2nd Confederate States Congress

(Redirected from Second Confederate Congress)

The 2nd Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from May 2, 1864, to March 18, 1865, during the last year of Jefferson Davis's presidency, at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia;[1] the Confederacy's government effectively dissolved 16 days later, when it fled Richmond on April 3, 1865. Its members were elected in the 1863 congressional elections.

2nd Confederate States Congress
Equestrian portrait of Washington (after the statue which surmounts his monument in the capitol square, at Richmond,) surrounded with a wreath composed of the principal agricultural products of the Confederacy, (cotton, tobacco, sugar cane, corn, wheat and rice,) and having around its margin the words: "The Confederate States of America, twenty-second February, eighteen hundred and sixty-two," with the following motto: "Deo vindice"
Logo
Type
Type
HousesSenate
House of Representatives
History
FoundedMay 2, 1864 (1864-05-02)
DisbandedMarch 18, 1865 (1865-03-18)
Preceded by1st
Leadership
Meeting place
Second Capitol of the Confederate States (1861–1865)
Virginia State Capitol
Richmond, Virginia
Confederate States of America
Constitution
Constitution of the Confederate States

Sessions

edit

Held May 2, 1864, through March 18, 1865, at the Virginia State Capital in Richmond, Virginia. The term of the Second Congress was due to end on February 18, 1866. However, due to the defeat and dissolution of the Confederacy prior to that time, the Congress did not function after the end of its second and final session.

  • 1st Session – May 2, 1864 to June 14, 1864
  • 2nd Session – November 7, 1864 to March 18, 1865

Leadership

edit

Senate

edit
Senate President
President pro tempore

House

edit
House Speaker

Officers

edit

Senate

edit

House

edit

Members

edit

Senate

edit

X: served in the Senate of the First Congress (i.e. reelected or continued in office for this Second Congress).

Confederate States senators were elected by the state legislatures, or appointed by state governors to fill casual vacancies until the legislature elected a new senator. It was intended that one-third of the Senate would begin new six-year terms with each Congress after the first.
Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their terms. Senators of Class 1 were intended to serve a six-year term, starting with this Congress and expiring in 1870. Class 2 senators served what was intended to be a four-year term, due to end on the expiry of this Congress in 1866. Class 3 senators were meant to serve a six-year term, due to expire in 1868.[2]

Alabama

Arkansas

Florida

Georgia

Kentucky

Louisiana

Mississippi

Missouri

  • 2. Waldo Porter Johnson X
  • 1. (vacant caused by the inability of the Missouri legislature to meet and elect a senator)

North Carolina

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

House of Representatives

edit

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

X: reelected

Alabama

Arkansas

Florida

Georgia

Kentucky

Louisiana

Mississippi

Missouri

In Confederate law, the people of Missouri were entitled to elect thirteen representatives. The state never implemented the reapportionment and continued to use its existing seven districts.[6]

North Carolina

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

Delegates

edit

Non-voting members of the House of Representatives.

Arizona Territory

Cherokee Nation

Creek and Seminole Nations

Senate committees

edit

Accounts[9]

Claims

Commerce

Engrossment and Enrollment

Finance

Foreign Relations

Indian Affairs

Judiciary

Military Affairs

Naval Affairs

Patents

Post Offices and Post Roads

Printing

Public Buildings

Public Lands

Rules

Territories

House committees

edit

Accounts[9]

Claims

Commerce

Elections

Enrolled Bills

Flag and Seal

Foreign Affairs

Indian Affairs

Judiciary

Medical Department

Military Affairs

Naval Affairs

Ordnance and Ordnance Stores

Patents

Pay and Mileage

Post Offices and Post Roads

Printing

Public Buildings

Quartermaster's and Commissary Departments and Military Transportation

Rules and Officers of the House

Territories and Public Lands

Ways and Means

Joint committees

edit

Impressments (Session 1)[9]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Historical Atlas ..., pp. 135-138
  2. ^ Permanent Constitution of the Confederate States and Confederate Senate Journal
  3. ^ Holden, William W., ed. (December 9, 1864). "Confederate State's Senator". Semi-Weekly Standard. Raleigh, North Carolina. p. 1.
  4. ^ Historical Atlas ..., p. 135
  5. ^ Historical Atlas ..., p. 136
  6. ^ Historical Atlas ... p. 20 and p. 128
  7. ^ Historical Atlas ... p. 137 and notes p. 139
  8. ^ a b Historical Atlas ... p. 137 and notes p. 140
  9. ^ a b c "Second Confederate Congress (02 May 1864 - 18 March 1865)". Archived from the original on February 8, 2007.

References

edit
  • The Historical Atlas of the Congresses of the Confederate States of America: 1861–1865, by Kenneth C. Martis (Simon and Schuster 1994)