reply; thus - a house is claimed by Peter as having been purchased
by him: this is the fact to be decided. The defendant puts in a plea
of incompetency on the part of the vendor: this is the legal
question to be resolved. But the jury do not enjoy the same
character of infallibility in civil cases, according to the practice
of the English courts, as they do in criminal cases. The judge may
refuse to receive the verdict; and even after the first trial has
taken place, a second or new trial may be awarded by the Court. See
Blackstone's "Commentaries," book iii. ch. 24.
Appendix S
I find in my travelling journal a passage which may serve to convey
a more complete notion of the trials to which the women of America,
who consent to follow their husbands into the wilds, are often
subjected. This description has nothing to recommend it to the
reader but its strict accuracy:
". . . From time to time we come to fresh clearings; all these
places are alike; I shall describe the one at which we have halted
to-night, for it will serve to remind me of all the others.
"The bell which the pioneers hang round the necks of their cattle,
in order to find them again in the woods, announced our approach to
a clearing, when we were yet a long way off; and we soon afterwards
heard the stroke of the hatchet, hewing down the trees of the
forest. As we came nearer, traces of destruction marked the presence
of civilized man; the road was strewn with shattered boughs; trunks
of trees, half consumed by fire, or cleft by the wedge, were still
standing in the track we were following. We continued to proceed
till we reached a wood in which all the trees seemed to have been
suddenly struck dead; in the height of summer their boughs were as
leafless as in winter; and upon closer examination we found that a
deep circle had been cut round the bark, which, by stopping the
circulation of the sap, soon kills the tree. We were informed that
this is commonly the first thing a pioneer does; as he cannot in the
first year cut down all the trees which cover his new parcel of
land, he sows Indian corn under their branches, and puts the trees
to death in order to prevent them from injuring his crop. Beyond
this field, at present imperfectly traced out, we suddenly came upon
the cabin of its owner, situated in the centre of a plot of ground
more carefully cultivated than the rest, but where man was still
waging unequal warfare with the forest; there the trees were cut
down, but their roots were not removed, and the trunks still
encumbered the ground which they so recently shaded. Around these
dry blocks, wheat, suckers of trees, and plants of every kind, grow
and intertwine in all the luxuriance of wild, untutored nature.
Amidst this vigorous and various vegetation stands the house of the
pioneer, or, as they call it, the log house. Like the ground about
it, this rustic dwelling bore marks of recent and hasty labor; its
length seemed not to exceed thirty feet, its height fifteen; the
walls as well as the roof were formed of rough trunks of trees,
between which a little moss and clay had been inserted to keep out
the cold and rain.
"As night was coming on, we determined to ask the master of the log
house for a lodging. At the sound of our footsteps, the children who
were playing amongst the scattered branches sprang up and ran
towards the house, as if they were frightened at the sight of man;
whilst two large dogs, almost wild, with ears erect and outstretched
nose, came growling out of their hut, to cover the retreat of their
young masters. The pioneer himself made his appearance at the door
of his dwelling; he looked at us with a rapid and inquisitive
glance, made a sign to the dogs to go into the house, and set them
the example, without betraying either curiosity or apprehension at
our arrival.
"We entered the log house: the inside is quite unlike that of the
cottages of the peasantry of Europe: it contains more than is
superfluous, less than is necessary. A single window with a muslin
blind; on a hearth of trodden clay an immense fire, which lights the
whole structure; above the hearth a good rifle, a deer's skin, and
plumes of eagles' feathers; on the right hand of the chimney a map
of the United States, raised and shaken by the wind through the
crannies in the wall; near the map, upon a shelf formed of a roughly
hewn plank, a few volumes of books - a Bible, the six first books of
Milton, and two of Shakespeare's plays; along the wall, trunks
instead of closets; in the centre of the room a rude table, with
legs of green wood, and with the bark still upon them, looking as if
they grew out of the ground on which they stood; but on this table a
tea-pot of British ware, silver spoons, cracked tea-cups, and some
newspapers.
"The master of this dwelling has the strong angular features and
lank limbs peculiar to the native of New England. It is evident that
this man was not born in the solitude in which we have met with him:
his physical constitution suffices to show that his earlier years
were spent in the midst of civilized society, and that he belongs to
that restless, calculating, and adventurous race of men, who do with
the utmost coolness things only to be accounted for by the ardor of
the passions, and who endure the life of savages for a time, in
order to conquer and civilize the backwoods.
"When the pioneer perceived that we were crossing his threshold, he
came to meet us and shake hands, as is their custom; but his face
was quite unmoved; he opened the conversation by inquiring what was
going on in the world; and when his curiosity was satisfied, he held
his peace, as if he were tired by the noise and importunity of
mankind. When we questioned him in our turn, he gave us all the
information we required; he then attended sedulously, but without
eagerness, to our personal wants. Whilst he was engaged in providing
thus kindly for us, how came it that in spit of ourselves we felt
our gratitude die upon our lips? It is that our host whilst he
performs the duties of hospitality, seems to be obeying an irksome
necessity of his condition: he treats it as a duty imposed upon him
by his situation, not as a pleasure. By the side of the hearth sits
a woman with a baby on her lap: she nods to us without disturbing
herself. Like the pioneer, this woman is in the prime of life; her
appearance would seem superior to her condition, and her apparel
even betrays a lingering taste for dress; but her delicate limbs
appear shrunken, her features are drawn in, her eye is mild and
melancholy; her whole physiognomy bears marks of a degree of
religious resignation, a deep quiet of all passions, and some sort
of natural and tranquil firmness, ready to meet all the ills of
life, without fearing and without braving them. Her children cluster
about her, full of health, turbulence, and energy: they are true
children of the wilderness; their mother watches them from time to
time with mingled melancholy and joy: to look at their strength and
her languor, one might imagine that the life she has given them has
exhausted her own, and still she regrets not what they have cost
her. The house inhabited by these emigrants has no internal
partition or loft. In the one chamber of which it consists, the
whole family is gathered for the night. The dwelling is itself a
little world - an ark of civilization amidst an ocean of foliage: a
hundred steps beyond it the primeval forest spreads its shades, and
solitude resumes its sway."
Appendix T
It is not the equality of conditions which makes men immoral and
irreligious; but when men, being equal, are at the same time immoral
and irreligious, the effects of immorality and irreligion easily
manifest themselves outwardly, because men have but little influence
upon each other, and no class exists which can undertake to keep
society in order. Equality of conditions never engenders profligacy
of morals, but it sometimes allows that profligacy to show itself.
Appendix U
Setting aside all those who do not think at all, and those who dare
not say what they think, the immense majority of the Americans will
still be found to appear satisfied with the political institutions
by which they are governed; and, I believe, really to be so. I look
upon this state of public opinion as an indication, but not as a
demonstration, of the absolute excellence of American laws. The
pride of a nation, the gratification of certain ruling passions by
the law, a concourse of circumstances, defects which escape notice,
and more than all the rest, the influence of a majority which shuts
the mouth of all cavillers, may long perpetuate the delusions of a
people as well as those of a man. Look at England throughout the
eighteenth century. No nation was ever more prodigal of
self-applause, no people was ever more self- satisfied; then every
part of its constitution was right - everything, even to its most
obvious defects, was irreproachable: at the present day a vast
number of Englishmen seem to have nothing better to do than to prove
that this constitution was faulty in many respects. Which was right?
- the English people of the last century, or the English people of
the present day?
The same thing has occurred in France. It is certain that during the
reign of Louis XIV the great bulk of the nation was devotedly
attached to the form of government which, at that time, governed the
community. But it is a vast error to suppose that there was anything
degraded in the character of the French of that age. There might be
some sort of servitude in France at that time, but assuredly there
was no servile spirit among the people. The writers of that age felt
a species of genuine enthusiasm in extolling the power of their
king; and there was no peasant so obscure in his hovel as not to
take a pride in the glory of his sovereign, and to die cheerfully
with the cry "Vive le Roi!" upon his lips. These very same forms of
loyalty are now odious to the French people. Which are wrong? - the
French of the age of Louis XIV, or their descendants of the present
day?
Our judgment of the laws of a people must not then be founded Future
Condition Of Three Races In The United States exclusively upon its
inclinations, since those inclinations change from age to age; but
upon more elevated principles and a more general Experience. The
love which a people may show for its law proves only this: - that we
should not be in too great a hurry to change them.
Appendix V
In the chapter to which this note relates I have pointed out one
source of danger: I am now about to point out another kind of peril,
more rare indeed, but far more formidable if it were ever to make
its appearance. If the love of physical gratification and the taste
for well-being, which are naturally suggested to men by a state of
equality, were to get entire possession of the mind of a democratic
people, and to fill it completely, the manners of the nation would
become so totally opposed to military tastes, that perhaps even the
army would eventually acquire a love of peace, in spite of the
peculiar interest which leads it to desire war. Living in the midst
of a state of general relaxation, the troops would ultimately think
it better to rise without efforts, by the slow but commodious
advancement of a peace establishment, than to purchase more rapid
promotion at the cost of all the toils and privations of the field.
With these feelings, they would take up arms without enthusiasm, and
use them without energy; they would allow themselves to be led to
meet the foe, instead of marching to attack him. It must not be
supposed that this pacific state of the army would render it adverse
to revolutions; for revolutions, and especially military
revolutions, which are generally very rapid, are attended indeed
with great dangers, but not with protracted toil; they gratify
ambition at less cost than war; life only is at stake, and the men
of democracies care less for their lives than for their comforts.
Nothing is more dangerous for the freedom and the tranquillity of a
people than an army afraid of war, because, as such an army no
longer seeks to maintain its importance and its influence on the
field of battle, it seeks to assert them elsewhere. Thus it might
happen that the men of whom a democratic army consists should lose
the interests of citizens without acquiring the virtues of soldiers;
and that the army should cease to be fit for war without ceasing to
be turbulent. I shall here repeat what I have said in the text: the
remedy for these dangers is not to be found in the army, but in the
country: a democratic people which has preserved the manliness of
its character will never be at a loss for military prowess in its
soldiers.
Appendix W
Men connect the greatness of their idea of unity with means, God
with ends: hence this idea of greatness, as men conceive it, leads
us into infinite littleness. To compel all men to follow the same
course towards the same object is a human notion; - to introduce
infinite variety of action, but so combined that all these acts lead
by a multitude of different courses to the accomplishment of one
great design, is a conception of the Deity. The human idea of unity
is almost always barren; the divine idea pregnant with abundant
results. Men think they manifest their greatness by simplifying the
means they use; but it is the purpose of God which is simple - his
means are infinitely varied.
Appendix X
A democratic people is not only led by its own tastes to centralize
its government, but the passions of all the men by whom it is
governed constantly urge it in the same direction. It may easily be
foreseen that almost all the able and ambitious members of a
democratic community will labor without 2 ceasing to extend the
powers of government, because they all hope at some time or other to
wield those powers. It is a waste of time to attempt to prove to
them that extreme centralization may be injurious to the State,
since they are centralizing for their own benefit. Amongst the
public men of democracies there are hardly any but men of great
disinterestedness or extreme mediocrity who seek to oppose the
centralization of government: the former are scarce, the latter
powerless.
Appendix Y
I have often asked myself what would happen if, amidst the
relaxation of democratic manners, and as a consequence of the
restless spirit of the army, a military government were ever to be
founded amongst any of the nations of the present age. I think that
even such a government would not differ very much from the outline I
have drawn in the chapter to which this note belongs, and that it
would retain none of the fierce characteristics of a military
oligarchy. I am persuaded that, in such a case, a sort of fusion
would take place between the habits of official men and those of the
military service. The administration would assume something of a
military character, and the army some of the usages of the civil
administration. The result would be a regular, clear, exact, and
absolute system of government; the people would become the
reflection of the army, and the community be drilled like a
garrison.
Appendix Z
It cannot be absolutely or generally affirmed that the greatest
danger of the present age is license or tyranny, anarchy or
despotism. Both are equally to be feared; and the one may as easily
proceed as the other from the selfsame cause, namely, that "general
apathy," which is the consequence of what I have termed
"individualism": it is because this apathy exists, that the
executive government, having mustered a few troops, is able to
commit acts of oppression one day, and the next day a party, which
has mustered some thirty men in its ranks, can also commit acts of
oppression. Neither one nor the other can found anything to last;
and the causes which enable them to succeed easily, prevent them
from succeeding long: they rise because nothing opposes them, and
they sink because nothing supports them. The proper object therefore
of our most strenuous resistance, is far less either anarchy or
despotism than the apathy which may almost indifferently beget
either the one or the other.
Constitution Of The United States Of America
We The People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for
the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United States of America:
Article I
Section 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and
House of Representatives.
Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members
of chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and
the Electors in each States 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. Section 3.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators
from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years;
and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the
first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into
three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be
vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at
the expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the
expiration of the sixth Year, so that one-third may be chosen every
second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise,
during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive
thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of
the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age
of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States,
and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for
which he shall be chosen.
The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. The
Senate shall 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.
Section 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for
Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by
the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law
make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of 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.
Section 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns
and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall
constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn
from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of
Absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each
House may provide.
Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its
Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with a Concurrence of
two-thirds, expel a Member.
Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment
require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either
House on any question shall, at the Desire of one-fifth of those
present, be entered on the Journal.
Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the
Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any
other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a
Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid
out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases,
except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from
Arrest during their attendance at the Session of their respective
Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any
Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in
any other Place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the
United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments
whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person
holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of
either House during his Continuance in Office.
Section 7. All Bills for Raising Revenue shall originate in the
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with
Amendments as on other Bills.
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the
President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but
if not he shall return it, with his Objections, to that House in
which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at
large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such
Reconsideration two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the
Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other
House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved
by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such
Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays,
and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall
be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill
shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall
be a Law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress
by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not
be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a
question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the
United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be
approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by
two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to
the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the case of a Bill.
Section 8. The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes,
Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the
common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all
Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United
States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several
States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an Uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on
the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin
Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the
Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and
current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for
limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their
respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; To define and
punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and
Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules
concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that
Use shall be for a longer Term than two years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and
naval Forces.
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the
Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia,
and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the
Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively,
the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the
Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such
District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of
particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress become the Seat of
the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority
over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the
State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts,
Magazines, Arsenals, Dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; - And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by
this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any
Department or Officer thereof.
Section 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of
the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be
prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight
hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such
Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may
require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. No
Capitation, or other direct Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion
to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
No preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or
Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall
Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or
pay Duties in another.
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of
Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of
the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published
from time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no
Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall,
without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present,
Emolument, Office, or Title of any kind whatever, from any King,
Prince, or foreign State.
Section 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or
Confederation; grant Letters of Marque 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
Section 1. The Executive Power shall be vested in a President of the
United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term
of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the
same Term, be elected as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof
may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of
Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in
the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an
Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be
appointed an Elector.
[The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by
Ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an
inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a
List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for
each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to
the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the
President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the
Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having
the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number
be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if
there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal
number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
choose by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a
Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House
shall in like Manner choose the President. But in choosing the
President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation
from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall
consist of a Member or Members from two-thirds of the States, and a
Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every
Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the
greatest number of Votes of the Electors shall be the
Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have
equal Votes, the Senate shall choose from them by Ballot the
Vice-President.]*d
[Footnote *d : This clause is superseded by Article XII, Amendments.
See page 396.]
The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and
the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the
same throughout the United States.
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United
States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be
eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be
eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of
thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the
United States.
In case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his
Death, Resignation or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties
of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-president,
and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death,
Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice-President,
declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer
shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a
President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a
Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during
the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not
receive within that period any other Emolument from the United
States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the
following Oath or Affirmation: - "I do solemnly swear (or affirm)
that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United
States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and
defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and
Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States,
when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may
require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of
the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties
of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant
Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except
in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the
Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators
present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice
and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public
Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other
Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but
the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior
Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the
Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions
which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress
Information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their
Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses,
or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with
Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time
as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other
Public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully
executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United
States.
Section 4. The President, Vice-President and all civil Officers of
the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for,
and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and
Misdemeanors.
Article III
Section 1. The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested
in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress
may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the
Supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good
Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a
Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance
in Office.
Section 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all cases, in Law and
Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United
States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their
Authority; - to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public
Ministers and Consuls; - to all cases of Admiralty and maritime
Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a
Party; - to Controversies between two or more States; -between a
State and Citizens of another State; between Citizens of different
States, - between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under
Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens
thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and
Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the Supreme
Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases
before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate
Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions and
under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by
Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said
Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any
State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress
may by Law have directed.
Section 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in
levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving
them Aid and Comfort. No person shall be convicted of Treason unless
on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on
Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason,
but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood or
Forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.
Article IV
Section 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the
Public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.
And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which
such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect
thereof.
Section 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all
Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. A
person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime,
who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on
Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled,
be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of
the Crime.
No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any Law or
Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but
shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or
Labour may be due.
Section 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this
Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the
Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the
Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the
Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of
the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful
Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property
belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution
shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United
States, or of any particular State.
Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this
Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of
them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of
the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened against
domestic Violence.
Article V
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the
Application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States,
shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either
Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this
Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three- fourths of
the several States, or by Conventions in three-fourths thereof, as
the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the
Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the
Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect
the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first
Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived
of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
Article VI
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the
Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United
States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be
made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme
Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound
thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the
contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members
of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial
Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall
be bound by Oath or Affirmation to support this Constitution; but no
religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any
Office or public Trust under the United States.
Article VII
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be
sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the
States so ratifying the Same.
Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present
the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of Our Lord One
thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven and of the Independence of
the United States of America the Twelfth. In witness whereof We have
hereunto subscribed our Names,
Go: Washington Presidt. and deputy from Virginia.
New Hampshire John Langdon Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts Nathaniel Gorham Rufus King
Connecticut Wm. Saml. Johnson Roger Sherman
New York Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey Wil: Livingston. David Brearley. Wm. Paterson. Jona.
Dayton
Pennsylvania B Franklin Thomas Mifflin Robt. Morris. Geo. Clymer
Thos. Fitzsimons Jared Ingersoll James Wilson Gouv Morris
Delaware Geo: Read Gunning Bedford Jun John Dickinson Richard
Bassett Jaco: Broom
Maryland James McHenry Dan of St Thos. Jenifer Danl. Carroll
Virginia John Blair - James Madison Jr.
North Carolina Wm. Blount Richd. Dobbs Spaight Hu Williamson
South Carolina J. Rutledge Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Charles
Pinckney Peirce Butler.
Georgia William Few Abr Baldwin
Attest William Jackson, Secretary
The Word 'the,' being interlined between the seventh and eighth
Lines of the first Page, The word 'Thirty' being partly written on
an Erasure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words 'is
tried' being interlined between the thirty-second and thirty-third
Lines of the first Page, and the Word 'the' being interlined between
the forty-third and forty-fourth Lines of the second page.
[Note by the Department of State. - The foregoing explanation in the
original instrument is placed on the left of the paragraph beginning
with the words, 'Done in Convention,' and therefore precedes the
signatures. The interlined and rewritten words, mentioned in it, are
in this edition printed in their proper places in the text.]
Bill Of Rights
In addition to, and amendment of, the Constitution of the United
States of America, proposed by Congress and ratified by the
Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the Fifth Article of
the original Constitution
Article I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press; or the right of the pe ple peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.
Article II
A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be
infringed.
Article III
No Soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without
the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be
prescribed by law.
Article IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by Oath or Affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be
seized.
Article V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand
Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the
Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor
shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in
jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any Criminal
Case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private
property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Article VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and
district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district
shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of
the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the
witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining
witnesses in his favour, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for
his defence.
Article VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and
no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re- examined in any Court
of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Article VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Article IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Article X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people.
Article XI
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to
extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against
one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by
Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.
Article XII
The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by
ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least,
shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they
shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President; and
in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President; and they
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and
of all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of
votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and
transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States,
directed to the President of the Senate; - The President of the
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then
be counted; - The person having the greatest number of votes for
President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of
the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such
majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not
exceeding three on the list ofhose voted for as President, the House
of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken
by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from
two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be
necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not
choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the
Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death
or other constitutional disability of the President. The person
having the greatest number of votes as Vice- President, shall be the
Vice-President, if such a number be a majority of the whole number
of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from
the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the
Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds
of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number
shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally
ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of
Vice-President of the United States.
Article XIII
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place
subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Article XIV
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United
States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or
enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of
citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection
of the laws.
Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several
States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole
number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But
when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors
for President and Vice-President of the United States,
Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of
a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any
of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of
age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged,
except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the
number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male
citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in
Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any
office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any
State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of
Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of
any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any
State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have
engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid
or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of
two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States,
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions
and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion,
shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State
shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of
insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim
for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts,
obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article.
Article XV
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on
account of race, colour, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
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END
