[3] Laws could only be enabled with the consent of the Reichstag (a parliament based on universal male suffrage) and the Federal Council (Bundesrat, a representation of the states).

During the initial three and a half years of the Confederation, a conservative-liberal cooperation undertook important steps to unify (Northern) Germany with regard to law and infrastructure.

At the time, the original Confederation had nearly 30 million inhabitants of whom 80% lived in Prussia, thus making up roughly 75% of the population of the future German Empire.

Under these circumstances, the South German states of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Württemberg and Bavaria previously opposed to the Confederation ultimately decided to join it.

[8] Although it was formally inaugurated on 1 January 1834, its origins may be traced to a variety of custom unions among the German states, formed beginning from 1818.

The Zollverein was not subordinate to the Austrian-led German Confederation (1815–1866) and Austria itself was excluded because of its highly protectionist trade policy, the unwillingness to split its customs territory into the separate Austrian, Hungarian and Galician-Lodomerian ones, as well as due to opposition of Prince von Metternich to the idea.

When the union parliament met in early 1850 to discuss the constitution, the participating states were mainly only those in Northern and Central Germany.

Austria and the southern German states Württemberg and Bavaria forced Prussia to give up its union plans in late 1850.

A corner stone of the proposal was the election of a German parliament based on universal male suffrage.

Otto von Bismarck, the minister-president of Prussia, wanted to gain sympathy within the national and liberal movement of the time.

Prussia and Austria signed a Nikolsburg preliminary (26 July) and a final peace treaty of Prague (23 August).

Prussia was allowed to create instead a "closer federation" (ein engerer Bund) in Germany north of the river Main.

The liberals in the Prussian parliament favored a wholesale annexation of all North German territories by Prussia.

Prussia incorporated (in October 1866) only the former military opponents Hannover, Hesse-Kassel, Nassau, the free city of Frankfurt, and the Hesse-Homburg area of Hesse Darmstadt.

[15] Bismarck sought advice from conservative and democratic politicians and finally presented a draft constitution to the other state governments.

While few Germans were particularly sympathetic toward the precise institution (i.e., slavery) which had precipitated civil war in America, the prevailing viewpoint outside the U.S. at this time was that the slaves had only been emancipated as a reprisal for Southern secession from the American Union.

[16] During the roughly three and a half years of the North German Confederation its major action existed in legislation unifying Northern Germany.

The North German Constitution of 16 April 1867 created a national parliament with universal suffrage (for men above the age of 25), the Reichstag.

Despite this, all these states fully participated in the federal institutions, even while outside the Customs Union and not directly affected by their decisions in that regard.

On this occasion, the country adopted a new constitution, and the name of the federal state was changed to Deutsches Reich (German Empire).

[21] This latter date was later customarily celebrated as the symbolic day of 'foundation of the German Empire' (Deutsche Reichsgründung), although it had no constitutional meaning.