The Confederate Instrument of Surrender was the legal instrument that established the armistice ending the Second Great War in North America. It was signed by President of the Confederate States Don Partridge and U.S. General Irving Morrell on July 14, 1944, at Pineville, North Carolina, with little fanfare or ceremony, and once signed, the Confederate States effectively ceased to exist as a political entity. The instrument comprised six articles. Article Five stated that any final political settlement would supersede this instrument.