    [United States Senate Manual, 118th Congress]
    [S. Doc. 118-1]
    [Historical Documents]
    [Pages 537-568]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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                                    HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS

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                                           [1700]

                ____________________________________________________________

                                 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

                                  IN CONGRESS JULY 4, 1776

                ____________________________________________________________

                 THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF
                                           AMERICA

                    When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary
                for one people to dissolve the political bands which have
                connected them with another, and to assume among the powers
                of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the
                Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent
                respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
                declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
                    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
                are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
                with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
                Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these
                rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
                just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever
                any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it
                is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
                institute new Government, laying its foundation on such
                principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to
                them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
                Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments
                long established should not be changed for light and
                transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn
                that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are
                sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms
                to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of
                abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object
                evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it
                is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such
                Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
                security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these
                Colonies;

    [[Page 540]]

                and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter
                their former Systems of Government. The history of the
                present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated
                injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the
                establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To
                prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
                    He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome
                and necessary for the public good.
                    He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate
                and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation
                till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended he
                has utterly neglected to attend to them.
                    He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation
                of large districts of people, unless those people would
                relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a
                right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
                    He has called together legislative bodies at places
                unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the dispository of
                their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them
                into compliance with his measures.
                    He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for
                opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of
                the people.
                    He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions,
                to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative
                powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the
                People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in
                the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from
                without, and convulsions within.
                    He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these
                States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for
                Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to
                encourage their migrations hither, and raising the
                conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
                    He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by
                refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary
                powers.
                    He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the
                tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their
                salaries.

    [[Page 541]]

                    He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent
                hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out
                their substance.
                    He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies
                without the Consent of our legislatures.
                    He has affected to render the Military independent of
                and superior to the Civil power.
                    He has combined with others to subject us to a
                jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged
                by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended
                Legislation:
                    For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
                    For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment
                for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants
                of these States:
                    For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
                    For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
                    For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial
                by Jury:
                    For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for
                pretended offences:
                    For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a
                neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary
                government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it
                at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the
                same absolute rule into these Colonies:
                    For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most
                valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our
                Governments:
                    For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring
                themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all
                cases whatsoever.
                    He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of
                his Protection and waging War against us.
                    He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our
                towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
                    He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign
                Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and
                tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty &
                perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and
                totally unworthy of the Head of a civilized nation.
                    He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on
                the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country,

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                to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or
                to fall themselves by their Hands.
                    He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and
                has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our
                frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of
                warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes
                and conditions.
                    In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned
                for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions
                have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose
                character is thus marked by every act which may define a
                Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
                    Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British
                brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts
                by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction
                over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our
                emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their
                native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by
                the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations,
                which would inevitably interrupt our connections and
                correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of
                justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce
                in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold
                them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in
                Peace Friends.
                    WE, THEREFORE, the Representatives of the United States
                of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the
                Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our
                intentions, do, in the Name, and by authority of the good
                People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That
                these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and
                Independent States; that they are Absolved from all
                Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
                connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is
                and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and
                Independent States, they have full Power to levy War,
                conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and
                do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of
                right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a
                firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we
                mutually pledge

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                to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

      (The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, engrossed, and
                        signed by the following members:)

                                                               JOHN HANCOCK.

                                  New Hampshire

                Vosiah Bartlett,
                Wm. Whipple,
                Matthew Thornton.

                                Massachusetts Bay

                Saml. Adams,
                John Adams,
                Robt. Treat Paine,
                Elbridge Gerry.

                               Rhode Island, etc.

                Step. Hopkins,
                William Ellery.

                                   Connecticut

                Roger Sherman,
                Sam'el Huntington,
                Wm. Williams,
                Oliver Wolcott.

                                    New York

                Wm. Floyd,
                Phil. Livingston,
                Frans. Lewis,
                Lewis Morris.

                                   New Jersey

                Richd. Stockton,
                Jno. Witherspoon,
                Fras. Hopkinson,
                John Hart,
                Abra Clark.

                                  Pennsylvania

                Robt. Morris,
                Benjamin Rush,
                Benja. Franklin,
                John Morton,
                Geo. Clymer,
                Jas. Smith,
                Geo. Taylor,
                James Wilson,
                Geo. Ross.

                                    Delaware

                Caesar Rodney,
                Geo. Read,
                Tho. M'Kean.

                                    Maryland

                Samuel Chase,
                Wm. Paca,

                Thos. Stone,
                Charles Carroll of
                  Carrollton.

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                                    Virginia

                George Withe,
                Richard Henry Lee,
                Th. Jefferson,
                Benja. Harrison,
                Thos. Nelson, Jr.,
                Francis Lightfoot Lee,
                Carter Braxton.

                                 North Carolina

                Wm. Hooper,
                Joseph Hewes,
                John Penn.

                                 South Carolina

                Edward Rutledge,
                Thos. Heyward, Junr.,
                Thomas Lynch, Junr.,
                Arthur Middleton.

                                     Georgia

                Button Gwinnett,
                Lyman Hall,

                Geo. Walton.

                    Resolved, That copies of the Declaration be sent to the
                several assemblies, conventions, and committees or councils
                of safety, and to the several commanding officers of the
                Continental Troops: That it be proclaimed in each of the
                United States, and at the Head of the Army.--[Jour. Cong.,
                vol. 1, p. 396.]
                                  articles of confederation

                articles of confederation

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                                           [1701]
                ____________________________________________________________

                                  ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

                ____________________________________________________________

                                    HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

                    While the Declaration of Independence was under
                consideration in the Continental Congress, and before it was
                finally agreed upon, measures were taken for the
                establishment of a constitutional form of government; and on
                the 11th of June, 1776, it was ``Resolved, That a committee
                be appointed to prepare and digest the form of a
                confederation to be entered into between these Colonies'';
                which committee was appointed the next day, June 12, and
                consisted of a member from each Colony, namely: Mr.
                Bartlett, Mr. S. Adams, Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Sherman, Mr. R. R.
                Livingston, Mr. Dickinson, Mr. McKean, Mr. Stone, Mr.
                Nelson, Mr. Hewes, Mr. E. Rutledge, and Mr. Gwinnett. On the
                12th of July, 1776, the committee reported a draft of the
                Articles of Confederation, which was printed for the use of
                the members under the strictest injunctions of secrecy.
                    This report underwent a thorough discussion in Congress,
                from time to time, until the 15th of November, 1777; on
                which day, ``Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union''
                were finally agreed to in form, and they were directed to be
                proposed to the legislatures of all the United States, and
                if approved by them, they were advised to authorize their
                delegates to ratify the same in the Congress of the United
                States; and in that event they were to become conclusive. On
                the 17th of November, 1777, the Congress agreed upon the
                form of a circular letter to accompany the Articles of
                Confederation, which concluded with a recommendation to each
                of the several legislatures ``to invest its delegates with
                competent powers, ultimately, and in the name and behalf of
                the State, to subscribe articles of confederation and
                perpetual union of the United States, and to attend Congress
                for that purpose on or before the 10th day of March next.''
                This letter was signed by the President of Congress and
                sent, with a copy of the articles, to each State
                legislature.
                    On the 26th of June, 1778, Congress agreed upon the form
                of a ratification of the Articles of Confederation, and
                directed a copy of the articles and the ratification to be
                engrossed on parchment; which, on the 9th of July, 1778,
                having been examined and the blanks filled, was signed by
                the delegates of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode
                Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York,
                Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina. Congress then
                directed that a circular letter be addressed to the States
                whose delegates were not present, or being present,
                conceived they were not authorized to sign the ratification,
                informing them how many and what States had ratified the
                Articles of Confederation, and desiring them, with all
                convenient dispatch, to authorize their delegates to ratify
                the same. Of these States,

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                North Carolina ratified on the 21st and Georgia on the 24th
                of July, 1778; New Jersey on the 26th of November following;
                Delaware on the 5th of May, 1779; Maryland on the 1st of
                March, 1781; and on the 2d of March, 1781, Congress
                assembled under the new form of government.
                                  articles of confederation

                articles of confederation

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                                           [1701]

                ____________________________________________________________

                                ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION\1\

                ____________________________________________________________
        1701.1      ACT OF CONFEDERATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

                to all to whom these presents shall come, we the undersigned
                    delegates of the states affixed to our names, send
                    greetings

                    Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America in
                Congress assembled did on the 15th day of November in the
                Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy
                seven, and in the Second Year of the Independence of America
                agree to certain articles of Confederation and perpetual
                Union between the states of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay,
                Rhodeisland and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New
                York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
                Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia in the
                Words following, viz.
                    \1\Adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15,
                1777, while meeting at York, Pennsylvania, which served as
                the site of the National Capital from September 30, 1777, to
                June 27, 1778. Ratification of the Articles by the
                respective delegates commenced on July 9, 1778, in
                Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but was not completed until
                March 1, 1781, when the Articles were signed by the
                delegates from Maryland.

                ``articles of confederation and perpetual union between the
                    states of newhampshire, massachusetts-bay, rhodeisland
                    and providence plantations, connecticut, new york, new
                    jersey, pennsylvania, delaware, maryland, virginia,
                    north carolina, south carolina and georgia

        1701.2      Article i. The Stile of this confederacy shall be ``The
                United States of America.''
        1701.3      Article ii. Each State retains its Sovereignty, freedom
                and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right,
                which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to
                the United States in Congress assembled.

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        1701.4      Article iii. The said states hereby severally enter into
                a firm league of friendship with each other, for their
                common defence, the security of their Liberties, and their
                mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist
                each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made
                upon them, or any of them, on account of religion,
                sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever.
        1701.5      Article iv. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual
                friendship and intercourse among the people of the different
                states in this union, the free inhabitants of each of these
                states, paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from Justice
                excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities
                of free citizens in the several states, and the people of
                each state shall have free ingress and regress to and from
                any other state, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges
                of trade and commerce, subject to the same duties,
                impositions and restrictions as the inhabitants thereof
                respectively, provided that such restrictions shall not
                extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported
                into any state, to any other state of which the Owner is an
                inhabitant, provided also that no imposition, duties or
                restriction shall be laid by any state, on the property of
                the united states, or either of them.
                    If any Person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony
                or other high misdemeanor in any state, shall flee from
                Justice, and be found in any of the united states, he shall
                upon demand of the Governor or executive power, of the state
                from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to the state
                having jurisdiction of his offence.
                    Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these
                states to the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the
                courts and magistrates of every other state.
        1701.6      Article v. For the more convenient management of the
                general interest of the united states, delegates shall be
                annually appointed in such manner as the legislature of each
                state shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday
                in November, in every year, with a power reserved to each
                state, to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time
                within the year, and to send others in their stead, for the
                remainder of the Year.
                    No state shall be represented in Congress by less than
                two, nor by more than seven Members; and no person shall be
                capable of being a delegate for more than three years in any
                term of six years; nor shall any person,

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                being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under the
                united states, for which he, or another for his benefit
                receives any salary, fees or emolument of any kind.
                    Each state shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting
                of the states, and while they act as members of the
                committee of the states.
                    In determining questions in the united states, in
                Congress assembled, each state shall have one vote.
                    Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be
                impeached or questioned in any Court, or place out of
                Congress, and the members of congress shall be protected in
                their persons from arrests and imprisonments, during the
                time of their going to and from, and attendance on congress,
                except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace.
        1701.7      Article vi. No state without the Consent of the united
                states in congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or
                receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference,
                agreement, alliance or treaty with any King, prince or
                state; nor shall any person holding any office of profit or
                trust under the united states, or any of them, accept of any
                present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever
                from any king, prince or foreign state; nor shall the united
                states in congress assembled, or any of them, grant any
                title of nobility.
                    No two or more states shall enter into any treaty,
                confederation or alliance whatever between them, without the
                consent of the united states in congress assembled,
                specifying accurately the purposes for which the same is to
                be entered into, and how long it shall continue.
                    No state shall lay any imposts of duties, which may
                interfere with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by
                the united states in congress assembled with any king,
                prince or state, in pursuance of any treaties already
                proposed by congress to the courts of France and Spain.
                    No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by
                any state, except such number only, as shall be deemed
                necessary by the united states in congress assembled, for
                the defence of such state, or its trade; nor shall any body
                of forces be kept up by any state, in time of peace, except
                such number only, as in the judgment of the united states,
                in congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison
                the forts necessary for the defence of such state; but every
                state shall always keep up a well regulated and

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                disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutred, and
                shall provide and constantly have ready for use, in public
                stores, a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a proper
                quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage.
                    No state shall engage in any war without the consent of
                the united states in congress assembled, unless such state
                be actually invaded by enemies, or shall have received
                certain advice of a resolution being formed by some nation
                of Indians to invade such state, and the danger is so
                imminent as not to admit of a delay, till the united states
                in congress assembled can be consulted: nor shall any state
                grant commissions to any ships or vessels of war, nor
                letters of marque or reprisal, except it be after a
                declaration of war by the united states in Congress
                assembled, and then only against the kingdom or state and
                the subjects thereof, against which war has been so
                declared, and under such regulations as shall be established
                by the united states in congress assembled, unless such
                state be infested by pirates, in which case vessels of war
                may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept so long as the
                danger shall continue, or until the united states in
                congress assembled shall determine otherwise.
        1701.8      Article vii. When land-forces are raised by any state
                for the common defence, all officers of or under the rank of
                colonel, shall be appointed by the legislature of each state
                respectively by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such
                manner as such state shall direct, and all vacancies shall
                be filled up by the state which first made the appointment.
        1701.9      Article viii. All charges of war, and all other expences
                that shall be incurred for the common defence or general
                welfare, and allowed by the united states in congress
                assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which
                shall be supplied by the several states, in proportion to
                the value of all land within each state, granted to or
                surveyed for any Person, as such land and the buildings and
                improvements thereon shall be estimated according to such
                mode as the united states in congress assembled, shall from
                time to time direct and appoint.
                    The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and
                levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of
                the several states within the time agreed upon by the united
                states in congress assembled.

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       1701.10      Article ix. The united states in congress assembled,
                shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of
                determining on peace and war, except in the cases mentioned
                in the sixth article--of sending and receiving embassadors--
                entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no
                treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative
                power of the respective states shall be restrained from
                imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners, as their own
                people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exportation
                or importation of any species of goods or commodities
                whatsoever--of establishing rules for deciding in all cases,
                what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what
                manner prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service
                of the united states shall be divided or appropriated--of
                granting letters of marque and reprisal in times of peace--
                appointing courts for the trial of piracies and felonies
                committed on the high seas and establishing courts for
                receiving and determining finally appeals in all cases of
                captures, provided that no member of congress shall be
                appointed a judge of any of the said courts.
                    The united states in congress assembled shall also be
                the last resort on appeal in all disputes and differences
                now subsisting or that hereafter may arise between two or
                more states concerning boundary, jurisdiction or any other
                cause whatever, which authority shall always be exercised in
                the manner following. Whenever the legislative or executive
                authority or lawful agent of any state in controversy with
                another shall present a petition to congress stating the
                matter in question and praying for a hearing, notice thereof
                shall be given by order of congress to the legislative or
                executive authority of the other state in controversy, and a
                day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their
                lawful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by
                joint consent, commissioners or judges to constitute a court
                for hearing and determining the matter in question: but if
                they cannot agree, congress shall name three persons out of
                each of the united states, and from the list of such persons
                each party shall alternately strike out one, the petitioners
                beginning, until the number shall be reduced to thirteen;
                and from that number not less than seven, nor more than nine
                names as congress shall direct, shall in the presence of
                congress be drawn out by lot, and the persons whose

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                names shall be so drawn or any five of them, shall be
                commissioners or judges, to hear and finally determine the
                controversy, so always as a major part of the judges who
                shall hear the cause shall agree in the determination: and
                if either party shall neglect to attend at the day
                appointed, without showing reasons, which congress shall
                judge sufficient, or being present shall refuse to strike,
                the congress shall proceed to nominate three persons out of
                each State, and the secretary of congress shall strike in
                behalf of such party absent or refusing; and the judgment
                and sentence of the court to be appointed, in the manner
                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.
                    All controversies concerning the private right of soil
                claimed under different grants of two or more states, whose
                jurisdiction as they may respect such lands, and the states
                which passed such grants are adjusted, the said grants or
                either of them being at the same time claimed to have
                originated antecedent to such settlement of jurisdiction,
                shall on the petition of either party to the congress of the
                united states, be finally determined as near as may be in
                the same manner as is before prescribed for deciding
                disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction between
                different states.
                    The united states in congress assembled shall also have
                the sole 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--

    [[Page 553]]

                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
                thro' the same as may be requisite to defray the expences of
                the said office--appointing all officers of the land forces,
                in the service of the united states, excepting regimental
                officers--appointing all the officers of the naval forces,
                and commissioning all officers whatever in the service of
                the united states--making rules for the government and
                regulation of the said land and naval forces, and directing
                their operations.
                    The united states in congress assembled shall have
                authority to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of
                congress, to be denominated ``A Committee of the States,''
                and to consist of one delegate from each state; and to
                appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be
                necessary for managing the general affairs of the united
                states under their direction--to appoint one of their number
                to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in
                the office of president more than one year in any term of
                three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of Money to be
                raised for the service of the united states, and to
                appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public
                expences--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 moneys so
                borrowed or emitted--to build and equip a navy--to agree
                upon the number of land forces, and to make requisition from
                each state for its quota, in proportion to the number of
                white inhabitants in such state; which requisitions shall be
                binding, and thereupon the legislature of each state shall
                appoint the regimental officers, raise the men and cloath,
                arm and equip them in a soldier like manner, at the expence
                of the united states; and the officers and men so cloathed,
                armed and equipped shall march to the place appointed, and
                within the time agreed on by the united states in congress
                assembled: But if the united states in congress assembled
                shall, on consideration of circumstances judge proper that
                any state should not raise men, or should raise a smaller
                number than its quota, and that any other state should raise

    [[Page 554]]

                a greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra
                number shall be raised, officered, cloathed, 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, cloath, arm and equip
                as many of such extra number as they judge can be safely
                spared. And the officers and men so cloathed, armed and
                equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within the
                time agreed on by the united states in congress assembled.
                    The united states in congress assembled shall never
                engage in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in
                time of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor
                coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain
                the sums and expences 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.
                    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.
       1701.11      Article x. 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

    [[Page 555]]

                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.
       1701.12      Article xi. 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.
       1701.13      Article xii. All bills of credit emitted, monies
                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.
       1701.14      Article xiii. Every state shall abide by the
                determinations of the united states in congress assembled,
                on all questions which by this confederation are submitted
                to them. And the Articles of this confederation shall be
                inviolably observed by every state, and the union shall be
                perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be
                made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in
                a congress of the united states, and be afterward confirmed
                by the legislatures of every state.
       1701.15      AND WHEREAS it has 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

    [[Page 556]]

                inviolably observed by the states we respectively represent
                and that the union shall be perpetual.
       1701.16      IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto set our hands in
                Congress. DONE at Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania
                the ninth Day of July in the Year of our Lord one Thousand
                seven Hundred and Seventy-eight, 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, Junr.
                  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 in 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.

                Jas Duane,
                Fras Lewis,
                William Duer,
                Gouvr Morris.

              On the part and in behalf of the State of New Jersey.

                Jno Witherspoon,

                Nathl Scudder, Nov. 26, 1778.

              On the part and behalf of the State of Pennsylvania.

                Robt. Morris,
                Daniel Roberdeau,
                Jona Bayard Smith,
                William Clingan,
                Joseph Reed, July 22, 1778.

                On the part and behalf of the State of Delaware.

                John Dickinson, May 5, 1779,
                Nicholas Van Dyke,
                Tho. M'Kean, Feb. 12, 1779.

                On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland.

                John Hanson, March 1, 1781,
                Daniel Carrol    Do

    [[Page 557]]

                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, Junr.

                 On the part and behalf of the State of Georgia.

                Jno Walton, 24th July 1778,
                Edwd Telfair,
                Edwd. Langworthy.
                                      ordinance of 1787

                ordinance of 1787

    [[Page 559]]

                                           [1702]

                ____________________________________________________________

                                      ORDINANCE OF 1787

                ____________________________________________________________

                  AN ORDINANCE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF THE
                          UNITED STATES NORTHWEST OF THE RIVER OHIO

                          [The Confederate Congress, July 13, 1787]

        1702.1      Section 1. Be it ordained by the United States in
                Congress assembled, That the said Territory, for the purpose
                of temporary government, by one district, subject, however,
                to be divided into two districts, as future circumstances
                may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.
        1702.2      Sec. 2. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That
                the estates both of resident and non-resident proprietors in
                the said territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and
                be distributed among, their children and the descendants of
                a deceased child in equal parts, the descendants of a
                deceased child or grandchild to take the share of their
                deceased parent in equal parts among them; and where there
                shall be no children or descendants, then in equal parts to
                the next of kin, in equal degree; and among collaterals, the
                children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate
                shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased
                parent's share; and there shall, in no case, be a
                distinction between kindred of the whole and half blood;
                saving in all cases to the widow of the intestate, her third
                part of the real estate for life, and one-third part of the
                personal estate; and this law relative to descents and
                dower, shall remain in full force until altered by the
                legislature of the district. And until the governor and
                judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in
                the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in
                writing, signed and sealed by him or her in whom the estate
                may be (being of full age), and attested by three witnesses;
                and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or
                bargain and sale, signed, sealed, and delivered by the
                person, being of full

    [[Page 560]]

                age, in whom the estate may be, and attested by two
                witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved, and such
                conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly
                proved, and be recorded within one year after proper
                magistrates, courts, and registers, shall be appointed for
                that purpose; and personal property may be transferred by
                delivery, saving, however, to the French and Canadian
                inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, Saint
                Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have heretofore
                professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and
                customs now in force among them, relative to the descent and
                conveyance of property.
        1702.3      Sec. 3. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That
                there shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a
                governor whose commission shall continue in force for the
                term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress; he
                shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate
                therein, in one thousand acres of land, while in the
                exercise of his office.
        1702.4      Sec. 4. There shall be appointed from time to time, by
                Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in
                force for four years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside
                in the district, and have a freehold estate therein, in five
                hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of his office.
                It shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws
                passed by the legislature, and the public records of the
                district, and the proceedings of the governor in his
                executive department, and transmit authentic copies of such
                acts and proceedings every six months to the Secretary of
                Congress. There shall also be appointed a court, to consist
                of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall
                have a common-law jurisdiction, and reside in the district,
                and have each therein a freehold estate, in five hundred
                acres of land, while in the exercise of their offices; and
                their commissions shall continue in force during good
                behavior.
        1702.5      Sec. 5. The governor and judges, or a majority of them,
                shall adopt and publish in the district such laws of the
                original States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary,
                and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and
                report them to Congress from time to time, which laws shall
                be in force in the district until the organization of the
                general assembly therein, unless disapproved of

    [[Page 561]]

                by Congress; but afterwards the legislature shall have
                authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
        1702.6      Sec. 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be
                commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission
                all officers in the same below the rank of general officers;
                all general officers shall be appointed, and commissioned by
                Congress.
        1702.7      Sec. 7. Previous to the organization of the general
                assembly the governor shall appoint such magistrates, and
                other civil officers, in each county or township, as he
                shall find necessary for the preservation of the peace and
                good order in the same. After the general assembly shall be
                organized the powers and duties of magistrates and other
                civil officers shall be regulated and defined by the said
                assembly; but all magistrates and other civil officers, not
                herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of
                this temporary government, be appointed by the governor.
        1702.8      Sec. 8. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the
                laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of
                the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and
                civil, the governor shall make proper divisions thereof, and
                he shall proceed, from time to time, as circumstances may
                require, to lay out the parts of the district in which the
                Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties
                and townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may
                thereafter be made by the legislature.
        1702.9      Sec. 9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free
                male inhabitants, of full age, in the district, upon giving
                proof thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority,
                with time and place, to elect representatives from their
                counties or townships, to represent them in the general
                assembly: Provided, That for every five hundred free male
                inhabitants there shall be one representative, and so on,
                progressively, with the number of free male inhabitants,
                shall the right of representation increase, until the number
                of representatives shall amount to twenty-five; after which
                the number and proportion of representatives shall be
                regulated by the legislature: Provided, That no person be
                eligible or qualified to act as a representative, unless he
                shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three
                years, and be a resident in the district, or unless

    [[Page 562]]

                he shall have resided in the district three years, and, in
                either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee-
                simple, two hundred acres of land within the same: Provided
                also, That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the
                district, having been a citizen of one of the States, and
                being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two
                years' residence in the district, shall be necessary to
                qualify a man as an elector of a representative.
       1702.10      Sec. 10. The representatives thus elected shall serve
                for the term of two years; and in case of the death of a
                representative, or removal from office, the governor shall
                issue a writ to the county or township, for which he was a
                member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the
                residue of the term.
       1702.11      Sec. 11. The general assembly, or legislature, shall
                consist of the governor, legislative council, and a house of
                representatives. The legislative council shall consist of
                five members, to continue in office five years, unless
                sooner removed by Congress; any three of whom to be a
                quorum; and the members of the council shall be nominated
                and appointed in the following manner, to wit: As soon as
                representatives shall be elected the governor shall appoint
                a time and place for them to meet together, and, when met
                they shall nominate ten persons, resident in the district,
                and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of
                land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom
                Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid;
                and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death
                or removal from office, the house of representatives shall
                nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each
                vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one of whom
                Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of the
                term; and every five years, four months at least before the
                expiration of the time of service of the members of the
                council, the said house shall nominate ten persons,
                qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress,
                five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve
                as members of the council five years, unless sooner removed.
                And the governor, legislative council, and house of
                representatives shall have authority to make laws in all
                cases for the good government of the district, not repugnant
                to the principles and articles in this ordinance established
                and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in
                the

    [[Page 563]]

                house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred
                to the governor for his assent; but no bill or legislative
                act whatever, shall be of any force without his assent. The
                governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve
                the general assembly, when, in his opinion, it shall be
                expedient.
       1702.12      Sec. 12. The governor, judges, legislative council,
                secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall appoint
                in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of
                fidelity, and of office; the governor before the President
                of Congress, and all other officers before the governor. As
                soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the
                council and house assembled, in one room, shall have
                authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress,
                who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating,
                but not of voting, during this temporary government.
       1702.13      Sec. 13. And for extending the fundamental principles of
                civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon
                these republics, their laws and constitutions, are erected;
                to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all
                laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever
                hereafter shall be formed in the said territory; to provide,
                also, for the establishment of States, and permanent
                government therein, and for their admission to a share in
                the Federal councils on an equal footing with the original
                States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the
                general interest:
       1702.14      Sec. 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the
                authority aforesaid, That the following articles shall be
                considered as articles of compact, between the original
                States and the people and States in the said territory, and
                forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to
                wit:

       1702.15                            Article I

                    No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly
                manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of
                worship, or religious sentiments, in the said territories.

       1702.16                           Article II

                    The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be
                entitled to the benefits of the writs of habeas corpus, and
                of the trial by jury; of a proportionate representation

    [[Page 564]]

                of the people in the legislature, and of judicial
                proceedings according to the course of the common law. All
                persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offences,
                where the proof shall be evident, or the presumption great.
                All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or unusual
                punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of
                his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers,
                or the law of the land, and should the public exigencies
                make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any
                person's property, or to demand his particular services,
                full compensation shall be made for the same. And, in the
                just preservation of rights and property, it is understood
                and declared, that no law ought ever to be made or have
                force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner
                whatever, interfere with or affect private contracts, or
                engagements, bona fide, and without fraud previously formed.

       1702.17                           Article III

                    Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to
                good government, and the happiness of mankind, schools and
                the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The
                utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the
                Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from
                them without their consent; and in their property, rights,
                and liberty they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless
                in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws
                founded in justice and humanity shall, from time to time, be
                made, for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for
                preserving peace and friendship with them.

       1702.18                           Article IV

                    The said territory, and the States which may be formed
                therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of
                the United States of America, subject to the Articles of
                Confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be
                constitutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances of
                the United States in Congress assembled, conformable
                thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory
                shall be subject to pay a part of the Federal debts,
                contracted, or to be contracted, and a proportional part of
                the expenses of government to be apportioned on them by
                Congress, according to the same common rule

    [[Page 565]]

                and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on
                the other States; and the taxes for paying their proportion
                shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of
                the legislatures of the district or districts, or new
                States, as in the original States, within the time agreed
                upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The
                legislatures of those districts, or new States, shall never
                interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the
                United States in Congress assembled, nor with any
                regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the
                title in such soil to the bona-fide purchasers. No tax shall
                be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and
                in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher
                than residents. The navigable waters leading into the
                Mississippi and Saint Lawrence, and the carrying places
                between the same, shall be common highways, and forever
                free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to
                the citizens of the United States, and those of any other
                States that may be admitted into the confederacy, without
                any tax, impost, or duty therefor.
                [Sands v. Manistee River Imp. Co., 123 U.S. 288.]
       1702.19                            Article V

                    There shall be formed in the said territory not less
                than three nor more than five States; and the boundaries of
                the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of
                cession and consent to the same, shall become fixed and
                established as follows, to wit: The western State, in the
                said territory, shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the
                Ohio, and the Wabash Rivers; a direct line drawn from the
                Wabash and Post Vincents, due north, to the territorial line
                between the United States and Canada; and by the said
                territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi.
                The middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line,
                the Wabash from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a
                direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great
                Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said
                territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded by the
                last-mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the
                said territorial line: Provided, however, And it is further
                understood and declared, that the boundaries of these three
                States shall be subject so far to be altered that, if
                Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have
                authority to form one or two States

    [[Page 566]]

                in that part of the said territory which lies north of an
                east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or
                extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the said
                States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein,
                such State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the
                Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the
                original States, in all respects whatever; and shall be at
                liberty to form a permanent constitution and State
                government: Provided, The constitution and government, so to
                be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the
                principles contained in these articles, and, so far as it
                can be consistent with the general interests of the
                Confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier
                period, and when there may be a less number of free
                inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.

       1702.20                           Article VI

                    There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
                in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of
                crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted:
                Provided always, That any person escaping in the same, from
                whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the
                original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed,
                and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor service
                as aforesaid.
       1702.21      Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the
                resolutions of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the
                subject of this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby,
                repealed, and declared null and void.
                    Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the
                13th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of their
                sovereignty and independence the 12th.

                                                            Charles Thomson,

                                                                      Sec'y.
                              constitution of the united states

    [[Page 567]]

                                           [1710]

                ____________________________________________________________

                        CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

                ____________________________________________________________

                                    HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

                    In May 1785, a committee of Congress made a report
                recommending an alteration in the Articles of Confederation,
                but no action was taken on it, and it was left to the State
                Legislatures to proceed in the matter. In January 1786, the
                Legislature of Virginia passed a resolution providing for
                the appointment of five commissioners, who, or any three of
                them, should meet such commissioners as might be appointed
                in the other States of the Union, at a time and place to be
                agreed upon, to take into consideration the trade of the
                United States; to consider how far a uniform system in their
                commercial regulations may be necessary to their common
                interest and their permanent harmony; and to report to the
                several States such an act, relative to this great object,
                as, when ratified by them, will enable the United States in
                Congress effectually to provide for the same.
                    The Virginia commissioners, after some correspondence,
                fixed the first Monday in September as the time, and the
                city of Annapolis as the place for the meeting, but only
                four other States were represented, viz: Delaware, New York,
                New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; the commissioners appointed by
                Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Rhode
                Island failed to attend. Under the circumstances of so
                partial a representation, the commissioners present agreed
                upon a report (drawn by Mr. Hamilton, of New York),
                expressing their unanimous conviction that it might
                essentially tend to advance the interests of the Union if
                the States by which they were respectively delegated would
                concur, and use their endeavors to procure the concurrence
                of the other States, in the appointment of commissioners to
                meet at Philadelphia on the second Monday of May following,
                to take into consideration the situation of the United
                States; to devise such further provisions as should appear
                to them necessary to render the Constitution of the Federal
                Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union; and to
                report such an act for that purpose to the United States in
                Congress assembled as, when agreed to by them and afterwards
                confirmed by the Legislatures of every State, would
                effectually provide for the same.
                    Congress, on the 21st of February, 1787, adopted a
                resolution in favor of a convention, and the Legislatures of
                those States which had not already done so (with the
                exception of Rhode Island) promptly appointed delegates. On
                the 25th of May, seven States having convened, George
                Washington, of Virginia, was unanimously elected President,
                and the consideration of the proposed constitution was
                commenced. On the 17th of September, 1787, the Constitution
                as engrossed and agreed upon was signed by all the members
                present, except Mr. Gerry, of Massachu

    [[Page 568]]

                setts, and Messrs. Mason and Randolph, of Virginia. The
                president of the convention transmitted it to Congress, with
                a resolution stating how the proposed Federal Government
                should be put in operation, and an explanatory letter.
                Congress, on the 28th of September, 1787, directed the
                Constitution so framed, with the resolutions and letter
                concerning the same, to ``be transmitted to the several
                Legislatures in order to be submitted to a convention of
                delegates chosen in each State by the people thereof, in
                conformity to the resolves of the convention.''
                    On the 4th of March, 1789, the day which had been fixed
                for commencing the operations of Government under the new
                Constitution, it had been ratified by the conventions chosen
                in each State to consider it, as follows: Delaware, December
                7, 1787; Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787; New Jersey,
                December 19, 1787; Georgia, January 2, 1788; Connecticut,
                January 9, 1788; Massachusetts, February 6, 1788; Maryland,
                April 28, 1788; South Carolina, May 23, 1788; New Hampshire,
                June 21, 1788; Virginia, June 25, 1788; and New York, July
                26, 1788.
                    The President informed Congress, on the 28th of January,
                1790, that North Carolina had ratified the Constitution
                November 21, 1789; and he informed Congress on the 1st of
                June, 1790, that Rhode Island had ratified the Constitution
                May 29, 1790. Vermont, in convention, ratified the
                Constitution January 10, 1791, and was, by an act of
                Congress approved February 18, 1791, ``received and admitted
                into this Union as a new and entire member of the United
                States.''
                constitution of the united states