work and who would fight. Congress sustained class exemptions of the 1862 legislation, however modified. Second, the financial proposals set forth by the Treasury Department were repeatedly disregarded. Third, in 1865, Congress refused to reauthorize suspending the writ of habeas corpus. Fourth, Congress delayed presidential authority to arm slaves for military duty until March 16, 1865. Second general election The elections for the Second Confederate Congress took place at the time of the regular state and local elections held in each state. As a result, their dates ranged from May 1863 to May 1864. Only Virginia's on May 28, 1863 was held before the reverses at Vicksburg and Gettysburg, and Virginia's delegation had a turnover of forty percent. The war was going badly not only for Virginia, but for the South generally during the other elections, and citizens were adversely affected by conscription, taxes, food supply and the economy generally. Unlike elections to the First Congress, which often were personality contests over who showed the most enthusiastic support of secession, Congressmen facing re-election had roll-call voting records that they had to defend. In Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas, the state delegations saw a turnover of half or more. The major campaign issue was the Davis Administration and the conduct of the war. Central government policies had become specific and expansive to meet growing war needs compared to two years previously. The everyday life of every class and group were affected. Objections did not mean an abandonment of the Confederacy, but rather that a war weariness had fomented dissension in the public discussion. Even in 1863, the pre-war party organizations continued to be influential. In the face of repeated Confederate military reverses, the early secessionists maintained that only “true” men could legislate in times of peril. Unlike the quiet campaigns of two years earlier, the campaigns of 1863 were marked by angry political acrimony. Generally candidates running on an anti-administration platform focused on one or two particularly unpopular issues in their local districts, without offering any alternative, although all appealed to states’ rights, and most made direct appeals to the soldier vote with promises of pay increases or better rations, tobacco allotments and homesteads in the territories. Peace proponents sought independence but wanted negotiations to begin before the end of hostilities. They were important in half the districts of North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. Conscription and exemption laws were