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of secession, and all action of the State under its constitution of 1861, and the State debt then incurred shall not be recognized as obligatory. No citizen of this State shall be disfranchised, or deprived of any of the rights or privileges secured to any citizen thereof, unless the same is done by the law of the land, or the judgment of his peers, except as hereinafter provided. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, either by indentures, apprenticeships, or otherwise, except as a punishment for crime. The general assembly shall have no power to make compensation for emancipated slaves. Taxes limited to two per cent. of assessed value. Every male person born in the United States, and every male person who has been naturalized, or has legally declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, who is twenty-one years sold or upwards, and who shall have resided in the State six months next preceding the election, and who at the time is an actual resident of the county in which he offers to vote, except as hereinafter provided, shall be deemed an elector.

ART. 8. SEC. 3. The following classes shall not be permitted to register or hold office, viz: First. Those who during the rebellion took the oath of allegiance, or gave bonds for loyalty and good behaviour to the United States Government, and afterwards gave aid, comfort, or countenance to those engaged in armed hostility to the Government of the United States, either by becoming a soldier in the rebel army, or by entering the lines of said army, or adhering in any way to the cause of rebellion, or by accompanying any armed force belonging to the rebel army, or by furnishing supplies of any kind to

the same.

Second. Those who are disqualified as electors, or from holding office in the State or States from which they came.

Third. Those persons who during the late re

bellion violated the rules of civilized warfare. Fourth. Those who may be disqualified by the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, known as Article XIV, and those who have been disqualified from registering to vote for delegates to the convention to frame a constitution for the State of Arkansas, under the act of Congress entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," passed March 2d, 1867, and the acts supplemental thereto.

Fifth. Criminals. Sixth. Insane.

Provided, that all persons included in the 1st. 2d, 3d and 4th subdivisions of this section, who have openly advocated or who have voted for the reconstruction proposed by Congress, and accept the equality of all men before the law, shall be deemed qualified electors under this constitution.

SEC. 4. The general assembly shall have power, by a two thirds vote of each house, approved by the governor, to remove the disabilities included in the 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th subdivisions of section three, of this article, when it appears that such person, applying for relief from such disabilities, has in good faith returned to his allegiance to the Government of the United States;

[Part III.

provided, the general assembly shall have no power to remove the disabilities of any person embraced in the aforesaid subdivisions who, after the adoption of this constitution by the convention, persists in opposing the acts of Congress and reconstruction thereunder.

All persons before registering or voting must take and subscribe the following oath:

I, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States, and the constitution and laws of the State of Arkansas; that I am not excluded from regis tering or voting by any of the clauses in the first, second, third, or fourth subdivisions of Article VIII of the constitution of the State of Arkansas; that I will never countenance or aid in the secession of this State from the United States; that I accept the civil and political equality of all men, and agree not to at race, color, or previous condition, of any political or tempt to deprive any person or persons, on account of civil right, privilege, or immunity enjoyed by any other class of men; and, furthermore, that I will not in any injure, any person or persons on account of past or way injure, or countenance in others any attempt to present support of the Government of the United of the political and civil equality of all men, or for States, the laws of the United States, or the principle affiliation with any political party.

All contracts for the sale or purchase of slaves are null and void, and no court of this State shall take cognizance of any suit founded on such contracts; nor shall any amount ever be collected or recovered on any judgment or decree which shall have been, or which hereafter may be, rendered on account of any such contract or obligation on any pretext, legal or otherwise.

A system of free schools shall be established, for the gratuitous instruction of all persons be tween 5 and 21 years, the funds to be distributed to the counties in the proportion of persons between those ages. Certain funds are set apart to be sacredly preserved as a public school fund; also, a per capita tax of $1 on every male inhabitant over twenty-one, to be collected for the support of free schools and a university, the residue required to be furnished from the State treasury. The general assembly shall require by law that every child of sufficient mental and physical ability shall attend the public schools for a term equivalent to three years, between the ages of 5 and 18 years, unless educated by other means. Public schools to be open not less than three months in a year. No poll tax to be levied except for school purposes. All able-bodied electors liable to military duty. Personal property to the value of $2,000 to be exempt from sale for debt hereafter contracted. Homestead of a married man or head of a family not to be encumbered except for taxes, laborers' and mechanics' liens, and securities for the purchase-money thereof; a country homestead of 160 acres and a town property of $5,000 to be exempt, with similar exceptions as above. electors shall be jurors. Indentures not to be Only qualified valid, being for more than one year, except in the case of apprenticeships. Persons disqualified herein shall not vote for candidates, nor upon the ratification of the constitution. The judges of election shall administer to every voter the oath prescribed in the constitution.

Constitution of Florida. Adopted by Convention February 25, 1868, and ratified by the people May 6, 1868.

It provides, among other things, that slavery shall not exist.

This State shall ever remain a member of the American Union, the people thereof a part of the American nation, and any attempt, from whatever source or upon whatever pretence, to dissolve said Union, or to sever said nation, shall be resisted with the whole power of the State.

It is the paramount duty of the State to make ample provision for the education of all the children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference.

Every male person of the age of 21 years and upwards, of whatever race, color, nationality, or previous condition, or who shall, at the time of offering to vote, be a citizen of the United States, or who shall have declared his intention to become such in conformity to the laws of the United States, and who shall have resided and had his habitation, domicil, home, and place of permanent abode in Florida for one year, and in the county for six months, next preceding the election at which he shall offer to vote, shall in such county be deemed a qualified elector at all elections under this constitution. Every elector shall, at the time of his registration, take and subscribe to the following oath :

Recognizes all laws and acts of the rebel State government not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States or this constitution.

Article 16, sec. 1, disables any person from holding office who is disabled by the 14th constitutional amendment, subject to the removal of such disability by Congress.

The following shall be the oath of office for each officer in the State, including members of the legislature:

I do solemnly swear that I will support, protect, and defend the Constitution and Government of the enemies, domestic or foreign, and that I will bear true United States, and of the State of Florida, against all faith, loyalty, and allegiance to the same, and that I am entitled to hold office under this constitution. That I will well and faithfully perform all the duties of the office of -, on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

There shall be no civil or political distinction in this State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and the legislature shall have no power to prohibit, by law, any class of persons on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, to vote or hold any office, beyond the conditions prescribed by this constitution.

Ordinances were adopted by the Convention I, do solemnly swear that I will support, declaring it unlawful for any sheriff or other protect, and defend the Constitution and Government officer to sell, under execution or other legal proof the United States, and the constitution and government of Florida, against all enemies, foreign or domes- cess, any property, real or personal, and any sale tic; that I will bear true faith, loyalty, and allegiance so made shall be void. Suits, decrees, &c., made to the same, any ordinances or resolution of any State during the war in the courts, against a person convention or legislation to the contrary notwithstand-absent from the State, are annulled. So much

ing. So help me God.

Lotteries are prohibited. No person who is not a qualified elector, or any person who shall have been convicted of bribery, forgery, perjury, larceny, or other high crime, unless restored to civil rights, shall be permitted to serve on juries. The governor has the veto, subject to the subsequent action of two-thirds of each house. Grand and petit jurors shall be taken from the regis tered voters of their respective counties. A common school fund provided for, of which a tax of not less than one mill on all taxable property is a part. Homestead exemption provided.

All able-bodied male inhabitants between 18 and 45, who are citizens of the United States, or have declared their intention to become so, shall constitute the militia.

The legislature shall enact laws requiring educational qualifications for electors after the year 1880, but no such laws shall be made applicable to any elector who may have registered or voted at any election previous thereto.

of the act of January 16, 1866, as levied a tax of one dollar upon each colored male between twenty-one and fifty-five was repealed. County criminal courts abolished, and duties transferred to circuit courts.

Constitution of Louisiana.

Adopted by Convention March 2, 1868, and ratified by the people April 18, 1868. Provides, among other things, that slavery shall not exist.

All persons, without regard to race, color, or previous condition, born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, and residents of this State for one year, are citizens of this State. The citizens of this State owe allegiance to the United States; and this allegiance is paramount to that which they owe to the State. They shall enjoy the same civil, political, and public rights and privileges, and be subject to the same pains and penalties.

All persons shall enjoy equal rights and privConfederate and State war debt repudiated. ileges, upon any conveyance of a public characAll contracts in consideration of slaves declared ter. and all places of business, or of public rehull. Governor has the appointment, with the sort, or for which a license is required by either consent of the senate, of the judges of the su-State, parish, or municipal authority, shall be preme court, circuit judges, secretary of state, and like State officers, and he has the absolute appointment of justices of the peace.

All ordinances and resolutions heretofore pass ed by any convention of the people, and all acts and resolutions of the Legislature conflicting or inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States and the statutes thereof, and with this constitution, and in derogation of the existence or position of the State as one of the States of the United States of America, are hereby declared null and void, and of no effect.

deemed places of a public character, and shall be opened to the accommodation and patronage of all persons, without distinction or discrimination on account of race or color. Every elector shall be eligible to a seat in the House of Representatives and to the Senate, if twenty-five years old; and he shall be eligible to any municipal office.

Every male person, of the age of twenty-one years or upwards, born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, and a resident of this State one year next preceding an election, and the last ten days

within the parish in which he offers to vote, shall be deemed an elector, except those disfranchised by this constitution, and persons under interdiction.

Contracts for the sale of persons are null and void.

The State of Louisiana shall never assume nor pay any debt or obligation contracted or incurred in aid of the rebellion; nor shall this State ever, in any manner, claim from the United States, or make any allowance or compensation for slaves emancipated or liberated in any way whatever.

All contracts by which children were bound out without the knowledge or consent of their parents are null and void.

There shall be at least one free public school in each parish, for children between six and twenty-one, who shall be admitted to the public schools or other institutions of learning sustained or established by the State in common, without distinction of race, color, or previous condition. And no municipal corporation shall make rules contrary to the spirit and intention of this article. Public school fund provided for, of which one half of the poll-tax is a part.

The militia are all able-bodied male citizens, between eighteen and forty-five.

The following persons shall be prohibited from voting and holding any office: All persons who shall have been convicted of treason, perjury, forgery, bribery, or other crime punishable in the penitentiary, and persons under interdiction. All persons who are estopped from claiming the right of suffrage by abjuring their allegiance to the United States Government, or by notoriously levying war against it, or adhering to its enemies, giving them aid or comfort, but who have not expatriated themselves, nor have been convicted of any of the crimes mentioned in the first paragraph of this article, are hereby restored to the said right, except the following: Those who held office, civil or military, for one year or more, under the organization styled "the Confederate States of America;" those who registered themselves as enemies of the United States; those who acted as leaders of guerrilla bands during the late rebellion; those who, in the advocacy of treason, wrote or published newspaper The ordinance of secession of the State of articles or preached sermons during the late Louisiana, passed 26th of January, 1861, is rebellion; and those who voted for and signed hereby declared to be null and void. The conan ordinance of secession in any State. No per-stitution adopted in 1864, and all previous conson included in these exceptions shall either vote stitutions in the State of Louisiana, are declared or hold office until he shall have relieved himself to be superseded by this constitution. by voluntarily writing and signing a certificate setting forth that he acknowledges the late rebellion to have been morally and politically wrong, and that he regrets any aid and comfort he may have given it; and he shall file the certificate in the office of the secretary of State, and it shall be published in the official journal: Provided, That no person who, prior to the 1st of January, 1868, favored the execution of the laws of the United States popularly known as the reconstruction acts of Congress, and openly and actively assisted the loyal men of the State in their efforts to restore Louisiana to her position in the Union, shall be held to be included among those herein excepted. Registrars of voters shall take the oath of any such person as prima facie evidence of the fact that he is entitled to the benefit of this proviso.

Members of the General Assembly and all other officers, before they enter upon the duties of their offices, shall take the following oath or

affirmation:

I, (A. B.) do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I accept the civil and political equality of all men, and agree not to attempt to deprive any person or persons, on account of race, color, or previous condition, of any political or civil right, privilege, or immunity enjoyed by any other class of men; that I will support the constitution and laws of the United States, and the constitution and laws of this State, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all according to the best of my ability and understanding: so help me

the duties incumbent on me as

God.

No liability, either State, parochial, or municipal, shall exist for any debts contracted for or in the interest of the rebellion against the United States Government.

There shall be no property qualification fore offic. All agreements, the consideration of which was Confederate money, notes, or bonds, are null and void, and shall not be enforced by the courts of this State.

An election for State officers provided for April 17 and 18, at the same time with the vote on the constitution. All civil officers thus elected shall enter upon the discharge of their duties on the second Monday after the return of their election shall have been officially promulgated, or as soon as qualified according to law, and shall continue in office for the terms of their respective offices herein prescribed, said terms to date from the first Monday in November following the election. The Legislature shall meet in New Orleans on the third Monday after the promulgation aforesaid, and proceed, after organization, to vote upon the adoption of the XIVth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Constitution of Georgia.

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not exist.

States, and resident in this State, are hereby All persons born or naturalized in the United declared citizens of this State, and no laws shall be made or enforced which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, or of this State, or deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws. And it shall be the duty of the General Assembly, by appropriate legislation, to protect every person in the due enjoyment of the rights, privileges, and immunities guaranteed in this section.

The State of Georgia shall ever remain a member of the American Union; the people thereof are a part of the American nation; every citizen thereof owes paramount allegiance to the Con stitution and government of the United States, and no law or ordinance of this State, in contra

vention or subversion thereof, shall ever have I in specie, both to be valued at the time they are any binding force.

Electors shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest for five days before an election, during the election, and two days subsequent thereto.

The social status of the citizens shall never be the subject of legislation. The power of the courts to punish for contempt shall be limited by legislative acts. No imprisonment for debt. Whipping, as a punishment for crime, prohibited. No poll-tax to be levied except for educational purposes, and it not to exceed $1 annually on each poll.

set apart.

The laws of general operation in force in this State are:

1. As the supreme law-the Constitution of the United States, the laws of the United States in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made under the authority of the United States. 2. This constitution. 3. Acts of rebel legislation not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States.

The following sections are those referred to in the action of Congress on the restoration of the State:

Every male person, born in the United States, SECTION XVII-I. No court in this State shall and every male person who has been natural- have jurisdiction to try or determine any suit ized, or who has legally declared his intention against any resident of this State upon any to become a citizen of the United States, twenty- contract or agreement made or implied, or upon one years old or upward, who shall have resided any contract made in renewal of any debt exin this State six months next preceding the elec-isting prior to the 1st day of June, 1865. Nor tion, and shall have resided thirty days in the shall any court or ministerial officer of this county in which he offers to vote, and shall State have authority to enforce any judgment, have paid all taxes which may have been re- execution, or decree rendered or issued upon any quired of him, and which he may have had an contract or agreement made or implied, or upon opportunity of paying, agreeably to law, for the any contract in renewal of a debt existing prior year next preceding the election, (except as to the 1st day of June, 1865, except in the folhereinafter provided), shall be deemed an elector; lowing cases: and every male citizen of the United States, of the age aforesaid, (except as hereinafter provided,) who may be a resident of the State at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall be deemed an elector, and shall have all the rights of an elector, as aforesaid: Provided, That no soldier, sailor, or marine in the military or naval service of the United States shall acquire the rights of an elector by reason of being stationed on duty in this State; and no person shall vote, who, if challenged, shall refuse to take the following oath : I do swear that I have not given, or received, nor do I expect to give, or receive, any money, treat, or other thing of value, by which my vote, or any vote, is affected, or expected to be affected, at this election; nor have I given or promised any reward, or made any threat, by which to prevent any person from voting at this election.'

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Every Senator or Representative, before taking his seat, shall take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States, and of this State; that he has not practiced any unlawful means, directly or indirectly, to procure his election, and that he has not given, or offered, or promised, or caused to be given, or offered, or promised, to any person, any money, treat, or thing of value, with intent to affect any vote, or to prevent any person voting at the election at which he was elected.

The Governor has the veto power, subject to a two thirds vote of each House.

All contracts made, and not executed, during the late rebellion, in aid of it, are annulled. Common school fund provided for. Militia to be all able-bodied males, between eighteen and forty-five.

Each head of a family, or guardian or trustee of a family of minor children, shall be entitled to a homestead of realty to the value of two thousand dollars, in specie, and personal property to the value of one thousand dollars,

1. In suits against trustees, where the trust property is in the hands of the trustee, or has been invested by him in other specific effects now in his hands, and in suits by the vendor of real estate against the vendee, where not more than one-third of the purchase-money has been paid, and the vendee is in possession of the land or specific effects for which he has sold it, and he refuses to deliver the land or said effects to the vendor. In such cases, the courts and officers may entertain jurisdiction and enforce judgments against said trust-property, or land, or effects.

2. In suits for the benefit of minors by trustees appointed before the 1st day of June, 1865.

3. In suits against corporations in their corporate capacity, but not so as to enforce the debt against the stockholders or officers thereof in their individual capacity.

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4. In suits by charitable or literary institutions for money loaned, property other than slaves-sold, or services rendered by such institutions.

5. In suits on debts due for mechanical or manual labor, when the suit is by the mechanic or laborer.

6. In cases when the debt is set up by way of defence, and the debt set up exceeds any debt due by defendant to plaintiff, of which the courts are denied jurisdiction.

7. In all other cases in which the General Assembly shall by law give the said courts and officers jurisdiction: Provided, That no court or officer shall have, nor shall the General Assembly give, jurisdiction or authority to try or give judgment on or enforce any debt, the consideration of which was a slave or slaves, or the hire thereof.

III. It shall be in the power of the General Assembly to assess and collect upon all debts, judgments, or causes of action when due, founded on any contract made or implied before the 1st

day of June, 1865, in the hands of any one in his own right, or trustee, agent, or attorney of another, on or after the 1st day of January, 1868, a tax of not exceeding twenty-five per cent., to be paid by the creditor, on pain of the forfeiture of the debt, but chargeable by him as to one-half thereof against the debtor, and collectable with the debt: Provided, That this tax shall not be collected if the debt or cause of action be abandoned or settled without legal process, or, if in judgment, be settled without levy and sale: And provided further, That this tax shall not be levied so long as the courts of this State shall not have jurisdiction of such debts or causes of action.

Constitution of North Carolina.

Adopted by Convention March 16, 1868, and ratified by the people April 23, 1868. Provides, among other things:

SEC. 3. That the people of this State have the inherent, sole, and exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police thereof, and of altering and abolishing their constitution and form of government, whenever it may be necessary to their safety and happiness; but every such right should be exercised in pursuance of law, and consistently with the Constitu

tion of the United States.

SEC. 4. That this State shall ever remain a member of the American Union; that the people thereof are part of the American nation; that there is no right on the part of this State to secede, and that all attempts, from whatever source or upon whatever pretext, to dissolve said Union, or to sever said nation, ought to be resisted with the whole power of the State.

SEC. 5. That every citizen of this State owes paramount allegiance to the Constitution and Government of the United States, and that no law or ordinance of the State in contravention or subversion thereof can have any binding

force.

SEC. 6. To maintain the honor and good faith of the State untarnished, the public debt, regularly contracted before and since the rebellion, shall be regarded as inviolable and never be questioned; but the State shall never assume or pay, or authorize the collection of, any debt or obligation, express or implied, incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave.

The general assembly, at its first session, shall establish a uniform system of public schools, to be free to all the children of the State between six and twenty-one years. The University of North Carolina declared to be held to an inseparable connection with the free public school system.

Homestead exemption secured, realty to the value of $1,000, personal $500. All able-bodied male citizens, between twenty-one and forty, are liable to duty in the militia. Duelling prohibited.

Constitution of South Carolina. Adopted by Convention March 17, 1868, and ratified by the people April 16, 1868.

Provides, among other things, that slavery shall never exist in this State.

Every citizen of this State owes paramount allegiance to the Constitution and Government of the United States, and no law or ordinance of this State in contravention or subversion thereof can have any binding force.

This State shall ever remain a member of the American Union, and all attempts, from whatever source, or upon whatever pretext, to dissolve the said Union, shall be resisted with the whole power of the State.

No person shall be disqualified as a witness, or be prevented from acquiring, holding, and transmitting property, or be hindered in acquir ing education, or be liable to any other punishment for any offence, or be subjected in law to any other restraints or disqualifications in regard to any personal rights than such as are laid upon others under like circumstances.

No person shall be imprisoned for debt, except in cases of fraud; and a reasonable amount of property, as a homestead, shall be exempted from seizure or sale for the payment of any debts or liabilities, except for the payment of such obligations as are provided for in this constitution.

No property qualification shall be necessary for an election to or the holding of any office.

All elections shall be free and open, and every inhabitant of this Commonwealth possessing the qualifications provided for in this constitution, shall have an equal right to elect officers and be elected to fill public offices.

Representation shall be apportioned according to population, and no person in this State shall be disfranchised, or deprived of any of the rights or privileges now enjoyed, except by the law of the land or the judgment of his peers.

ART. 6. SEC. 1. Every male person born in the United States, and every male person who has Distinction on account of race or color, in any been naturalized, twenty-one years old or up-case whatever, shall be prohibited, and all ward, who shall have resided in this State twelve classes of citizen shall enjoy equally all commonths next preceding the election, and thirty mon, public, legal, and political privileges. days in the county in which he offers to vote, shall be deemed an elector.

SEC. 4. Every voter, except as hereinafter provided, shall be eligible to office; but before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his office, he shall take and subscribe the following oath:

I, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States, and the constitution and laws of North Carolina not inconsistent therewith, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of my office. So help me God.

2

Members of the general assembly, and all officers, before they enter upon the execution of the duties of their respective offices, and all members of the bar, before they enter upon the practice of their profession, shall take and subscribe the following oath :

I, do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I am duly qualified, according to the Constitution of the United States and of this State, to exercise the duties of the office to which I have been elected, (or appointed,) and that I will faithfully discharge, to the best of my abilities, the duties thereof; that I recognize the supremacy of the Constitution and

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