Hey all, looking for an answer to a specific question regarding slavery and the Confederacy, and I could not find the answer in the FAQ.
I often see this particular quote from Article 1, Section 9 of the Confederate Constitution as proof that the Confederacy restricted states' rights more than the Union.
No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.
As far as I can tell, it appears that the Confederate Constitution follows the US's in that Section 9 enumerates specific limits on Congress at the federal level, while Section 10 refers to limits on the States. This seems so because Section 10 reiterates the restriction on ex post facto laws and bills of attainder for the States. I cannot find anything in Section 10 that would refer to any restriction on a state outlawing slavery. All that being said, I'm not going to pretend I am an authority on the Confederate Constitution.
So, as the title asks, was there any restriction on a state's right to outlaw slavery in the Confederate Constitution?
PS: This question was not meant to debate whether slavery caused the Civil War. I have no doubts that slavery was the predominate reason for the war.
You're right; that clause doesn't apply to the states. A Confederate state could theoretically ban slavery, and that was probably intentional - some secessionists were hoping for Northern states to join the Confederacy under status quo ante bellum rather than take part in an antislavery war. However, there were two clauses limiting the effectiveness of such a state ban:
The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States; and shall have the right of transit and sojourn in any State of this Confederacy, with their slaves and other property; and the right of property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired.
This means that while a state could forbid its own citizens from holding slaves, other states' citizens could visit that state with their slaves. How long could they stay there before a "visit" turned into residence, and their slaves were freed? The question was repeatedly asked in 1850's courts, but never settled.
The Confederate States may acquire new territory... In all such territory the institution of negro slavery, as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected be Congress and by the Territorial government; and the inhabitants of the several Confederate States and Territories shall have the right to take to such Territory any slaves lawfully held by them in any of the States or Territories of the Confederate States.
This enacted the Dred Scott decision into constitutional law: all territories would be slave territories. In theory, when a territory organized as a state, its citizens could ban slavery... but until then, slaveowners were free to move in with as many slaves as they wanted.
(Incidentally, here's an online copy of the Confederate Constitution, side-by-side with the analogous clauses of the US Constitution, with differences highlighted. It might be helpful if you're studying it further.)