Alexander Stephens on the Confederacy’s Corner-Stone

 That effort stood in stark contrast with what he argued on the eve of the war. The selection here comes from what historians call Stephens’s “Corner-Stone” speech. His speech provided a description of the constitution for the newly created Confederate States of America, but our interest rests in what he believed to be the foundation (or “corner-stone”) of the new government. As you read this selection, keep the following questions in mind. What did Stephens claim to be the corner-stone of the Confederacy? What was the truth (so-called) that the Confederate Constitution acknowledge that the framers of the original constitution had missed? Finally ask yourself, does Stephens’s description of the original constitution square with depictions made by other documents you have read (or with the textbook for that matter)?