Key-Notes of American Liberty Part 3

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Const.i.tution, 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 Const.i.tution, 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.

1. All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Const.i.tution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Const.i.tution as under the confederation.

2. This Const.i.tution, 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 Const.i.tution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

3. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and all judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Const.i.tution; 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 Const.i.tution 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.

GEORGE WAs.h.i.+NGTON,

_President, and Deputy from Virginia._

NEW HAMPs.h.i.+RE. DELAWARE.

John Langdon, George Read, Nicholas Gilman. Gunning Bedford, jr., John d.i.c.kinson, Ma.s.sACHUSETTS. Richard Ba.s.sett, Jacob Broom.

Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. MARYLAND.

James McHenry, CONNECTICUT. Daniel of St. Tho. Jenifer, Daniel Carroll.

Wm. Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman. VIRGINIA.

NEW YORK. John Blair, James Madison, jr.

Alexander Hamilton.

NORTH CAROLINA.

NEW JERSEY.

William Blount, William Livingston, Rich. Dobbs Spaight, David Brearley, Hugh Williamson.

William Patterson, Jonathan Dayton. SOUTH CAROLINA.

PENNSYLVANIA. John Rutledge, Benjamin Franklin, Charles C. Pinckney, Thomas Mifflin, Charles Pinckney, Robert Morris, Pierce Butler.

George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, GEORGIA.

Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, William Few, Gouverneur Morris. Abraham Baldwin.

Attest, WILLIAM JACKSON, _Secretary_.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSt.i.tUTION.

ART. 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 people peaceably to a.s.semble and to pet.i.tion the government for a redress of grievances.

ART. 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.

ART. 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.

ART. 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.

ART. 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 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.

ART. 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 favor; and to have the a.s.sistance of counsel for his defence.

ART. VII.--In suits of 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 reexamined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law.

ART. VIII.--Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

ART. IX.--The enumeration in the Const.i.tution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

ART. X.--The powers not delegated to the United States by the Const.i.tution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

ART. 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.

ART. 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 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 President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such a majority, then from the persons having the highest number, not exceeding three, on the list of those 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 const.i.tutional disability of the President.

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, if such 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.

3. But no person const.i.tutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

THE CONSt.i.tUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

ARTICLE V. of the Const.i.tution of the United States clearly and distinctly sets forth the mode and manner in which that instrument may be amended, as follows:

"The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Const.i.tution, 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 Const.i.tution, 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."

In accordance with this article of the Const.i.tution, the following resolution was proposed in the Senate, on February 1, 1864, adopted April 8, 1864, by a vote of 38 to 6, and was proposed in the House June 15, 1864, adopted Jan. 31, 1865, by a vote of 119 to 56:

_Resolved_, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress a.s.sembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following article be proposed to the Legislatures, of the several States, as an amendment to the Const.i.tution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as a part of the said Const.i.tution, namely:

Art. XIII. 1st. 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.

The amendment was now sent by the Secretary of State to the Governors of the several States for ratification by the Legislatures; a majority vote in three-fourths being required to make it a law of the land.

On Dec. 18, 1865, Secretary Seward officially announced to the country the ratification of the Amendment as follows: