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. 3. 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. 4. 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 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 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. 5. 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 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 July 9, 1778. July 9, 1778. 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 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. § 6. 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. 7. 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. 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, 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. ART. 13. Every State shall abide by the determinations of the United States, in Congress assembled, on all questions which by this confedera tion 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 legislatures of every July 9, 1778. 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 third year of the Independence of America. On the part and behalf of the State of New Hampshire.-Josiah Bartlett, John Wentworth, Jun. (August 8, 1778.) On the part and behalf of the State of Massachusetts Bay.-John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Elbridge Gerry, Francis Dana, James Lovell, Samuel Holten. On the part and behalf of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.-William Ellery, Henry Marchant, John Collins. On the part and behalf of the State of Connecticut.-Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, Oliver Wolcott, Titus Hosmer, Andrew Adams. On the part and behalf of the State of New York.-James Duane, Francis Lewis, William Duer, Gouv. Morris. On the part and in behalf of the State of New Jersey.-Jno. Witherspoon, Nath. Scudder, (November 26, 1778.) On the part and behalf of the State of Pennsylvania.-Robert Morris, Daniel Roberdeau, Jona. Bayard Smith, William Clingan, Joseph Reed, (July 22, 1778.) On the part and behalf of the State of Delaware.-Thomas M'Kean, (February 12, 1779,) John Dickinson, (May 5, 1779,) Nicholas Van Dyke. On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland.—John Hanson, (March 1, 1781,) Daniel Carroll, (March 1, 1781.) On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia.-Richard Henry Lee, John Banister, Thomas Adams, Jno. Harvie, Francis Lightfoot Lee. On the part and behalf of the State of North Carolina.-John Penn, (July 21, 1778,) Corns. Harnett, Jno. Williams. On the part and behalf of the State of South Carolina.-Henry Laurens, William Henry Drayton, Jno. Mathews, Richard Hutson, Thos. Heyward, Jun. On the part and behalf of the State of Georgia.-Jno. Walton, (July 24, 1778,) Edwd. Telfair, Edward Langworthy. VOL. I.-2 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. Purposes for which the Con stitution was ordained and established. Legislative powers vested in Congress. House of Re. presentatives. Representa tives and direct taxes to be ap. portioned according to respective num. bers. Census to be taken every ten years. Representatives in Congress. 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. (a) ARTICLE 1. 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. (b) 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, (a) Martin, heir at law of Fairfax, v. Hunter's Lessee, 1 Wheat, 304; 3 Cond. Rep. 575. Briscoe et al. v. the Bank of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 11 Peters, 257. McCulloch v. The State of Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316; 4 Cond. Rep. 466. Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 1. Barron v. The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 7 Peters, 243. Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch, 137; 1 Cond. Rep. 267. United States v. Smith, 5 Wheat. 153; 4 Cond. Rep. 619. Owing v. Norwood, 5 Cranch, 344; 2 Cond. Rep. 275. (b) The object of the Constitution was to establish three great departments of government: the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial departments. The first was to pass laws; the second to approve and execute them; the third to expound and enforce them. Martin, heir at law of Fairfax, v. Hunter's Lessee, 1 Wheat. 304; 3 Cond. Rep. 575. The Constitution unavoidably deals in general language. It did not suit the purpose of the people in framing this great charter of our liberties to provide for minute specifications of its powers, or to declare the means by which those powers were to be carried into execution. It was foreseen that that would be a perilous and difficult, if not an impracticable task. The instrument was not intended merely to provide for the exigencies of a few years, but was to endure through a long lapse of ages; the events of which were locked up in the inscrutable purposes of Providence. It could not be foreseen what new changes and modifications of power might be made indispensable to effectuate the general objects of the charter; and restrictions and specifications which at present might seem salutary, might in the end prove the overthrow of the system itself. Hence its powers are expressed in general terms; leaving to the legislature, from time to time, to adopt its own means to effectuate legitimate objects, and to mould and remodel the exercise of its own powers as its own wisdom, and the public interests should require. Martin, &c. v. Hunter, 1 Wheat. 304; 3 Cond. Rep. 575. Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North 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. 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. When The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. 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. 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 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. 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 Vacancies in the representa. tion, how filled. Speaker and officers of H. R. Impeachment. Senate, how composed. Senators, how cho sen. Each Senator Senators to be to have one vote. One third of the chosen every second year.ing recess of the Legislature of a State. How filled. Qualifications of Senators. Vacancies dur Vice President of U. S. presi dent of Senate. The Senate to choose their offi cers. President pro tempore. The Senate to have the sole power to try impeachments. When the President of U. S. is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside. Judgment in case of impeach Party ment convicted sub ment at law. Times and places for holding elections. Congress may at anytime make or alter regula. tions made by the States, ex. cept as to the places of choosing Senators. Congress to assemble once a year. (a) North Carolina adopted the Constitution by a convention called in November, 1789, and became a member of the Union, before June 4, 1790. Rhode Island, by a convention held in May, 1790, assented to the Constitution. Kentucky was admitted into the Union, June 1, 1792, act of 1791, ch. 4. Vermont was admitted into the Union, March 4, 1791, act of 1791, ch. 7. Tennessee was admitted into the Union, June 1, 1796, act of 1796, ch. 47. Ohio was established as a state of the Union, by act of April 30, 1802, ch. 40. Louisiana was admitted into the Union, April 30, 1812, vol. 2, p. 701. Indiana was admitted into the Union, Dec. 11, 1816, vol. 3, p. 399. Mississippi was admitted into the Union, Dec. 10, 1817, vol. 3, p. 472. Illinois was admitted into the Union, Dec. 3, 1818, vol. 3, p. 536. Alabama was admitted into the Union, Dec. 14, 1819, vol. 3, p. 608. Maine was admitted into the Union by an act of Congress, passed March 3, 1820. Missouri was admitted into the Union, March 2, 1821, vol. 3, p. 645 and App. Arkansas was admitted into the Union, June 15, 1836, ch. 100. Michigan was admitted into the Union, Jan. 26, 1837, ch. 99. Iowa and Florida were authorized to become states of the Union, by act of March 3, 1845, ch. 48. |