(1) This Constitution shall go into immediate effect by all States adopting the same and is the successor of the September 17, 1787 Constitution of the United States of America and the March 11, 1861 Constitution of the Confederate States of America. The Confederate States constitutes an independent nation, both de facto and de jure, and possess a government perfect in all its parts, and endowed with all the means of self-support. All the laws and ordinances by which a State originally became a member of the United States of America are hereby repealed and that all obligations on the part of the said State or the People thereof to observe the same be withdrawn and each State adopting this Constitution will immediately resume the sovereignty, independence, and freedom established by the original thirteen Nations at the time they declared their independence on July 4, 1776; declaring to the world that the Confederate States of America is a sovereign and independent constitutional republic.

(2) This Constitution, and the laws of the Confederate States, made in pursuance thereof, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in this Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary not-withstanding.

(3) The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the Confederate States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution and all laws made under the authority thereof; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the Confederate States.

(4) When two or more States have adopted this Constitution, as the People thereof shall direct, they shall create a Provisional Congress. Upon the first meaning of the Provisional Congress, a Provisional President and Provisional Vice President shall be appointed by them and hold office until a President and Vice President is elected. The Provisional Congress shall prescribe the time for holding the election of President and Vice President and inaugurating the same. They shall, also, prescribe the time for holding the first election of Members of Congress under this Constitution, and the time for assembling the same. Until the assembling of the Constitutional Congress, the Provisional Congress shall continue to exercise the legislative powers granted them; not extending beyond four years after the first meeting of the Provisional Congress.