Transcriber’s Notes:
Underscores “_” before and after a word or phrase indicate _italics_
in the original text.
Small capitals have been converted to SOLID capitals.
Illustrations have been moved so they do not break up paragraphs.
Deprecated spellings have been preserved.
Typographical and punctuation errors have been silently corrected.
[Illustration: GEORGE WASHINGTON.]
THE
VOTER’S TEXT BOOK,
COMPRISING A COLLECTION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
DOCUMENTS AND STATISTICS,
CONNECTED WITH THE
POLITICAL HISTORY OF AMERICA,
COMPILED FROM OFFICIAL RECORDS, WITH
BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
BY JAMES M. HIATT.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.:
ASHER, ADAMS & HIGGINS.
1868.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868,
by ASHER, ADAMS & HIGGINS,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States,
for the District of Indiana.
STEREOTYPED AT THE FRANKLIN TYPE FOUNDRY, CINCINNATI.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Formation of the Original Union 5
Population of the United States at Decennial Periods 6
Declaration of Independence 7
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union 13
Constitution of the United States, and Amendments 23
Washington’s Addresses 41
Missouri Compromise of 1820 65
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 66
Kansas and Nebraska Act of 1854 73
Ordinance of 1787 86
Amnesty Proclamation 94
Proposed Crittenden Compromise 97
Emancipation Proclamation 99
Letter Explaining the same 101
Proclamation of Andrew Jackson 106
History of each of the States 130
Life of Washington 157
Electoral Votes for 1st and 2d terms 158
Life of John Adams 161
Electoral Votes for 3d term 162
Life of Jefferson 164
Electoral Votes for 4th and 5th terms 166
Life of Madison 168
Electoral Votes for 6th and 7th terms 170
Life of Monroe 172
Electoral Votes for 8th and 9th terms 174
Life of John Q. Adams 176
Electoral Votes for 10th term 178
Life of Jackson 179
Electoral Votes for 11th and 12th terms 181
Life of Van Buren 183
Electoral Votes for 13th term 185
Life of Harrison 186
Electoral Votes for 14th term 188
Life of Tyler 190
Life of Polk 192
Electoral Votes for 15th term 194
Life of Taylor 195
Electoral Votes for 16th term 197
Life of Fillmore 198
Life of Pierce 200
Electoral Votes for 17th term 202
Life of Buchanan 203
Electoral Votes for 18th term 207
Life of Lincoln 208
Electoral Votes for 19th and 20th terms 214
Life of Johnson 216
Chronological Record of the Rebellion 219
Pay of Officers of the United States, Civil and Military 269
Schedule of Stamp Duty 280
The Civil Rights Bill 289
Constitutional Amendment (proposed) 293
The Military Government Bill 295
Supplement to the same, and Amendment 297
History of the National Banks 301
History of Finances, Loans, Bonds, Legal-Tender Notes, etc. 318
Statistical View of the States, etc. 328
Platforms of the Parties for 1860 and 1864 331
Life of General U. S. Grant 341
Tenure-of-Office Bill 345
Impeachment 348
Chicago Platform of 1868 369
Life of Schuyler Colfax 371
Democratic Platform 375
Hon. Horatio Seymour 378
Gen. Francis Preston Blair, Jr. 380
FORMATION OF THE ORIGINAL UNION.
On Monday, the 5th of September, 1774, there were assembled at
Carpenter’s Hall, in the city of Philadelphia, a number of men who had
been chosen and appointed by the several colonies in North America
to hold a Congress for the purpose of discussing certain grievances
imputed against the mother country. This Congress resolved, on the next
day, that each colony should have one vote only. On Tuesday, the 2d
July, 1776, the Congress resolved, “That these United Colonies are, and
of right ought to be, Free and Independent States,” etc., etc.; and on
Thursday, the 4th July, the whole Declaration of Independence having
been agreed upon, it was publicly read to the people. Shortly after,
on the 9th September, it was resolved that the words “United Colonies”
should be no longer used, and that the “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”
should thenceforward be the style and title of the Union. On Saturday,
the 15th November, 1777, “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union
of the United States of America” were agreed to by the State delegates,
subject to the ratification of the State legislatures severally. Eight
of the States ratified these articles on the 9th July, 1778; one on the
21st July; one on the 24th July; one on the 26th November of the same
year; one on the 22d February, 1779; and the last one on the 1st March,
1781. Here was a bond of union between thirteen independent States,
whose delegates in Congress legislated for the general welfare, and
executed certain powers so far as they were permitted by the articles
aforesaid. The following are the names of the Presidents of the
Continental Congress from 1774 to 1788:
Peyton Randolph, Virginia 5th Sept., 1774.
Henry Middleton, South Carolina 22d Oct., 1774.
Peyton Randolph, Virginia 10th May, 1775.
John Hancock, Massachusetts 24th May, 1776.
Henry Laurens, South Carolina 1st Nov., 1777.
John Jay, New York 10th Dec., 1778.
Samuel Huntingdon, Connecticut 28th Sept., 1779.
Thomas McKean, Delaware 10th July, 1781.
John Hanson, Maryland 5th Nov., 1781.
Elias Boudinot, New Jersey 4th ” 1782.
Thomas Mifflin, Pennsylvania 3d ” 1783.
Richard Henry Lee, Virginia 30th ” 1784.
Nathaniel Gorham, Massachusetts 6th Jan., 1786.
Arthur St. Clair, Pennsylvania 2d Feb., 1787.
Cyrus Griffin, Virginia 22d Jan., 1788.
The seat of government was established as follows: At Philadelphia,
Pa., commencing September 5, 1774, and May 10, 1775; at Baltimore,
Md., December 20, 1776; at Philadelphia, Pa., March 4, 1777; at
Lancaster. Pa., September 27, 1777; at York, Pa., September 30, 1777;
at Philadelphia, Pa., July 2, 1778; at Princeton, N. J., June 30, 1783;
at Annapolis, Md., November 26, 1783; at Trenton, N. J., November 1,
1784; and at New York City, N. Y., Jan. 11, 1785.
On the 4th March, 1789, the present Constitution, which had been
adopted by a convention and ratified by the requisite number of States,
went into operation.
POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AT DECENNIAL PERIODS.
------+------------+---------------------------------+------------
| | Colored Persons. |
Cens’s| White +---------+-----------+-----------+ Total
Years.| Persons. | Free. | Slave. | Total. | Population.
------+------------+---------+-----------+-----------+------------
1790 | 3,172,464 | 59,466 | 697,897 | 757,363 | 3,929,827
1800 | 4,304,489 | 108,395 | 893,041 | 1,001,436 | 5,305,925
1810 | 5,862,004 | 186,446 | 1,191,364 | 1,377,810 | 7,239,814
1820 | 7,861,937 | 238,156 | 1,538,038 | 1,776,194 | 9,638,131
1830 | 10,537,378 | 319,599 | 2,009,043 | 2,328,642 | 12,866,020
1840 | 14,195,695 | 386,303 | 2,487,455 | 2,873,758 | 17,069,453
1850 | 19,553,068 | 434,495 | 3,204,313 | 3,638,808 | 23,191,876
1860 | 26,964,930 | 487,970 | 3,953,760 | 4,441,730 | 31,443,322
======+============+=========+===========+===========+============
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
IN CONGRESS, TUESDAY, JULY 4, 1776.
Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself into
a committee of the whole, to take into their further consideration
the Declaration; and, after some time, the President resumed the
chair, and Mr. Harrison reported that the committee had agreed to a
declaration, which they desired him to report. (The committee consisted
of Jefferson, Franklin, John Adams, Sherman, and R. R Livingston.)
The Declaration being read, was agreed to, as follows:
A DECLARATION
BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and
equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle
them, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;
that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles,
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will
dictate that governments long established should not be changed for
light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown
that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,
than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under
absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off
such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is
now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems
of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a
history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having, in direct
object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To
prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world:
He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for
the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should
be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend
to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people unless those people would relinquish the right of
representation in the legislature—a right inestimable to them, and
formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records,
for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his
measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly for opposing, with
manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause
others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of
annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise,
the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the danger of
invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for
that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners;
refusing to pass others to encourage their emigration hither, and
raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent
to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their
offices and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of
officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the
consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to,
the civil power.
He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign
to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent
to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;
For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment, for any murders
which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States;
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;
For imposing taxes on us without our consent;
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses;
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring
province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging
its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit
instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies;
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and
altering, fundamentally, the powers of our governments;
For suspending our own legislature, and declaring themselves invested
with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his
protection, and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coast, burnt our towns, and
destroyed the lives of our people.
He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries
to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun,
with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the
most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized
nation.
He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas,
to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their
friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored
to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian
savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction,
of all ages, sexes, and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress,
in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered
only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by
every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free
people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have
warned them, from time to time, of attempts made by their legislature
to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them
of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured
them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations,
which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.
They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity.
We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our
separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in
war—in peace, friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
in GENERAL CONGRESS assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the
World for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the
authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and
declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, FREE
AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all allegiance to
the British crown, and that all political connections between them and
the State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and
that, as _FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES_, they have full power to levy
war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do
all other acts and things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the
protection of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to each other, our
lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
The foregoing Declaration was, by order of Congress, engrossed, and
signed by the following members:
JOHN HANCOCK.
_New Hampshire._
JOSIAH BARTLETT,
WILLIAM WHIPPLE,
MATTHEW THORNTON.
_Massachusetts Bay._
SAMUEL ADAMS,
JOHN ADAMS,
ROBERT TREAT PAYNE,
ELBRIDGE GERRY.
_Connecticut._
ROGER SHERMAN,
SAMUEL HUNTINGTON,
WILLIAM WILLIAMS,
OLIVER WOLCOTT.
_Rhode Island._
STEPHEN HOPKINS,
WILLIAM ELLERY.
_New York._
WILLIAM FLOYD,
PHILIP LIVINGSTON,
FRANCIS LEWIS,
LEWIS MORRIS.
_New Jersey._
RICHARD STOCKTON,
JOHN WITHERSPOON,
FRANCIS HOPKINSON,
JOHN HART,
ABRAHAM CLARK.
_Pennsylvania._
ROBERT MORRIS,
BENJAMIN RUSH,
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
JOHN MORTON,
GEORGE CLYMER,
JAMES SMITH,
GEORGE TAYLOR,
JAMES WILSON,
GEORGE ROSS.
_Delaware_.
CÆSAR RODNEY,
GEORGE READ,
THOMAS M’KEAN.
_Maryland._
SAMUEL CHASE,
WILLIAM PACA,
THOMAS STONE,
CHARLES CARROLL, OF CARROLL’N.
_Virginia._
GEORGE WYTHE,
RICHARD HENRY LEE,
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
BENJAMIN HARRISON,
THOMAS NELSON, JUN.,
FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE,
CARTER BRAXTON.
_North Carolina._
WILLIAM HOOPER,
JOSEPH HEWES,
JOHN PENN.
_South Carolina._
EDWARD RUTLEDGE,
THOMAS HEYWARD, JUN.,
THOMAS LYNCH, JUN.,
ARTHUR MIDDLETON.
_Georgia._
BUTTON GWINNETT,
LYMAN HALL,
GEORGE WALTON.
[Illustration: JOHN ADAMS.]
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
AND
PERPETUAL UNION BETWEEN THE STATES.
The Articles of Confederation reported July 12, ’76,
and debated from day to day, and time to time, for two
years; were ratified July 9, ’78, by 10 States; by
New Jersey, on the 26th of November of the same year;
and by Delaware, on the 23d of February following.
Maryland, alone, held off two years more, acceding to
them March 1, ’81, and thus closing the obligation. The
following are the Articles:
_To all 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 15th day of November, in the year of our Lord, 1777, 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.”
ARTICLE 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.
ARTICLE 3. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league
of friendship with each other, for their common defense, 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 pretense whatever.
ARTICLE 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 restriction
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 offense.
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.
ARTICLE 5. For the more convenient management of the general interest
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 by 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 any 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 any 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.
ARTICLE 6. No State, without the consent of the United States in
Congress assembled, shall send an embassy to, or receive an 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 purposes 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 only, as shall be deemed necessary by the United States in
Congress assembled, for the defense 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 defense 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 due 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 a 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, nor 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.
ARTICLE 7. When land forces are raised by any State for the common
defense, 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.
ARTICLE 8. All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be
incurred for the common defense 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.
ARTICLE 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 6th article—of sending and receiving
embassadors—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
can not 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 above 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 favor, 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 jurisdictions 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
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
the 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 or 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 such State; which requisition shall be
binding; and thereupon the legislatures 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
can not be safely 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 be safely 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 defense
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 secrecy 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.
ARTICLE 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.
ARTICLE 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.
ARTICLE 12. All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, and
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.
ARTICLE 13. Every State shall abide by the determinations 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 afterward confirmed by the
legislatures of every State.
_And Whereas_, It hath 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 9th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1778, and
in the 3d year of the Independence of America.
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 defense, 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 the legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and
House of Representatives.
SEC. 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 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.
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 choose their Speaker and other
officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
SEC. 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 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.
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 honor, 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.
SEC. 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 the places of choosing 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.
SEC. 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 behavior, 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.
SEC. 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.
SEC. 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 becomes 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 nay, 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.
SEC. 8. The Congress shall have Power—
To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the debts
and provide for the common defense 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 offenses 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.
SEC. 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 hereinbefore 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.
SEC. 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or
confederation; grant letters of marque or 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 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 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.