(Richardson, James D. “Constitution of the Confederate States; March 11, 1861.” Published on the Avalon Project, Yale University. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_csa.asp)
Article 1, Section 9, Article 4 of the Confederate Constitution enshrines slavery in the newly created nation. From the very beginning of the Civil War, the Southern States made it expressly clear that slavery was an elemental and permanent fixture in their intended future. In addition to this, the Confederate Constitution also stipulated the express ability for Confederacy to expand slavery into any new territory it may acquire in Article 4, Section 3, Article 3. This directly contrasts with the Lost Cause argument which promotes the idea that the Southern states would have abolished slavery on their own in time.