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any county in the
State where they may be in active service, or under orders, or on parole at the time of said election; and all other voters shall vote in the county where they reside, as now required by law in voting for members to the General Assembly.
Sec. 5.
Be it further enacted, That at the same time, and under the rules and regulations prescribed for the election hereinbefore ordered, the following ordinance shall be submitted to the popular vote.
To wit:
An Ordinance for the adoption of the
Constitution of the
Provisional Government of the
Confederate States of America:
We, the people of
Tennessee, solemnly impressed by the perils which surround us, do hereby adopt and ratify the
Constitution of the
Provisional Government of the
Confederate States of America, ordained and established at
Montgomery, Alabama, on the 8th day of February, 1861, to be in force during the existence thereof, or until such time as we may supersede it, by the adoption of a permanent Constitution.
Sec. 6.
Be it further enacted, That those in favor of the adoption of said Provisional Constitution, and thereby securing to
Tennessee equal representation in the deliberations and councils of the
Confederate States, shall have written or printed on their ballots the word “Representation;” opposed, the words “No representation.”
Sec. 7.
Be it further enacted, That, in the event the people shall adopt the
Constitution of the
Provisional Government of the
Confederate States at the election herein ordered, it shall be the duty of the
Governor forthwith to issue writs of election for delegates to represent the
State of Tennessee in the said Provisional Government.
That the
State shall be represented by as many delegates as it was entitled to members of Congress to the recent Congress of the United States of
America, who shall be elected from the several Congressional Districts as now established by law, in the mode and manner now prescribed for the election of Members of Congress of the United States.
Sec. 8.
Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
--
Nashville Banner, May 8.
The Ordinance passed.
The deed is done!
And a black deed it is — the Legislature of
Tennessee, in secret session, passed an ordinance of secession — voting the
State out of the Federal Union, and changing the federal relations of a State, thereby affecting, to the great injury of the people, their most important earthly interests.
The men who did this deed in secret conclave, were elected two years ago, and they were elected and sworn to support the
Constitution of the United States, and the obligations of that oath must rest upon them until their successors are elected.
They have dared to pass an ordinance that is really unconstitutional, unjustifiable, and is, upon the whole, a vile act of usurpation.
That they say that the extraordinary emergency of the times demanded this outrage, will not do with those of us who know the
State of Tennessee has not been oppressed, and is not invaded by a hostile foe, and is not likely to be unless we invite or provoke an attack.
It has been the policy of all usurpers, in all ages, to excuse themselves for the exercise of arbitrary power, intended at once to oppress the people and to deprive them of their liberties.
The apology for doing this deed in secret session is, that it would not do to act with open doors, and thereby let the United States Government know what was transpiring.
This is only a pretext for this act — it was to prevent
the People of Tennessee from knowing what vile work they were engaged in, and applying the remedy.
They did not want the real people to read the speeches of Union men delivered in that body, who gave reasons, numerous and strong, why
Tennessee should not go into
Jeff. Davis's repudiating Confederacy.
But unprincipled politicians have resolved upon governing the people, and to induce them to submit, they must keep them in the dark as to their vile schemes.
In June, we are called upon to vote for or against this Ordinance of Secession, and all trains of evil, such as enormous taxes, and the raising of fifty thousand troops!
Will the people ratify it, or will they reject it?
Let every man, old and young, halt and blind, contrive to be at the polls on that day. If we lose then, our liberties are gone, and we are swallowed up by a military despotism more odious than any now existing in any monarchy of
Europe!--
Knoxville Whig, May 11.
Tennessee is disenthralled at last.
Freedom has again crowned her with a fresh and fadeless wreath.
She has broken through the meshes of tyranny.
She has shaken off the shackles which tyrants and usurpers were fastening upon her that they might reduce her to helpless and hopeless bondage.
She has left a Union in which she was no longer an equal.
She has dissolved her connection with States bent on her subjugation and destruction.
She has thrown off the yoke of a Government prostituted to the vile purposes of injustice and oppression.
Nobly has she asserted her independence and vindicated her sovereignty.
She has taken her place in the
Southern constellation.
She has added another star to the flag of the
Confederate States, which floats over the dome of her capitol, the proud and unsullied emblem of Southern nationality.
She has united her destiny with a sisterhood of
