treaty? If not, why not?
“Relative to the US federal government at the time they were quite scrupulous about it.”
No, they were not.
Jefferson Davis’s foot prints can be found all over the Confederate Constitution just as Abraham Lincoln’s foot prints can be found all over the United States Constitution.
On this matter Davis said “A strict observance of the written law is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to the written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus, absurdly sacrificing the ends to the means.”
The Confederate Congress authorized the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus from February 1862 until February 1863 and again from February 1864 until August 1864, and afterward authorized Confederate president Jefferson Davis to suspend the writ as he saw fit.
But before the Confederate Congress authorized the suspension of habeas corpus, the Confederate Congress and Jefferson were not shy about Unconstitutional actions.
In August 1861, the Confederate legislature passed the Alien Enemies Act This law allowed the government to arrest any person living in the Confederacy who did not acknowledge himself as a citizen of the Confederate States of America.
Enforcement of those laws fell to the Habeas Corpus Commissioner, a position created by the president in August 1861 and approved by the Confederate Congress in 1862. The commissioner and his associates exercised the powers of a court and could also arrest any Confederate citizen and question his or her loyalty. However, the subject under arrest was not entitled to a lawyer, a jury, or any of the legal protections allowed to a defendant in court. The government designated its opponents as political prisoners and dispatched them to prisons in Richmond or Salisbury. None of the above is authorized by the Confederate Constitution.
The Confederate government also prohibited the sale of liquor in 1862. Not a power granted by the Confederate Constitution.
On April 16, 1862, the Confederacy enacted a national draft. In addition, the Confederate Government unilaterally extend the enlistments of every man in the Army to three years, regardless of what enlistment contract the soldiers had signed with their state governments. These acts are not authorized by the Confederate Constitution.
In 1862 the Confederate Government placed an embargo on all cotton grown in the Confederacy. In addition, the Government burned 2 million bales of cotton, this authority to do this cannot be found in the Confederate Constitution.
In August of 1861 The Confederate Congress imposed a “War Tax”. The law covered property of more than $500 (Confederate) in value and several luxury items. The tax was also levied on ownership of slaves. The Confederate Constitution does not grant that taxing authority.
in the autumn of 1862, The Confederate Congress created a civilian pass system which forbade civilian travel without the approval of national authorities. This power is not granted the Confederate Constitution.
My 219 post is in error. The quotation attributed to Davis was actually made by Thomas Jefferson. In my notes I listed the quotes author incorrectly.