…. They form great improvements upon the old constitution. S…
…. They form great improvements upon the old constitution. So, taking the whole new…. Another feature to which I will allude is that the new constitution provides that cabinet ministers and heads of departments may have the privilege of seats upon the floor of the Senate and House of Representatives and may have the right to participate in the debates and discussions upon the various subjects of administration. Another change in the constitution relates to the length of the tenure of the presidential office. In the new constitution it is six constitution, I have no hesitancy in giving it as my judgment that it is decidedly better than the old. Allow me briefly to allude to some of these improvements…. We allow the imposition of no duty with a view of giving advantage to one class of persons, in any trade or business, over those of another. All, under our system, stand upon the same broad principles of perfect equality. Honest labor and enterprise are left free and unrestricted in whatever pursuit they may be engaged. This old thorn of the tariff, which was the cause of so much irritation in the old body politic, is removed forever from the new. Again, the subject of internal improvements, under the power of Congress to regulate commerce, is put at rest under our system. The power, claimed by construction under the old constitution, was at least a doubtful one; it rested solely upon construction. We of the South, generally apart from considerations of constitutional principles, opposed its exercise upon grounds of its inexpediency and injustice. Notwithstanding this opposition, millions of money, from the common treasury had been drawn for such purposes. Our opposition sprang from no hostility to commerce, or to all necessary aids for facilitating it. With us it was simply a question upon whom the burden should fall. In Georgia, for instance, we have done as much for the cause of internal improvements as any other portion of the country. years instead of four, and the President rendered ineligible for a re-election …. 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; They were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made unequal. Alexander Stephens, Cornerstone Speech, March 21, 1861 Savannah, GA Under the Confederate Constitution, per Alexander Stephens, which of the following was NOT an “improvement” made by the new government?
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