reached to this, its distant and beautiful colony. The doctrines of
liberty and independence had begun to affect the minds of the blacks,
who constituted seven-eighths of the population. They soon became ripe
for a rebellion, which accordingly broke out in 1791, in the French
portion of Hayti. On the 1st of July, 1801, the independence of this
island was proclaimed, the celebrated Toussiant L'Ouverture being at
that time the leader. Toussiant died in 1803, and the command devolved
upon Dessalines, one of the chiefs, who was appointed governor for
life; but afterwards assumed, in 1804, the title of Jacques I.,
Emperor of Hayti. His tyrannical reign was terminated by assassination
in 1806. Christophe, the second in command, assumed the administration
of affairs; in 1807, he was appointed chief-magistrate for life, and,
in 1811, he assumed the title of King Henry I. But he found a
formidable rival in Petion, who possessed himself of the south part of
the island, which was formed into a republic, of which he was, in
1816, appointed president for life.
Petion died in 1818, and was succeeded by Boyer, as president for
life. Two years afterwards, the subjects of Christophe, wearied with
his tyranny, revolted, and he, being deserted by his troops, shot
himself. Upon this event, Boyer marched with an army to the north;
and, after a feeble resistance from a portion of the royalist chiefs,
was received as a deliverer by the people, and the two states became
united under one republic. There was little difficulty in the
undertaking, as the people, who were principally colored, revolted
against the Spanish authorities, and received Boyer as their friend.
The Spanish soldiers were removed from the island, and the work of
emancipation was completely effected. From that period, the authority
of the blacks has been extended over the whole of Hayti.
In 1825, April 17th, a treaty was concluded between France and Hayti, by
which the independence of the latter was acknowledged, on condition of
receiving one hundred and fifty millions of francs, to be paid in five
annual instalments. On the 1st of February, 1838, a new treaty of peace
was concluded at Port-au-Prince, between this republic and the kingdom
of France. The balance due from Hayti to France was fixed at sixty
millions of francs, to be paid by annual instalments, from 1838 to 1863.
FOOTNOTE:
[88] American Almanac for 1839.
CONSTITUTION
OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
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.
_Section_ 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_ 2. 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.
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.
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 chuse 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.
When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other
officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
_Section_ 3. 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.
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 year, 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.
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.
The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall chuse 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.
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.
Judgment in cases 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_ 4. 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 places of chusing senators.
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_ 5. 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.
Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its
members for disorderly behaviour and, with the concurrence of
two-thirds, expel a member.
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.
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_ 6. 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 and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in
either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.
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_ 7. 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.
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 objections 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.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on 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_ 8. The Congress shall have power 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;--To borrow money on the credit of the United States;--To
regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states,
and with the Indian tribes;--To establish an uniform rule of
naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies
throughout the United States;--To coin money, regulate the value
thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and
measures;--To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the
securities and current coin of the United States;--To establish post
offices and post roads;--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;--To
constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court;--To define and
punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences
against the law of nations;--To declare war, grant letters of marque
and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and
water;--To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to
that use shall be for a longer term than two years;--To provide and
maintain a navy;--To make rules for the government and regulation of
the land and naval forces;--To provide for calling forth the militia
to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel
invasions;--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;--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
the 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 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 in any
department or officer thereof.
_Section_ 9. 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.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may
require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion
to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
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.
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.
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 the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office,
or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
_Section_ 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or
confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit
bills of credit; make any thing 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.
No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts
or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely
necessary for executing it's 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 controul of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of
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.--_Section_ 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:
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 the Congress: but
no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.
[_A clause originally inserted in this place, relative to the election
of President and Vice-President, has been superseded and annulled by
Article Twelve of the Amendments; which see._]
The Congress may determine the time of chusing the electors, and the
day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same
throughout the United States.
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.
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.
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.
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_ 2. 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.
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.
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_ 3. He shall from time to time give to the 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_ 4. 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.--_Section_ 1. The judicial power of the United States,
shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as
the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges,
both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices
during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their
services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their
continuance in office.
_Section_ 2. 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.
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, and those in which a state shall be 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 the Congress shall make.
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 the Congress may by law
have directed.
_Section_ 3. 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 on confession
in open court.
The 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.--_Section_ 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each
state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every
other state. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner
in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the
effect thereof.
_Section_ 2. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.
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.
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_ 3. New states may be admitted by the 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 the Congress.