Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton.
_Georgia._
Button Gwinnett,
Lyman Hall,
George Walton.
4 _July_, 1776.
APPENDIX B.
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION, ETC.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME.
_We, the undersigned, delegates of the States, affixed to our names,
send greeting:_
WHEREAS, the delegates of the United States of America, in Congress
assembled did, on the fifteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven, and in
the second year of the independence of America, agree to certain
articles of confederation and perpetual union between the States
of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia, in the words following, viz:
Articles of confederation and perpetual union between the States
of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia.
ARTICLE 1. The style of this confederacy shall be, "The United States
of America."
ART. 2. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and
independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not
by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States in
Congress assembled.
ART. 3. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of
friendship with each other for their common defence, the security
of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare; binding
themselves to assist each other against all force offered to, or
attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion,
sovereignty, trade, or any other pretext whatever.
ART. 4. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and
intercourse among the people of the different States in this union,
the free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds,
and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all
privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States;
and the people of each State shall have free ingress and regress to
and from any other State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges
of trade and commerce, subject to the same duties, impositions, and
restrictions, as the inhabitants thereof respectively, provided that
such restrictions shall not extend so far as to prevent the removal
of property imported into any State to any other State, of which the
owner is an inhabitant; provided, also, that no imposition, duties,
or restriction, shall be laid by any State on the property of the
United States, or either of them.
If any person guilty of or charged with treason, felony, or other
high misdemeanor, in any State, shall flee from justice, and be found
in any of the United States, he shall upon demand of the Governor, or
executive power of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, and
removed to the State having jurisdiction of his offence.
Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the
records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates
of every other State.
ART. 5. For the more convenient management of the general interests
of the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such
manner as the legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in
Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power
reserved to each State to recall its delegates or any of them, at
any time within the year, and to send others in their stead for the
remainder of the year.
No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two nor
more than seven members; and no person shall be capable of being a
delegate for more than three years in any term of six years; nor
shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of holding an office
under the United States, for which he, or another for his benefit,
receives any salary, fees, or emolument of any kind.
Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the
States, and while they act as members of the committee of the States.
In determining questions in the United States in Congress assembled,
each State shall have one vote.
Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or
questioned in any court or place out of Congress; and the members
of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests and
imprisonments, during the time of their going to and from and
attendance on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the
peace.
ART. 6. No State, without the consent of the United States in
Congress assembled, shall send an embassy to, or receive any embassy
from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance, or treaty,
with any king, prince, or State; nor shall any person holding any
office of profit or trust under the United States or any of them,
accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind
whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State; nor shall the
United States in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any title
of nobility.
No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation, or
alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the United
States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purpose for
which the same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue.
No State shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere with
any stipulations in treaties entered into by the United States in
Congress assembled, with any king, prince, or State, in pursuance of
any treaties already proposed by Congress to the courts of France and
Spain.
No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace, by any State,
except such number as shall be deemed necessary by the United States
in Congress assembled, for the defence of such State or its trade;
nor shall any body of forces be kept up by any State in time of
peace, except such number only as, in the judgment of the United
States in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison
the forts necessary for the defence of such State; but every State
shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia,
sufficiently armed and accoutred, and shall provide and have
constantly ready for use, in public stores, a number of field pieces
and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition, and camp
equipage.
No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the United
States in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded
by enemies, or shall, have received certain advice of a resolution
being formed by some nation of Indians to invade such State, and the
danger is so imminent as not to admit of a delay till the United
States in Congress assembled can be consulted; nor shall any State
grant commissions to any ships or vessels of war, or letters of
marque or reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war by the
United States in Congress assembled, and then only against the
Kingdom or State, and the subjects thereof, against which war has
been so declared, and under such regulations as shall be established
by the United States in Congress assembled, unless such State be
infested by pirates, in which case vessels of war may be fitted out
for that occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue,
or until the United States in Congress assembled shall determine
otherwise.
ART. 7. When land forces are raised by any State for the common
defence, all officers of or under the rank of colonel, shall be
appointed by the legislature of each State respectively, by whom
such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such State shall
direct; and all vacancies shall be filled up by the State which first
made the appointment.
ART. 8. All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be
incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by
the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of
a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States
in proportion to the value of all land within each State granted
to or surveyed for any person, as such land and the buildings and
improvements thereon shall be estimated, according to such mode
as the United States in Congress assembled shall from time to time
direct and appoint.
The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by
the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several
States, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress
assembled.
ART. 9. The United States in Congress assembled shall have the sole
and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, except
in the cases mentioned in the sixth Article: of sending and receiving
ambassadors: entering into treaties and alliances; provided that no
treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power of the
respective States shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and
duties on foreigners as their own people are subjected to, or from
prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods
or commodities whatsoever: of establishing rules for deciding in all
cases, what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what
manner prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the
United States shall be divided or appropriated: of granting letters
of marque and reprisal, in times of peace: appointing courts for
the trial of piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and
establishing courts for receiving and determining finally appeals in
all cases of captures; provided, that no member of Congress shall be
appointed a judge of any of the said courts.
The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last resort
on appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting, or that
hereafter may arise between two or more States concerning boundary,
jurisdiction, or any other cause whatever; which authority shall
always be exercised in the manner following: whenever the legislative
or executive authority or lawful agent of any State in controversy
with another shall present a petition to Congress, stating the matter
in question, and praying for a hearing, notice thereof shall be given
by order of Congress to the legislative or executive authority of the
other State in controversy, and a day assigned for the appearance
of the parties, by their lawful agents, who shall then be directed
to appoint by joint consent commissioners or judges to constitute a
court for hearing and determining the matter in question; but if they
cannot agree, Congress shall name three persons out of each of the
United States, and from the list of such persons each party shall
alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the
number shall be reduced to thirteen; and from that number not less
than seven nor more than nine names, as Congress shall direct,
shall, in the presence of Congress, be drawn out by lot; and the
persons whose names shall be so drawn, or any five of them, shall
be commissioners or judges, to hear and finally determine the
controversy, so always as a major part of the judges, who shall hear
the cause, shall agree in the determination; and if either party
shall neglect to attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons
which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present shall refuse
to strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate three persons out
of each State, and the Secretary of Congress shall strike in behalf
of such party absent or refusing; and the judgment and sentence of
the court to be appointed in the manner before prescribed, shall
be final and conclusive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to
submit to the authority of such court, or to appear, or defend their
claim or cause, the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce
sentence or judgment, which shall in like manner be final and
decisive, the judgment or sentence, and other proceedings, being in
either case transmitted to Congress, and lodged among the acts of
Congress for the security of the parties concerned: provided, that
every commissioner, before he sits in judgment, shall take an oath,
to be administered by one of the judges of the supreme or superior
court of the State, where the cause shall be tried, "well and truly
to hear and determine the matter in question, according to the best
of his judgment, without favour, affection, or hope of reward;"
provided also, that no State shall be deprived of territory for the
benefit of the United States.
All controversies concerning the private right of soil, claimed
under different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdiction as
they may respect such lands and the States which passed such grants
are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the same
time claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement of
jurisdiction, shall, on the petition of either party to the Congress
of the United States, be finally determined, as near as may be,
in the same manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes
respecting territorial jurisdiction between different States.
The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole and
exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin
struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective States;
fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the United
States: regulating the trade and managing all affairs with Indians
not members of any of the States; provided, that the legislative
right of any State within its own limits be not infringed or
violated: establishing and regulating post-offices from one State to
another, throughout all the United States, and exacting such postage
on the papers passing through the same as may be requisite to defray
the expenses of the said office: appointing all officers of the land
forces in the service of the United States, excepting regimental
officers: appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and
commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the United
States: making rules for the government and regulation of the said
land and naval forces, and directing their operations.
The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority
to appoint a committee to sit in the recess of Congress, to be
denominated "a Committee of the States;" and to consist of one
delegate from each State, and to appoint such other committees and
civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general affairs
of the United States, under their direction: to appoint one of their
number to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the
office of President more than one year in any term of three years: to
ascertain the necessary sums of money to be raised for the service
of the United States, and to appropriate and apply the same for
defraying the public expenses: to borrow money or emit bills on the
credit of the United States, transmitting every half year to the
respective States an account of the sums of money so borrowed or
emitted: to build and equip a navy: to agree upon the number of land
forces, and to make requisitions from each State for its quota, in
proportion to the number of white inhabitants in each State; which
requisition shall be binding, and thereupon the legislature of each
State shall appoint the regimental officers, raise the men, and
clothe, arm, and equip them in a soldier-like manner, at the expense
of the United States; and the officers and men so clothed, armed, and
equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within the time
agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled: but if the
United States in Congress assembled, shall, on consideration of
circumstances, judge proper that any State should not raise men, or
should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any other
State should raise a greater number of men than the quota thereof,
such extra number shall be raised, officered, clothed, armed, and
equipped, in the same manner as the quota of such State, unless the
legislature of such State shall judge that such extra number cannot
safely be spared out of the same; in which case they shall raise,
officer, clothe, arm, and equip, as many of such extra number as
they judge can safely be spared. And the officers and men so clothed,
armed, and equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within
the time agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled.
The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a war,
nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter
into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the
value thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses necessary for
the defence and welfare of the United States or any of them, nor
emit bills, nor borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor
appropriate money, nor agree upon the number of vessels of war to be
built or purchased, or the number of land or sea forces to be raised,
nor appoint a commander in chief of the army or navy, unless nine
States assent to the same; nor shall a question on any other point,
except for adjourning from day to day, be determined, unless by the
votes of a majority of the United States in Congress assembled.
The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any
time within the year, and to any place within the United States, so
that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space
of six months; and shall publish the journal of their proceedings
monthly, except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances,
or military operations, as in their judgment require secresy; and the
yeas and nays of the delegates of each State on any question shall be
entered on the journal when it is desired by any delegate; and the
delegates of a State, or any of them, at his or their request, shall
be furnished with a transcript of the said journal, except such parts
as are above excepted, to lay before the legislatures of the several
States.
ART. 10. The Committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall
be authorized to execute in the recess of Congress, such of the
powers of Congress as the United States in Congress assembled,
by the consent of nine States, shall, from time to time, think
expedient to vest them with; provided that no power be delegated
to the said committee, for the exercise of which, by the articles of
confederation, the voice of nine States in the Congress of the United
States assembled is requisite.
ART. 11. Canada, acceding to this confederation, and joining in the
measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled
to, all the advantages of this union: but no other colony shall be
admitted into the same unless such admission be agreed to by nine
States.
ART. 12. All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, debts
contracted, by or under the authority of Congress, before the
assembling of the United States, in pursuance of the present
confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the
United States, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said United
States and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged.
ART. 13. Every State shall abide by the determination of the United
States in Congress assembled, on all questions which, by this
confederation, are submitted to them. And the Articles of this
confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the
union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time
hereafter be made in any of them, unless such alteration be agreed to
in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by
the legislature of every State.
And whereas it has pleased the Great Governor of the world to incline
the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in Congress,
to approve of and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of
confederation and perpetual union: KNOW YE, That we, the undersigned
delegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for that
purpose, do, by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our
respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each
and every of the said Articles of confederation and perpetual union,
and all and singular the matters and things therein contained; and
we do further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective
constituents, that they shall abide by the determinations of the
United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which, by the
said confederation, are submitted to them; and that the Articles
thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we respectively
represent; and that the union shall be perpetual.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands, in Congress.
Done at Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, the ninth
day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred
and seventy-eight, and in the third year of the independence of
America.
_On the part and behalf of the State of New Hampshire._
Josiah Bartlet, John Wentworth, jun., August 8, 1778.
_On the part and behalf of the State of Massachusetts Bay._
John Hancock, Francis Dana,
Samuel Adams, James Lovell,
Elbridge Gerry, Samuel Holten.
_On the part and in behalf of the State of Rhode Island and
Providence Plantations._
William Ellery, John Collins.
Henry Marchant,
_On the part and behalf of the State of Connecticut._
Roger Sherman, Titus Hosmer,
Samuel Huntington, Andrew Adams.
Oliver Wolcott,
_On the part and behalf of the State of New York._
Jas. Duane, Wm. Duer,
Fra. Lewis, Gouv. Morris.
_On the part and in behalf of the State of New Jersey._
Jno. Witherspoon, Nath. Scudder,
Nov. 26, 1778.
_On the part and behalf of the State of Pennsylvania._
Robt. Morris, William Clingan,
Daniel Roberdeau, Joseph Reed,
Jona. Bayard Smith, 22d July, 1778.
_On the part and behalf of the State of Delaware._
Tho. M'Kean, Nicholas Van Dyke.
Feb. 13, 1779,
John Dickinson,
May 5th, 1779,
_On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland._
John Hanson, Daniel Carroll,
March 1,1781, March 1, 1781.
_On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia._
Richard Henry Lee, Jno. Harvie,
John Banister, Francis Lightfoot Lee.
Thomas Adams,
_On the part and behalf of the State of North Carolina._
John Penn, Jno. Williams.
July 21,1778,
Corns. Harnett,
_On the part and behalf of the State of South Carolina._
Henry Laurens, Richard Hutson,
William Henry Drayton, Thos. Heywood, jun.
Jno. Mathews,
_On the part and behalf of the State of Georgia._
Jno. Walton, Edwd. Langworthy.
24th July, 1778,
Edwd. Telfair,
NOTE.--From the circumstance of delegates from the same State
having signed the Articles of confederation at different times,
as appears by the dates, it is probable they affixed their names
as they happened to be present in Congress, after they had been
authorized by their constituents.
The above Articles of confederation continued in force until
the 4th day of March, 1789, when the constitution of the United
States took effect.
APPENDIX C.
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
PREAMBLE.
WE, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for
the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
ARTICLE I.
_Of the Legislature._
SECTION I.
1. All legislative powers herein granted, shall be vested in a
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and
House of Representatives.
SECTION II.
1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen
every second year by the people of the several States; and the
electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for
electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.
2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to
the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of
that State in which he shall be chosen.
3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this union, according to
their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a
term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all
other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three
years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States,
and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as
they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not
exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at
least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made,
the State of _New Hampshire_ shall be entitled to choose three;
_Massachusetts_, eight; _Rhode Island_, and _Providence Plantations_,
one; _Connecticut_, five; _New York_, six; _New Jersey_, four;
_Pennsylvania_, eight; _Delaware_, one; _Maryland_, six; _Virginia_,
ten; _North Carolina_, five; _South Carolina_, five; and _Georgia_,
three.
4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill up
such vacancies.
5. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other
officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
SECTION III.
1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators
from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years,
and each senator shall have one vote.
2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the
first election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, into
three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be
vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class
at the expiration of the fourth, and of the third class at the
expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every
second year; and if vacancies happen, by resignation or otherwise,
during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive
thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the
legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the
age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that
State for which he shall be chosen.
4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president
pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall
exercise the office of President of the United States.
6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When
the President of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall
preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of
two-thirds of the members present.
7. Judgment in case of impeachment shall not extend further than
to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any
office of honour, trust, or profit, under the United States; but
the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to
indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.
SECTION IV.
1. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators
and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the
legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time, by law, make
or alter such regulations, except as to the place of choosing
senators.
2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall
by law appoint a different day.
SECTION V.
1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and
qualifications of its own members; and a majority of each shall
constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn
from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of
absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each House
may provide.
2. Each House may determine the rule of its proceedings, punish
its members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of
two-thirds, expel a member.
3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their
judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of
either House, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of
those present, be entered on the journal.
4. Neither House during the Session of Congress shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any
other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
SECTION VI.
1. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation
for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the
treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except
treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest
during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses,
and in going to or returning from the same; and for any speech or
debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other
place.
2. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he
was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of
the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments
whereof shall have been increased, during such time; and no person
holding any office under the United States shall be a member of
either House during his continuance in office.
SECTION VII.
1. All Bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House
of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with
amendments, as on other Bills.
2. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives
and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be presented to the
President of the United States; if he approve, he shall sign it; but
if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in
which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objection at
large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such
reconsideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the
Bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other
House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved
by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such
cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays,
and the names of the persons voting for and against the Bill shall be
entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall
not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted)
after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law
in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their
adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary, (except a
question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of
the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be
approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by
two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to
the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a Bill.
SECTION VIII.
The Congress shall have power--
1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the
debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the
United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform
throughout the United States:
2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States:
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
States, and with the Indian tribes:
4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on
the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United States:
5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin,
and fix the standard of weights and measures:
6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the United States:
7. To establish post offices and post roads:
8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing
for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to
their respective writings and discoveries:
9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court:
10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offences against the law of nations:
11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make
rules concerning captures on land and water:
12. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to
that use shall be for a longer term than two years:
13. To provide and maintain a navy:
14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and
naval forces:
15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of
the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions:
16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia,
and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service
of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the
appointment of the officers and the authority of training the militia
according to the discipline prescribed by Congress:
17. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over
such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of
particular States and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of
government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over
all places purchased, by the consent of the legislature of the State
in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines,
arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings: and,
18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by
this Constitution in the government of the United States, or any
department or officer thereof.
SECTION IX.
1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States
now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by
the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight,
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding
ten dollars for each person.
2. The privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ shall not be
suspended unless when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public
safety may require it.
3. No Bill of attainder, or ex-post-facto law, shall be passed.
4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid; unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be
taken.
5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue
to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels
bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties
in another.
6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of
appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of
the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published
from time to time.
7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States, and no
person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall,
without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument,
office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or
foreign State.
SECTION X.
1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation;
grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of
credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment
of debts; pass any Bill of attainder, ex-post-facto law, or law
impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of
nobility.
2. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any imposts
or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely
necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce
of all duties and imposts laid by any State on imports or exports
shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States, and all
such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of Congress.
No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on
tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any
agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as
will not admit of delay.
ARTICLE II.
_Of the Executive._
SECTION I.
1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United
States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four
years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same
term, be elected as follows:--
2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature
thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number
of senators and representatives to which the State may be entitled
in Congress; but no senator or representative, or person holding any
office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed
an elector.
3. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote
by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an
inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a
list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for
each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed
to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the
President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having
the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number
be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if
there be more than one who have such a majority, and have an equal
number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a
majority, then, from the five highest on the list, the said House
shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the
President, the votes shall be taken by States; the representation
from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall
consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and
a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In
every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the
greatest number of votes of the electors shall be Vice-President. But
if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate
shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-President.
4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors and
the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the
same throughout the United States.
5. No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall
be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be
eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the
United States.
6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties
of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President;
and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death,
resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President,
declaring what officer shall then act as President: and such officer
shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed or a President
shall be elected.
7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services
a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished
during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall
not receive within that period any other emolument from the United
States, or any of them.
8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the
following oath or affirmation:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States."
SECTION II.
1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy
of the United States and of the militia of the several States, when
called into the actual service of the United States; he may require
the opinion in writing of the principal officer in each of the
executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of
their respective offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves
and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases
of impeachment.
2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present
concur: and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the
United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided
for, and which shall be established by law. But the Congress may by
law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think
proper in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads
of departments.
3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions,
which shall expire at the end of their next session.
SECTION III.
1. He shall, from time to time, give to Congress information of
the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such
measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on
extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them;
and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time
of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think
proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers;
he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and shall
commission all the officers of the United States.
SECTION IV.
1. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for
and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanors.
ARTICLE III.
_Of the Judiciary._
SECTION I.
1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one
Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as Congress may, from time
to time, order and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and
inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour; and
shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation,
which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
SECTION II.
1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity
arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all
cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to
all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to
which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between
two or more states; between a State and citizens of another State;
between citizens of different States; between citizens of the same
State claiming lands under grants of different States; and between a
State, or the citizens thereof and foreign States, citizens or
subjects.
2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme
Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before
mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both
as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations
as Congress shall make.
3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be
by jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where the said
crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any
State, the trial shall be at such place or places as Congress may by
law have directed.
SECTION III.
1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying
war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or confession in
open court.
2. Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason;
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or
forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.
ARTICLE IV.
_Miscellaneous._
SECTION I.
1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And
Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect
thereof.
SECTION II.
1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges
and immunities of citizens in the several States.
2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other
crime, who shall flee from justice and be found in another State,
shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from
which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having
jurisdiction of the crime.
3. No person held to service or labour in one State, under the laws
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labour; but
shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or
labour may be due.
SECTION III.
1. New States may be admitted by Congress into this Union; but no new
State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other
State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States,
or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the
States concerned, as well as of Congress.
2. Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all needful
rules and regulations respecting the territory, or other property
belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution
shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States
or of any particular State.
SECTION IV.
1. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this union a
republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against
invasion; and, on application of the legislature, or of the executive
(when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.
ARTICLE V.
_Of Amendments._
1. Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution; or, on the
application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States,
shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either
case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this
Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths
of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof,
as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by
Congress; provided, that no amendment which may be made prior to
the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall in any manner
affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first
Article; and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of
its equal suffrage in the Senate.
ARTICLE VI.
_Miscellaneous._
1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the
adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United
States under this Constitution, as under the confederation.
2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall
be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall
be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the
supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound
thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the
contrary notwithstanding.
3. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members
of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial
officers, both of the United States, and of the several States, shall
be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but
no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any
office, or public trust, under the United States.
ARTICLE VII.
_Of the Ratification._
1. The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the
States so ratifying the same.
Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States
present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In
witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
_President, and Deputy from Virginia._
_New Hampshire._
John Langdon,
Nicholas Gilman.
_Massachusetts._
Nathaniel Gorman,
Rufus King.
_Connecticut._
William Samuel Johnson,
Roger Sherman.
_New York._
Alexander Hamilton.
_New Jersey._
William Livingston,
David Brearly,
William Patterson,
Jonathan Dayton.
_Pennsylvania._
Benjamin Franklin,
Thomas Mifflin,
Robert Morris,
George Clymer,
Thomas Fitzsimons,
Jared Ingersoll,
James Wilson,
Governeur Morris.
_Delaware._
George Read,
Gunning Bedford, jun.,
John Dickinson,
Richard Bassett,
Jacob Broom.
_Maryland._
James M'Henry,
Daniel of St. Tho. Jenifer,
Daniel Carroll.
_Virginia._
John Blair,
James Madison, jr.
_North Carolina._
William Blount,
Richard Dobbs Spaight,
Hugh Williamson.
_South Carolina._
John Rutledge,
Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney,
Charles Pinckney,
Pierce Butler.
_Georgia._
William Few,
Abraham Baldwin.
_Attest,_ WILLIAM JACKSON, _Secretary_.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
ART. 1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress
of grievances.
ART. 2. A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of
a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not
be infringed.
ART. 3. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house
without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner
to be prescribed by law.
ART. 4. The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue but upon
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be
seized.
ART. 5. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand
jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the
militia when in actual service in time of war, or public danger; nor
shall any person be subject for the same offence, to be put twice in
jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal
case, to be witness against himself; nor be deprived of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private
property be taken for public use without just compensation.
ART. 6. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which
district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted
with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for
obtaining witnesses in his favour; and to have the assistance of
counsel for his defence.
ART. 7. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved;
and no fact tried by jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court
of the United States than according to the rules of the common law.
ART. 8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
ART. 9. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
ART. 10. The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the
States respectively, or to the people.
ART. 11. The judicial power of the United States shall not be
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or
prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another
State, or by citizens or subjects of another State, or by citizens or
subjects of any foreign State.
ART. 12. § 1. The electors shall meet in their respective States,
and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at
least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State as themselves;
they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President,
and in distinct ballots the person voted for with Vice-President; and
they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President,
and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of
votes for each, which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit
sealed to the seat of government of the United States, directed to
the President of the Senate: the President of the Senate shall in the
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person having
the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if
such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed;
and if no person have such a majority, then from the persons having
the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those
voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose
immediately by ballot the President. But in choosing the President,
the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each
State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a
member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of
all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of
Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of
choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next
following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in
the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the
President.
2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President,
shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the
whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority,
then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall
choose the Vice-President: a quorum for the purpose shall consist of
two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the
whole number shall be necessary to a choice.
3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of
President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United
States.
NOTE.--At the fourth presidential election, Thomas Jefferson
and Aaron Burr were the democratic candidates for President and
Vice-President. By the electoral returns they had an even number
of votes. In the House of Representatives, Burr, by intrigue,
got up a party to vote for him for President; and the House was
so divided that there was a tie. A contest was carried on for
several days, and so warmly, that even sick members were brought
to the House on their beds. Finally one of Burr's adherents
withdrew, and Jefferson was elected by one majority--which was
the occasion of this twelfth article.