THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
GIFT OF
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THE UNIT BOOKS
No. 8 1 April 1904
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First Charter of Virginia 1606
I. JAMES, by the Grace of God, King of England,
Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c.
WHEREAS our loving and well-disposed Subjects, Sir
Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers, Knights, Richard
Hackluit, Prebendary of Westminster, and Edward-Maria
Wingfield, Thomas Hanham, and Ralegh Gilbert, Esqrs.
William Parker, and George Popham, Gentlemen, and
divers others of our loving Subjects, have been humble
Suitors unto us, that We would vouchsafe unto them our
Licence, to make Habitation, Plantation, and to deduce a
Colony of sundry of our People into that Part of America,
commonly called VIRGINIA, and other Parts and Territories
in America, either appertaining unto us, or which are not
now actually possessed by any Christian Prince or People,
situate, lying, and being all along the Sea Coasts, between
four and thirty Degrees of Northerly Latitude from the
Equinoctial Line, and five and forty Degrees of the same
Latitude, and in the main Land between the same four and
thirty and five and forty Degrees, and the Islands there
unto adjacent, or within one hundred Miles of the Coasts
thereof ;
II. And to that End, and for the more speedy Accom
plishment of their said intended Plantation and Habitation
there, are desirous to divide themselves into two several
Colonies and Companies; The one consisting of certain
Knights, Gentlemen, Merchants, and other Adventurers, of
our City of London and elsewhere, which are, and from
time to time shall be, joined unto them, which do desire to
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begin their Plantation and Habitation in some fit and con
venient Place, between four and thirty and one and forty
Degrees of the said Latitude, along the Coasts of Virginia
and Coasts of America aforesaid; And the other consisting
of sundry Knights, Gentlemen, Merchants, and other Ad
venturers, of our Cities of Bristol and Exeter, and of our
Town of Plimouth, and of other Places, which do join them
selves unto that Colony, which do desire to begin their
Plantation and Habitation in some fit and convenient Place,
between eight and thirty Degrees and five and forty De
grees of the said Latitude, all alongst the said Coast of
Virginia and America, as that Coast lyeth:
III. "We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting
of, their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work,
which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter
tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of
Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness
and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Wor
ship of God, and may in time bring the Infidels and Sav
ages, living in those Parts, to human Civility, and to a
settled and quiet Government; DO, by these our Letters
Patents, graciously accept of, and agree to, their humble
and well-intended Desires ;
IV. And do therefore, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors,
GRANT and agree, that the said Sir Thomas Gates, Sir
George Somers, Richard Hackluit, and Edward-Maria
Wingfield, Adventurers of and for our City of London, and
all such others, as are, or shall be, joined unto them of that
Colony, shall be called the first Colony; And they shall
and may begin their said first Plantation and Habitation, at
any Place upon the said Coast of Virginia or America,
where they shall think fit and convenient, between the said
four and thirty and one arid forty Degrees of the said
Latitude; And that they shall have all the Lands, Woods,
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Soil, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Mines, Minerals,
Marshes, Waters, Fishings, Commodities, and Heredita
ments, whatsoever, from the said first Seat of their Planta
tion and Habitation by the Space of fifty Miles of English
Statute Measure, all along the said Coast of Virginia and
America, towards the West and Southwest, as the Coast
lyeth, with all the Islands within one hundred Miles directly
over against the same Sea Coast; And also all the Lands,
Soil, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Mines, Minerals,
Woods, Waters, Marshes, Fishings, Commodities, and
Hereditaments, whatsoever, from the said Place of their
first Plantation and Habitation for the space of fifty like
English Miles, all alongst the said Coast of Virginia and
America, towards the East and Northeast, or towards the
North, as the Coast lyeth, together with all the Islands
within one hundred Miles, directly over against the said
Sea Coast; And also all the Lands, Woods, Soil, Grounds,
Havens, Ports, Rivers, Mines, Minerals, Marshes, Waters,
Fishings, Commodities, and Hereditaments, whatsoever,
from the same fifty Miles every way on the Sea Coast,
directly into the main Land by the Space of one hundred
like English Miles; And shall and may inhabit and remain
there; and shall and may also build and fortify within any
the same, for their better Safeguard and Defence, according
to their best Discretion, and the Discretion of the Council
of that Colony; And that no other of our Subjects shall be
permitted, or suffered, to plant or inhabit behind, or on the
Backside of them, towards the main Land, without the
Express Licence or Consent of the Council of that Colony,
thereunto in Writing first had and obtained.
V. And we do likewise, for Us, our Heirs, and Succes
sors, by these Presents, GRANT and agree, that the said
Thomas Hanham, and Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker,
and George Popham, and all others of the Town of Pli-
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mouth in the County of Devon, or elsewhere, which are, or
shall be, joined unto them of that Colony, shall be called
the second Colony; And that they shall and may begin their
said Plantation and Seat of their first Abode and Habita
tion, at any Place upon the said Coast of Virginia and
America, where they shall think fit and convenient, between
eight and thirty Degrees of the said Latitude, and five and
forty Degrees of the same Latitude; And that they shall
have all the Lands, Soils, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers,
Mines, Minerals, Woods, Marshes, Waters, Fishings, Com
modities, and Hereditaments, whatsoever, from the first
Seat of their Plantation and Habitation by the Space of
fifty like English Miles, as is aforesaid, all alongst the said
Coast of Virginia and America, towards the West and
Southwest, or towards the South, as the Coast lyeth, and
all the Islands within one hundred Miles, directly over
against the said Sea Coast; And also all the Lands, Soils,
Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Mines, Minerals, Woods,
Marshes, Waters, Fishings, Commodities, and Heredita
ments, whatsoever, from the said Place of their first Planta
tion and Habitation for the Space of fifty like Miles, all
alongst the said Coast of Virginia and America, towards
the East and Northeast, or towards the North, as the Coast
lyeth, and all the Islands also within one hundred Miles
directly over against the same Sea Coast; And also all the
Lands, Soils, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Woods,
Mines, Minerals, Marshes, Waters, Fishings, Commodities,
and Hereditaments, whatsoever, from the same fifty Miles
every way on the Sea Coast, directly into the main Land,
by the Space of one hundred like English Miles ; And shall
and may inhabit and remain there; and shall and may also
build and fortify within any the same for their better Safe
guard, according to their best Discretion, and the Discre
tion of the Council of that Colony; And that none of our
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Subjects shall be permitted, or suffered, to plant or inhabit
behind, or on the back of them, towards the main Land,
without the express Licence of the Council of that Colony,
in Writing thereunto first had and obtained.
VI. Provided always, and our Will and Pleasure herein
is, that the Plantation and Habitation of such of the said
Colonies, as shall last plant themselves, as aforesaid, shall
not be made within one hundred like English Miles of the
other of them, that first began to make their Plantation, as
aforesaid.
VII. And we do also ordain, establish, and agree, for Us,
our Heirs, and Successors, that each of the said Colonies
shall have a Council, which shall govern and order all
Matters and Causes, which shall arise, grow, or happen, to
or within the same several Colonies, according to such Laws,
Ordinances, and Instructions, as shall be, in that behalf,
given and signed with Our Hand or Sign Manual, and pass
under the Privy Seal of our Realm of England; Each of
which Councils shall consist of thirteen Persons, to be
ordained, made, and removed, from time to time, according
as shall be directed, and comprised in the same instruc
tions; And shall have a several Seal, for all Matters that
shall pass or concern the same several Councils; Each of
which Seals shall have the King's Arms engraven on the
one Side thereof, and his Portraiture on the other ; And that
the Seal for the Council of the said first Colony shall have
engraven round about, on the one Side, these Words ; Sigil-
lum Regis Magna Britannia, Francia, fy Hibernia; on the
other Side this Inscription, round about; Pro Concilia
prima Colonice Virginia. And the Seal for the Council of
the said second Colony shall also have engraven, round
about the one Side thereof, the aforesaid Words; Sigillum
Regis Magnce, Britannia, Francia, <fy Hibernice; and on the
other Side; Pro Concilio secundce Colonies Virginia:
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VIII. And that also there shall be a Council established
here in England, which shall, in like Manner, consist of
thirteen Persons, to be, for that Purpose, appointed by Us,
our Heirs and Successors, which shall be called our Council
of Virginia; And shall, from time to time, have the superior
Managing and Direction, only of and for all Matters, that
shall or may concern the Government, as well of the said
several Colonies, as of and for any other Part or Place,
within the aforesaid Precincts of four and thirty and five
and forty Degrees, abovementioned ; Which Council shall,
in like manner, have a Seal, for Matters concerning the
Council or Colonies, with the like Arms and Portraiture,
as aforesaid, with this Inscription, engraven round about
on the one Side ; Sigillum Regis Magnce Brit cm-nice f Francice,
fy Hibernice; and round about the other Side, Pro Concilia
suo Virginice.
IX. And moreover, we do GRANT and agree, for Us, our
Heirs and Successors, that the said several Councils, of
and for the said several Colonies, shall and lawfully may,
by Virtue hereof, from time to time, without any Interrup
tion of Us, our Heirs or Successors, give and take Order,
to dig, mine, and search for all Manner of Mines of Gold,
Silver, and Copper, as well within any part of their said
several Colonies, as for the said main Lands on the Back
side of the same Colonies; And to HAVE and enjoy the
Gold, Silver, and Copper, to be gotten thereof, to the Use
and Behoof of the same Colonies, and the Plantations there
of; YIELDING therefore, to Us, our Heirs and Successors,
the fifth Part only of all the same Gold and Silver, and the
fifteenth Part of all the same Copper, so to be gotten or
had, as is aforesaid, without any other Manner or Profit or
Account, to be given or yielded to Us, our Heirs, or Suc
cessors, for or in Respect of the same:
X. And that they shall, or lawfully may, establish and
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cause to be made a Coin, to pass current there between the
People of those several Colonies, for the more Ease of
Traffick and Bargaining between and amongst them and
the Natives there, of such Metal, arid in such Manner and
Form, as the said several Councils there shall limit and
appoint.
XI. And we do likewise, for Us, our Heirs, and Succes
sors, by these Presents, give full Power and Authority to
the said Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard
Hackluit, Edward-Maria Wingfeld, Thomas Hanham,
Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, and George Popham, and
to every of them, and to the said several Companies, Planta
tions, and Colonies, that they, and every of them, shall and
may, at all and every time and times hereafter, have, take,
and lead in the said Voyage, and for and towards the said
several Plantations and Colonies, and to travel thitherward,
and to abide and inhabit there, in every the said Colonies
and Plantations, such and so many of our Subjects, as shall
willingly accompany them, or any of them, in the said
Voyages and Plantations; With sufficient Shipping and
Furniture of Armour, Weapons, Ordinance, Powder, Vic
tual, and all other things, necessary for the said Planta
tions, and for their Use and Defence there: PROVIDED
always, that none of the said Persons be such, as shall
hereafter be specially restrained by Us, our Heirs, or
Successors.
XII. Moreover, we do, by these Presents, for Us, our
Heirs, and Successors, GIVE AND GRANT Licence unto the
said Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hack
luit, Edward-Maria Wingfeld, Thomas Hanham, Ralegh
Gilbert, William Parker, and George Popham, and to every
of the said Colonies, that they, and every of them, shall
and may, from time to time, and at all times for ever here
after, for their several Defences, encounter, expulse, repel,
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and resist, as well by Sea as by Land, by all Ways and
Means whatsoever, all and every such Person and Per
sons, as without the especial Licence of the said several
Colonies and Plantations, shall attempt to inhabit within
the said several Precincts and Limits of the said several
Colonies and Plantations, or any of them, or that shall
enterprise or attempt, at any time hereafter, the Hurt,
Detriment, or Annoyance, of the said several Colonies or
Plantations.
XIII. Giving and granting, by these Presents, unto
the said Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard
Hackluit, Edward-Maria Wingfield, and their Associates
of the said first Colony, and unto the said Thomas Hanham,
Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, and George Popham, and
their Associates of the said second Colony, and to every of
them, from time to time, and at all times for ever hereafter,
Power and Authority to take and surprise, by all Ways and
Means whatsoever, all and every Person and Persons, with
their Ships, Vessels, Goods and other Furniture, which shall
be found trafficking, into any Harbour or Harbours, Creek
or Creeks, or Place, within the Limits or Precincts of the
said several Colonies and Plantations, not being of the same
Colony, until such time, as they, being of any Realms or
Dominions under our Obedience, shall pay, or agree to pay,
to the Hands of the Treasurer of that Colony, within whose
Limits and Precincts they shall so traffick, two and a half
upon every Hundred, of any thing, so by them trafficked,
bought, or sold; And being Strangers, and not Subjects
under our Obeysance, until they shall pay five upon every
Hundred, of such Wares and Merchandise, as they shall
traffick, buy, or sell, within the Precincts of the said several
Colonies, wherein they shall so traffick, buy, or sell, as afore
said, WHICH Sums of Money, or Benefit, as aforesaid, for
and during the Space of one and twenty Years, next ensu-
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ing the Date hereof, shall be wholly emploied to the Use,
Benefit, and Behoof of the said several Plantations, where
such Traffick shall be made; And after the said one and
twenty Years ended, the same shall be taken to the Use of
Us, our Heirs, and Successors, by such Officers and Minis
ters, as by Us, our Heirs, and Successors, shall be thereunto
assigned or appointed.
XIV. And we do further, by these Presents, for Us, our
Heirs, and Successors, GIVE AND GRANT unto the said Sir
Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hackluit, and
Edward-Maria Wingfield, and to their Associates of the
said first Colony and Plantation, and to the said Thomas
Hanham, Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, and George Pop-
ham, and their Associates of the said second Colony and
Plantation, that they, and every of them, by their Deputies,
Ministers, and Factors, may transport the Goods, Chattels,
Armour, Munition, and Furniture, needful to be used by
them, for their said Apparel, Food, Defence, or otherwise
in Respect of the said Plantations, out of our Realms of
England and Ireland, and all other our Dominions, from
time to time, for and during the Time of seven Years, next
ensuing the Date hereof, for the better Relief of the said
several Colonies and Plantations, without any Custom,
Subsidy, or other Duty, unto Us, our Heirs, or Successors,
to be yielded or paid for the same.
XV. Also we do, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors,
DECLARE, by these Presents, that all and every the Persons,
being our Subjects, which shall dwell and inhabit within
every or any of the said several Colonies and Plantations,
and every of their children, which shall happen to be born
within any of the Limits and Precincts of the said several
Colonies and Plantations, shall HAVE and enj oy all Liberties,
Franchises, and Immunities, within any of our other
Dominions, to all Intents and Purposes, as if they had been
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abiding and born, within this our Realm of England, or any
other of our said Dominions.
XVI. Moreover, our gracious Will and Pleasure is, and
we do, by these Presents, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors,
declare and set forth, that if any Person or Persons, which
shall be of any of the said Colonies and Plantations, or any
other, which shall traffick to the said Colonies and Planta
tions, or any of them, shall, at any time or times hereafter,
transport any Wares, Merchandises, or Commodities, out
of any of our Dominions, with a Pretence to land, sell, or
otherwise dispose of the same, within any the Limits and
Precincts of any the said Colonies and Plantations, and yet
nevertheless, being at Sea, or after he hath landed the same
within any of the said Colonies and Plantations, shall carry
the same into any other Foreign Country, with a Purpose
there to sell or dispose of the same, without the Licence of
Us, our Heirs, and Successors, in that Behalf first had and
obtained; That then, all the Goods and Chattels of such
Person or Persons, so offending and transporting, together
with the said Ship or Vessel, wherein such Transportation
was made, shall be forfeited to Us, our Heirs, and Suc
cessors.
XVII. Provided always, and our Will and Pleasure is,
and we do hereby declare to all Christian Kings, Princes,
and States, that if any Person or Persons, which shall here
after be of any of the said several Colonies and Plantations,
or any other, by his, their or any of their Licence and
Appointment, shall, at any time or times hereafter, rob or
spoil, by Sea or by Land, or do any Act of unjust and un
lawful Hostility, to any the Subjects of Us, our Heirs, or
Successors, or any the Subjects of any King, Prince, Ruler,
Governor, or State, being then in League or Amity with
Us, our Heirs, or Successors, and that upon such Injury,
or upon just Complaint of such Prince, Ruler, Governor, or
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State, or their Subjects, We, our Heirs, or Successors, shall
make open Proclamation, within any of the Ports of our
Realm of England, commodious for that Purpose, That the
said Person or Persons, having committed any such Rob
bery or Spoil, shall, within the Term to be limited by such
Proclamations, make full Restitution or Satisfaction of all
such Injuries done, so as the said Princes, or others, so
complaining, may hold themselves fully satisfied and con
tented; And that, if the said Person or Persons, having
committed such Robbery or Spoil, shall not make, or cause
to be made, Satisfaction accordingly, within such Time so
to be limited, That then it shall be lawful to Us, our Heirs,
and Successors, to put the said Person or Persons, having
committed such Robbery or Spoil, and their Procurers,
Abetters, or Comforters, out of our Allegiance and Protec
tion; And that it shall be lawful and free, for all Princes
and others, to pursue with Hostility the said Offenders, and
every of them, and their and every of their Procurers,
Aiders, Abetters, and Comforters, in that Behalf.
XVIII. And finally, we do, for Us, our Heirs, and Suc
cessors, GRANT and agree, to and with the said Sir Thomas
Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hackluit, and Edward
Maria Wingfield, and all others of the said first Colony,
that We, our Heirs, and Successors, upon Petition in that
Behalf to be made, shall, by Letters-patent under the Great
Seal of England, GIVE and GRANT unto such Persons, their
Heirs, and Assigns, as the Council of that Colony, or the
most Part of them, shall, for that Purpose nominate and
assign, all the Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, which
shall be within the Precincts limited for that Colony, as
is aforesaid, To BE HOLDEN of Us, our Heirs, and Succes
sors, as of our Manor at East-Greenwich in the County of
Kent, in free and common Soccage only, and not in Capite :
XIX. And do, in like Manner, Grant and Agree, for Us,
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our Heirs, and Successors, to and with the said Thomas
Hanham, Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, and George
Popham, and all others of the said second Colony, That We,
our Heirs, and Successors, upon Petition in that Behalf to
be made, shall, by Letters-patent under the Great Seal of
England, GIVE and GRANT unto such Persons, their Heirs,
and Assigns, as the Council of that Colony, or the most
Part of them, shall, for that Purpose, nominate and assign,
all the Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, which shall
be within the Precincts limited for that Colony, as is afore
said To BE HOLDEN of Us, our Heirs, and Successors, as of
our Manour of East-Greenwich in the County of Kent, in
free arid common Soccage only, and not in Capite.
XX. All which Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments,
so to be passed by the said several Letters-patent, shall be
sufficient Assurance from the said Patentees, so distributed
and divided amongst the Undertakers for the Plantation
of the said several Colonies, and such as shall make their
Plantations in either of the said several Colonies, in such
Manner and Form, and for such Estates, as shall be
ordered and set down by the Council of the said Colony, or
the most Part of them, respectively, within which the same
Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments shall lye or be;
Although express Mention of the true yearly Value or Cer
tainty of the Premises, or any of them, or of any other
Gifts or Grants, by Us or any of our Progenitors or Pred
ecessors, to the aforesaid Sir Thomas Gates, Knt. Sir
George Somers, Knt. Richard Hackluit, Edward-Maria
Wmgfield, Thomas Hanham, Ralegh Gilbert, William
Parker, and George Popham, or any of them, heretofore
made, in these Presents, is not made ; Or any Statute, Act,
Ordinance, or Provision, Proclamation, or Restraint, to the
contrary hereof had, made, ordained, or any other Thing,
Cause, or Matter whatsoever, in any wise notwithstanding.
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In Witness whereof we have caused these our Letters to be
made Patents; Witness Ourself at Westminster, the tenth
Day of April, in the fourth Year of our Reign of England,
France, and Ireland, and of Scotland the nine and thirtieth.
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The Mayflower Compact 1620
In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are under
written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereigne Lord,
King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britaine,
France, and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc., having
undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the
Christian faith, and honour of our king and country, a
voyage to plant the first colony in the Northerne parts of
Virginia, doe, by these presents solemnly and mutually in
the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and
combine ourselves together into a civill body politick, for
our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of
the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enacte, consti
tute, and frame such just and equall laws, ordinances, acts,
constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be
thought most meete and convenient for the generall good
of the Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission
and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder sub
scribed our names at Cap-Codd the 11. of November, in
the year of the raigne of our sovereigne lord, King James,
of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of
Scotland the fif tie-fourth. Anno. Dom. 1620.
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Articles of Confederation of the New England
Colonies 1643
Articles of Confederation between the Plantations under
the Government of Massachusetts, the Plantations under
the Government of New Plymouth, the Plantations under
the Government of Connecticut, and the Government of
New Haven with the Plantations in Combination there
with:
Whereas we all came into these parts of America with
one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the king
dom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties
of the Gospel in purity with peace; and whereas in our
settling (by a wise providence of God) we are further dis
persed upon the sea coasts and rivers than was at first in
tended, so that we can not according to our desire with con
venience communicate in one government and jurisdiction;
and whereas we live encompassed with people of several
nations and strange languages which hereafter may prove
injurious to us or our posterity; and forasmuch as the
natives have formerly committed sundry insolences and
outrages upon several plantations of the English and have
of late combined themselves against us; and seeing, by
reason -of those sad distractions in England (which they
have heard of) and by which they know we are hindered
from that humble way of seeking advice or reaping those
comfortable fruits of protection which at other times we
might well expect; we therefore do conceive it our bounden
duty, without delay to enter into a present consociation
amongst ourselves, for mutual help and strength in all our
future concernments. That, as in nation and religion, so in
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other respects, we be and continue one according to the tenor
and true meaning of the ensuing articles. 1. Wherefore
it is fully agreed and concluded by and between the parties
or jurisdictions above named, and they jointly and severally
do by these presents agree and conclude, that they all be and
henceforth be called by the name of the United Colonies of
New England.
2. The said United Colonies, for themselves and their
posterities, do jointly and severally hereby enter into a
firm and perpetual league of friendship and amity, for
offence and defence, mutual advice and succor upon all just
occasions, both for preserving and propagating the truth
and liberties of the Gospel, and for their own mutual
safety and welfare.
3. It is further agreed that the plantations which at
present are or hereafter shall be settled with [in] the limits
of the Massachusetts shall be forever under the Massachu
setts, and shall have peculiar jurisdiction among themselves
in all cases, as an entire body. And that Plymouth, Con
necticut, and New Haven shall each of them have like
peculiar jurisdiction and government within their limits
and in reference to the plantations which already are set
tled, or shall hereafter be erected, or shall settle within
their limits, respectively; provided no other jurisdiction
shall hereafter be taken in, as a distinct head or member
of this confederation, nor shall any other plantation or
jurisdiction in present being, and not already in combina
tion or under the jurisdiction of any of these confederates,
be received by any of them; nor shall any two of the con
federates join in one jurisdiction without consent of the
rest, which consent to be interpreted as is expressed in the
sixth article ensuing.
4. It is by these confederates agreed, that the charge of
all just wars, whether offensive or defensive, upon what part
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or member of this confederation soever they fall, shall both
in men, provisions, and all other disbursements be borne by
all the parts of this confederation in different proportions
according to their different abilities, in manner following:
namely, that the commissioners for each jurisdiction from
time to time, as there shall be occasion, bring a true account
and number of all their males in every plantation, or any
way belonging to or under their several jurisdictions, of
what quality or condition soever they be, from 16 years old
to 60, being inhabitants there; and that according to the
different numbers which from time to time shall be found
in each jurisdiction upon a true and just account, the service
of men and all charges of the war be borne by the poll;
each jurisdiction or plantation being left to their own just
course and custom of rating themselves and people accord
ing to their different estates with due respects to their
qualities and exemptions amongst themselves though the
confederates take no notice of any such privilege. And
that according to their different charge of each jurisdiction
and plantation, the whole advantage of the war (if it please
God so to bless their endeavours,) whether it be in lands,
goods, or persons, shall be proportionably divided among
the said confederates.
5. It is further agreed, that if these jurisdictions, or any
plantation under or in combination with them, be invaded
by any enemy whomsoever, upon notice and request of
any 3 magistrates of that jurisdiction so invaded, the rest
of the confederates, without any further meeting or expos
tulation, shall forthwith send aid to the confederate in
danger, but in different proportions; namely, the Massa
chusetts an hundred men sufficiently armed and provided
for such a service and journey, and each of the rest, forty-
five so armed and provided, or any lesser number, if less be
required according to this proportion. But if such confed-
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erate in danger may be supplied by their next confederates,
not exceeding the number hereby agreed, they may crave
help there, and seek no further for the present; the charge
to be borne as in this article is expressed, and at the return
to be victualled and supplied with powder and shot for their
journey (if there be need) by that jurisdiction which em
ployed or sent for them. But none of the jurisdictions to
exceed these numbers till, by a meeting of the commission
ers for this confederation, a greater aid appear necessary.
And this proportion to continue till upon knowledge of
greater numbers in each jurisdiction, which shall be brought
to the next meeting, some other proportion be ordered. But
in any such case of sending men for present aid, whether
before or after such order or alteration, it is agreed that
at the meeting of the commissioners for this confederation,
the cause of such war or invasion be duly considered ; and if
it appear that the fault lay in the parties so invaded then
that jurisdiction or plantation make just satisfaction, both
to the invaders whom they have injured, and bear all the
charges of the war themselves, without requiring any allow
ance from the rest of the confederates towards the same.
And further, that if any jurisdiction see any danger of
invasion approaching, and there be time for a meeting, that
in such a case 3 magistrates of that jurisdiction may sum
mon a meeting at such convenient place as themselves shall
think meet, to consider and provide against the threatened
danger, provided when they are met, they may remove to
what place they please; only whilst any of these four con
federates have but three magistrates in their jurisdiction,
their requests, or summons, from any 2 of them shall be
accounted of equal force with the 3 mentioned in both the
clauses of this article, till there be an increase of magis
trates there.
6. It is also agreed that, for the managing and conclud-
22
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ing of all affairs proper, and concerning the whole confed
eration, two commissioners shall be chosen by and out of
each of these 4 jurisdictions: namely, 2 for the Massachu
setts, 2 for Plymouth, 2 for Connecticut, and 2 for New
Haven, being all in Church-fellowship with us, which shall
bring full power from their several General Courts respec
tively to hear, examine, weigh, and determine all affairs of
war, or peace, leagues, aids, charges, and numbers of men
for war, division of spoils, and whatsoever is gotten by con
quest, receiving of more confederates, or plantations into
combination with any of the confederates, and all things
of like nature, which are the proper concomitants or con
sequents of such a confederation for amity, offence, and
defence; not intermeddling with the government of any of
the jurisdictions, which by the third article is preserved
entirely to themselves. But if these 8 commissioners when
they meet shall not all agree yet it [is] concluded that any
6 of the 8 agreeing shall have power to settle and deter
mine the business in question. But if 6 do not agree, that
then such propositions, with their reasons, so far as they
have been debated, be sent and referred to the 4 General
Courts; namely, the Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut,
and New Haven; and if at all the said General Courts the
business so referred be concluded, then to be prosecuted by
the confederates and all their members. It is further
agreed that these 8 commissioners shall meet once every
year, besides extraordinary meetings (according to the fifth
article,) to consider, treat, and conclude of all affairs be
longing to this confederation, which meeting shall ever be
the first Thursday in September. And that the next meet
ing after the date of these presents, which shall be
accounted the second meeting, shall be at Boston in the
Massachusetts, the 3. at Hartford, the 4. at New Haven,
the 5. at Plymouth, and so in course successively, if in the
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meantime some middle place be not found out and agreed
on, which may be commodious for all the jurisdictions.
7. It is further agreed, that at each meeting of these 8
Commissioners, whether ordinary or extraordinary, they or
6 of them agreeing as before, may choose their President
out of themselves whose office and work shall be to take care
and direct for order and a comely carrying on of all pro
ceedings in the present meeting: but he shall be invested
with no such power or respect, as by which he shall hinder
the propounding or progress of any business, or any way
cast the scales otherwise than in the precedent article is
agreed.
8. It is also agreed, that the commissioners for this con
federation hereafter at their meetings, whether ordinary or
extraordinary, as they may have commission or opportunity,
do endeavor to frame and establish agreements and orders in
general cases of a civil nature, wherein all the plantations
are interested, for the preserving of peace among themselves,
and preventing as much as may be all occasion of war or
differences with others; as about the free and speedy pas
sage of justice, in every jurisdiction, to all the confederates
equally as to their own ; not receiving those that remove from
one plantation to another without due certificate; how all
the jurisdictions may carry it towards the Indians, that they
neither grow insolent, nor be injured without due satisfac
tion, lest war break in upon the confederates through such
miscarriages. It is also agreed that if any servant run away
from his master into any other of these confederated juris
dictions, that in such case, upon the certificate of one magis
trate in the jurisdiction out of which the said servant fled,
or upon other due proof, the said servant shall be delivered,
either to his master, or any other that pursues and brings
such certificate or proof. And that upon the escape of any
prisoner whatsoever, or fugitive for any criminal cause,
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
whether breaking prison, or getting from the officer, or
otherwise escaping, upon the certificate of 2 magistrates
of the jurisdiction out of which the escape is made, that he
was a prisoner, or such an offender at the time of the escape,
they magistrates, some of them of that jurisdiction where
for the present the said prisoner or fugitive abideth, shall
forthwith grant such a warrant as the case will bear, for
the apprehending of any such person, and the delivery of
him into the hands of the officer or other person who
pursues him. And if there be help required, for the
safe returning of any such offender, then it shall be
granted to him that craves the same, he paying the charges
thereof.
9. And for that the justest wars may be of dangerous
consequence, especially to the smaller plantations in these
United Colonies, it is agreed that neither the Massachusetts,
Plymouth, Connecticut, nor New Haven, nor any of the
members of them, shall at any time hereafter begin, under
take, or engage themselves, or this confederation, or any
part thereof in any war whatsoever (sudden exigencies, with
the necessary consequents thereof excepted, which are also
to be moderated as much as the case will permit,) without
the consent and agreement of the forementioned 8 com
missioners, or at least 6 of them, as in the sixth article is
provided. And that no charge be required of any of the
confederates, in case of a defensive war, till the said com
missioners have met, and approved the justice of the war,
and have agreed upon the sum of money to be levied, which
sum is then to be paid by the several confederates in pro
portion according to the fourth article.
10. That in extraordinary occasions, when meetings are
summoned by three magistrates of any jurisdiction, or 2 as
in the 5. article, if any of the commissioners come not,
due warning being given or sent, it is agreed that 4 of the
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commissioners shall have power to direct a war which can
not be delayed, and to send for due proportions of men out
of each jurisdiction, as well as 6 might do if all met; but
not less than 6 shall determine the justice of the war, or
allow the demands or bills of charges, or cause any levies
to be made for the same.
11. It is further agreed that if any of the confederates
shall hereafter break any of these present articles, or be any
other way injurious to any one of the other jurisdictions;
such breach of agreement or injury shall be duly considered
and ordered by the commissioners for the other jurisdic
tions, that both peace and this present confederation may
be entirely preserved without violation.
12. Lastly, this perpetual confederation, and the several
articles and agreements thereof being read, and seriously
considered, both by the General Court for the Massachu
setts, and by the commissioners for Plymouth, Connecticut,
and New Haven, were fully allowed and confirmed by three
of the forenamed confederates, namely, the Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and New Haven; only the commissioners for
Plymouth having no commission to conclude, desired respite
until they might advise with their General Court; where
upon it was agreed and concluded by the said Court of the
Massachusetts, and the commissioners for the other two
confederates, that, if Plymouth consent, then the whole
treaty as it stands in these present articles is, and shall
continue, firm and stable without alteration. But if Plym
outh come not in, yet the other three confederates do by
these presents confirm the whole confederation, and all the
articles thereof; only in September next when the second
meeting of the commissioners is to be at Boston, new con
sideration may be taken of the 6. article, which concerns
number of commissioners for meeting and concluding the
affairs of this confederation to the satisfaction of the
26
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Court of the Massachusetts, and the commissioners for the
other 2 confederates, but the rest to stand unquestioned. In
the testimony whereof, the General Court of the Massa
chusetts, by their Secretary, and the commissioners for Con
necticut and New Haven, have subscribed these present
articles this 1Q. of the third month, commonly called May,
Anno Dom: 1643.
At a meeting of the commissioners for the confederation
held at Boston the 7. of September, it appearing that the
General Court of New Plymouth and the several townships
thereof have read, considered, and approved these Articles
of confederation, as appeareth by commission of their Gen
eral Court bearing date the 29- of August, 1643, to Mr.
Edward Winslow and Mr. William Collier, to ratify and
confirm the same on their behalf. We therefore, the com
missioners for the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New
Haven, do also for our several Governments subscribe unto
them.
JOHN WINTHROP, Governor of the Massachusetts,
THO. DUDLEY, EDWA. HOPKINS,
GEO. FENWICK, THOMAS GREGSON.
THEOPH. EATON,
A Typical Early Indian Treaty 1645
A Treaty and agreement betwixt the Comissioners for
the United Colonies of New England on the one part And
Pessecus Mexanno eldest of Canownacus Sonns Jannemo
(als) Nenegelett and Wipetamock and others Sagamores
of the Narrohiggansets and Nyantick Indians on the other
part made and concluded at Bostone in the Massachusetts
the xxviith of the sixth month 1645.
1. A Warr being raised and persecuted by the Narrohig
gansets and Nyantick Indians against Uncas Sagamore of
the Mohegans contrary to former treaties and their expresse
engagements therein, the English Colonies were first put
upon charg and inconvenience in sending men for the
defence of Uncas, then they sent Messengers to the Narro
higgansets and Nyantick Sagamores to stay their warr till
the English according to former covenant and agreement
had heard their greevances but without successe : And lastly
were forced to prepare an offensive warr against them. Yet
the Comissioners before the warr began sent other Messen
gers to the Narrohigganset Sagamores to offer them peace
upon due satis faccion for what was past and other just
termes for the future.
2. Pessecus and Mexanno with other Captaines and Coun
sellors of the Narrohiggansets and one Deputie for the
Nyanticks being come to Bostone, and joyntly affirmeing
they had comission to treate and conclude not onely for
the Narrohiggansett but for the Nyantick Indians, and
engageing themselves one for another were after a large
debate and conferrence about greevances betwixt them
selves and Uncas, and a due Consideracon of former Treat
ies and agreements with the English convinced and
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
acknowledged that they had broken their Covenants and
had thereby not onely endamaged Uncas but had brought
much charg and trouble upon all the English Colonies which
they confest were just they should satisfy.
3. It was agreed betwixt the Comissioners of the United
Colonies and the foremenconed Sagamores and Nyantick
Deputie That the said Narrohigganset and Nyantick Sag
amores should pay or cause to be payd at Boston to the
Massachusetts Comissioners the full sum of two thousand
fathome of good white wampum or a third part of
good black wampum peage in four payments namely five
hundred fathome within twenty dayes, five hundred fathome
within foure months, five hundred fathome at or before next
planting tyme and five hundred within two years next after
the date of these presents which two thousand fathome the
Comissioners accept for satisfaccon of former charges
expended.
4. The foresaid Sagamores and Deputie on the behalf
of the Narrohigganset and Nyantick Indians hereby prom
ise and covenant that they will upon demaund and proofe
satisfy and restore unto Uncas the Mohegan Sagamore all
such Captives whether men weomen or children and all such
Canoues [canoes] as they or any of their men have taken,
or as many of their own Canoues in the roome of them full
as good as they were with full satisfaccon for all such Corne
as they or any of their men have spoiled or destroyed of his
or his mens since last planting tyme And the English Comis
sioners hereby promise that Uncas shall do the like to them.
5. Whereas there are sondry differrences and greev-
ances betwixt Narrohigganset and Nyantick Indians and
Uncas and his men (which in Uncas his absence cannot now
be determyned) It is hereby agreed that Narrohigganset and
Nyantick Sagamores either come themselves or send their
deputies to the next meeting of the Comissioners for the
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Colonies either at New Haven in September 1646 or sooner
(oopon convenyent warneing if the Comissioners do meete
sooner) fully instructed to declare and make due proof e
of their injuries and to submit to the Judgment of the Com
issioners for the United Colonies in giveing or receiveing
satisfaccon, and the said Comissioners (not doubting but
Uncas will either come himself or send his Deputies in like
manner furnished) promise to give a full hearing to both
parties with equall justice without any partial respect
according to their allegacons [allegations] and promises.
6. The said Narrohigganset and Nyantick Sagamores
and deputies do hereby promise and covenant to keepe and
maintayne a firm and perpetuall peace both with all the
English United Colonies and their Successors and with
Uncas the Mohegan Sachim and his men with Ussamequin,
Pomham, Sokaknooco, Cutchamakin, Shoanan, Passacon-
away, and their companies, who are in friendship with or
subject to any of the English hereby engaging themselves
that they will not at any tyme hereafter, disturbe the peace
of the Countrey, by any assaults, hostile attempts, invasions
or other injuries, to any of the United Colonies or their
Successors or to the aforesaid Indians either in their per
sons building cattell or goods directly or indirectly, nor
will they confederate with any other against them, and if
they know of any Indians or others that conspire or intend
hurt either against the said English or any Indian subject
to or in friendship with them, they will without delay
acquaint and give notice thereof to the English Comis
sioners or some of them.
And if any questions or differences shall at any time
hereafter arise or grow between them, and Uncas or any
Indians before menconed, [mentioned] they will according
to former engagements (which they hereby confirm and
ratify) first acquaint the English and crave their judg-
30
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ments and advice therein, and will not attempt or begin any
warr or hostile invasion till they have liberty and allowance
from the Comissioners of the United Colonies so to doe.
7. The said Narrohigganset and Nyantick Sagamores
and Deputie do hereby promise that they will forthwith
deliver and restore all such Indian fugitives or captives
which have at any time fled from any of the English, and
are now liveing or abiding with or amongst them, or give
due satisfaccon for them to the Comissioners for the Massa-
chusets, And further that they will (without more delayes)
pay or cause to be payd an yearely tribute a month before
Indian harvest every yeare after this at Bostone to the
English Colonies for all such Peacotts [Pequots] as live
amongst them according to the former treatie and agree
ment made at Hartford 1638 namely one fathome of white
wampum for every Peacott man, and half a fathome for
eich Peacott youth and one hand length of wampum for
eich Peacott man child And if Weekwash Cake refuse to
pay this tribute for any Peacotts with him the Narrohig
ganset Sagamores promise to assist the English against
him. And they further covenant that they will resigne and
yielde up the whole Peacott countrey and every part of it
to the English Colonies, as due to them by Conquest.
8. The said Narrohigganset and Nyantick Sagamores
and deputy do hereby promise and covenant that within
fourteene dayes they will bring and deliver to the Massa-
chusets Comissioners on behalf of all the Colonies foue
[four] of their children vizt. Pissacus his eldest sonn, the
sonn of Tassaquanawitt brother to Pissacus Awashanoe his
sonn and Ewangesos sonn a Nyantick to be kept (as pledges
or hostages) by the English till both the foremenconed two
thousand fathome of wampum be payd at the tymes above
expressed and the differences betwixt themselves and Uncas
be heard and ordered, and till these articles of agreement
31
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
be underwritten at Boston by Jannemo and Wypetock. And
further they hereby promise and covenant that if at any
tyme hereafter any of the said Children shall make escape
or be conveyed away from the English before the premisses
be fully accomplished, they will either bring back and
deliver to the Massachusets Comissioners the same children,
or if they be not to be found, such and so many other chil
dren to be chosen by the Comissioners for the United Col
onies or their assignes, and that within twenty dayes after
demaund, and in the mean tyme until the said f oure children
be delivered as hostages the Narrohigganset and Nyantick
Sagamores and Deputie do freely and of their owne accord
leave with the Massachusets Comissioners as pledges for
present securitie foure Indians namely Witowash Pomamse
Jawassoe Waugwamino, who also freely consent and oifer
themselves to stay as pledges, till the said Children be
brought and delivered as abovesaid.
9. The Comissioners for the United Colonies do hereby
promise and agree That at the charg of the United Colonies
the foure Indians now left as pledges shalbe provided for,
and that the foure children to be brought and delivered as
hostages, shalbe kept and mayntained at the same charg,
that they will require Uncas and his men with all the other
Indian Sagamores beforenamed to forbeare all acts of hos
tility against the Narrohigganset and Nyantick Indians for
the future. And further all the premisses being duly
observed and kept by the Narrohigganset and Nyantick In
dians and their company ; they will at the end of two years
restore the said children delivered as hostages and retayne
a firme peace with the Narrohigganset and Nyantick In
dians and their Successors.
10. It is fully agreed by and betwixt the said parties
that if any hostile attempt be made while this treaty is in
hand or before notice of this agreement (to stay former
32
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
preparacons and Direcons) can be given, such attempts
and the consequents thereof shall on neither part be ac
counted a vyolacon [violation] of this treaty nor a breach
of the peace here made and concluded.
11. The Narrohigganset and Nyantick Sagamores and
Deputie hereby agree and covenant to and with the Comis-
sioners of the United Colonies that henceforward they will
neither give graunt sell nor in any manner alienate any part
of their Countrey, nor any parcell of land therein either to
any of the English or others without consent or allowance
of the said Comissioners.
12. Lastly they promise that if any Peacott or other
be found and discovered amongst them who hath in tyme
of peace murthered any of the English, he or they shalbe
delivered to just punishment. In witnes whereof the parties
abovenamed have interchaungably subscribed these presents
the day and yeare above written.
The marke — of Pessecus
The marke of — Aumsaaquen the Nyantick Deputy
Abdas — marke
The marke — of Pommush
Cutchamakins — marke
The marke of — Weekesanno
The marke of — Wittowash
[Totem signs attached to each signature.]
Declaration of Rights 1765
The members of this congress, sincerely devoted, with
the warmest sentiments of affection and duty to his maj
esty's person and government, inviolably attached to the
present happy establishment of the protestant succession,
and with minds deeply impressed by a sense of the present
and impending misfortunes of the British colonies on this
continent; having considered as maturely as time will
permit, the circumstances of the said colonies, esteem it our
indispensable duty to make the following declarations of
our humble opinion, respecting the most essential rights
and liberties of the colonists, and of the grievances under
which they labour, by reason of several late acts of parlia
ment.
1. That his majesty's subjects in these colonies, owe the
same allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, that is
owing from his subjects born within the realm, and all due
subordination to that august body the parliament of Great
Britain.
2. That his majesty's liege subjects in these colonies, are
entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural
born subjects, within the kingdom of Great Britain.
3. That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a
people, and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no
taxes be imposed on them but with their own consent, given
personally, or by their representatives.
4. That the people of these colonies are not, and, from
their local circumstances, cannot be, represented in the
House of Commons in Great Britain.
5. That the only representatives of the people of these
colonies, are persons chosen therein by themselves; and that
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed
on them, but by their respective legislatures.
6. That all supplies to the crown being free gifts of the
people, it is unreasonable and inconsistent with the prin
ciples and spirit of the British constitution, for the people
of Great Britain to grant to his majesty the property of
the colonists.
7. That trial by jury, is the inherent and invaluable right
of every British subject in these colonies.
8. That the late act of parliament, entitled, an act for
granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other
duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America,
&c., by imposing taxes on the inhabitants of these colonies,
and the said act, and several other acts, by extending the
jurisdiction of the courts of admiralty beyond its ancient
limits, have a manifest tendency to subvert the rights and
liberties of the colonists.
9. That the duties imposed by several late acts of parlia
ment, from the peculiar circumstances of these colonies,
will be extremely burdensome and grievous; and from the
scarcity of specie, the payment of them absolutely imprac
ticable.
10. That as the profits of the trade of these colonies ulti
mately center in Great Britain, to pay for the manufactures
which they are obliged to take from thence, they eventually
contribute very largely to all supplies granted there to the
crown.
11. That the restrictions imposed by several late acts of
parliament on the trade of these colonies, will render them
unable to purchase the manufactures of Great Britain.
12. That the increase, prosperity and happiness of these
colonies, depend on the full and free enjoyments of their
rights and liberties, and an intercourse with Great Britain
mutually affectionate and advantageous.
35
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
13. That it is the right of the British subjects in these
colonies, to petition the king, or either house of parliament.
Lastly, That it is the indispensable duty of these colonies,
to the best of sovereigns, to the mother country, and to
themselves, to endeavour by a loyal and dutiful address to
his majesty, and humble applications to both houses of par
liament, to procure the repeal of the act for granting and
applying certain stamp duties, of all clauses of any other
acts of parliament, whereby the jurisdiction of the ad
miralty is extended as aforesaid, and of the other late acts
for the restriction of American commerce.
36
Declaration and Resolves of the First Conti
nental Congress 1774
Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British par
liament,, claiming a power, of right, to bind the people of
America by statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath, in some
acts, expressly imposed taxes on them, and in others, under
various pretences, but in fact for the purpose of raising
a revenue, hath imposed rates and duties payable in these
colonies, established a board of commissioners, with uncon
stitutional powers, and extended the jurisdiction of courts
of admiralty, not only for collecting the said duties, but for
the trial of causes merely arising within the body of a
county.
And whereas, in consequence of other statutes, judges,
who before held only estates at will in their offices, have
been made dependant on the crown alone for their salaries,
and standing armies kept in times of peace: And whereas
it has lately been resolved in parliament, that by force of
a statute, made in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of King
Henry the eighth, colonists may be transported to England,
and tried there upon accusations for treasons, and mispri-
sions, or concealments of treasons committed in the colonies,
and by a late statute, such trials have been directed in cases
therein mentioned:
And whereas, in the last session of parliament, three
statutes were made ; one entitled, " An act to discontinue, in
such manner and for such time as are therein mentioned,
the landing and discharging, lading, or shipping of goods,
wares and merchandise, at the town, and within the harbour
of Boston, in the province of Massachusetts-Bay in North-
America ; " another entitled, " An act for the better regulat-
37
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ing the government of the province of Massachusetts-Bay
in New England; " and another entitled, " An act for the
impartial administration of justice, in the cases of per
sons questioned for any act done by them in the execution
of the law, or for the suppression of riots and tumults,
in the province of the Massachusetts-Bay in New Eng
land; " and another statute was then made, " for making
more effectual provision for the government of the province
of Quebec, &c." All which statutes are impolitic, unjust,
and cruel, as well as unconstitutional, and most dangerous
and destructive of American rights :
And whereas, assemblies have been frequently dissolved,
contrary to the rights of the people, when they attempted
to deliberate on grievances; and their dutiful, humble,
loyal and reasonable petitions to the crown for redress, have
been repeatedly treated with contempt, by his majesty's
ministers of state:
The good people of the several colonies of New-Hamp
shire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsyl
vania, New Castle, Kent, and Sussex on Delaware, Mary
land, Virginia, North-Carolina, and South-Carolina, justly
alarmed at these arbitrary proceedings of parliament and
administration, have severally elected, constituted, and
appointed deputies to meet, and sit in General Congress, in
the city of Philadelphia, in order to obtain such establish
ment, as that their religion, laws, and liberties, may not
be subverted: Whereupon the deputies so appointed being
now assembled, in a full and free representation of these
colonies, taking into their most serious consideration, the
best means of attaining the ends aforesaid, do, in the first
place, as Englishmen, their ancestors in like cases have
usually done, for asserting and vindicating their rights and
liberties, DECLARE,
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
That the inhabitants of the English colonies in North-
America, by the immutable laws of nature, the principles of
the English constitution, and the several charters or com
pacts, have the following RIGHTS:
Resolved, N. C. D. 1. That they are entitled to life, lib
erty and property, and they have never ceded to any sov
ereign power whatever, a right to dispose of either without
their consent.
Resolved, N. C. D. 2. That our ancestors, who first set
tled these colonies, were at the time of their emigration
from the mother country, entitled to all the rights, liberties,
and immunities of free and natural-born subjects, within
the realm of England.
Resolved, N. C. D. 3. That by such emigration they
by no means forfeited, surrendered, or lost any of those
rights, but that they were, and their descendants now are,
entitled to the exercise and enjoyment of all such of them,
as their local and other circumstances enable them to ex
ercise and enjoy.
Resolved, 4>. That the foundation of English liberty,
and of all free government, is a right in the people to par
ticipate in their legislative council : and as the English colo
nists are not represented, and from their local and other
circumstances, cannot properly be represented in the British
parliament, they are entitled to a free and exclusive power
of legislation in their several provincial legislatures, where
their right of representation can alone be preserved, in all
cases of taxation and internal polity, subject only to the
negative of their sovereign, in such manner as has been here
tofore used and accustomed. But, from the necessity of
the case, and a regard to the mutual interest of both coun
tries, we cheerfully consent to the operation of such acts
of the British parliament, as are bona fide, restrained to
the regulation of our external commerce, for the purpose
39
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
of securing the commercial advantages of the whole empire
to the mother country, and the commercial benefits of its
respective members; excluding every idea of taxation in
ternal or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects, in
America, without their consent.
Resolved, N. C. D. 5. That the respective colonies are
entitled to the common law of England, and more especially
to the great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their
peers of the vicinage, according to the course of that law.
Resolved, 6. That they are entitled to the benefit of such
of the English statutes, as existed at the time of their col
onization; and which they have, by experience, respectively
found to be applicable to their several local and other cir
cumstances.
Resolved, N. C. D. 7- That these, his majesty's col
onies, are likewise entitled to all the immunities and privi
leges granted and confirmed to them by royal charters, or
secured by their several codes of provincial laws.
Resolved, N. C. D. 8. That they have a right peaceably
to assemble, consider of their grievances, and petition the
king; and that all prosecutions, prohibitory proclamations,
and commitments for the same, are illegal.
Resolved, N. C. D. 9- That the keeping a standing army
in these colonies, in times of peace, without the consent of
the legislature of that colony, in which such army is kept,
is against law.
Resolved, N. C. D. 10. It is indispensably necessary
to good government, and rendered essential by the English
constitution, that the constituent branches of the legislature
be independent of each other; that, therefore, the exercise
of legislative power in several colonies, by a council ap
pointed, during pleasure, by the crown, is unconstitutional,
dangerous and destructive to the freedom of American
legislation.
40
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
All and each of which the aforesaid deputies, in behalf
of themselves, and their constituents, do claim, demand,
and insist on, as their indubitable rights and liberties;
which cannot be legally taken from them, altered or
abridged by any power whatever, without their own consent,
by their representatives in their several provincial legis
latures.
In the course of our inquiry, we find many infringements
and violations of the foregoing rights, which, from an
ardent desire, that harmony and mutual intercourse of
affection and interest may be restored, we pass over for
the present, and proceed to state such acts and measures
as have been adopted since the last war, which demonstrate
a system formed to enslave America.
Resolved, N. C. D. That the following acts of parlia
ment are infringements and violations of the rights of the
colonists; and that the repeal of them is essentially neces
sary, in order to restore harmony between Great-Britain
and the American colonies, viz.
The several acts of 4 Geo. III. ch. 15. and ch. 34.—
5 Geo. III. ch. 25.— 6 Geo. III. ch. 52.— 7 Geo. III. ch. 41.
and ch. 46. — 8 Geo. III. ch. 22. which impose duties for the
purpose of raising a revenue in America, extend the power
of the admiralty courts beyond their ancient limits, deprive
the American subject of trial by jury, authorize the judges'
certificate to indemnify the prosecutor from damages, that
he might otherwise be liable to, requiring oppressive secur
ity from a claimant of ships and goods seized, before he
shall be allowed to defend his property, and are subversive
of American rights.
Also 12 Geo. III. ch. 24. entitled, " An act for the better
securing his majesty's dock-yards, magazines, ships, am
munition, and stores," which declares a new offence in
America, and deprives the American subject of a constitu-
41
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
tional trial by jury of the vicinage, by authorizing the trial
of any person, charged with the committing any offence
described in the said act, out of the realm, to be indicted and
tried for the same in any shire or county within the realm.
Also the three acts passed in the last session of parlia
ment, for stopping the port and blocking up the harbour of
Boston, for altering the charter and government of Massa
chusetts-Bay, and that which is entitled, " An act for the
better administration of justice, &c."
Also the act passed in the same session for establishing
the Roman Catholic religion, in the province of Quebec,
abolishing the equitable system of English laws, and erect
ing a tyranny there, to the great danger, (from so total a
dissimilarity of religion, law and government) of the neigh
bouring British colonies, by the assistance of whose blood
and treasure the said country was conquered from France.
Also the act passed in the same session, for the better
providing suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in his
majesty's service, in North- America.
Also, that the keeping a standing army in several of
these colonies, in time of peace, without the consent of the
legislature of that colony, in which such army is kept, is
against law.
To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot
submit, but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great-Britain
will, on a revision of them, restore us to that state, in which
both countries found happiness and prosperity, we have for
the present, only resolved to pursue the following peace
able measures: 1. To enter into a non-importation, non-
consumption, and non-exportation agreement or association.
2. To prepare an address to the people of Great-Britain,
and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America : and
3. To prepare a loyal address to his majesty, agreeable to
resolutions already entered into.
42
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of
Taking up Arms 1775
A declaration by the Representatives of the United Col
onies of North-America, now met in Congress at Phila
delphia, setting forth the causes and necessity of them tak
ing up arms.
If it was possible for men, who exercise their reason to
believe, that the divine Author of our existence intended a
part of the human race to hold an absolute property in, and
an unbounded power over others, marked out by his infinite
goodness and wisdom, as the objects of a legal domination
never rightfully resistible, however severe and oppressive,
the inhabitants of these colonies might at least require from
the parliament of Great-Britain some evidence, that this
dreadful authority over them, has been granted to that
body. But a reverence for our great Creator, principles of
humanity, and the dictates of common sense, must convince
all those who reflect upon the subject, that government was
instituted to promote the welfare of mankind, and ought to
be administered for the attainment of that end. The legis
lature of Great-Britain, however, stimulated by an inor
dinate passion for a power not only unjustifiable, but which
they know to be peculiarly reprobated by the very constitu
tion of that kingdom, and desperate of success in any mode
of contest, where regard should be had to truth, law, or
right, have at length, deserting those, attempted to effect
their cruel and impolitic purpose of enslaving these colonies
by violence, and have thereby rendered it necessary for us
to close with their last appeal from reason to arms. — Yet,
however blinded that assembly may be, by their intemperate
43
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
rage for unlimited domination, so to slight justice and the
opinion of mankind, we esteem ourselves bound by obliga
tions of respect to the rest of the world, to make known
the justice of our cause.
Our forefathers, inhabitants of the island of Great-
Britain, left their native land, to seek on these shores a resi
dence for civil and religious freedom. At the expense of
their blood, at the hazard of their fortunes, without the least
charge to the country from which they removed, by unceas
ing labour, and an unconquerable spirit, they effected settle
ments in the distant and inhospitable wilds of America,
then filled with numerous and warlike nations of barbarians.
Societies or governments, vested with perfect legislatures,
were formed under charters from the crown, and an har
monious intercourse was established between the colonies
and the kingdom from which they derived their origin.
The mutual benefits of this union became in a short time so
extraordinary, as to excite astonishment. It is universally
confessed, that the amazing increase of the wealth,
strength, and navigation of the realm, arose from this
source; and the minister, who so wisely and successfully
directed the measures of Great-Britain in the late war,
publicly declared, that these colonies enabled her to triumph
over her enemies. — Towards the conclusion of that war,
it pleased our sovereign to make a change in his counsels. —
From that fatal moment, the affairs of the British empire
began to fall into confusion, and gradually sliding from the
summit of glorious prosperity, to which they had been ad
vanced by the virtues and abilities of one man, are at length
distracted by the convulsions, that now shake it to its deep
est foundations. The new ministry finding the brave foes
of Britain, though frequently defeated, yet still contending,
took up the unfortunate idea of granting them a hasty
peace, and of then subduing her faithful friends.
44
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
These devoted colonies were judged to be in such a state,
as to present victories without bloodshed, and all the easy
emoluments of statuteable plunder. — The uninterrupted
tenor of their peaceable and respectful behaviour from the
beginning of colonization, their dutiful, zealous, and
useful services during the war, though so recently and
amply acknowleged in the most honourable manner by his
majesty, by the late king, and by parliament, could not save
them from the meditated innovations. — Parliament was
influenced to adopt the pernicious project, and assuming
a new power over them, have in the course of eleven years,
given such decisive specimens of the spirit and consequences
attending this power, as to leave no doubt concerning the
effects of acquiescence under it. They have undertaken to
give and grant our money without our consent, though we
have ever exercised an exclusive right to dispose of our own
property; statutes have been passed for extending the juris
diction of courts of admiralty and vice-admiralty beyond
their ancient limits ; for depriving us of the accustomed and
inestimable privilege of trial by jury, in cases affecting
both life and property; for suspending the legislature of
one of the colonies; for interdicting all commerce to the
capital of another; and for altering fundamentally the
form of government established by charter, and secured by
acts of its own legislature solemnly confirmed by the crown ;
for exempting the " murderers " of colonists from legal
trial, and in effect, from punishment; for erecting in a
neighbouring province, acquired by the joint arms of Great-
Britain and America, a despotism dangerous to our very exist
ence; and for quartering soldiers upon the colonists in time
of profound peace. It has also been resolved in parliament,
that colonists charged with committing certain offences,
shall be transported to England to be tried.
But why should we enumerate our inj uries in detail ? By
45
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
one statute it is declared, that parliament can " of right
make laws to bind us in all cases whatsoever." What is to
defend us against so enormous, so unlimited a power ? Not
a single man of those who assume it, is chosen by us ; or is
subject to our controul or influence; but, on the contrary,
they are all of them exempt from the operation of such
laws, and an American revenue, if not diverted from the
ostensible purposes for which it is raised, would actually
lighten their own burdens in proportion, as they increase
ours. We saw the misery to which such despotism would
reduce us. We for ten years incessantly and ineffectually
besieged the throne as supplicants ; we reasoned, we remon
strated with parliament, in the most mild and decent lan
guage.
Administration, sensible that we should regard these
oppressive measures as freemen ought to do, sent over fleets
and armies to enforce them. The indignation of the Amer
icans was roused, it is true ; but it was the indignation of a
virtuous, loyal, and affectionate people. A Congress of
delegates from the United Colonies was assembled at Phila
delphia, on the fifth day of last September. We resolved
again to offer an humble and dutiful petition to the king,
and also addressed our fellow-subjects of Great-Britain.
We have pursued every temperate, every respectful meas
ure: we have even proceeded to break off our commercial
intercourse with our fellow-subjects, as the last peaceable
admonition, that our attachment to no nation upon earth
should supplant" our attachment to liberty. — This, we flat
tered ourselves, was the ultimate step of the controversy:
but subsequent events have shewn, how vain was this hope
of finding moderation in our enemies.
Several threatening expressions against the colonies were
inserted in his majesty's speech; our petition, though we
were told that it was a decent one, and that his majesty had
46
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
been pleased to receive it graciously, and to promise laying
it before his parliament, was huddled into both houses
among a bundle of American papers, and there neglected.
The lords and commons in their address, in the month of
February, said, that " a rebellion at that time actually
existed within the province of Massachusetts-Bay; and
that those concerned in it, had been countenanced and
encouraged by unlawful combinations and engagements,
entered into by his majesty's subjects in several of the
other colonies; and therefore they besought his majesty,
that he would take the most effectual measures to enforce
due obedience to the laws and authority of the supreme
legislature." Soon after, the commercial intercourse of
whole colonies, with foreign countries, and with each other,
was cut off by an act of parliament; by another, several of
them were entirely prohibited from the fisheries in the seas
near their coasts, on which they always depended for their
sustenance; and large reinforcements of ships and troops
were immediately sent over to general Gage.
Fruitless were all the entreaties, arguments, and elo
quence of an illustrious band of the most distinguished
peers, and commoners, who nobly and strenuously asserted
the justice of our cause, to stay, or even to mitigate the
heedless fury with which these accumulated and unexampled
outrages were hurried on. — Equally fruitless was the inter
ference of the city of London, of Bristol, and many other
respectable towns in our favor. Parliament adopted an
insidious manoeuvre calculated to divide us, to establish a
perpetual auction of taxations where colony should bid
against colony, all of them uninformed what ransom would
redeem their lives ; and thus to extort from us, at the point
of the bayonet, the unknown sums that should be sufficient
to gratify, if possible to gratify, ministerial rapacity, with
the miserable indulgence left to us of raising, in our own
47
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
mode, the prescribed tribute. What terms more rigid and
humiliating could have been dictated by remorseless victors
to conquered enemies? in our circumstances to accept them,
would be to deserve them.
Soon after the intelligence of these proceedings arrived
on this continent, general Gage, who in the course of the
last year had taken possession of the town of Boston, in the
province of Massachusetts-Bay, and still occupied it as a
garrison, on the 19th day of April, sent out from that place
a large detachment of his army, who made an unprovoked
assault on the inhabitants of the said province, at the town
of Lexington, as appears by the affidavits of a great num
ber of persons, some of whom were officers and soldiers of
that detachment, murdered eight of the inhabitants, and
wounded many others. From thence the troops proceeded
in warlike array to the town of Concord, where they set
upon another party of the inhabitants of the same province,
killing several and wounding more, until compelled to
retreat by the country people suddenly assembled to repel
this cruel aggression. Hostilities, thus commenced by the
British troops, have been since prosecuted by them without
regard to faith or reputation. — The inhabitants of Boston
being confined within that town by the general their gov
ernor, and having, in order to procure their dismission,
entered into a treaty with him, it was stipulated that the
said inhabitants having deposited their arms with their own
magistrates, should have liberty to depart, taking with them
their other effects. They accordingly delivered up their
arms, but in open violation of honour, in defiance of the
obligation of treaties, which even savage nations esteemed
sacred, the governor ordered the arms deposited as afore
said, that they might be preserved for their owners, to be
seized by a body of soldiers; detained the greatest part of
the inhabitants in the town, and compelled the few who
48
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
were permitted to retire, to leave their most valuable effects
behind.
By this perfidy wives are separated from their husbands,
children from their parents, the aged and the sick from
their relations and friends, who wish to attend and comfort
them; and those who have been used to live in plenty and
even elegance, are reduced to deplorable distress.
The general, further emulating his ministerial masters,
by a proclamation bearing date on the 12th day of June,
after venting the grossest falsehoods and calumnies against
the good people of these colonies, proceeds to " declare
them all, either by name or description, to be rebels and
traitors, to supersede the course of the common law, and
instead thereof to publish and order the use and exercise of
the law martial." — His troops have butchered our country
men, have wantonly burnt Charlestown, besides a consider
able number of houses in other places ; our ships and vessels
are seized; the necessary supplies of provisions are inter
cepted, and he is exerting his utmost power to spread
destruction and devastation around him.
We have received certain intelligence, that general Carle-
ton, the governor of Canada, is instigating the people of
that province and the Indians to fall upon us ; and we have
but too much reason to apprehend, that schemes have been
formed to excite domestic enemies against us. In brief, a
part of these colonies now feel, and all of them are sure
of feeling, as far as the vengeance of administration can
inflict them, the complicated calamities of fire, sword, and
famine. We are reduced to the alternative of chusing an
unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated minis
ters, or resistance by force. — The latter is our choice. — We
have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so
dreadful as voluntary slavery. — Honour, justice, and
humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which
49
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our inno
cent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot
endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding gener
ations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them,
if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them.
Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal
resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign assistance is
undoubtedly attainable. We gratefully acknowledge, as
signal instances of the Divine favor towards us, that his
Providence would not permit us to be called into this
severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present
strength, had been previously exercised in warlike operation,
and possessed of the means of defending ourselves. With
hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most
solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exert
ing the utmost energy of those powers, which our benefi
cent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we
have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in
defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and per
severance, employ for the preservation of our liberties ; being
with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than live
slaves.
Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our
friends and fellow-subjects in any part of the empire, we
assure them that we mean not to dissolve that union which
has so long and so happily subsisted between us, and which
we sincerely wish to see restored. — Necessity has not yet
driven us into that desperate measure, or induced us to
excite any other nation to war against them. — We have not
raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from
Great-Britain, and establishing independent states. We
fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to mankind
the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by unpro
voked enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of
50
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
offence. They boast of their privileges and civilization, and
yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death.
In our own native land, in defence of the freedom that is
our birth-right, and which we ever enjoyed till the late
violation of it — for the protection of our property, acquired
solely by the honest industry of our fore-fathers and our
selves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up
arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease
on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being
renewed shall be removed, and not before.
With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme
and impartial Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we most
devoutly implore his divine goodness to protect us happily
through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to
reconciliation on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve
the empire from the calamities of civil war.
51
The Declaration of Independence 1776
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, deriv
ing their just powers from the consent of the governed,
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destruc
tive 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 shown, 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 Des
potism, 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 Col-
52
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
onies ; 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 imme
diate 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 accommoda
tion 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 unu
sual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository 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 of Natural
ization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage
their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new
Appropriations of Lands.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
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.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent
hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out
their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing
Armies without the Consent of our legislature.
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 juris
diction 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 Inhabi
tants 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 pre
tended 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 valu-
54
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
able Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our
Governments :
For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring them
selves 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 the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on
the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, 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 Peti
tions 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 attention 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 cir
cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we
55
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to
disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably inter
rupt 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 man
kind, 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, con
clude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and
to 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 to each other our Lives, our Fortunes
and our sacred Honor.
JOHN HANCOCK.
New Hampshire
JOSIAH BARTLETT MATTHEW THORNTON
WM. WHIPPLE
Massachusetts Bay
SAML. ADAMS ROBT. TREAT PAINE
JOHN ADAMS ELBRIDGE GERRY
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Rhode Island
STEP. HOPKINS WILLIAM ELLERY
Connecticut
ROGER SHERMAN
SAM'EL HUNTINGTON
WM. FLOYD
PHIL. LIVINGSTON
WM. WILLIAMS
OLIVER WOLCOTT
RICHD. STOCKTON
JNO. WlTHERSPOON
FRAS. HOPKINSON
ROBT. MORRIS
BENJAMIN RUSH
BENJA. FRANKLIN
JOHN MORTON
GEO. CLYMER
CESAR RODNEY
GEO. READ
SAMUEL CHASE
WM. PACA
New York
FRANS. LEWIS
LEWIS MORRIS
New Jersey
JOHN HART
ABRA. CLARK
Pennsylvania
JAS. SMITH
GEO. TAYLOR
JAMES WILSON
GEO. Ross
Delaware
THO. M'KEAN
Maryland
THOS. STONE
CHARLES CARROLL of Car-
rollton
57
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Virginia
GEORGE WYTHE THOS. NELSON, jr.
RICHARD HENRY LEE FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE
TH. JEFFERSON CARTER BRAXTON
BENJA. HARRISON
North Carolina
WM. HOOPER JOHN PENN
JOSEPH HEWES
South Carolina
EDWARD RUTLEDGE THOMAS LYNCH, junr
THOS. HEYWARD, junr ARTHUR MIDDLETON,
Georgia
BUTTON GWINNETT GEO. WALTON
LYMAN HALL
58
Articles of Confederation 1777
To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the under
signed Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send
greeting.
Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America
in Congress assembled did on the fifteenth day of November
in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and
Seventyseven, 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 Planta
tions, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina and
Georgia in the Words following, viz.
"Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between
the States of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode-
island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New-York,
New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
North-Carolina, South-Carolina and Georgia.
ARTICLE I. The stile of this confederacy shall be " The
United States of America."
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.
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.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual
friendship and intercourse among the people of the differ
ent 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, pro
vided 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; pro
vided 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.
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
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
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, being a dele
gate, 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 com
mittee of the States.
In determining questions in the United States, in Con
gress 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 Con
gress, 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 Con
gress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace.
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, con
federation or alliance whatever between them, without the
consent of the United States in Congress assembled, speci
fying accurately the purposes for which the same is to be
entered into, and how long it shall continue.
No State shall lay any imposts or duties, which may inter
fere with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by the
61
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
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 disciplined
militia, sufficiently armed and accoutered, 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 cer
tain 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 com
missions 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.
ARTICLE VII. When land-forces are raised by any State
62
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
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.
ARTICLE VIII. All charges of war, and all other
expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or
general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Con
gress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treas
ury, which shall be supplied by the several States, in pro
portion to the value of all land within each State, granted
to or surveyed for any person, as such land and the build
ings and improvements thereon shall be estimated accord
ing to such mode as the United States in Congress assem
bled, 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.
ARTICLE IX. The United States in Congress assembled,
shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of deter
mining on peace and war, except in the cases mentioned in
the sixth article — of sending and receiving ambassadors —
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 what
soever — 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
63
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
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, pro
vided 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 con
troversy, 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 con
stitute 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 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 deter
mination : 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,
64
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
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 judg
ment 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 pro
ceedings 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 j udgment, 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 orig
inated 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
65
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
weights and measures throughout the United States — regu
lating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians,
not members of any of the States, provided that the legis
lative 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 expenses
of the said office — appointing all officers of the land forces,
in the service of the United States, excepting regimental
officers — appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and
commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the
United States — making rules for the government and regu
lation 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 Con
gress, 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 appro
priate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses
— to borrow money, or emit bills on the credit of the
United States, transmitting every half year to the respec
tive States an account of the sums of money so borrowed or
emitted, — to build and equip a navy — to agree upon the
number of land forces, and to make requisitions from each
State for its, quota, in proportion to the number of white
inhabitants in such State; which requisition shall be bind-
66
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ing, 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 expense
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
a greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra
number shall be raised, officered, cloathed, armed and
equipped in the same as the quota of such State, unless the
legislature of such State shall judge that such extra number
cannot be safely spared outside 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 nevei
engage in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in
time of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor
coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain
the sums and expenses necessary for the defence and wel
fare 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.
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The Congress of the United States shall have power to
adj ourn 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 secresy; and the
yeas and nays of the delegates of each State on any ques
tion 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.
ARTICLE X. The committee of the States, or any nine of
them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Con
gress, such of the powers of Congress as the United States
in Congress assembled, by the consent of nine States, shall
from time to time think expedient to vest them with; pro
vided 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.
ARTICLE XL 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.
ARTICLE XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies bor
rowed 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.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE XIII. Every State shall abide by the deter
minations 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 invio
lably observed by every State, and the Union shall be
perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter
be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed
to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards
confirmed by the Legislatures of every State.
And whereas it hath pleased the Great Governor of the
World to incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respec
tively 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 pur
pose, 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 con
federation are submitted to them. And that the articles
thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we
respectively represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual.
In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in
Congress. Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsyl
vania 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 $ behalf of the State of New Hampshire
JOSIAH BARTLETT JOHN WENTWORTH, Junr
August 8th, 1778
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
On the part and behalf of the State of Massachusetts Bay
JOHN HANCOCK FRANCIS DANA
SAMUEL ADAMS JAMES LOVELL
ELBRIDGE GERRY SAMUEL HOLTEN
On the part and behalf of the State of Rhode Island and
Providence Plantations
WILLIAM. ELLERY JOHN COLLINS
HENRY MARCHANT
On the part and behalf of the State of Connecticut
ROGER SHERMAN TITUS HOSMER
SAMUEL HUNTINGTON ANDREW ADAMS
OLIVER WOLCOTT
On the part and behalf of the State of New York
JAS. DUANE WM. DUER
FRA. LEWIS Gouv. MORRIS
On the part and in behalf of the State of New Jersey
Novr. 26, 1778
. WlTHERSPOON NATHL. ScUDDER
On the part and behalf of the State of Pennsylvania
ROBT. MORRIS WILLIAM CLINGAN
DANIEL ROBERDEAU JOSEPH REED, 22d July,
JNO. BAYARD SMITH 1778
On the part $ behalf of the State of Delaware
THOS. M'KEAN, Feby. 12, JOHN DICKINSON, May 5th,
1779 1779
NICHOLAS VAN DYKE
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland
JOHN HANSON, March 1^ DANIEL CARROLL, Mar. 1
1781 1781
On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia
RICHARD HENRY LEE JNO. HARVIE
JOHN BANISTER FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE
THOMAS ADAMS
On the part and behalf of the State of No. Carolina
JOHN PENN, July 21, 1778 JNO. WILLIAMS
CORNS. HARNETT
On the part $ behalf of the State of South Carolina
HENRY LAURENS RICHD. HUTSON
WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON THOS. HEYWARD, Junr
JNO. MATTHEWS
On the part fy behalf of the State of Georgia.
JNO. WALTON, 24th July, EDWD. LANGWORTHY
1778
EDWD. TELFAIR
71
Treaty with France 1778
Treaty of Alliance between the United States of North
America and His Most Christian Majesty, concluded at
Paris February 6, 1778; Ratified by Congress May 4, 1778.
The Most Christian King and the United States of North
America, to wit: New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay,
Rhodes Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Penn
sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Georgia, having this day concluded
a treaty of amity and commerce, for the reciprocal advan
tage of their subjects and citizens, have thought it necessary
to take in consideration the means of strengthening those
engagements, and of rendring them useful to the safety and
tranquility of the two parties; particularly in case Great
Britain, in resentment of that connection and of the good
correspondence which is the obj ect of the said treaty, should
break the peace with France, either by direct hostilities, or
by hindring her commerce and navigation in a manner con
trary to the rights of nations, and the peace subsisting
between the two Crowns. And His Majesty and the said
United States, having resolved in that case to join their
counsels and efforts against the enterprises of their common
enemy, the respective Plenipotentiaries impowered to con
cert the clauses and conditions proper to fulfil said
intentions, have, after the most mature deliberation, con
cluded and determined on the following articles:
ARTICLE I
If war should break out between France and Great
Britain during the continuance of the present war between
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
the United States and England, His Majesty and the said
United States shall make it a common cause and aid each
other mutually with their good offices, their counsels and
their forces, according to the exigence of conjunctures, as
becomes good and faithful allies.
ARTICLE II
The essential and direct end of the present defensive
alliance is to maintain effectually the liberty, sovereignty,
and independence absolute and unlimited, of the said United
States, as well in matters of government as of commerce.
ARTICLE III
The two contracting parties shall each on its own part,
and in the manner it may judge most proper, make all the
efforts in its power against their common enemy, in order
to attain the end proposed.
ARTICLE IV
The contracting parties agree that in case either of them
should form any particular enterprise in which the concur
rence of the other may be desired, the party whose concur
rence is desired, shall readily, and with good faith, join to
act in concert for that purpose, as far as circumstances and
its own particular situation will permit; and in that case,
they shall regulate, by a particular convention, the quantity
and kind of succour to be furnished, and the time and
manner of its being brought into aetion, as well as the
advantages which are to be its compensation.
ARTICLE v
If the United States should think fit to attempt the
reduction of the British power, remaining in the northern
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
parts of America, or the islands of Bermudas, those con-
tries or islands, in case of success, shall be confederated
with or dependent upon the said United States.
ARTICLE VI
The Most Christian King renounces forever the posses
sion of the islands of Bermudas, as well as of any part of
the continent of North America, which before the treaty of
Paris in 1763, or in virtue of that treaty, were acknowledged
to belong to the Crown of Great Britain, or to the United
States, heretofore called British Colonies, or which are at
this time, or have lately been under the power of the King
and Crown of Great Britain.
ARTICLE VII
If His Most Christian Majesty shall think proper to
attack any of the islands situated in the Gulph of Mexico,
or near that Gulph, which are at present under the power of
Great Britain, all the said isles, in case of success, shall
appertain to the Crown of France.
ARTICLE VIII
Neither of the two parties shall conclude either truce or
peace with Great Britain without the formal consent of the
other first obtained; and they mutually engage not to lay
down their arms until the independence of the United States
shall have been formally or tacitly assured by the treaty or
treaties that shall terminate the war.
ARTICLE IX
The contracting parties declare, that being resolved to
fulfil each on its own part the clauses and conditions of the
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
present treaty of alliance, according to its own power and
circumstances, there shall be no after claim of compensa
tion on one side or the other, whatever may be the event
of the war.
ARTICLE X
The Most Christian King and the United States agree
to invite or admit other powers who may have received
injuries from England, to make common cause with them,
and to accede to the present alliance, under such conditions
as shall be freely agreed to and settled between all the
parties.
ARTICLE XI
The two parties guarantee mutually from the present
time and forever against all other powers, to wit: The
United States to His Most Christian Majesty, the present
possessions of the Crown of France in America, as well as
those which it may acquire by the future treaty of peace:
And His Most Christian Majesty guarantees on his part to
the United States their liberty, sovereignty, and independ
ence, absolute and unlimited, as well in matters of govern
ment as commerce, and also their possessions, and the
additions or conquests that their confederation may obtain
during the war, from any of the dominions now, or hereto
fore possessed by Great Britain in North America, con
formable to the 5th and 6th articles above written, the whole
as their possessions shall be fixed and assured to the said
States, at the moment of the cessation of their present
war with England.
ARTICLE XII
In order to fix more precisely the sense and application
of the preceding article, the contracting parties declare,
that in case of a rupture between France and England the
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
reciprocal guarantee declared in the said article shall have
its full force and effect the moment such war shall break
out; and if such rupture shall not take place, the mutual
obligations of the said guarantee shall not commence until
the moment of the cessation of the present war between the
United States and England shall have ascertained their
possessions.
ARTICLE XIII
The present treaty shall be ratified on both sides, and the
ratifications shall be exchanged in the space of six months,
or sooner if possible.
In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries, to wit:
On the part of the Most Christian King, Conrad Alexander
Gerard, Royal Syndic of the city of Strasbourgh, and
Secretary of his Majesty's Council of State; and on the part
of the United States, Benjamin Franklin, Deputy to the
General Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, and
President of the Convention of the same State, Silas Deane,
heretofore Deputy from the State of Connecticut, and
Arthur Lee, Councellor at Law, have signed the above arti
cles both in the French and English languages, declaring,
nevertheless, that the present treaty was originally com
posed and concluded in the French language, and they have
hereunto affixed their seals.
Done at Paris this sixth day of February, one thousand
seven hundred and seventy-eight.
C. A. GERARD [L. s.]
B. FRANKLIN [L. s.]
SILAS DEANE [L. s.]
ARTHUR LEE [L. s.]
76
Treaty with Great Britain 1783
Definitive Treaty of Peace between the United States of
America and His Britannic Majesty, Concluded at Paris
September 3, 1783; Ratified by Congress January 14, 1784;
Proclaimed January 14, 1784.
In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity.
It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the
hearts of the most serene arid most potent Prince George
the Third, by the Grace of God King of Great Britain,
France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of
Brunswick and Luneburg, Arch-Treasurer and Prince
Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, &ca., and of the United
States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and
differences that have unhappily interrupted the good corre
spondence and friendship which they mutually wish to
restore; and to establish such a beneficial and satisfactory
intercourse between the two countries, upon the ground of
reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience, as may pro
mote and secure to both perpetual peace and harmony : And
having for this desirable end already laid the foundation of
peace and reconciliation, by the provisional articles, signed
at Paris, on the 30th of Nov'r, 1782, by the commissioners
empowered on each part, which articles were agreed to be
inserted in and to constitute the treaty of peace proposed
to be concluded between the Crown of Great Britain and
the said United States, but which treaty was not to be con
cluded until terms of peace should be agreed upon between
Great Britain and France, and His Britannic Majesty
should be ready to conclude such treaty accordingly ; and the
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treaty between Great Britain and France having since been
concluded, His Britannic Majesty and the United States of
America, in order to carry into full effect the provisional
articles above mentioned, according to the tenor thereof,
have constituted and appointed, that is to say, His Britan
nic Majesty on his part, David Hartley, esqr., member of
the Parliament of Great Britain; and the said United States
on their part, John Adams, esqr., late a commissioner of
the United States of America at the Court of Versailles,
late Delegate in Congress from the State of Massachusetts,
and chief justice of the said State, and Minister Plenipo
tentiary of the said United States to their High Mighti
nesses the States General of the United Netherlands;
Benjamin Franklin, esq're, late Delegate in Congress from
the State of Pennsylvania, president of the convention of
the said State, and Minister Plenipotentiary from the
United States of America at the Court of Versailles; John
Jay, esq're, late president of Congress, and chief justice of
the State of New York, and Minister Plenipotentiary from
the said United States at the Court of Madrid, to be the
Plenipotentiaries for the concluding and signing the present
definitive treaty; who, after having reciprocally communi
cated their respective full powers, have agreed upon and
confirmed the following articles:
ARTICLE I
His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United
States, viz. New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode
Island, and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to be
free, sovereign and independent States; that he treats with
them as such, and for himself, his heirs and successors, relin-
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quishes all claims to the Government, proprietary and terri
torial rights of the same, and every part thereof.
ARTICLE II
And that all disputes which might arise in future, on the
subject of the boundaries of the said United States may be
prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the follow
ing are, and shall be their boundaries, viz : From the north
west angle of Nova Scotia, viz. that angle which is formed
by a line drawn due north from the source of Saint Croix
River to the Highlands; along the said Highlands which
divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St.
Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to
the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River; thence
down along the middle of that river, to the forty-fifth degree
of north latitude; from thence, by a line due west on said
latitude, until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy;
thence along the middle of said river into Lake Ontario,
through the middle of said lake until it strikes the communi
cation by water between that lake and Lake Erie; thence
along the middle of said communication into Lake Erie,
through the middle of said lake until it arrives at the water
communication between that lake and Lake Huron; thence
along the middle of said water communication into the Lake
Huron ; thence through the middle of said lake to the water
communication between that lake and Lake Superior;
thence through Lake Superior northward of the Isles Royal
and Phelipeaux, to the Long Lake; thence through the
middle of said Long Lake, and the water communication
between it and the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of
the Woods ; thence through the said lake to the most north
western point thereof, and from thence on a due west course
to the river Mississippi ; thence by a line to be drawn along
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the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall inter
sect the northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of north
latitude. South, by a line to be drawn due east from the
determination of the line last mentioned, in the latitude of
thirty-one degrees north of the Equator, to the middle of
the river Apalachicola or Catahouche; thence along the
middle thereof to its junction with the Flint River; thence
straight to the head of St. Mary's River; and thence down
along the middle of St. Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean.
East, by a line to be drawn along the middle of the river
St. Croix, from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its source,
and from its source directly north to the aforesaid High
lands, which divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic
Ocean from those which fall into the river St. Lawrence;
comprehending all islands within twenty leagues of any
part of the shores of the United States, and lying between
lines to be drawn due east from the points where the afore
said boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part, and
East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay
of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean ; excepting such islands as
now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of the
said province of Nova Scotia.
ARTICLE III
It is agreed that the people of the United States shall
continue to enjoy unmolested the right to take fish of every
kind on the Grand Bank, and on all the other banks of New
foundland ; also in the Gulph of Saint Lawrence, and at all
other places in the sea where the inhabitants of both coun
tries used at any time heretofore to fish. And also that the
inhabitants of the United States shall have liberty to take
fish of every kind on such part of the coast of Newfound
land as British fishermen shall use (but not to dry or cure
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the same on that island) and also on the coasts, bays, and
creeks of all other of His Britannic Majesty's dominions
in America; and that the American fishermen shall have
liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled bays,
harbours, and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands,
and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled;
but so soon as the same or either of them shall be settled,
it shall not be lawful for the said fishermen to dry or cure
fish at such settlement, without a previous agreement for
that purpose with the inhabitants, proprietors, or possessors
of the ground.
ARTICLE IV
It is agreed that creditors on either side shall meet with
no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in
sterling money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted.
ARTICLE v
It is agreed that the Congress shall earnestly recommend
it to the legislatures of the respective States, to provide
for the restitution of all estates, rights, and properties
which have been confiscated, belonging to real British sub
jects, and also of the estates, rights, and properties of
persons resident in districts in the possession of His Maj
esty's arms, and who have not borne arms against the said
United States. And that persons of any other description shall
have free liberty to go to any part or parts of any of the
thirteen United States, and therein to remain twelve months,
unmolested in their endeavours to obtain the restitution of
such of their estates, rights, and properties as may have
been confiscated; and that Congress shall also earnestly
recommend to the several States a reconsideration and
revision of all acts or laws regarding the premises, so as to
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render the said laws or acts perfectly consistent, not only
with justice and equity, but with that spirit of conciliation
which, on the return of the blessings of peace, should uni
versally prevail. And that Congress shall also earnestly
recommend to the several States, that the estates, rights,
and properties of such last mentioned persons, shall be
restored to them, they refunding to any persons who may
be now in possession, the bona fide price (where any has
been given) which such persons may have paid on purchas
ing any of the said lands, rights, or properties, since the
confiscation. And it is agreed, that all persons who have
any interest in confiscated lands, either by debts, marriage
settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impedi
ment in the prosecution of their just rights.
ARTICLE VI
That there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any
prosecutions commenc'd against any person or persons for,
or by reason of the part which he or they may have taken
in the present war ; and that no person shall, on that account,
suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, liberty,
or property; and that those who may be in confinement on
such charges, at the time of the ratification of the treaty in
America, shall be immediately set at liberty, and the prose
cutions so commenced be discontinued.
ARTICLE VII
There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between His
Britannic Majesty and the said States, and between the
subjects of the one and the citizens of the other, wherefore
all hostilities, both by sea and land, shall from henceforth
cease: All prisoners on both sides shall be set at liberty,
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and His Britannic Majesty shall, with all convenient speed,
and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any
negroes or other property of the American inhabitants,
withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets from the said
United States, and from every port, place, and harbour
within the same; leaving in all fortifications the American
artillery that may be therein : And shall also order and cause
all archives, records, deeds, and papers, belonging to any of
the said States, or their citizens, which, in the course of the
war, may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be
forthwith restored and deliver'd to the proper States and
persons to whom they belong.
ARTICLE VIII
The navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source
to the ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the sub
jects of Great Britain, and the citizens of the United States.
ARTICLE IX
In case it should so happen that any place or territory
belonging to Great Britain or to the United States, should
have been conquer'd by the arms of either from the other,
before the arrival of the said provisional articles in Amer
ica, it is agreed, that the same shall be restored without
difficulty, and without requiring any compensation.
ARTICLE x
The solemn ratifications of the present treaty, expedited
in good and due form, shall be exchanged between the con
tracting parties, in the space of six months, or sooner if
possible, to be computed from the day of the signature of
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the present treaty. In witness whereof, we the undersigned,
their Ministers Plenipotentiary, have in their name and in
virtue of our full powers, signed with our hands the present
definitive treaty, and caused the seals of our arms to be
affix'd thereto.
Done at Paris, this third day of September, in the year of
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three.
D. HARTLEY [L. s.]
JOHN ADAMS [L. s.]
B. FRANKLIN [L. s.]
JOHN JAY [L. s.]
The Northwest Territorial Government 1787
An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the
United States northwest of the river Ohio.
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the United States in Con
gress assembled, That the said territory, for the purposes of
temporary government, be one district, subject, however, to
be divided into two districts, as future circumstances may,
in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.
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 par
ent 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
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 men
tioned, 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 con-
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veyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed,
sealed, and delivered by the person, being of full 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.
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.
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 Con
gress. 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,
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and have each therein a freehold estate, in five hundred acres
of land, while in the exercise of their offices ; and their com
missions shall continue in force during good behavior.
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 by Congress; but
afterwards the legislature shall have authority to alter them
as they shall think fit.
SEC. 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be com-
mander-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.
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.
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
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townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may
thereafter be made by the legislature.
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 legis
lature: 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 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 free
hold and two years' residence in the district, shall be neces
sary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative.
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.
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
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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 rep
resentatives shall be elected the governor shall appoint a
time and place for them to meet together, and when met
they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district,
and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of
land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Con
gress 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 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.
SEC. 12. The governor, judges, legislative council, sec
retary, 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,
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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.
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:
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:
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.
ARTICLE II
The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be
entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of
the trial by jury; of a proportionate representation of the
people in the legislature, and of judicial proceedings
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according to the course of 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 prop
erty, 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 terri
tory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or
affect private contracts, or engagements, bona fide, and
without fraud previously formed.
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.
ARTICLE IV
The said territory, and the States which may be formed
therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of
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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^ con
tracted, or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the
expenses of government to be apportioned on them by Con
gress, according to the same common rule 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 legis
latures 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 pri
mary 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 fhe
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.
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
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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
lines 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 in that part of the said territory which
lies north of an east and west line drawn through the south
erly 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 what
ever; and shall be at liberty to form a permanent consti
tution 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 interest
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.
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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 into 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
service as aforesaid.
Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the reso
lutions 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 twelfth.
Constitution of the United States 1787
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a
more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic
Tranquility, 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 con
sist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
SECTION 2 (1) The House of Representatives shall be
composed of Members chosen every second Year by the
People of the several States, and the Electors in each State
shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the
most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
(2) 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.
(3) Representatives and direct Taxes shall be appor
tioned 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 Meet-
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ing 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 chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-
Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five,
New- York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Dela
ware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five,
South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
(4) When vacancies happen in the Representation from
any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs
of Election to fill such Vacancies.
(5) The House of Representatives shall chuse their
Speaker and other Officers ; and shall have the sole Power of
Impeachment.
SECTION 3 (1) 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.
(2) Immediately after they shall be assembled in Conse
quence 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 other
wise, 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. *•
(3) No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have
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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.
(4) The Vice President of the United States shall be
President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they
be equally divided.
(5) The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also
a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice Presi
dent, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of
the United States.
(6) The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Im
peachments. 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 Per
son shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds
of the Members present.
(7) 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 neverthe
less be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment
and Punishment, according to Law.
SECTION 4 (1) The Times, Places and Manner of hold
ing 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 chusing Senators.
(2) 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 (1) Each House shall be the Judge of the
Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members,
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and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Bus
iness; 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.
(2) Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceed
ings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with
the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
(3) 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.
(4) 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 (1) 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 Attend
ance 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.
(2) 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
encreased 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.
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SECTION 7(1) All Bills for raising Revenue shall origi
nate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may
propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
(2) 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 Recon
sideration 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.
(3) Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Con
currence 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, accord
ing to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of
a Bill.
SECTION 8 (1) The Congress shall have Power To lay
and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the
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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;
(2) To borrow money on the Credit of the United
States;
(3) To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and
among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
(4) To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and
uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout
the United States ;
(5) To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of
foreign Coin, and to fix the Standard of Weights and
Measures ;
(6) To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting
the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
(7) To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
(8) To promote the Progress of Science and useful
Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inven
tors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and
Discoveries ;
(9) To constitute Tribunals inferior to the Supreme
Court;
(10) To define and Punish Piracies and Felonies com
mitted on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of
Nations;
(11) To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and
Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and
Water;
(12) To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation
of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two
Years ;
(13) To provide and maintain a Navy;
(14) To make Rules for the Government and Regula
tion of the land and naval Forces;
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(15) To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute
the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel
Invasions ;
(16) To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin
ing, 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;
(17) To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases what
soever, 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 Build
ings ; — And
(18) 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 (1) 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 exceed
ing ten dollars for each Person.
(2) 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.
(3) No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be
passed,
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(4) No Capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid,
unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein
before directed to be taken.
(5) No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported
from any State.
(6) 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.
(7) 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 Expen
ditures of all public Money shall be published from time
to time.
(8) 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 (1) No State shall enter into any Treaty,
Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and
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.
(2) 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 it's inspec
tion 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 Controul of the
Congress.
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(3) 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 (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:
(2) 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 Govern
ment 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
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the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse 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 chuse the President. But in
chusing 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 chuse from them by
Ballot the Vice-President.
(3) The Congress may determine the Time of chusing
the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their
Votes ; which Day shall be the same throughout the United
States.
(4) No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citi
zen 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.
(5) 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 pro
vide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation, or In
ability, 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 Presi
dent shall be elected.
(6) The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his
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Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased
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.
(7) 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 (1) 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.
(2) 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 ap
point Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Councils,
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 infe
rior Officers, as they think proper, in the President
alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of De
partments.
(3) The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacan
cies that may 'happen during the Recess of the Senate, by
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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 neces
sary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions,
convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Dis
agreement 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 Behavior, and shall, at stated
Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which
shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
SECTION 2 (1) 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 Contro
versies to which the United States shall be a Party ; — to Con-
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troversies between two or more States; — between a State
and Citizens of another State; — between Citizens of differ
ent 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.
(2) In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public
Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be
a 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.
(3) The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeach
ment, 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 (1) 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.
(2) The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punish
ment 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
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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 (1) The Citizens of each State shall be
entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the
several States.
(2) 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.
(3) 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 dis
charged 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(1) New States may be admitted by the Con
gress 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.
(2) 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 par
ticular 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 Appli
cation of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the
Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
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ARTICLE V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Consti
tution, or, on the Application of the Legislature 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
( 1 ) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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
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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,
G? WASHINGTON
Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia*
New Hampshire
JOHN LANGDON NICHOLAS OILMAN
Massachusetts
NATHANIEL GORHAM RUFUS KING
Connecticut
WM. SAML. JOHNSON ROGER SHERMAN
New York
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
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New Jersey
WIL: LIVINGSTON WM. PATTERSON
DAVID BREARLEY JONA: DAYTON
Pennsylvania
B. FRANKLIN THOS. FITZSIMONS
THOMAS MIFFLIN JARED INGERSOLL
ROBT. MORRIS JAMES WILSON
GEO. CLYMER Gouv. MORRIS
Delaware
GEO. READ RICHARD BASSKTT
GUNNING BEDFORD, JUN JACO: BROOM
JOHN DICKINSON
Maryland
JAMES McHENRY DANL. CARROLL
DAN OF ST. THOS. JENIFER
Virginia
JOHN BLAIR JAMES MADISON, Jr
North Carolina
WM. BLOUNT Hu. WILLIAMSON
RICHD DOBBS SPAIGHT
South Carolina
J. RUTLEDGE CHARLES PINCKNEY
CHARLES COTESWORTH PIERCE BUTLER
PINCKNEY
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Georgia
WILLIAM FEW ABR. BALDWIN
Attest WILLIAM JACKSON Secretary
Amendments
Articles in Addition to, and Amendment of, the Constitu
tion of the United States of America, Proposed by Con
gress, 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 people 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
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and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall
issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirma
tion, 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 other
wise 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 in 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 j ust 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 ascer
tained 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 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 j ury shall be otherwise
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re-examined in any Court of the United States, than accord
ing 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.
ARiaCLE 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
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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 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 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 hav
ing 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 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-Presi
dent; 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.
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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
prticle 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, exclud
ing 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 Con
gress, 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 States, 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.
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SECTION 3 No person shall be a Senator or Representa
tive 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 pay
ment 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, obli
gations 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, color, or previous condi
tion of servitude.
SECTION 2 The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
117
Washington's First Inaugural Address 1789
Fellow-Citizens :
Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could
have filled me with greater anxieties, than that of which
the notification was transmitted by your order, and re
ceived on the 14th day of the present month. On the one
hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can
never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat
which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in
my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the
asylum of my declining years; a retreat which was ren
dered every day more necessary as well as more dear to
me, by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent
interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed
on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude, and diffi
culty of the trust, to which the voice of my country called
me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most ex
perienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his
qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence
one, who, inheriting inferior endowments from nature, and
unpracticed in the duties of civil administration, ought to
be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this
conflict of emotions, all I dare aver is, that it has been my
faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation
of every circumstance by which it might be affected. All
I dare hope is, that, if in executing this task, I have been
too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former in
stances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcen
dent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens; and
have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as
disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me;
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my error will be palliated by the motives which misled me,
and its consequences be judged by my country with some
share of the partiality in which they originated.
Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedi
ence to the public summons, repaired to the present station,
it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official
act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being, who
rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of
nations, and whose providential aids can supply every hu
man defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the
liberties and happiness of the people of the United States
a government instituted by themselves for these essential
purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in
its administration to execute with success the functions
allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the
great Author of every public and private good, I assure
myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my
own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than
either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore
the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more
than the people of the United States. Every step, by
which they have advanced to the character of an independ
ent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some
token of providential agency. And, in the important revo
lution just accomplished in the system of their united gov
ernment, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent
of so many distinct communities, from which the event has
resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which
most governments have been established, without some re
turn of pious gratitude along with an humble anticipation
of the future blessings which the past seems to presage.
These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have
forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be sup
pressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that
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there are none, under the influence of which the proceed
ings of a new and free government can more auspiciously
commence.
By the article establishing the executive department, it
is made the duty of the President "to recommend to your
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary
and expedient." The circumstances, under which I now
meet you, will acquit me from entering into that subject
farther than to refer you to the great constitutional charter
under which we are assembled; and which, in defining your
powers, designates the objects to which your attention is
to be given. It will be more consistent with those circum
stances, and far more congenial with the feelings which
actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of
particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents,
the rectitude, and the patriotism, which adorn the char
acters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honor
able qualifications I behold the surest pledges, that as, on
one side, no local prejudices or attachments, no separate
views or party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive
and equal eye, which ought to watch over this great
assemblage of communities and interests; so, on another,
that the foundations of our national policy will be laid in
the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and
the preeminence of a free government be exemplified by
all the attributes, which can win the affections of its citi
zens, and command the respect of the world.
I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction, which
an ardent love for my country can inspire; since there is
no truth more thoroughly established, than that there ex
ists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble
union between virtue and happiness, between duty and
advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and
magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public pros-
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
perity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded
that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected
on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and
right, which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the
preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny
of the republican model of government, are justly con
sidered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked on the experi
ment intrusted to the hands of the American people.
Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it
will remain with your judgment to decide, how far an ex
ercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth article
of the Constitution is rendered expedient at the present
juncture by the nature of objections which have been urged
against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which
has given birth to them. Instead of undertaking particu
lar recommendations on this subject, in which I could be
guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I
shall again give way to my entire confidence in your dis
cernment and pursuit of the public good; for I assure my
self, that, whilst you carefully avoid every alteration, which
might endanger the benefits of a united and effective gov
ernment, or which ought to await the future lessons of
experience, a reverence for the characteristic rights of
freemen, and a regard for the public harmony, will suffi
ciently influence your deliberations on the question, how
far the former can be more impregnably fortified, or the
latter be safely and advantageously promoted.
To the preceding observations I have one to add, which
will be most properly addressed to the House of Repre
sentatives. It concerns myself, and will therefore be as
brief as possible. When I was first honored with a call
into the service of my country, then on the eve of an ardu
ous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contem
plated my duty required, that I should renounce every
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pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in
no instance departed. And being still under the impres
sions which produced it, I must decline as inapplicable to
myself any share in the personal emoluments,, which may
be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the
executive department; and must accordingly pray, that the
pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed
may, during my continuance in it, be limited to such actual
expenditures as the public good may be thought to require.
Having thus imparted to you my sentiments, as they have
been awakened by the occasion which brings us together,
I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting
once more to the benign Parent of the human race, in
humble supplication, that, since he has been pleased to
favor the American people with opportunities for deliber
ating in perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding
with unparalleled unanimity on a form of government for
the security of their union and the advancement of their
happiness; so his divine blessing may be equally conspicu
ous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and
the wise measures, on which the success of this government
must depend.
122
Washington s Second Inaugural Address 1793
Fellow-Citizens :
I am again called by the voice of my country to execute
the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the occasion
proper for it shall arrive I shall endeavor to express the
high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of
the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people
of united America.
Previous to the execution of any official act of the Presi
dent the Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath
I am now about to take, and in your presence: That if it
shall be found during my administration of the government
I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the
injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitu
tional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all
who are witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.
123
Proclamation of Neutrality 1793
Whereas it appears that a state of war exists between
Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United
Netherlands, of the one part, and France on the other; and
the duty and interest of the United States require, that
they should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pur
sue a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent
Powers :
I have therefore thought fit by these presents to declare
the disposition of the United States to observe the conduct
aforesaid toward those Powers respectively; and to exhort
and warn the citizens of the United States carefully to
avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever, which may in
any manner tend to contravene such disposition.
And I do hereby also make known, that whosoever of the
citizens of the United States shall render himself liable to
punishment or forfeiture under the law of nations, by com
mitting, aiding, or abetting hostilities against any of the
said Powers, or by carrying to any of them those articles
which are deemed contraband by the modern usage of na
tions, will not receive the protection of the United States,
against such punishment or forfeiture; and further, that I
have given instructions to those officers, to whom it belongs,
to cause prosecutions to be instituted against all persons,
who shall, within the cognizance of the courts of the United
States, violate the law of nations, with respect to the Powers
at war, or any of them.
In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the
United States of America to be affixed to these presents,
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and signed the same with my hand. Done at the city of
Philadelphia, the twenty-second day of April, one thousand
seven hundred and ninety-three, and of the Independence
of the United States of America the seventeenth.
G? WASHINGTON
125
Treaty with the Six Nations 1794
The President of the United States having determined
to hold a conference with the Six Nations of Indians, for
the purpose of removing from their minds all causes of
complaint, and establishing a firm and permanent friend
ship with them; and Timothy Pickering being appointed
sole agent for that purpose ; and the agent having met and
conferred with the Sachems, Chiefs and Warriors of the
Six Nations, in a general council: Now in order to accom
plish the good design of this conference, the parties have
agreed on the following articles, which, when ratified by
the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate
of the United States, shall be binding on them and the
Six Nations.
ARTICLE I
Peace and friendship are hereby firmly established, and
shall be perpetual, between the United States and the Six
Nations.
ARTICLE II
The United States acknowledge the lands reserved to
the Oneida, Onondaga and Cayuga Nations, in their
respective treaties with the state of New York, and called
their reservations, to be their property; and the United
States will never claim the same, nor disturb them or either
of the Six Nations, nor their Indian friends residing thereon
and united with them, in the free use and enjoyment thereof:
but the said reservations shall remain theirs, until they
choose to sell the same to the people of the United States
who have right to purchase.
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ARTICLE III
The land of the Seneka nation is bounded as follows:
Beginning on Lake Ontario, at the north-west corner of the
land they sold to Oliver Phelps, the line runs westerly
along the lake, as far as O-y5ng-wong-yeh Creek, at John
son's Landing-place, about four miles eastward from the
fort of Niagara; then southerly up that creek to its main
fork, then straight to the main fork of Stedman's Creek,
which empties into the river Niagara, above Fort Schlos-
ser, and then onward, from that fork, continuing the
same straight course, to that river; (this line, from
the mouth of O-yong-wong-yeh Creek to the river Niagara,
above Fort Schlosser, being the eastern boundary of a strip
of land, extending from the same line to Niagara River,
which the Seneka nation ceded to the King of Great Britain,
at a treaty held about thirty years ago, with Sir William
Johnson;) then the line runs along the river Niagara to
Lake Erie; then along Lake Erie to the north-east corner
of a triangular piece of land which the United States con
veyed to the state of Pennsylvania, as by the President's
patent, dated the third day of March, 1792; then due south
to the northern boundary of that state ; then due east to the
south-west corner of the land sold by the Seneka nation to
Oliver Phelps ; and then north and northerly, along Phelps's
line, to the place beginning on Lake Ontario. Now, the
United States acknowledge all the land within the afore
mentioned boundaries, to be the property of the Seneka
nation ; and the United States will never claim the same, nor
disturb the Seneka nation, nor any of the Six Nations, or
their Indian friends residing thereon and united with them,
in the free use and enjoyment thereof: but it shall remain
theirs, until they choose to sell the same to the people of
the United States, who have the right to purchase.
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ARTICLE IV
The United States having thus described and acknowl
edged what lands belong to the Oneidas, Onondagas,
Cayugas, and Senekas, and engaged never to claim the same,
nor to disturb them, or any of the Six Nations, or their
Indian friends residing thereon and united with them, in
the free use and enjoyment thereof: Now the Six Nations,
and each of them, hereby engage that they will never claim
any other lands within the boundaries of the United States ;
nor ever disturb the people of the United States in the free
use and enjoyment thereof.
ARTICLE v
The Seneka nation, all others of the Six Nations con
curring, cede to the United States the right of making a
wagon road from Fort Schlosser to Lake Erie, as far south
as Buff aloe Creek; and the people of the United States
shall have the free and undisturbed use of this road, for the
purposes of travelling and transportation. And the Six
Nations, and each of them, will forever allow to the people
of the United States, a free passage through their lands,
and the free use of their harbors and rivers adjoining and
within their respective tracts of land, for the passing and
securing of vessels and boats, and liberty to land their car
goes when necessary for their safety.
ARTICLE VI
In consideration of the peace and friendship hereby
established, and of the engagements entered into by the
Six Nations; and because the United States desire, with
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humanity and kindness, to contribute to their comfortable
support; and to render the peace and friendship hereby
established strong and perpetual; the United States now
deliver to the Six Nations, and the Indians of the other
nations residing among and united with them, a quantity
of goods of the value of ten thousand dollars. And for
the same considerations, and with a view to promote the
future welfare of the Six Nations, and of their Indian
friends aforesaid, the United States will add the sum of
three thousand dollars to the one thousand five hundred
dollars, heretofore allowed them by an article ratified by
the President, on the twenty-third day of April 1792; mak
ing in the whole, four thousand five hundred dollars ; which
shall be expended yearly forever, in purchasing clothing,
domestic animals, implements of husbandry and other
utensils suited to their circumstances, and in compensating
useful artificers, who shall reside with them or near them,
and be employed for their benefit. The immediate applica
tion of the whole annual allowance now stipulated, to be
made by the superintendent appointed by the President for
the affairs of the Six Nations, and their Indian friends
aforesaid.
ARTICLE VII
Lest the firm peace and friendship now established should
be interrupted by the misconduct of individuals, the United
States and Six Nations agree, that for injuries done by
individuals on either side, no private revenge or retaliation
shall take place; but, instead thereof, complaint shall be
made by the party injured, to the other: By the Six Nations
or any of them, to the President of the United States, or
the Superintendent by him appointed: and by the Super
intendent, or other person appointed by the President, to
the principal chiefs of the Six Nations, or of the nation to
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which the offender belongs: and such prudent measures
shall then be pursued as shall be necessary to preserve our
peace and friendship unbroken; until the legislature (or
great council) of the United States shall make the equitable
provision for the purpose.
NOTE : It is clearly understood by the parties to this treaty,
that the annuity stipulated in the sixth article, is to be
applied to the benefit of such of the Six Nations and of
their Indian friends united with them as aforesaid, as do
or shall reside within the boundaries of the United States:
for the United States do not interfere with nations, tribes
or families, of Indians elsewhere resident.
ISO
Treaty with Great Britain 1794
Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation, between His
Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, by
their President, with the Advice and Consent of their Sen
ate, Concluded at London November 19, 1794; Ratifications
Exchanged October 28, 1795; Proclaimed February 29,
1796. Articles XI to XXVII, inclusive, of this treaty ex
pired by limitation.
His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America,
being desirous, by a treaty of amity, commerce, and naviga
tion, to terminate their differences in such a manner, as,
without reference to the merits of their respective com
plaints and pretentions, may be the best calculated to pro
duce mutual satisfaction and good understanding; and also
to regulate the commerce and navigation between their
respective countries, territories, and people, in such a manner
as to render the same reciprocally beneficial and satisfactory ;
they have, respectively, named their Plenipotentiaries, and
given them full powers to treat of, and conclude the said
treaty, that is to say :
His Britannic Majesty has named for his Plenipoten
tiary, the Right Honorable William Wyndham Baron Gren-
ville of Wotton, one of His Majesty's Privy Council, and
His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs; and the President of the United States, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, hath
appointed for their Plenipotentiary, the Honorable John
Jay, Chief Justice of the said United States, and their
Envoy Extraordinary to His Majesty;
Who have agreed on and concluded the following articles :
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ARTICLE I
There shall be a firm, inviolable and universal peace,
and a true and sincere friendship between His Britannic
Majesty, his heirs and successors, and the United States
of America; and between their respective countries, terri
tories, cities, towns and people of every degree, without
exception of persons or places.
ARTICLE II
His Majesty will withdraw all his troops and garrisons
from all posts and places within the boundary lines assigned
by the treaty of peace to the United States. This evacua
tion shall take place on or before the first day of June, one
thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and all the proper
measures shall in the interval be taken by concert between
the Government of the United States and His Majesty's
Governor-General in America, for settling the previous
arrangements which may be necessary respecting the
delivery of the said posts: The United States in the mean
time, at their discretion, extending their settlements to any
part of the said boundary line, except within the precincts
or jurisdiction of the said posts. All settlers and traders,
within the precincts or jurisdiction of the said posts, shall
continue to enjoy, unmolested, all their property of every
kind, and shall be protected therein. They shall be at full
liberty to remain there, or to remove with all or any part of
their effects; and it shall also be free to them to sell their
lands, houses, or effects, or to retain the property thereof,
at their discretion ; such of them as shall continue to reside
within the said boundary lines, shall not be compelled to
become citizens of the United States, or to take any oath
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of allegiance to the Government thereof; but they shall be
at full liberty so to do if they think proper, and they shall
make and declare their election within one year after the
evacuation aforesaid. And all persons who shall continue
there after the expiration of the said year, without having
declared their intention of remaining subjects of His Bri
tannic Majesty, shall be considered as having elected to
become citizens of the United States.
ARTICLE III
It is agreed that it shall at all times be free to His
Majesty's subjects, and to the citizens of the United States,
and also to the Indians dwelling on either side of the said
boundary line, freely to pass and repass by land or inland
navigation, into the respective territories and countries of
the two parties, on the continent of America, (the country
within the limits of the Hudson's Bay Company only
excepted,) and to navigate all the lakes, rivers, and waters
thereof, and freely to carry on trade and commerce with
each other. But it is understood that this article does not
extend to the admission of vessels of the United States
into the sea-ports, harbours, bays, or creeks of His Majesty's
said territories; nor into such parts of the rivers in His Maj
esty's said territories as are between the mouth thereof, and
the highest port of entry from the sea, except in small vessels
trading bona fide between Montreal and Quebec, under such
regulations as shall be established to prevent the possibility
of any frauds in this respect. Nor to the admission of Brit
ish vessels from the sea into the rivers of the United States,
beyond the highest ports of entry for foreign vessels from
the sea. The river Mississippi shall, however, according to
the treaty of peace, be entirely open to both parties ; and it
is further agreed, that all the ports and places on its eastern
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side, to whichsoever of the parties belonging, may freely
be resorted to and used by both parties, in as ample a
manner as any of the Atlantic ports or places of the United
States, or any of the ports or places of His Majesty in
Great Britain.
All goods and merchandize whose importation into His
Majesty's said territories in America shall not be entirely
prohibited, may freely, for the purposes of commerce, be
carried into the same in the manner aforesaid, by the citi
zens of the United States, and such goods and merchandize
shall be subject to no higher or other duties than would be
payable by His Majesty's subjects on the importation of
the same from Europe into the said territories. And in
like manner, all goods and merchandize whose importation
into the United States shall not be wholly prohibited, may
freely, for the purposes of commerce, be carried into the
same, in the manner aforesaid, by His Majesty's subjects,
and such goods and merchandize shall be subject to no
higher or other duties than would be payable by the citizens
of the United States on the importation of the same in
American vessels into the Atlantic ports of the said States.
And all goods not prohibited to be exported from the said
territories respectively, may in like manner be carried out
of the same by the two parties respectively, paying duty
as aforesaid.
No duty of entry shall ever be levied by either party on
peltries brought by land or inland navigation into the said
territories respectively, nor shall the Indians passing or
repassing with their own proper goods and effects of what
ever nature, pay for the same any impost or duty whatever.
But goods in bales, or other large packages, unusual among
Indians, shall not be considered as goods belonging bona
fide to Indians.
No higher or other tolls or rates of ferriage than what
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are or shall be payable by natives, shall be demanded on
either side; and no duties shall be payable on any goods
which shall merely be carried over any of the portages or
carrying-places on either side, for the purpose of being
immediately re-imbarked and carried to some other place
or places. But as by this stipulation it is only meant to se
cure to each party a free passage across the portages on both
sides, it is agreed that this exemption from duty shall extend
only to such goods as are carried in the usual and direct
road across the portage, and are not attempted to be in any
manner sold or exchanged during their passage across the
same, and proper regulations may be established to prevent
the possibility of any frauds in this respect.
As this article is intended to render in a great degree the
local advantages of each party common to both, and thereby
to promote a disposition favorable to friendship and good
neighborhood, it is agreed that the respective Governments
will mutually promote this amicable intercourse, by causing
speedy and impartial justice to be done, and necessary
protection to be extended to all who may be concerned
therein.
ARTICLE IV
Whereas it is uncertain whether the river Mississippi
extends so far to the northward as to be intersected by a
line to be drawn due west from the Lake of the Woods,
in the manner mentioned in the treaty of peace between
His Majesty and the United States: it is agreed that
measures shall be taken in concert between His Majesty's
Government in America and the Government of the United
States, for making a joint survey of the said river from one
degree of latitude below the falls of St. Anthony, to the
principal source or sources of the said river, and also of the
parts adjacent thereto; and that if, on the result of such
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survey, it should appear that the said river would not be
intersected by such a line as is above mentioned, the two
parties will thereupon proceed, by amicable negotiation, to
regulate the boundary line in that quarter, as well as all
other points to be adjusted between the said parties, accord
ing to justice and mutual convenience and in conformity
to the intent of the said treaty.
ARTICLE V
Whereas doubts have arisen what river was truly intended
under the name of the river St. Croix, mentioned in the
said treaty of peace, and forming a part of the boundary
therein described; that question shall be referred to the
final decision of commissioners to be appointed in the fol
lowing manner, viz :
One commissioner shall be named by His Majesty, and
one by the President of the United States, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and the said
two commissioners shall agree on the choice of a third; or
if they cannot so agree, they shall each propose one person,
and of the two names so proposed, one shall be drawn by
lot in the presence of the two original commissioners. And
the three commissioners so appointed shall be sworn,
impartially to examine and decide the said question, accord
ing to such evidence as shall respectively be laid before
them on the part of the British Government and of the
United States. The said commissioners shall meet at Hali
fax, and shall have power to adjourn to such other place
or places as they shall think fit. They shall have power to
appoint a secretary, and to employ such surveyors or other
persons as they shall judge necessary. The said commis
sioners shall, by a declaration, under their hands and seals,
decide what river is the river St. Croix, intended by the treaty,
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The said declaration shall contain a description of the said
river, and shall particularize the latitude and longitude of
its mouth and of its source. Duplicates of this declaration
and of the statements of their accounts, and of the journal
of their proceedings, shall be delivered by them to the agent
of His Majesty, and to the agent of the United States,
who may be respectively appointed and authorized to man
age the business on behalf of the respective Governments.
And both parties agree to consider such decision as final and
conclusive, so as that the same shall never thereafter be
called into question, or made the subject of dispute or differ
ence between them.
ARTICLE VI
Whereas it is alledged by divers British merchants and
others His Majesty's subjects, that debts, to a consider
able amount, which were bona fide contracted before the
peace, still remain owing to them by citizens or inhabi
tants of the United States, and that by the operation of
various lawful impediments since the peace, not only the
full recovery of the said debts has been delayed, but also
the value and security thereof have been, in several instances,
impaired and lessened, so that, by the ordinary course of
judicial proceedings, the British creditors cannot now ob
tain, and actually have and receive full and adequate com
pensation for the losses and damages which they have
thereby sustained : It is agreed, that in all such cases, where
full compensation for such losses and damages cannot, for
whatever reason, be actually obtained, had and received
by the said creditors in the ordinary course of justice, the
United States will make full and complete compensation
for the same to the said creditors : But it is distinctly under
stood, that this provision is to extend to such losses only as
have been occasioned by the lawful impediments aforesaid,
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and is not to extend to losses occasioned by such insolvency
of the debtors or other causes as would equally have oper
ated to produce such loss, if the said impediments had not
existed; nor to such losses or damages as have been
occasioned by the manifest delay or negligence, or wilful
omission of the claimant.
For the purpose of ascertaining the amount of any such
losses and damages, five commissioners shall be appointed and
authorized to meet and act in manner following, viz: Two
of them shall be appointed by His Majesty, two of them
by the President of the United States by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate thereof, and the fifth by the
unanimous voice of the other four; and if they should not
agree in such choice, then the commissioners named by the
two parties shall respectively propose one person, and of
the two names so proposed, one shall be drawn by lot, in
the presence of the four original commissioners. When the
five commissioners thus appointed shall first meet, they
shall, before they proceed to act, respectively take the fol
lowing oath, or affirmation, in the presence of each other;
which oath, or affirmation, being so taken and duly attested,
shall be entered on the record of their proceedings, viz:
I, A. B., one of the commissioners appointed in pursuance
of the sixth article of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and
Navigation, between His Britannic Majesty and the United
States of America, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I
will honestly, diligently, impartially, and carefully examine,
and to the best of my judgment, according to justice and
equity, decide all such complaints, as under the said arti
cle shall be preferred to the said commissioners: and that
I will forbear to act as a commissioner, in any case in which
I may be personally interested.
Three of the said commissioners shall constitute a board,
and shall have power to do any act appertaining to the said
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commission, provided that one of the commissioners named
on each side, and the fifth commissioner shall be present,
and all decisions shall be made by the majority of the
voices of the commissioners then present. Eighteen months
from the day on which the said commissioners shall form a
board, and be ready to proceed to business, are assigned for
receiving complaints arid applications ; but they are neverthe
less authorized, in any particular cases in which it shall
appear to them to be reasonable and just, to extend the said
term of eighteen months, for any term not exceeding six
months, after the expiration thereof. The said commis
sioners shall first meet at Philadelphia, but they shall have
power to adjourn from place to place as they shall see cause.
The said commissioners in examining the complaints and
applications so preferred to them, are empowered and
required, in pursuance of the true intent and meaning of
this article, to take into their consideration all claims,
whether of principal or interest, or balances of principal
and interest, and to determine the same respectively, accord
ing to the merits of the several cases, due regard being had
to all the circumstances thereof, and as equity and justice
shall appear to them to require. And the said commis
sioners shall have power to examine all such persons as shall
come before them, on oath or affirmation, touching the
premises ; and also to receive in evidence, according as they
may think most consistent with equity and j ustice, all written
depositions, or books, or papers, or copies, or extracts
thereof; every such deposition, book, or paper, or copy,
or extract, being duly authenticated, either according to
the legal form now respectively existing in the two countries,
or in such other manner as the said commissioners shall see
cause to require or allow.
The award of the said commissioners, or of any three of
them as aforesaid, shall in all cases be final and conclusive,
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both as to the justice of the claim, and to the amount of the
sum to be paid to the creditor or claimant; and the United
States undertake to cause the sum so awarded to be paid
in specie to such creditor or claimant without deduction;
and at such time or times and at such place or places, as
shall be awarded by the said commissioners; and on condi
tion of such releases or assignments to be given by the
creditor or claimant, as by the said commissioners may be
directed: Provided always, that no such payment shall be
fixed by the said commissioners to take place sooner than
twelve months from the day of the exchange of the ratifica
tions of this treaty.
ARTICLE VII
Whereas complaints have been made by divers merchants
and others, citizens of the United States, that during the
course of the war in which His Majesty is now engaged,
they have sustained considerable losses and damage, by
reason of irregular or illegal captures or condemnations
of their vessels and other property, under color of authority
or commissions from His Majesty, and that from various
circumstances belonging to the said cases, adequate com
pensation for the losses and damages so sustained cannot
now be actually obtained, had, and received by the ordinary
course of judicial proceedings; it is agreed, that in all such
cases, where adequate compensation cannot, for whatever
reason, be now actually obtained, had, and received by the
said merchants and others, in the ordinary course of justice,
full and complete compensation for the same will be made
by the British Government to the said complainants. But
it is distinctly understood that this provision is not to extend
to such losses or damages as have been occasioned by the
manifest delay or negligence, or wilful omission of the
claimant.
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That for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of any
such losses and damages, five commissioners shall be ap
pointed and authorized to act in London, exactly in the
manner directed with respect to those mentioned in the
preceding article, and after having taken the same oath
or affirmation (mutatis mutandis), the same term of eigh
teen months is also assigned for the reception of claims, and
they are in like manner authorized to extend the same in
particular cases. They shall receive testimony, books,
papers, and evidence in the same latitude, and exercise the
like discretion and powers respecting that subject; and shall
decide the claims in question according to the merits of the
several cases, and to justice, equity, and the laws of nations.
The award of the said commissioners, or any such three of
them as aforesaid, shall in all cases be final and conclusive,
both as to the justice of the claim, and the amount of the
sum to be paid to the claimant; and His Britannic Majesty
undertakes to cause the same to be paid to such claimant in
specie, without any deduction, at such place or places, and at
such time or times, as shall be awarded by the said commis
sioners, and on condition of such releases or assignments to
be given by the claimant, as by the said commissioners may be
directed.
And whereas certain merchants and others, His Majesty's
subjects, complain that, in the course of the war, they have
sustained loss and damage by reason of the capture of their
vessels and merchandise, taken within the limits and juris
diction of the States and brought into the ports of the same,
or taken by vessels originally armed in ports of the said
States :
It is agreed that in all such cases where restitution shall not
have been made agreeably to the tenor of the letter from Mr.
Jefferson to Mr. Hammond, dated at Philadelphia, Sept. 5,
1793, a copy of which is annexed to this treaty; the com-
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plaints of the parties shall be and hereby are referred to the
commissioners to be appointed by virtue of this article, who
are hereby authorized and required to proceed in the like
manner relative to these as to the other cases committed to
them; and the United States undertake to pay to the com
plainants or claimants in specie, without deduction, the
amount of such sums as shall be awarded to them respec
tively by the said commissioners, and at the times and places
which in such awards shall be specified ; and on condition of
such releases or assignments to be given by the claimants as
in the said awards may be directed : And it is further agreed,
that not only the now-existing cases of both descriptions,
but also all such as shall exist at the time of exchanging the
ratifications of this treaty, shall be considered as being within
the provisions, intent, and meaning of this article.
ARTICLE VIII
It is further agreed that the commissioners mentioned in
this and in the two preceding articles shall be respectively
paid in such manner as shall be agreed between the two
parties, such agreement being to be settled at the time of
the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty. And all other
expences attending the said commissions shall be defrayed
jointly by the two parties, the same being previously ascer
tained and allowed by the majority of the commissioners.
And in the case of death, sickness or necessary absence, the
place of every such commissioner respectively shall be sup
plied in the same manner as such commissioner was first
appointed, and the new commissioners shall take the same
oath or affirmation and do the same duties.
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ARTICLE IX
It is agreed that British subjects who now hold lands in
the territories of the United States, and American citizens
who now hold lands in the dominions of His Majesty, shall
continue to hold them according to the nature and tenure of
their respective estates and titles therein; and may grant,
sell, or devise the same to whom they please, in like manner
as if they were natives ; and that neither they nor their heirs
or assigns shall, so far as may respect the said lands and
the legal remedies incident thereto, be regarded as aliens.
ARTICLE X
Neither the debts due from individuals of the one nation
to individuals of the other, nor shares, nor monies, which
they may have in the public funds, or in the public or private
banks, shall ever in any event of war or national differences
be sequestered or confiscated, it being unjust and impolitic
that debts and engagements contracted and made by indi
viduals, having confidence in each other and in their respec
tive Governments, should ever be destroyed or impaired by
national authority on account of national differences and
discontents.
ARTICLE XI
It is agreed between His Majesty and the United States
of America, that there shall be a reciprocal and entirely per
fect liberty of navigation and commerce between their
respective people, in the manner, under the limitations, and
on the conditions specified in the following articles.
ARTICLE XII
[This article was stricken out by the Senate]
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ARTICLE XIII
His Majesty consents that the vessels belonging to the citi
zens of the United States of America shall be admitted and
hospitably received in all the sea-ports and harbors of the
British territories in the East Indies. And that the citizens
of the said United States may freely carry on a trade between
the said territories and the said United States, in all articles
of which the importation or exportation respectively, to or
from the said territories, shall not be entirely prohibited.
Provided only, that it shall not be lawful for them in any time
of war between the British Government and any other Power
or State whatever, to export from the said territories, without
the special permission of the British Government there, any
military stores, or naval stores, or rice. The citizens of the
United States shall pay for their vessels when admitted into
the said ports no other or higher tonnage duty than shall be
payable on British vessels when admitted into the ports of
the United States. And they shall pay no other or higher
duties or charges, on the importation or exportation of the
cargoes of the said vessels, than shall be payable on the same
articles when imported or exported in British vessels. But
it is expressly agreed that the vessels of the United States
shall not carry any of the articles exported by them from the
said British territories to any port or place, except to some
port or place in America, where the same shall be unladen,
and such regulations shall be adopted by both parties as
shall from time to time be found necessary to enforce the
due and faithful observance of this stipulation. It is also
understood that the permission granted by this article is not
to extend to allow the vessels of the United States to carry
on any part of the coasting trade of the said British terri
tories ; but vessels going with their original cargoes, or part
14,4,
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thereof, from one port of discharge to another, are not to be
considered as carrying on the coasting trade. Neither is
this article to be construed to allow the citizens of the said
States to settle or reside within the said territories, or to go
into the interior parts thereof, without the permission of the
British Government established there; and if any trans
gression should be attempted against the regulations of the
British Government in this respect, the observance of the
same shall and may be enforced against the citizens of
America in the same manner as against British subjects or
others transgressing the same rule. And the citizens of the
United States, whenever they arrive in any port or harbour
in the said territories, or if they should be permitted, in
manner aforesaid, to go to any other place therein, shall
always be subject to the laws, government, and jurisdiction
of what nature established in such harbor, port, or place,
according as the same may be. The citizens of the United
States may also touch for refreshment at the island of St.
Helena, but subject in all respects to such regulations as
the British Government may from time to time establish
there.
ARTICLE XIV
There shall be between all the dominions of His Majesty
in Europe and the territories of the United States a recipro
cal and perfect liberty of commerce and navigation. The
people and inhabitants of the two countries, respectively,
shall have liberty, freely and securely, and without hindrance
and molestation, to come with their ships and cargoes to
the lands, countries, cities, ports, places, and rivers within
the dominions and territories aforesaid, to enter into the
same, to resort there, and to remain and reside there, without
any limitation of time. Also to hire and possess houses and
warehouses for the purposes of their commerce, and gener-
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ally the merchants and traders on each side shall enjoy the
most complete protection and security for their commerce;
but subject always as to what respects this article to the laws
and statutes of the two countries respectively.
ARTICLE XV
It is agreed that no other or higher duties shall be paid
by the ships or merchandize of the one party in the ports
of the other than such as are paid by the like vessels or
merchandize of all other nations. Nor shall any other or
higher duty be imposed in one country on the importation
of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of the
other, than are or shall be payable on the importation of
the like articles being 'of the growth, produce, or manufac
ture of any other foreign country. Nor shall any prohibition
be imposed on the exportation or importation of any articles
to or from the territories of the two parties respectively,
which shall not equally extend to all other nations.
But the British Government reserves to itself the right
of imposing on American vessels entering into the British
ports in Europe a tonnage duty equal to that which shall be
payable by British vessels in the ports of America ; and also
such duty as may be adequate to countervail the difference of
duty now payable on the importation of European and
Asiatic goods, when imported into the United States in
British or in American vessels.
The two parties agree to treat for the more exact equaliza
tion of the duties on the respective navigation of their sub
jects and people, in such manner as may be most beneficial
to the two countries. The arrangements for this purpose
shall be made at the same time with those mentioned at the
conclusion of the twelfth article of this treaty, and are to be
considered as a part thereof. In the interval it is agreed
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that the United States will not impose any new or additional
tonnage duties on British vessels, nor increase the now-
subsisting difference between the duties payable on the
importation of any articles in British or in American vessels.
ARTICLE XVI
It shall be free for the two contracting parties, respec
tively, to appoint Consuls for the protection of trade, to
reside in the dominions and territories aforesaid; and the
said Consuls shall enjoy those liberties and rights which
belong to them by reason of their function. But before any
Consul shall act as such, he shall be in the usual forms
approved and admitted by the party to whom he is sent ; and
it is hereby declared to be lawful and proper that, in case
of illegal or improper conduct towards the laws or Govern
ment, a Consul may either be punished according to law, if
the laws will reach the case, or be dismissed, or even sent
back, the offended Government assigning to the other their
reasons for the same.
Either of the parties may except from the residence of
Consuls such particular places as such party shall judge
proper to be so excepted.
ARTICLE XVII
It is agreed that in all cases where vessels shall be cap
tured or detained on just suspicion of having on board
enemy's property, or of carrying to the enemy any of the
articles which are contraband of war, the said vessel shall
be brought to the nearest or most convenient port; and if
any property of an enemy should be found on board such
vessel, that part only which belongs to the enemy shall be
made prize, and the vessel shall be at liberty to proceed
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with the remainder without any impediment. And it is
agreed that all proper measures shall be taken to prevent
delay in deciding the cases of ships or cargoes so brought in
for adjudication, and in the payment or recovery of any
indemnification, adjudged or agreed to be paid to the masters
or owners of such ships.
ARTICLE XVIII
In order to regulate what is in future to be esteemed
contraband of war, it is agreed that under the said denom
ination shall be comprised all arms and implements serving
for the purposes of war, by land or sea, such as cannon,
muskets, mortars, petards, bombs, grenades, carcasses, sau-
cisses, carriages for cannon, musket-rests, bandoliers, gun
powder^ match, saltpetre, ball, pikes, swords, head-pieces,
cuirasses, halberts, lances, javelins, horse-furniture, holsters,
belts, and generally all other implements of war, as also
timber for ship-building, tar or rosin, copper in sheets, sails,
hemp, and cordage, and generally whatever may serve
directly to the equipment of vessels, unwrought iron and
fir planks only excepted ; and all the above articles are hereby
declared to be just objects of confiscation whenever they are
attempted to be carried to an enemy.
And whereas the difficulty of agreeing on the precise cases
in which alone provisions and other articles not generally
contraband may be regarded as such, renders it expedient
to provide against the inconveniences and misunderstandings
which might thence arise: It is further agreed that when
ever any such articles so becoming contraband, according
to the existing laws of nations, shall for that reason be
seized, the same shall not be confiscated, but the owners
thereof shall be speedily and completely indemnified; and
the captors, or, in their default, the Government under
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whose authority they act, shall pay to the masters or owners
of such vessels the full value of all such articles, with a rea
sonable mercantile profit thereon, together with the freight,
and also the demurrage incident to such detention.
And whereas it frequently happens that vessels sail for
a port or place belonging to an enemy without knowing that
the same is either besieged, blockaded, or invested, it is
agreed that every vessel so circumstanced may be turned
away from such port or place ; but she shall not be detained,
nor her cargo, if not contraband, be confiscated, unless after
notice she shall again attempt to enter, but she shall be
permitted to go to any other port or place she may think
proper; nor shall any vessel or goods of either party that
may have entered into such port or place before the same
was besieged, blockaded, or invested by the other, and be
found therein after the reduction or surrender of such place,
be liable to confiscation, but shall be restored to the owners
or proprietors thereof.
ARTICLE XIX
And that more abundant care may be taken for the secur
ity of the respective subjects and citizens of the contracting
parties, and to prevent their suffering injuries by the men-of-
war, or privateers of either party, all commanders of ships
of war and privateers, and all others the said subjects and
citizens, shall forbear doing any damage to those of the
other party or committing any outrage against them, and
if they act to the contrary they shall be punished, and shall
also be bound in their persons and estates to make satisfac
tion and reparation for all damages, and the interest thereof,
of whatever nature the said damages may be.
For this cause, all commanders of privateers, before they
receive their commissions, shall hereafter be obliged to give,
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before a competent judge, sufficient security by at least two
responsible sureties,, who have no interest in the said priva
teer, each of whom, together with the said commander,, shall
be jointly and severally bound in the sum of fifteen hundred
pounds sterling, or, if such ships be provided with above one
hundred and fifty seamen or soldiers, in the sum of three
thousand pounds sterling, to satisfy all damages and injuries
which the said privateer, or her officers or men, or any of
them, may do or commit during their cruise contrary to the
tenor of this treaty, or to the laws and instructions for regu
lating their conduct ; and further, that in all cases of aggres
sions the said commissions shall be revoked and annulled.
It is also agreed that whenever a judge of a court of
admiralty of either of the parties shall pronounce sentence
against any vessel or goods or property belonging to the
subjects or citizens of the other party, a formal and duly
authenticated copy of all the proceedings in the cause, and
of the said sentence, shall, if required, be delivered to the
commander of the said vessel, without the smallest delay, he
paying all legal fees and demands for the same.
ARTICLE xx
It is further agreed that both the said contracting parties
shall not only refuse to receive any pirates into any of their
ports, havens, or towns, or permit any of their inhabitants
to receive, protect, harbor, conceal, or assist them in any
manner, but will bring to condign punishment all such inhab
itants as shall be guilty of such acts or offences.
And all their ships, with the goods or merchandizes taken
by them and brought into the port of either of the said
parties, shall be seized as far as they can be discovered, and
shall be restored to the owners, or their factors or agents,
duly deputed and authorized in writing by them (proper
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evidence being first given in the court of admiralty for prov
ing the property) even in case such effects should have
passed into other hands by sale, if it be proved that the
buyers knew or had good reason to believe or suspect that
they had been piratically taken.
ARTICLE XXI
It is likewise agreed that the subjects and citizens of the
two nations shall not do any acts of hostility or violence
against each other, nor accept commissions or instructions
so to act from any foreign Prince or State, enemies to the
other party; nor shall the enemies of one of the parties be
permitted to invite, or endeavor to enlist in their military
service, any of the subjects or citizens of the other party;
and the laws against all such offences and aggressions shall
be punctually executed. And if any subject or citizen of
the said parties respectively shall accept any foreign com
mission or letters of marque for arming any vessel to act
as a privateer against the other party, and be taken by the
other party, it is hereby declared to be lawful for the said
party to treat and punish the said subject or citizen having
such commission or letters of marque as a pirate.
ARTICLE XXII
It is expressly stipulated that neither of the said contract
ing parties will order or authorize any acts of reprisal against
the other, on complaints of injuries or damages, until the said
party shall first have presented to the other a statement
thereof, verified by competent proof and evidence, and
demanded justice and satisfaction, and the same shall either
have been refused or unreasonably delayed.
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ARTICLE XXIII
The ships of war of each of the contracting parties shall,,
at all times, be hospitably received in the ports of the other,
their officers and crews paying due respect to the laws and
Government of the country. The officers shall be treated
with that respect which is due to the commissions which they
bear, and if any insult should be offered to them by any of
the inhabitants, all offenders in this respect shall be punished
as disturbers of the peace and amity between the two coun
tries. And His Majesty consents that in case an American
vessel should, by stress of weather, danger from enemies,
or other misfortune, be reduced to the necessity of seeking
shelter in any of His Maj esty's ports, into which such vessel
could not in ordinary cases claim to be admitted, she shall,
on manifesting that necessity to the satisfaction of the
Government of the place, be hospitably received, and be per
mitted to refit and to purchase at the market price such neces
saries as she may stand in need of, conformably to such
orders and regulations as the Government of the place,
having respect to the circumstances of each case, shall pre
scribe. She shall not be allowed to break bulk or unload her
cargo, unless the same should be bona fide necessary to her
being refitted. Nor shall be permitted to sell any part of
her cargo, unless so much only as may be necessary to defray
her expences, and then not without the express permission
of the Government of the place. Nor shall she be obliged to
pay any duties whatever, except only on such articles as she
may be permitted to sell for the purpose aforesaid.
ARTICLE XXIV
It shall not be lawful for any foreign privateers (not being
subjects or citizens of either of the said parties) who have
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commissions from any other Prince or State in enmity with
either nation to arm their ships in the ports of either of the
said parties, nor to sell what they have taken, nor in any
other manner to exchange the same ; nor shall they be allowed
to purchase more provisions than shall be necessary for their
going to the nearest port of that Prince or State from whom
they obtained their commissions.
ARTICLE XXV
It shall be lawful for the ships of war and privateers
belonging to the said parties respectively to carry whitherso
ever they please the ships and goods taken from their
enemies, without being obliged to pay any fee to the officers
of the admiralty, or to any judges whatever; nor shall the
said prizes, when they arrive at and enter the ports of the said
parties, be detained or seized, neither shall the searchers or
other officers of those places visit such prizes, (except for
the purpose of preventing the carrying of any part of the
cargo thereof on shore in any manner contrary to the estab
lished laws of revenue, navigation, or commerce,) nor shall
such officers take cognizance of the validity of such prizes ;
but they shall be at liberty to hoist sail and depart as speedily
as may be, and carry their said prizes to the place mentioned
in their commissions or patents, which the commanders of
the said ships of war or privateers shall be obliged to show.
No shelter or refuge shall be given in their ports to such as
have made a prize upon the subjects or citizens of either
of the said parties; but if forced by stress of weather, or
the dangers of the sea, to enter therein, particular care shall
be taken to hasten their departure, and to cause them to retire
as soon as possible. Nothing in this treaty contained shall,
however, be construed or operate contrary to former and
existing public treaties with other sovereigns or States. But
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the two parties agree that while they continue in amity
neither of them will in future make any treaty that shall
be inconsistent with this or the preceding article.
Neither of the said parties shall permit the ships or goods
belonging to the subjects or citizens of the other to be taken
within cannon shot of the coast, nor in any of the bays, ports,
or rivers of their territories, by ships of war or others having
commission from any Prince, Republic, or State whatever.
But in case it should so happen, the party whose territorial
rights shall thus have been violated shall use his utmost
endeavors to obtain from the offending party full and ample
satisfaction for the vessel or vessels so taken, whether the
same be vessels of war or merchant vessels.
ARTICLE XXVI
If at any time a rupture should take place (which God
forbid) between His Majesty and the United States, the
merchants and others of each of the two nations residing
in the dominions of the other shall have the privilege of
remaining and continuing their trade, so long as they behave
peaceably and commit no offence against the laws; and in
case their conduct should render them suspected, and the
respective Governments should think proper to order them
to remove, the term of twelve months from the publication
of the order shall be allowed them for that purpose, to remove
with their families, effects, and property, but this favor shall
not be extended to those who shall act contrary to the estab
lished laws ; and for greater certainty, it is declared that such
rupture shall not be deemed to exist while negotiations for
accommodating differences shall be depending, nor until the
respective Ambassadors or Ministers, if such there shall be,
shall be recalled or sent home on account of such differences,
and not on account of personal misconduct, according to the
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nature and degrees of which both parties retain their rights,
either to request the recall, or immediately to send home the
Ambassador or Minister of the other, and that without preju
dice to their mutual and good understanding.
ARTICLE XXVII
It is further agreed that His Majesty and the United
States, on mutual requisitions, by them respectively, or by
their respective Ministers or officers authorized to make the
same, will deliver up to justice all persons who, being
charged with murder or forgery, committed within the juris
diction of either, shall seek an asylum within any of the
countries of the other, provided that this shall only be done
on such evidence of criminality as, according to the laws of
the place, where the fugitive or person so charged shall
be found, would justify his apprehension and commitment
for trial, if the offence had there been committed. The
expence of such apprehension and delivery shall be borne
and defrayed by those who make the requisition and receive
the fugitive.
ARTICLE XXVIII
It is agreed that the first ten articles of this treaty shall
be permanent, and that the subsequent articles, except the
twelfth, shall be limited in their duration to twelve years,
to be computed from the day on which the ratifications of this
treaty shall be exchanged, but subject to this condition, That
whereas the said twelfth article will expire by the limitation
therein contained, at the end of two years from the signing
of the preliminary or other articles of peace, which shall
terminate the present war in which His Majesty is engaged,
it is agreed that proper measures shall by concert be taken
for bringing the subject of that article into amicable treaty
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and discussion, so early before the expiration of the said
term as that new arrangements on that head may by that
time be perfected and ready to take place. But if it should
unfortunately happen that His Majesty and the United
States should not be able to agree on such new arrange
ments, in that case all the articles of this treaty, except the
first ten, shall then cease and expire together.
Lastly. This treaty, when the same shall have been rati
fied by His Majesty and by the President of the United
States, by and with the advice and consent of their Senate,
and the respective ratifications mutually exchanged, shall
be binding and obligatory on His Majesty and on the said
States, and shall be by them respectively executed and
observed with punctuality and the most sincere regard to
good faith; and whereas it will be expedient, in order the
better to facilitate intercourse and obviate difficulties, that
other articles be proposed and added to this treaty, which
articles, from want of time and other circumstances, cannot
now be perfected, it is agreed that the said parties will,
from time to time, readily treat of and concerning such
articles, and will sincerely endeavor so to form them as
that they may conduce to mutual convenience and tend to
promote mutual satisfaction and friendship; and that the
said articles, after having been duly ratified, shall be added
to and make a part of this treaty. In faith whereof we,
the undersigned Ministers Plenipotentiary of His Majesty
the King of Great Britain and the United States of America,
have signed this present treaty, and have caused to be affixed
thereto the seal of our arms.
Done at London this nineteenth day of November, one
thousand seven hundred and ninety-four.
GRENVILLE [L. s.]
JOHN JAY [L. s.]
156
Washington's Farewell Address 1796
Friends and Fellow-Citizens:
The period for a new election of a Citizen, to admin
ister the Executive Government of the United States, being
not far distant, and the time actually arrived, when your
thoughts must be employed in designating the person, who
is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me
proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct ex
pression of the public voice, that I should now apprize you
of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered
among the number of those, out of whom a choice is to be
made.
I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be
assured, that this resolution has not been taken, without
a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the
relation, which binds a dutiful citizen to his country — and
that, in withdrawing the tender of service which silence in
my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminu
tion of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grate
ful respect for your past kindness ; but am supported by a
full conviction that the step is compatible with both.
The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office
to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been
a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty,
and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. —
I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in
my power, consistently with motives, which I was not at
liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement, from
which I had been reluctantly drawn. — The strength of my
inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had
even led to the preparation of an address to declare
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it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and
critical posture of our affairs with foreign Nations, and
the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence,
impelled me to abandon the idea. —
I rejoice, that the state of your concerns, external as
well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclina
tion incompatible with the sentiment of duty, or propriety;
and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for
my services, that, in the present circumstances of our
country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire.
The impressions, with which I first undertook the ardu
ous trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the
discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have, with
good intentions, contributed towards the organization and
administration of the government, the best exertions of
which a very fallible judgment was capable. — Not uncon
scious, in the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications,
experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes
of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of my
self; and every day the increasing weight of years admon
ishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as
necessary to me as it will be welcome. — Satisfied, that, if
any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services,
they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that,
while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political
scene, patriotism does not forbid it.
* In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to
terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not
permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that
debt of gratitude, which I owe to my beloved country, —
for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more
for the stedfast confidence with which it has supported me;
and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of mani
festing my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and
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persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. — If
benefits have resulted to our country from these services,
let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an in
structive example in our annals, that under circumstances
in which the Passions, agitated in every direction, were
liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious,
vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in
which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced
the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was
the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the
plans by which they were effected. — Profoundly penetrated
with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a
strong incitement to unceasing vows that Heaven may con
tinue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence — that
your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual — that
the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may
be sacredly maintained — that its administration in every de
partment may be stamped with wisdom and virtue — that, in
fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the
auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful
a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will
acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the ap
plause, the affection, and adoption of every nation, which is
yet a stranger to it.
Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. — But a solicitude for
your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the
apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me
on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn con
templation, and to recommend to your frequent review,
some sentiments; which are the result of much reflection,
of no inconsiderable observation and which appear to me
all important to the permanency of your felicity as a Peo
ple. These will be offered to you with the more freedom,
as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of
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a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive
to bias his counsel. — Nor can I forget, as an encourage-
ment to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a
former and not dissimilar occasion.
Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament
of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary
to fortify or confirm the attachment. —
The Unity of Government, which constitutes you one peo
ple, is also now dear to you. — It is justly so; for it is a
main Pillar in the Edifice of your real independence; the
support of your tranquillity at home; your peace abroad;
of your safety; of your prosperity in every shape; of that
very Liberty, which you so highly prize. — But as it is easy
to foresee, that, from different causes, and from different
quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices em
ployed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this
truth; — as this is the point in your political fortress against
which the batteries of internal and external enemies will
be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and
insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment, that you
should properly estimate the immense value of your na
tional Union to your collective and individual happiness; —
that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immove-
able attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and
speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety and
prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous
anxiety ; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a sus
picion, that it can in any event be abandoned, and indig
nantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt
to alienate any portion of our Country from the rest, or to
enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various
parts.
For this you have every inducement of sympathy and
interest. — Citizens by birth or choice of a common country,
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that country has a right to concentrate your affections. —
The name of AMERICAN, which belongs to you, in your na
tional capacity, must always exalt the just pride of
Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local
discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have
the same Religion, Manners, Habits, and Political Prin
ciples. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed
together ; the Independence and Liberty you possess are the
work of joint counsels, and joint efforts — of common dan
gers, sufferings, and successes. —
But these considerations, however powerfully they ad
dress themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed
by those which apply more immediately to your Interest.
Here every portion of our country finds the most command
ing motives for carefully guarding and preserving the
Union of the whole.
The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South,
protected by the equal Laws of a common government, finds,
in the productions of the latter, great additional resources
of maritime and commercial enterprise — and precious ma
terials of manufacturing industry. — The South, in the same
intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its
agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly
into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its
particular navigation envigorated; — and, while it contrib
utes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general
mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the
protection of a maritime strength to which itself is un
equally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the
West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement
of interior communications, by land and water, will more
and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which
it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. — The West
derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and
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comfort, and — what is perhaps of still greater consequence,
it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispen
sable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence,
and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the
Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest
as one Nation. — Any other tenure by which the West can
hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own
separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural con
nection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically pre
carious.
While then every part of our Country thus feels an im
mediate and particular interest in Union, all the parts com
bined in the united mass of means and efforts cannot fail
to find greater strength, greater resource, proportionably
greater security from external danger, a less frequent in
terruption of their Peace by foreign Nations; and, what
is of inestimable value ! they must derive from Union an
exemption from those broils and wars between themselves,
which so frequently afflict neighbouring countries, not tied
together by the same governments; which their own rival-
ships alone would be sufficient to produce; but which op
posite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would
stimulate and embitter. — Hence likewise they will avoid the
necessity of those overgrown Military establishments,
which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to
liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile
to Republican Liberty. In this sense it is, that your Union
ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and
that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preserva
tion of the other.
These considerations speak a persuasive language to
every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the contin
uance of the UNION as a primary object of Patriotic desire.
Is there a doubt, whether a common government can em-
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brace so large a sphere ? — Let experience solve it. To listen
to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. — We are
authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole,
with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective
subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment.
It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such
powerful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all parts
of our country, while experience shall not have demon
strated its impracticability, there will always be reason to
distrust the patriotism of those, who in any quarter may
endeavour to weaken its bands. —
In contemplating the causes which may disturb our
Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern, that any
ground should have been furnished for characterizing
parties by geographical discriminations — Northern and
Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men
may endeavour to excite a belief, that there is a real dif
ference of local interests and views. One of the expedi
ents of Party to acquire influence, within particular dis
tricts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other
districts. — You cannot shield yourselves too much against
the jealousies and heart burnings, which spring from these
misrepresentations; — they tend to render alien to each
other those, who ought to be bound together by fraternal
affection. — The inhabitants of our Western country have
lately had a useful lesson on this head — they have seen, in
the negotiation by the Executive, and in the . unanimous
ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in
the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the
United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the
suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the Gen
eral Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to
their interests in regard to the MISSISSIPPI — they have been
witnesses to the formation of two Treaties, that with G.
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Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them every
thing they could desire, in respect to our Foreign Relations,
towards confirming their prosperity. — Will it not be their
wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on
the UNION by which they we*e procured? — Will they not
henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who
would sever them from their Brethren, and connect them
with Aliens? —
To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Gov
ernment for the whole is indispensable. — No alliances,
however strict between the parts can be an adequate sub
stitute. — They must inevitably experience the infractions
and interruptions which all alliances in all times have ex
perienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have
improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a Con
stitution of Government, better calculated than your former
for an intimate Union, and for the efficacious management
of your common concerns. — This government, the offspring
of our own choice uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon
full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free
in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting
security with energy, and containing within itself a pro
vision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your con
fidence and your support. — Respect for its authority, com
pliance with its Laws, acquiescence in its measures, are
duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty.
— The basis of our political systems is the right of the peo
ple to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government.
— But the Constitution which at any time exists, 'till
changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole Peo
ple, is sacredly obligatory upon all. — The very idea of the
power and the right of the People to establish Government
presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the estab
lished Government.
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All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combi
nations and associations, under whatever plausible char
acter, with the real design to direct, controul, counteract,
or awe the regular deliberation and action of the consti
tuted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental prin
ciple, and of fatal tendency. — They serve to organize
faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force — to
put in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will
of a party; — often a small but artful and enterprising
minority of the community ; — and, according to the alternate
triumphs of different parties, to make the public admin
istration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous
projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and
wholesome plans digested by common councils, and modified
by mutual interests. — However combinations or associations
of the above descriptions may now and then answer popular
ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to
become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and
unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the Power of
the People, and to usurp for themselves the reins of Gov
ernment; destroying afterwards the very engines, which
have lifted them to unjust dominion. —
Towards the preservation of your Government, and the
permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not
only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions
to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with
care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however
specious the pretexts. — One method of assault may be to
effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which
will impair the energy of the system, and thus to under
mine what cannot be directly overthrown. — In all the
changes to which you may be invited, remember that time
and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character
of Governments, as of other human institutions — that ex-
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perience is the surest standard, by which to test the real
tendency of the existing Constitution of a Country — that
facility in changes upon the credit of mere hypothesis and
opinion exposes to perpetual change, from the endless va
riety of hypothesis and opinion : — and remember, especially,
that, for the efficient management of your common interests,
in a country so extensive as ours, a Government of as much
vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of Liberty
is indispensable. — Liberty itself will find in such a gov
ernment, with powers properly distributed and adjusted,
its surest Guardian. — It is, indeed, little else than a name,
where the Government is too feeble to withstand the enter
prise of faction, to confine each member of the society
within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain
all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of
person and property.
I have already intimated to you the danger of parties
in the State, with particular reference to the founding of
them on Geographical discriminations. — Let me now take
a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most
solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of
Party, generally.
This Spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our na
ture, having its root in the strongest passions of the hu
man mind. — It exists under different shapes in all Govern
ments, more or less stifled, controuled, or repressed; but,
in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rank-
ness, and is truly their worst enemy. —
The alternate domination of one faction over another,
sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissen
sion, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated
the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.
— But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent
despotism. — The disorders and miseries, which result,
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gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and re
pose in the absolute power of an Individual; and sooner or
later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or
more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition
to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public
Liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind,
(which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight),
the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of Party
are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise
people to discourage and restrain it. —
It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and en
feeble the Public administration. It agitates the com
munity with ill founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles
the animosity of one part against another, foments occa
sionally riot and insurrection. — It opens the door to
foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated
access to the Government itself through the channels of
party passions. Thus the policy arid the will of one coun
try, are subjected to the policy and will of another.
There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are
useful checks upon the Administration of the Government,
and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. — This within
certain limits is probably true — and in Governments of a
Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if
not with favor, upon the spirit of party. — But in those of
the popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is
a spirit not to be encouraged. — From their natural tendency,
it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for
every salutary purpose, — and there being constant danger
of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion,
to mitigate and assuage it. — A fire not to be quenched; it
demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into
a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.
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It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in
a free country should inspire caution in those intrusted
with its administration, to confine themselves within their
respective constitutional spheres; avoiding in the exercise
of the powers of one department to encroach upon another.
The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers
of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever
the form of government, a real despotism. — A just esti
mate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it,
which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to sat
isfy us of the truth of this position. — The necessity of re
ciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by divid
ing and distributing it into different depositories, and con
stituting each the Guardian of the Public Weal against in
vasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments
ancient and modern ; some of them in our country and under
our own eyes. — To preserve them must be as necessary as to
institute them. If, in the opinion of the People, the dis
tribution or modification of the Constitutional powers be in
any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment
in the way which the constitution designates. — But let there
be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one in
stance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary
weapon by which free governments are destroyed. — The
precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent
evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can at
any time yield. —
Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political
prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable sup
ports. — In vain would that man claim the tribute of
Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars
of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of
Men and Citizens. — The mere Politician, equally with the
pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. — A
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volume could not trace all their connexions with private
and public felicity. — Let it simply be asked where is the
security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense
of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the in
struments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let
us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can
be maintained without religion. — Whatever may be con
ceded to the influence of refined education on minds of pe
culiar structure — reason and experience both forbid us to
expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of
religious principle. —
'T is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a
necessary spring of popular government. — The rule in
deed extends with more or less force to every species of
Free Government. — Who that is a sincere friend to it can
look with indifference upon attempts to shake the founda
tion of the fabric? —
Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, in
stitutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In pro
portion as the structure of a government gives force to
public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should
be enlightened. —
As a very important source of strength and security,
cherish public credit. — One method of preserving it is, to
use it as sparingly as possible: — avoiding occasions of ex
pense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that
timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently pre
vent much greater disbursements to repel it — avoiding like
wise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occa
sions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of Peace
to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have
occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the
burthen which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution
of these maxims belongs to your Representatives, but it is
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necessary that public opinion should cooperate. — To facili
tate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential
that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the
payment of debts there must be Revenue — that to have
Revenue there must be taxes — that no taxes can be devised,
which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant —
that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the se
lection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of
difficulties) ought to be a decisive motive for a candid con
struction of the conduct of the Government in making it, and
for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining
Revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dic
tate.—
Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations.
Cultivate peace and harmony with all. — Religion and
Morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good
policy does not equally enjoin it? — It will be worthy of a
free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great nation,
to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel ex
ample of a People always guided by an exalted justice and
benevolence. — Who can doubt that in the course of time
and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay
any temporary advantages, which might be lost by a steady
adherence to it? Can it be that Providence has not con
nected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its virtue?
The experiment, at least, is recommended by every senti
ment which ennobles human nature. — Alas! is it rendered
impossible by its vices?
In the execution of such a plan nothing is more essential
than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against par
ticular nations and passionate attachments for others,
should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and
amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. — The
Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual hatred
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or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a
slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is
sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. —
Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more
readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight
causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable,
when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. —
Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed and bloody
contests. — The Nation prompted by ill-will and resent
ment, sometimes impels to War the Government, contrary
to the best calculations of policy. — The Government some
times participates in the national propensity, and adopts
through passion what reason would reject; — at other times,
it makes the animosity of the Nation subservient to proj
ects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other
sinister and pernicious motives. — The peace often, some
times perhaps the Liberty, of Nations has been the
victim. —
So likewise a passionate attachment of one Nation for
another produces a variety of evils. — Sympathy for the
favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary
common interest in cases where no real common interest
exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, be
trays the former into a participation in the quarrels and
wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justi
fication. It leads also to concessions to the favorite Nation
of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure
the Nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily part
ing with what ought to have been retained; and by excit
ing jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the
parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it
gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens, (who de
vote themselves to the favorite Nation) facility to betray
or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without
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odium, sometimes even with popularity: — gilding, with the
appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commend
able deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for
public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition,
corruption, or infatuation. —
As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways,
such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly
enlightened and independent Patriot. — How many oppor
tunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to
practise the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to
influence or awe the public councils ! Such an attachment
of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation,
dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, I con
jure you to believe me, fellow-citizens, the jealousy of a
free people ought to be constantly awake; since history
and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the
most baneful foes of republican Government. — But that
jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes
the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead
of a defense against it. — Excessive partiality for one
foreign nation, and excessive dislike of another, cause those
whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and
serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the
other. Real Patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the
favourite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while
its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of
the people, to surrender their interests. —
The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign
Nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have
with them as little Political connection as possible. — So far
as we have already formed engagements, let them be ful
filled with perfect good faith. — Here let us stop. —
Europe has a set of urimary interests, which to us have
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none, or a very remote relation. — Hence she must be en
gaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are
essentially foreign to our concerns. — Hence, therefore, it
must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial
ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordi
nary combinations and collisions of her friendships, or
enmities.
Our detached and distant situation invites and enables
us to pursue a different course. — If we remain one People,
under an efficient government, the period is not far off,
when we may defy material injury from external annoy
ance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the
neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupu
lously respected. When belligerent nations, under the
impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not
lightly hazard the giving us provocation when we may
choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by our justice,
shall counsel.
Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? —
Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? — Why,
by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of
Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of
European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? —
'T is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alli
ances, with any portion of the foreign world; — so far, I
mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; — for let me not be
understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing
engagements. (I hold the maxim no less applicable to
public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the
best policy.) — I repeat it therefore let those engagements
be observed in their genuine sense. — But in my opinion it is
unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them. —
Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable estab
lishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may
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safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emer
gencies. —
Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recom
mended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our
commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand :
— neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or prefer
ences ; — consulting the natural course of things ; — diffusing
and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce,
but forcing nothing; — establishing with Powers so disposed
— in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights
of our Merchants, and to enable the Government to sup
port them — conventional rules of intercourse, the best that
present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit; but
temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or
varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; con
stantly keeping in view, that 't is folly in one nation to look
for disinterested favors from another; — that it must pay
with a portion of its independence for whatever it may
accept under that character — that by such acceptance, it
may place itself in the condition of having given equiva
lents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with
ingratitude for not giving more. — There can be no greater
error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from
Nation to Nation. 'T is an illusion, which experience must
cure, which a just pride ought to discard.
In offering to you, my Countrymen, these counsels of an
old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make
the strong and lasting impression, I could wish, — that they
will controul the usual current of the passions, or prevent
our Nation from running the course which has hitherto
marked the destiny of Nations. But if I may even flatter
myself, that they may be productive of some partial bene
fit; some occasional good; that they may now and then
recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against
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the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the im
postures of pretended patriotism, this hope will be a full
recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which
they have been dictated. —
How far in the discharge of my official duties, I have
been guided by the principles which have been delineated,
the public Records and other evidences of my conduct must
witness to You and to the world. — To myself the assurance
of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed my
self to be guided by them.
In relation to the still subsisting War in Europe, my
Proclamation of the 22d of April 1793 is the index to my
plan. — Sanctioned by your approving voice and by that of
your Representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit
of that measure has continually governed me: — uninflu
enced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it.
After deliberate examination with the aid of the best
lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country,
under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to
take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a Neutral
position. — Having taken it, I determined, as far as should
depend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, persever
ance, and firmness. —
The considerations which respect the right to hold this
conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will
only observe, that, according to my understanding of the
matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the
Belligerent Powers, has been virtually admitted by all. —
The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred,
without any thing more, from the obligation which justice
and humanity impose on every Nation, in cases in which
it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of Peace
and Amity towards other Nations. —
The inducements of interest for observing that conduct
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will best be referred to your own reflections and experience.
— With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavour
to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet
recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to
that degree of strength and consistency, which is necessary
to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own
fortunes.
Though, in reviewing the incidents of my Administra
tion, I am unconscious of intentional error — I am neverthe
less too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that
I may have committed many errors. — Whatever they may
be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate
the evils to which they may tend. — I shall also carry with
me the hope that my country will never cease to view them
with indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life
dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of
incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as my
self must soon be to the mansions of rest.
Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and
actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural
to a man, who views in it the native soil of himself and his
progenitors for several generations; — I anticipate with
pleasing expectation that retreat, in which I promise my
self to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of par
taking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign in
fluence of good Laws under a free Government, the ever
favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I
trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.
176
Treaty with France 1803
Treaty with France for the Cession of Louisiana, Con
cluded at Paris April 30, 1803; Ratification Advised by
Senate October 20, 1803; Ratified by President October 21,
1803; Ratifications Exchanged at Washington October 21,
1803; Proclaimed October 21, 1803.
The President of the United States of America, and the
First Consul of the French Republic, in the name of the
French people, desiring to remove all source of misunder
standing relative to objects of discussion mentioned in the
second and fifth articles of the convention of the 8th Ven-
demiaire, an 9 (30th September, 1800) relative to the rights
claimed by the United States, in virtue of the treaty con
cluded at Madrid, the 27th of October, 1795, between His
Catholic Majesty and the said United States, and willing
to strengthen the union and friendship which at the time of
the said convention was happily re-established between the
two nations, have respectively named their Plenipotentiaries,
to wit: the President of the United States, [of America,] by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the said
States, Robert R. Livingston, Minister Plenipotentiary of
the United States, and James Monroe, Minister Plenipoten
tiary and Envoy Extraordinary of the said States, near the
Government of the French Republic; and the First Consul,
in the name of the French people, Citizen Francis Barbe
Marbois, Minister of the Public Treasury; who, after having
respectively exchanged their full powers, have agreed to the
following articles:
ARTICLE I
Whereas by the article the third of the treaty concluded
at St. Idelfonso, the 9th Vendemiaire, an 9 (1st October,
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1800,) between the First Consul of the French Republic and
His Catholic Majesty, it was agreed as follows: "His
Catholic Majesty promises and engages on his part, to cede
to the French Republic, six months after the full and entire
execution of the conditions and stipulations herein relative
to His Royal Highness the Duke of Parma, the colony or
province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it now has
in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed
it, and such as it should be after the treaties subsequently
entered into between Spain and other States." And whereas,
in pursuance of the treaty, and particularly of the third arti
cle, the French Republic has an incontestable title to the
domain and to the possession of the said territory: The
First Consul of the French Republic desiring to give to the
United States a strong proof of his friendship, doth hereby
cede to the said United States, in the name of the French
Republic, forever and in full sovereignty, the said territory,
with all its rights and appurtenances, as fully and in the
same manner as they have been acquired by the French
Republic, in virtue of the above-mentioned treaty, concluded
with His Catholic Majesty.
ARTICLE II
In the cession made by the preceding article are included
the adjacent islands belonging to Louisiana, all public lots
and squares, vacant lands, and all public buildings, forti
fications, barracks and other edifices which are not private
property. The archives, papers, and documents, relative to
the domain and sovereignty of Louisiana and its depend
ences, will be left in the possession of the commissaries of
the United States, and copies will be afterwards given in
due form to the magistrates and municipal officers of such
of the said papers and documents as may be necessary
to them.
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ARTICLE III
The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incor
porated in the Union of the United States, and admitted as
soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal
constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages,
and immunities of citizens of the United States ; and in the
mean time they shall be maintained and protected in the
free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion
which they profess.
ARTICLE IV
There shall be sent by the Government of France a com
missary to Louisiana, to the end that he do every act neces
sary, as well to receive from the officers of His Catholic
Majesty the said country and its dependences, in the name
of the French Republic, if it has not been already done, as
to transmit it in the name of the French Republic to the
commissary or agent of the United States.
ARTICLE v
Immediately after the ratification of the present treaty
by the President of the United States, and in case that of
the First Consul shall have been previously obtained, the
commissary of the French Republic shall remit all military
posts of New Orleans, and other parts of the ceded territory,
to the commissary or commissaries named by the President
to take possession ; the troops, whether of France or Spain,
who may be there shall cease to occupy any military post
from the time of taking possession, and shall be embarked
as soon as possible, in the course of three months after the
ratification of this treaty.
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ARTICLE VI
The United States promise to execute such treaties and
articles as may have been agreed between Spain and the
tribes and nations of Indians, until, by mutual consent of the
United States and the said tribes or nations, other suitable
articles shall have been agreed upon.
ARTICLE VII
As it is reciprocally advantageous to the commerce of
France and the United States to encourage the communica
tion of both nations for a limited time in the country ceded
by the present treaty, until general arrangements relative to
the commerce of both nations may be agreed on ; it has been
agreed between the contracting parties, that the French
ships coming directly from France or any of her colonies,
loaded only with the produce and manufactures of France or
her said colonies; and the ships of Spain coming directly
from Spain or any of her colonies, loaded only with the pro
duce or manufactures of Spain or her colonies, shall be
admitted during the space of twelve years in the port of New
Orleans, and in all other legal ports of entry within the
ceded territory, in the same manner as the ships of the United
States coming directly from France or Spain, or any of their
colonies, without being subject to any other or greater duty
on merchandize, or other or greater tonnage than that paid
by the citizens of the United States.
During the space of time above mentioned, no other nation
shall have a right to the same privileges in the ports of the
ceded territory; the twelve years shall commence three
months after the exchange of ratifications, if it shall take
place in France, or three months after it shall have been
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notified at Paris to the French Government, if it shall take
place in the United States; it is however well understood
that the object of the above article is to favor the manu
factures, commerce, freight, and navigation of France and of
Spain, so far as relates to the importations that the French
and Spanish shall make into the said ports of the United
States, without in any sort affecting the regulations that
the United States may make concerning the exportation of
the produce and merchandize of the United States, or any
right they may have to make such regulations.
ARTICLE VIII
In future and forever after the expiration of the twelve
years, the ships of France shall be treated upon the footing
of the most favoured nations in the ports above mentioned.
ARTICLE IX
The particular convention signed this day by the respec
tive ministers, having for its object to provide for the pay
ment of debts due to the citizens of the United States by the
French Republic prior to the 30th Septr., 1800, (8th Vende-
miaire, an 9,) is approved, and to have its execution in the
same manner as if it had been inserted in this present treaty ;
and it shall be ratified in the same form and in the same
time, so that the one shall not be ratified distinct from the
other.
Another particular convention signed at the same date as
the present treaty relative to a definitive rule between the
contracting parties is in the like manner approved, and will
be ratified in the same form, and in the same time, and
j ointly.
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ARTICLE X
The present treaty shall be ratified in good and due form,
and the ratifications shall be exchanged in the space of six
months after the date of the signature by the Ministers
Plenipotentiary, or sooner if possible.
In faith whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have
signed these articles in the French and English languages ;
declaring nevertheless that the present treaty was originally
agreed to in the French language ; and have thereunto affixed
their seals.
Done at Paris the tenth day of Floreal, in the eleventh
year of the French Republic, and the 30th of April, 1803.
ROBT. R. LIVINGSTON [L. s.]
JAS. MONROE [L. s.]
F. BARBE" MARBOIS [L. s.]
182
Treaty with Great Britain 1814
Treaty of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Ma
jesty and the United States of America, Concluded at Ghent
December 24, 1814; Ratification Advised by Senate Febru
ary 16, 1815; Ratified by President February 17, 1815;
Ratifications Exchanged at Washington February 17, 1815;
Proclaimed February 18, 1815.
His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America,
desirous of terminating the war which has unhappily sub
sisted between the two countries, and of restoring, upon
principles of perfect reciprocity, peace, friendship, and good
understanding between them, have, for that purpose,
appointed their respective Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:
His Britannic Majesty, on his part, has appointed the
Right Honourable James Lord Gambier, late Admiral of
the White, now Admiral of the Red Squadron of His Maj
esty's fleet, Henry Goulburn, Esquire, a member of the
Imperial Parliament, and Under Secretary of State, and
William Adams, Esquire, Doctor of Civil Laws; and the
President of the United States, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate thereof, has appointed John Quincy
Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell,
and Albert Gallatin, citizens of the United States ;
Who, after a reciprocal communication of their respective
full powers, have agreed upon the following articles :
ARTICLE I
There shall be a firm and universal peace between His
Britannic Majesty and the United States, and between their
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respective countries, territories, cities, towns, and people,
of every degree, without exception of places or persons. All
hostilities, both by sea and land, shall cease as soon as this
treaty shall have been ratified by both parties, as hereinafter
mentioned. All territory, places, and possessions whatso
ever, taken by either party from the other during the war,
or which may be taken after the signing of this treaty,
excepting only the islands hereinafter mentioned, shall
be restored without delay, and without causing any destruc
tion or carrying away any of the artillery or other public
property originally captured in the said forts or places,
and which shall remain therein upon the exchange of the
ratifications of this treaty, or any slaves or other private
property. And all archives, records, deeds, and papers,
either of a public nature or belonging to private persons,
which, in the course of the war, may have fallen into the
hands of the officers of either party, shall be, as far as may be
practicable, forthwith restored and delivered to the proper
authorities and persons to whom they respectively belong.
Such of the islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy as are
claimed by both parties, shall remain in the possession of the
party in whose occupation they may be at the time of the ex
change of the ratifications of this treaty, until the decision
respecting the title to the said islands shall have been made
in conformity with the fourth article of this treaty. No dis
position made by this treaty as to such possession of the
islands and territories claimed by both parties shall, in any
manner whatever, be construed to affect the right of either.
ARTICLE II
Immediately after the ratifications of this treaty by both
parties, as hereinafter mentioned, orders shall be sent to the
armies, squadrons, officers, subjects and citizens of the two
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Powers to cease from all hostilities. And to prevent all
causes of complaint which might arise on account of the
prizes which may be taken at sea after the said ratifications
of this treaty, it is reciprocally agreed that all vessels and
effects which may be taken after the space of twelve days
from the said ratifications, upon all parts of the coast of
North America, from the latitude of twenty-three degrees
north to the latitude of fifty degrees north, and as far
eastward in the Atlantic Ocean as the thirty-sixth
degree of west longitude from the meridian of Green
wich, shall be restored on each side: that the time shall
be thirty days in all other parts of the Atlantic Ocean north
of the equinoctial line or equator, and the same time for the
British and Irish Channels, for the Gulf of Mexico, and all
parts of the West Indies; forty days for the North Seas,
for the Baltic, and for all parts of the Mediterranean; sixty
days for the Atlantic Ocean south of the equator, as far
as the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope; ninety days for
every other part of the world south of the equator ; and one
hundred and twenty days for all other parts of the world,
without exception.
ARTICLE III
All prisoners of war taken on either side, as well by land
as by sea, shall be restored as soon as practicable after the
ratifications of this treaty, as hereinafter mentioned, on their
paying the debts which they may have contracted during
their captivity. The two contracting parties respectively
engage to discharge, in specie, the advances which may have
been made by the other for the sustenance and maintenance
of such prisoners.
ARTICLE IV
Whereas it was stipulated by the second article in the
treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-
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three, between His Britannic Majesty and the United
States of America, that the boundary of the United States
should comprehend all islands within twenty leagues of any
part of the shores of the United States, and lying between
lines to be drawn due east from the points where the afore
said boundaries, between Nova Scotia on the one part, and
East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay
of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such islands as
now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of Nova
Scotia ; and whereas the several islands in the Bay of Passa-
maquoddy, which is part of the Bay of Fundy, and the Is
land of Grand Menan, in the said Bay of Fundy, are claimed
by the United States as being comprehended within their
aforesaid boundaries, which said islands are claimed as be
longing to His Britannic Majesty, as having been, at the time
of and previous to the aforesaid treaty of one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-three, within the limits of the Province
of Nova Scotia : In order, therefore, finally to decide upon
these claims, it is agreed that they shall be referred to two
Commissioners to be appointed in the following manner,
viz : One Commissioner shall be appointed by His Britannic
Majesty, and one by the President of the United States, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof;
and the said two Commissioners so appointed shall be sworn
impartially to examine and decide upon the said claims
according to such evidence as shall be laid before them on
the part of His Britannic Majesty and of the United States
respectively. The said Commissioners shall meet at St.
Andrews, in the Province of New Brunswick, and shall have
power to adjourn to such other place or places as they shall
think fit. The said Commissioners shall, by a declaration
or report under their hands and seals, decide to which of the
two contracting parties the several islands aforesaid do
respectively belong, in conformity with the true intent of the
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said treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and
eighty-three. And if the said Commissioners shall agree
in their decision, both parties shall consider such decision
as final and conclusive. It is further agreed that, in the
event of the two Commissioners differing upon all or any
of the matters so referred to them, or in the event of both
or either of the said Commissioners refusing, or declining,
or wilfully omitting to act as such, they shall make, jointly
or separately, a report or reports, as well to the Government
of His Britannic Majesty as to that of the United States,
stating in detail the points on which they differ, and the
grounds upon which their respective opinions have been
formed, or the grounds upon which they, or either of them,
have so refused, declined, or omitted to act. And His Bri
tannic Majesty and the Government of the United States
hereby agree to refer the report or reports of the said Com
missioners to some friendly sovereign or State, to be then
named for that purpose, and who shall be requested to decide
on the differences which may be stated in the said report
or reports, or upon the report of one Commissioner, together
with the grounds upon which the other Commissioner shall
have refused, declined, or omitted to act, as the case may be.
And if the Commissioner so refusing, declining, or omitting
to act, shall also wilfully omit to state the grounds upon
which he has so done, in such manner that the said statement
may be referred to such friendly sovereign or State, together
with the report of such other Commissioner, then such sover
eign or State shall decide ex parte upon the said report alone.
And His Britannic Majesty and the Government of the
United States engage to consider the decision of such
friendly sovereign or State to be final and conclusive on all
the matters so referred.
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ARTICLE V
Whereas neither that point of the highlands lying due
north from the source of the river St. Croix, and designated
in the former treaty of peace between the two Powers as
the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, nor the northwestern-
most head of Connecticut River, has yet been ascertained;
and whereas that part of the boundary line between the
dominions of the two Powers which extends from the source
of the river St. Croix directly north to the abovementioned
northwest angle of Nova Scotia, thence along the said high
lands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into
the river St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlan
tic Ocean to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River,
thence down along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth
degree of north latitude ; thence by a line due west on said
latitude until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy, has
not yet been surveyed : it is agreed that for these several pur
poses two Commissioners shall be appointed, sworn, and
authorized to act exactly in the manner directed with respect
to those mentioned in the next preceding article, unless other
wise specified in the present article. The said Commissioners
shall meet at St. Andrews, in the Province of New Brunswick,
and shall have power to adj ourn to such other place or places
as they shall think fit. The said Commissioners shall have
power to ascertain and determine the points above mentioned,
in conformity with the provisions of the said treaty of peace
of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and shall
cause the boundary aforesaid, from the source of the river
St. Croix to the river Iroquois or Cataraquy, to be surveyed
and marked according to the said provisions. The said Com
missioners shall make a map of the said boundary, and annex
to it a declaration under their hands and seals, certifying
it to be the true map of the said boundary, and particulariz-
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ing the latitude and longitude of the northwest angle of
Nova Scotia, of the northwesternmost head of Connecticut
River, and of such other points of the said boundary as they
may deem proper. And both parties agree to consider such
map and declaration as finally and conclusively fixing the
said boundary. And in the event of the said two Commis
sioners differing, or both or either of them refusing, declin
ing, or wilfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations, or
statements shall be made by them, or either of them, and
such reference to a friendly sovereign or State shall be made
in all respects as in the latter part of the fourth article is
contained, and in as full a manner as if the same was herein
repeated.
ARTICLE VI
Whereas by the former treaty of peace that portion of the
boundary of the United States from the point where the
forty-fifth degree of north latitude strikes the river Iroquois
or Cataraquy to the Lake Superior, was declared to be
" along the middle of said river into Lake Ontario, through
the middle of said lake, until it strikes the communication
by water between that lake and Lake Erie, thence along the
middle of said communication into Lake Erie, through the
middle of said lake until it arrives at the water communi
cation into Lake Huron, thence through the middle of said
lake to the water communication between that lake and
Lake Superior ; " and whereas doubts have arisen what was
the middle of the said river, lakes, and water communi
cations, and whether certain islands lying in the same were
within the dominions of His Britannic Majesty or of the
United States : In order, therefore, finally to decide these
doubts, they shall be referred to two Commissioners, to
be appointed, sworn, and authorized to act exactly in the
manner directed with respect to those mentioned in the
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next preceding article, unless otherwise specified in this
present article. The said Commissioners shall meet, in the
first instance, at Albany, in the State of New York, and shall
have power to adjourn to such other place or places as they
shall think fit. The said Commissioners shall, by a report or
declaration, under their hands and seals, designate the
boundary through the said river, lakes, and water communi
cations, and decide to which of the two contracting parties
the several islands lying within the said rivers, lakes, and
water communications, do respectively belong, in conformity
with the true intent of the said treaty of one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-three. And both parties agree to con
sider such designation and decision as final and conclusive.
And in the event of the said two Commissioners differing, or
both or either of them refusing, declining, or wilfully omit
ting to act, such reports, declarations, or statements shall
be made by them, or either of them, and such reference to
a friendly sovereign or State shall be made in all respects as
in the latter part of the fourth article is contained and in as
full a manner as if the same was herein repeated.
ARTICLE VII
It is further agreed that the said two last-mentioned Com
missioners, after they shall have executed the duties assigned
to them in the preceding article, shall be, and they are
hereby, authorized upon their oaths impartially to fix and
determine, according to the true intent of the said treaty
of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three,
that part of the boundary between the dominions of the two
Powers which extends from the water communication be
tween Lake Huron and Lake Superior, to the most north
western point of the Lake of the Woods, to decide to which
of the two parties the several islands lying in the lakes,
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water communications, and rivers, forming the said bound
ary, do respectively belong, in conformity with the true
intent of the said treaty of peace of one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-three; and to cause such parts of the
said boundary as require it to be surveyed and marked. The
said Commissioners shall, by a report or declaration under
their hands and seals, designate the boundary aforesaid,
state their decision on the points thus referred to them,
and particularize the latitude and longitude of the most
northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods, and of such
other parts of the said boundary as they may deem proper.
And both parties agree to consider such designation- and
decision as final and conclusive. And in the event of the
said two Commissioners differing, or both or either of them
refusing, declining, or wilfully omitting to act, such reports,
declarations, or statements shall be made by them, or either
of them, and such reference to a friendly sovereign or State
shall be made in all respects as in the latter part of the
fourth article is contained, and in as full a manner as if the
same was herein repeated.
ARTICLE VIII
The several boards of two Commissioners mentioned in
the four preceding articles shall respectively have power to
appoint a secretary, and to employ such surveyors or other
persons as they shall judge necessary. Duplicates of all
their respective reports, declarations, statements, and deci
sions, and of their accounts, and of the journal of their pro
ceedings, shall be delivered by them to the agents of His
Britannic Majesty and to the agents of the United States,
who may be respectively appointed and authorized to manage
the business on behalf of their respective Governments. The
said Commissioners shall be respectively paid in such manner
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as shall be agreed between the two contracting parties, such
agreement being to be settled at the time of the exchange of
the ratifications of this treaty. And all other expenses attend
ing the said commissions shall be defrayed equally by the
two parties. And in the case of death, sickness, resignation,
or necessary absence, the place of every such Commissioner,
respectively, shall be supplied in the same manner as such
Commissioner was first appointed, and the new Commis
sioner shall take the same oath or affirmation, and do the same
duties. It is further agreed between the two contracting
parties, that in case any of the islands mentioned in any of
the preceding articles, which were in the possession of one
of the parties prior to the commencement of the present war
between the two countries, should, by the decision of any of
the boards of Commissioners aforesaid, or of the sovereign
or State so referred to, as in the four next preceding articles
contained, fall within the dominions of the other party, all
grants of land made previous to the commencement of the
war, by the party having had such possession, shall be as
valid as if such island or islands had, by such decision or
decisions, been adjudged to be within the dominions of the
party having had such possession.
ARTICLE IX
The United States of America engage to put an end,
immediately after the ratification of the present treaty, to
hostilities with all the tribes or nations of Indians with
whom they may be at war at the time of such ratification ; and
forthwith to restore to such tribes or nations, respectively,
all the possessions, rights, and privileges which they may
have enjoyed or been entitled to in one thousand eight
hundred and eleven, previous to such hostilities: Provided
always that such tribes or nations shall agree to desist from
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all hostilities against the United States of America, their
citizens and subjects, upon the ratification of the present
treaty being notified to such tribes or nations, and shall so
desist accordingly. And His Britannic Majesty engages,
on his part, to put an end immediately after the ratification
of the present treaty, to hostilities with all the tribes or
nations of Indians with whom he may be at war at the time
of such ratification, and forthwith to restore to such tribes
or nations respectively all the possessions, rights, and privi
leges which they may have enjoyed or been entitled to in
one thousand eight hundred and eleven, previous to such hos
tilities : Provided always that such tribes or nations shall
agree to desist from all hostilities against His Britannic
Majesty, and his subjects, upon the ratification of the
present treaty being notified to such tribes or nations, and
shall so desist accordingly.
ARTICLE X
Whereas the traffic in slaves is irreconcilable with the
principles of humanity and justice, and whereas both His
Majesty and the United States are desirous of continuing
their efforts to promote its entire abolition, it is hereby
agreed that both the contracting parties shall use their best
endeavours to accomplish so desirable an object.
ARTICLE XI
This treaty, when the same shall have been ratified on both
sides, without alteration by either of the contracting parties,
and the ratifications mutually exchanged, shall be binding
on both parties, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at
Washington, in the space of four months from this day, or
sooner if practicable.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, have
signed this treaty, and have thereunto affixed our seals.
Done, in triplicate, at Ghent, the twenty-fourth day of
December, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen.
GAMBIER [L. s.]
HENRY GOULBURN [L. s.]
WILLIAM ADAMS [L. s.]
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS [L. s.]
J. A. BAYARD [L. s.]
H. CLAY [L. s.]
JONA. RUSSELL [L. s.]
ALBERT GALLATIN [L. s.]
194
Treaty with Spain 1819
Treaty of Amity, Settlement, and Limits between the
United States of America and His Catholic Majesty, Con
cluded at Washington February 22, 1819; Ratification Ad
vised by Senate February 24, 1819; Ratified by President;
Ratified by the King of Spain October 24, 1820; Ratifica
tion Again Advised by Senate February 19, 1821; Ratified
by President February 22, 1821; Ratifications Exchanged
at Washington February 22, 1821; Proclaimed February
22, 1821.
The United States of America and His Catholic Majesty,
desiring to consolidate, on a permanent basis, the friendship
and good correspondence which happily prevails between
the two parties, have determined to settle and terminate
all their differences and pretensions, by a treaty, which shall
designate, with precision, the limits of their respective bor
dering territories in North America.
With this intention the President of the United States has
furnished with their full powers John Quincy Adams, Secre
tary of State of the said United States; and His Catholic
Majesty has appointed the Most Excellent Lord Don Luis
De Onis, Gonzales, Lopez y Vara, Lord of the town of
Rayaces, Perpetual Regidor of the Corporation of the city
of Salamanca, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal American
Order of Isabella the Catholic, decorated with the Lys of
La Vendee, Knight Pensioner of the Royal and Distin
guished Spanish Order of Charles the Third, Member of
the Supreme Assembly of the said Royal Order; of the
Council of His Majesty; His Secretary, with Exercise of
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Decrees,, and His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni
potentiary near the United States of America;
And the said Plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged
their powers, have agreed upon and concluded the following
articles :
ARTICLE I
There shall be a firm and inviolable peace and sincere
friendship between the United States and their citizens and
His Catholic Majesty, his successors and subjects, without
exception of persons or places.
ARTICLE II
His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States, in full
property and sovereignty, all the territories which belong to
him, situated to the eastward of the Mississippi, known by
the name of East and West Florida. The adjacent islands
dependent on said provinces, all public lots and squares,
vacant lands, public edifices, fortifications, barracks, and
other buildings, which are not private property, archives and
documents, which relate directly to the property and sover
eignty of said provinces, are included in this article. The
said archives and documents shall be left in possession of
the commissaries or officers of the United States, duly
authorized to receive them.
ARTICLE III
The boundary line between the two countries, west of the
Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulph of Mexico, at the mouth
of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the
western bank of that river, to the 32d degree of latitude;
thence, by a line due north, to the degree of latitude where
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it strikes the Rio Roxo of Nachitoches, or Red River; then
following the course of the Rio Roxo westward, to the degree
of longitude 100 west from London and 23 from Washing
ton; then, crossing the said Red River, and running thence
by a line due north, to the river Arkansas ; thence, following
the course of the southern bank of the Arkansas, to its
source, in latitude 42 north ; and thence, by that parallel of
latitude, to the South Sea. The whole being as laid down
in Melish's map of the United States, published at Phila
delphia, improved to the first of January, 1818. But if the
source of the Arkansas River shall be found to fall north or
south of latitude 42, then the line shall run from the said
source due south or north, as the case may be, till it meets
the said parallel of latitude 42, and thence, along the said
parallel, to the South Sea: All the islands in the Sabine,
and the said Red and Arkansas Rivers, throughout the course
thus described, to belong to the United States ; but the use
of the waters, and the navigation of the Sabine to the sea, and
of the said rivers Roxo and Arkansas, throughout the extent
of the said boundary, on their respective banks, shall be com
mon to the respective inhabitants of both nations.
The two high contracting parties agree to cede and
renounce all their rights, claims, and pretensions, to the terri
tories described by the said line, that is to say: The United
States hereby cede to His Catholic Majesty, and renounce
forever, all their rights, claims, and pretensions, to the
territories lying west and south of the above-described line ;
and, in like manner, His Catholic Majesty cedes to the said
United States all his rights, claims, and pretensions to any
territories east and north of the said line, and for himself,
his heirs, and successors, renounces all claim to the said
territories forever.
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ARTICLE IV
To fix this line with more precision, and to place the land
marks which shall designate exactly the limits of both
nations, each of the contracting parties shall appoint a
Commissioner and a surveyor, who shall meet before the
termination of one year from the date of the ratification of
this treaty at Nachitoches, on the Red River, and proceed
to run and mark the said line, from the mouth of the Sabine
to the Red River, and from the Red River to the river Arkan
sas, and to ascertain the latitude of the source of the said
river Arkansas, in conformity to what is above agreed upon
and stipulated, and the line of latitude 42, to the South
Sea: they shall make out plans, and keep journals of their
proceedings, and the result agreed upon by them shall be
considered as part of this treaty, and shall have the same
force as if it were inserted therein. The two Governments
will amicably agree respecting the necessary articles to
be furnished to those persons, and also as to their respective
escorts, should such be deemed necessary.
ARTICLE V
The inhabitants of the ceded territories shall be secured
in the free exercise of their religion, without any restriction ;
and all those who may desire to remove to the Spanish
dominions shall be permitted to sell or export their effects,
at any time whatever, without being subject, in either case,
to duties.
ARTICLE VI
The inhabitants of the territories which His Catholic
Majesty cedes to the United States, by this treaty, shall
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be incorporated in the Union of the United States, as soon
as may be consistent with the principles of the Federal
Constitution, and admitted to the enjoyment of all the
privileges, rights, and immunities of the citizens of the
United States.
ARTICLE VII
The officers and troops of His Catholic Majesty, in the
territories hereby ceded by him to the United States, shall
be withdrawn, and possession of the places occupied by
them shall be given within six months after the exchange
of the ratifications of this treaty, or sooner if possible, by
the officers of His Catholic Majesty to the commissioners
or officers of the United States duly appointed to receive
them; and the United States shall furnish the transports
and escorts necessary to convey the Spanish officers and
troops and their baggage to the Havana.
ARTICLE VIII
All the grants of land made before the 24th of January,
1818, by His Catholic Majesty, or by his lawful authorities,
in the said territories ceded by His Majesty to the United
States, shall be ratified and confirmed to the persons in
possession of the lands, to the same extent that the same
grants would be valid if the territories had remained under
the dominion of His Catholic Majesty. But the owners in
possession of such lands, who, by reason of the recent circum
stances of the Spanish nation, and the revolutions in Europe,
have been prevented from fulfilling all the conditions of
their grants, shall complete them within the terms limited
in the same, respectively, from the date of this treaty; in
default of which the said grants shall be null and void. All
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grants made since the said 21th of January, 1818,, when the
first proposal, on the part of His Catholic Majesty, for the
cession of the Floridas was made, are hereby declared and
agreed to be null and void.
ARTICLE IX
The two high contracting parties, animated with the most
earnest desire of conciliation, and with the object of putting
an end to all the differences which have existed between
them, and of confirming the good understanding which they
wish to.be forever maintained between them, reciprocally
renounce all claims for damages or injuries which they,
themselves, as well as their respective citizens and subjects,
may have suffered until the time of signing this treaty.
The renunciation of the United States will extend to all
the injuries mentioned in the convention of the llth of
August, 1802.
(2) To all claims on account of prizes made by French
privateers, and condemned by French Consuls, within the
territory and jurisdiction of Spain.
(3) To all claims of indemnities on account of the sus
pension of the right of deposit at New Orleans in 1802.
(4) To all claims of citizens of the United States upon
the Government of Spain, arising from the unlawful seiz
ures at sea, and in the ports and territories of Spain, or the
Spanish colonies.
(5) To all claims of citizens of the United States
upon the Spanish Government, statements of which, solicit
ing the interposition of the Government of the United
States, have been presented to the Department of State,
or to the Minister of the United States in Spain, since the
date of the convention of 1802, and until the signature of
this treaty.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
The renunciation of His Catholic Majesty extends —
(1) To all the injuries mentioned in the convention of
the llth of August, 1802.
(2) To the sums which His Catholic Majesty advanced
for the return of Captain Pike from the Provincias Internas.
(3) To all injuries caused by the expedition of Miranda,
that was fitted out and equipped at New York.
(4) To all claims of Spanish subjects upon the Govern
ment of the United States arizing from unlawful seizures
at sea,, or within the ports and territorial jurisdiction of the
United States.
Finally to all the claims of subjects of His Catholic
Majesty upon the Government of the United States in which
the interposition of his Catholic Majesty's Government has
been solicited., before the date of this treaty and since the
date of the convention of 1802, or which may have been
made to the department of foreign affairs of His Majesty,
or to His Minister in the United States.
And the high contracting parties, respectively, renounce
all claim to indemnities for any of the recent events or
transactions of their respective commanders and officers
in the Floridas.
The United States will cause satisfaction to be made for
the injuries, if any, which, by process of law, shall be estab
lished to have been suffered by the Spanish officers, and
individual Spanish inhabitants, by the late operations of
the American Army in Florida.
ARTICLE X
The convention entered into between the two Governments,
on the llth of August, 1802, the ratifications of which were
exchanged the 21st December, 1818, is annulled.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE XI
The United States, exonerating Spain from all demands
in future, on account of the claims of their citizens to which
the renunciations herein contained extend, and considering
them entirely cancelled, undertake to make satisfaction for
the same, to an amount not exceeding five millions of dollars.
To ascertain the full amount and validity of those claims,
a commission, to consist of three Commissioners, citizens
of the United States, shall be appointed by the President, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, which com
mission shall meet at the city of Washington, and, within
the space of three years from the time of their first meeting,
shall receive, examine, and decide upon the amount and
validity of all the claims included within the descriptions
above mentioned. The said Commissioners shall take an
oath or affirmation, to be entered on the record of their pro
ceedings, for the faithful and diligent discharge of their
duties ; and, in case of the death, sickness, or necessary ab
sence of any such Commissioner, his place may be supplied by
the appointment, as aforesaid, or by the President of the
United States, during the recess of the Senate, of another
Commissioner in his stead. The said Commissioners shall
be authorized to hear and examine, on oath, every question
relative to the said claims, and to receive all suitable authen
tic testimony concerning the same. And the Spanish
Government shall furnish all such documents and elucida
tions as may be in their possession, for the adjustment of
the said claims, according to the principles of justice, the
laws of nations, and the stipulations of the treaty between
the two parties of 27th October, 1795; the said documents
to be specified, when demanded, at the instance of the said
Commissioners.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
The payment of such claims as may be admitted and
adjusted by the said Commissioners, or the major part of
them, to an amount not exceeding five millions of dollars,
shall be made by the United States, either immediately at
their Treasury, or by the creation of stock, bearing an
interest of six per cent, per annum, payable from the pro
ceeds of sales of public lands within the territories hereby
ceded to the United States, or in such other manner as the
Congress of the United States may prescribe by law.
The records of the proceedings of the said Commissioners,
together with the vouchers and documents produced before
them, relative to the claims to be adjusted and decided upon
by them, shall, after the close of their transactions, be
deposited in the Department of State of the United States ;
and copies of them, or any part of them, shall be furnished
to the Spanish Government, if required, at the demand of
the Spanish Minister in the United States.
ARTICLE XII
The treaty of limits and navigation, of 1795, remains
confirmed in all and each one of its articles excepting the
2, 3, 4, 21, and the second clause of the 22d article, which
having been altered by this treaty, or having received their
entire execution, are no longer valid.
With respect to the 15th article of the same treaty of
friendship, limits, and navigation of 1795, in which it is
stipulated that the flag shall cover the property, the two
high contracting parties agree that this shall be so under
stood with respect to those Powers who recognize this prin
ciple; but if either of the two contracting parties shall be
at war with a third party, and the other neutral, the flag
of the neutral shall cover the property of enemies whose
Government acknowledge this principle, and not of others.
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ARTICLE XIII
Both contracting parties, wishing to favour their mutual
commerce, by affording in their ports every necessary assist
ance to their respective merchant-vessels, have agreed that
the sailors who shall desert from their vessels in the ports
of the other, shall be arrested and delivered up, at the
instance of the Consul, who shall prove, nevertheless, that
the deserters belonged to the vessels that claimed them,
exhibiting the document that is customary in their nation:
that is to say, the American Consul in a Spanish port shall
exhibit the document known by the name of articles, and
the Spanish Consul in American ports the roll of the vessel ;
and if the name of the deserter or deserters who are claimed
shall appear in the one or the other, they shall be arrested,
held in custody, and delivered to the vessel to which they
shall belong.
ARTICLE XIV
The United States hereby certify that they have not
received any compensation from France for the injuries
they suffered from her privateers, Consuls, and tribunals
on the coasts and in the ports of Spain, for the satisfaction
of which provision is made by this treaty; and they will
present an authentic statement of the prizes made, and of
their true value, that Spain may avail herself of the same
in such manner as she may deem just and proper.
ARTICLE xv
The United States, to give to His Catholic Majesty a
proof of their desire to cement the relations of amity sub
sisting between the two nations, and to favour the commerce
of the subjects of His Catholic Majesty, agree that Spanish
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vessels, coming laden only with productions of Spanish
growth or manufactures, directly from the ports of Spain,
or of her colonies, shall be admitted, for the term of twelve
years, to the ports of Pensacola and St. Augustine, in the
Floridas, without paying other or higher duties on their
cargoes, or of tonnage, than will be paid by the vessels
of the United States. During the said term no other nation
shall enjoy the same privileges within the ceded territories.
The twelve years shall commence three months after the
exchange of the ratifications of this treaty.
ARTICLE XVI
The present treaty shall be ratified in due form, by the
contracting parties, and the ratifications shall be exchanged
in six months from this time, or sooner if possible.
In witness whereof we, the underwritten Plenipotentiaries
of the United States of America and of His Catholic Maj
esty, have signed, by virtue of our powers, the present
treaty of amity, settlement, and limits, and have thereunto
affixed our seals, respectively.
Done at Washington this twenty-second day of February,
one thousand eight hundred and nineteen.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS [L. s.]
Luis DE ONIS [L. s.]
205
Missouri Compromise 1820-21
MISSOURI ENABLING ACT
An Act to authorize the people of Missouri Territory
to form a constitution and State government, and for the
admission of such State into the Union on an equal foot
ing with the original States, and to prohibit slavery in cer
tain territories.
Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representa
tives of the United States of America in Congress as
sembled, That the inhabitants of that portion of the Mis
souri Territory included within the boundaries hereinafter
designated, be, and they are hereby, authorized to form
for themselves a constitution and State government, and to
assume such name as they shall deem proper; and the
said State, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union,
upon an equal footing with the original States, in all
respects whatsoever.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said State
shall consist of all the territory included within the follow
ing boundaries, to wit: Beginning in the middle of the Mis
sissippi river, on the parallel of thirty-six degrees of north
latitude; thence west, along that parallel of latitude, to
the St. Francois river ; thence up, and following the course
of that river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to
the parallel of latitude of thirty-six degrees and thirty
minutes; thence west, along the same, to a point where the
said parallel is intersected by a meridian line passing
through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas river, where
206
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
the same empties into the Missouri river, thence from the
point aforesaid north, along the said meridian line, to the
intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through
the rapids of the river Des Moines, making the said line
to correspond with the Indian boundary line; thence east,
from the point of intersection last aforesaid, along the said
parallel of latitude, to the middle of the channel of the
main fork of the said river Des Moines; thence down and
along the main channel of the said river Des Moines, to
the mouth of the same, where it empties into the Missis
sippi river ; thence, due east, to the middle of the main chan
nel of the Mississippi river; thence down, and following
the course of the Mississippi river, in the middle of the
main channel thereof, to the place of beginning : . . . .
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That all free white
male citizens of the United States, who shall have arrived
at the age of twenty-one years, and have resided in said
Territory three months previous to the day of election, and
all other persons qualified to vote for representatives to
the General Assembly of the said Territory, shall be quali
fied to be elected, and they are hereby qualified and au
thorized to vote, and choose representatives to form a
convention, . . .
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the members
of the convention thus duly elected, shall be, and they are
hereby, authorized to meet at the seat of government of
said Territory, on the second Monday of the month of
June next; and the said convention, when so assembled,
shall have power and authority to adjourn to any other
place in the said Territory, which to them shall seem best
for the convenient transaction of their business; and which
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
convention, when so met, shall first determine, by a ma
jority of the whole number elected, whether it be, or be
not, expedient at that time to form a constitution and State
government, for the people within the said Territory, as
included within the boundaries above designated; and, if
it be deemed expedient, the convention shall be and hereby
is, authorized to form a constitution and State government;
or, if it be deemed more expedient, the said convention shall
provide by ordinance for electing representatives to form
a constitution or frame of government; which said repre
sentatives shall be chosen in such manner, and in such pro
portion, as they shall designate; and shall meet at such
time and place as shall be prescribed by the said ordinance ;
and shall then form for the people of said Territory,
within the boundaries aforesaid, a constitution and State
government: Provided, That the same, whenever formed,
shall be republican and not repugnant to the Constitution
of the United States ; and that the Legislature of said State
shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil
by the United States, nor with any regulations Congress
may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to
the bona fide purchasers; and that 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 resi
dents.
SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That, in case a con
stitution and State government shall be formed for the
people of said Territory of Missouri, the said convention
or representatives, as soon thereafter as may be, shall cause
a true and attested copy of such constitution, or frame of
State government, as shall be formed or provided, to be
transmitted to Congress.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That in all that ter
ritory ceded by France to the United States, under the
name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees
and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the
limits of the State, contemplated by this act, slavery and
involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of
crimes, whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted,
shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited: Provided al
ways, That any person escaping into the same, from whom
labor or service is lawfully claimed, in any State or Terri
tory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully
claimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her
labor or services as aforesaid.
Approved, March 6, 1820.
RESOLUTION OF MARCH 2 1821
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That Missouri shall be admitted into this Union on an
equal footing with the original States, in all respects what
ever, upon the fundamental condition, that the fourth
clause of the twenty-sixth section of the third article of
the constitution submitted on the part of said State to
Congress, shall never be construed to authorize the pas
sage of any law, and that no law shall be passed in con
formity thereto, by which any citizen, of either of the
States in this Union, shall be excluded from the enjoy
ment of any of the privileges and immunities to which such
citizen is entitled under the Constitution of the United
States: Provided, That the Legislature of said State, by
a solemn public act, shall declare the assent of the said
State, to the said fundamental condition, and shall transmit
to the President of the United States on or before the
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
fourth Monday in November next, an authentic copy of
the said act; upon the receipt whereof, the President, by
proclamation, shall announce the fact; whereupon, and
without any further proceeding on the part of Congress,
the admission of the said State into the Union shall be
considered as complete.
Approved, March 2, 1821.
210
The Monroe Doctrine 1823
At the proposal of the Russian imperial government,
made through the minister of the Emperor residing here,
a full power and instructions have been transmitted to the
Minister of the United States at St. Petersburgh, to ar
range, by amicable negotiation, the respective rights and
interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this
continent. A similar proposal had been made by his Im
perial Majesty to the government of Great Britain, which
has likewise been acceded to. The government of the
United States has been desirous, by this friendly proceed
ing, of manifesting the great value which they have in
variably attached to the friendship of the emperor, and
their solicitude to cultivate the best understanding with his
government. In the discussions to which this interest has
given rise, and in the arrangements by which they may
terminate, the occasion has been judged proper for assert
ing, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the
United States are involved, that the American continents,
by the free and independent condition which they have as
sumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered
as subjects for future colonization by any European
powers.
*********
It was stated at the commencement of the last session,
that a great effort was then making in Spain and Portugal,
to improve the condition of the people of those countries,
and that it appeared to be conducted with extraordinary
moderation. It need scarcely be remarked, that the result
has been, so far, very different from what was then antici-
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pated. Of events in that quarter of the globe, with which
we have so much intercourse, and from which we derive our
origin, we have always been anxious and interested spec
tators. The citizens of the United States cherish senti
ments the most friendly, in favor of the liberty and happi
ness of their fellow men on that side of the Atlantic. In
the wars of the European powers, in matters relating to
themselves, we have never taken any part, nor does it com
port with our policy so to do. It is only when our rights
are invaded, or seriously menaced, that we resent injuries,
or make preparation for our defence. With the move
ments in this hemisphere, we are, of necessity, more im
mediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious
to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political
system of the allied powers is essentially different, in this
respect, from that of America. This difference proceeds
from that which exists in their respective governments.
And to the defence of our own, which has been achieved
by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by
the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under
which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole na
tion is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to
the amicable relations existing between the United States
and those powers, to declare, that we should consider any
attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion
of this hemisphere, as dangerous to our peace and safety.
With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European
power, we have not interfered, and shall not interfere. But
with the governments who have declared their independence,
and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on
great consideration, and on just principles, acknowledged,
we could not view any interposition for the purpose of
oppressing them, or controlling, in any other manner, their
destiny, by any European power, in any other light than
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as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards
the United States. In the war between those new govern
ments and Spain, we declared our neutrality at the time of
their recognition,, and to this we have adhered, and shall
continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur, which,
in the judgment of the competent authorities of this gov
ernment, shall make a corresponding change, on the part
of the United States, indispensable to their security.
The late events in Spain and Portugal, shew that Europe
is still unsettled. Of this important fact, no stronger proof
can be adduced than that the allied powers should have
thought it proper, on any principle satisfactory to them
selves, to have interposed, by force, in the internal concerns
of Spain. To what extent such interposition may be car
ried, on the same principle, is a question, to which all
independent powers, whose governments differ from theirs,
are interested; even those most remote, and surely none
more so than the United States. Our policy, in regard to
Europe, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars
which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe,
nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to interfere
in the internal concerns of any of its powers ; to consider
the government de facto as the legitimate government for
us; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve
those relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy; meet
ing, in all instances, the just claims of every power; sub
mitting to injuries from none. But, in regard to these
continents, circumstances are eminently and conspicuously
different. It is impossible that the allied powers should
extend their political system to any portion of either con
tinent, without endangering our peace and happiness: nor
can any one believe that our Southern Brethren, if left to
themselves, would adopt it of their own accord. It is
equally impossible, therefore, that we should behold such
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interposition, in any form, with indifference. If we look to
the comparative strength and resources of Spain and those
new governments, and their distance from each other, it
must be obvious that she can never subdue them. It is still
the true policy of the United States to leave the parties
to themselves, in the hope that other powers will pursue
the same course.
214
Treaty with Great Britain 1842
Treaty between the United States of America and Her
Britannic Majesty Relative to Boundaries, Suppression of
the Slave-Trade, and Extradition of Criminals, Concluded
at Washington August 9, 1842; Ratification Advised by
Senate August 20, 1842; Ratified by President August 22,
1842; Ratifications Exchanged at London October 13, 1842;
Proclaimed November 10, 1842.
Whereas certain portions of the line of boundary be
tween the United States of America and the British domin
ions in North America, described in the second article of
the treaty of peace of 1783, have not yet been ascertained
and determined, notwithstanding the repeated attempts
which have been heretofore made for that purpose; and
whereas it is now thought to be for the interest of both
parties, that, avoiding further discussion of their respective
rights, arising in this respect under the said treaty, they
should agree on a conventional line in said portions of the
said boundary, such as may be convenient to both parties,
with such equivalents and compensations as are deemed
just and reasonable; and whereas, by the treaty concluded
at Ghent on the 24th day of December, 1814, between the
United States and His Britannic Majesty, an article was
agreed to and inserted of the following tenor, viz.: "Art.
10. Whereas the traffic in slaves is irreconcilable with the
principles of humanity and justice; and whereas both His
Majesty and the United States are desirous of continuing
their efforts to promote its entire abolition, it is hereby
agreed that both the contracting parties shall use their best
endeavors to accomplish so desirable an object;" and
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whereas, notwithstanding the laws which have at various
times been passed by the two Governments, and the efforts
made to suppress it, that criminal traffic is still prosecuted
and carried on; and whereas the United States of America
and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland are determined that, so far
as may be in their power, it shall be effectually abolished;
and whereas it is found expedient, for the better adminis
tration of justice and the prevention of crime within the
territories and jurisdiction of the two parties respectively,
that persons committing the crimes hereinafter enumerated,
and being fugitives from justice, should, under certain cir
cumstances, be reciprocally delivered up: The United
States of America and Her Britannic Majesty, having re
solved to treat on these several subjects, have for that pur
pose appointed their respective Plenipotentiaries to nego
tiate and conclude a treaty, that is to say:
The President of the United States has, on his part,
furnished with full powers Daniel Webster, Secretary of
State of the United States, and Her Majesty the Queen
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland has,
on her part, appointed the Right Honorable Alexander Lord
Ashburton, a peer of the said United Kingdom, a member
of Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, and Her
Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary on a special mission to
the United States;
Who, after a reciprocal communication of their respec
tive full powers, have agreed to and signed the following
articles :
ARTICLE I
It is hereby agreed and declared that the line of bound
ary shall be as follows: Beginning at the monument at
the source of the river St. Croix as designated and agreed
216
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to by the Commissioners under the fifth article of the treaty
of 1794, between the Governments of the United States
and Great Britain; thence, north,, following the exploring
line run and marked by the surveyors of the two Govern
ments in the years 1817 and 1818, under the fifth article
of the treaty of Ghent, to its intersection with the river
St. John, and to the middle of the channel thereof; thence,
up the middle of the main channel of the said river St.
John, to the mouth of the river St. Francis; thence, up the
middle of the channel of the said river St. Francis, and of
the lakes through which it flows, to the outlet of the Lake
Pohenagamook ; thence, southwesterly, in a straight line,
to a point on the northwest branch of the river St. John,
which point shall be ten miles distant from the main branch
of the St. John, in a straight line, and in the nearest di
rection; but if the said point shall be found to be less than
seven miles from the nearest point of the summit or crest
of the highlands that divide those rivers which empty
themselves into the river Saint Lawrence from those which
fall into the river Saint John, then the said point shall be
made to recede down the said northwest branch of the river
St. John, to a point seven miles in a straight line from the
said summit or crest; thence, in a straight line, in a course
about south, eight degrees west, to the point where the
parallel of latitude of 46° 25' north intersects the south
west branch of the St. John's; thence, southerly, by the
said branch, to the source thereof in the highlands at the
Metjarmette portage; thence, down along the said high
lands which divide the waters which empty themselves into
the river Saint Lawrence from those which fall into the
Atlantic Ocean, to the head of Hall's Stream ; thence, down
the middle of said stream, till the line thus run intersects
the old line of boundary surveyed and marked by Valen
tine and Collins, previously to the year 1774, as the 45th
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
degree of north latitude, and which has been known and
understood to be the line of actual division between the
States of New York and Vermont on one side, and the Brit
ish province of Canada on the other; and from said point
of intersection, west, along the said dividing line, as here
tofore known and understood, to the Iroquois or St. Law
rence River.
ARTICLE II
It is moreover agreed, that from the place where the
joint Commissioners terminated their labors under the sixth
article of the treaty of Ghent, to wit, at a point in the
Neebish Channel, near Muddy Lake, the line shall run into
and along the ship-channel between Saint Joseph and St.
Tammany Islands, to the division of the channel at or near
the head of St. Joseph's Island; thence, turning east-
wardly and northwardly around the lower end of St.
George's or Sugar Island, and following the middle of the
channel which divides St. George's from St. Joseph's Isl
and; thence up the east Neebish Channel, nearest to St.
George's Island, through the middle of Lake George;
thence, west of Jonas' Island, into St. Mary's River, to a
point in the middle of that river, about one mile above St.
George's or Sugar Island, so as to appropriate and assign
the said island to the United States; thence, adopting the
line traced on the maps by the Commissioners, thro' the
river St. Mary and Lake Superior, to a point north of He
Royale, in said lake, one hundred yards to the north and
east of He Chapeau, which last-mentioned island lies near
the northeastern point of He Royale, where the line
marked by the Commissioners terminates; and from the
last-mentioned point, southwesterly, through the middle of
the sound between He Royale and the northwestern main
land, to the mouth of Pigeon River, and up the said river,
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
to and through the north and south Fowl Lakes, to the lakes
of the height of land between Lake Superior and the Lake
of the Woods; thence, along the water communication to Lake
Saisaginaga, and through that lake; thence, to and through
Cypress Lake, Lac du Bois Blanc, Lac la Croix, Little Ver
milion Lake, and Lake Namecan and through the several
smaller lakes, straits, or streams, connecting the lakes here
mentioned, to that point in Lac la Pluie, or Rainy Lake,
at the Chaudiere Falls, from which the Commissioners
traced the line to the most northwestern point of the Lake
of the Woods ; thence, along the said line, to the said most
northwestern point, being in latitude 49° 23' 55" north,
and in longitude Q5° 14' 38" west from the observatory at
Greenwich ; thence, according to existing treaties, due south
to its intersection with the 49th parallel of north latitude,
and along that parallel to the Rocky Mountains. It being
understood that all the water communications and all the
usual portages along the line from Lake Superior to the
Lake of the Woods, and also Grand Portage, from the shore
of Lake Superior to the Pigeon River, as now actually
used, shall be free and open to the use of the citizens and
subjects of both countries.
ARTICLE III
In order to promote the interests and encourage the in
dustry of all the inhabitants of the countries watered by
the river St. John and its tributaries, whether living within
the State of Maine or the province of New Brunswick, it
is agreed that, where, by the provisions of the present
treaty, the river St. John is declared to be the line of
boundary, the navigation of the said river shall be free
and open to both parties, and shall in no way be obstructed
by either; that all the produce of the forest, in logs, lum-
219
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ber, timber, boards, staves, or shingles, or of agriculture,
not being manufactured, grown on any of those parts of
the State of Maine watered by the river St. John, or by
its tributaries, of which fact reasonable evidence shall, if
required, be produced, shall have free access into and
through the said river and its said tributaries, having their
source within the State of Maine, to and from the sea-port
at the mouth of the said river St. John's, and to and round
the falls of the said river, either by boats, rafts, or other
conveyance; that when within the province of New Bruns
wick, the said produce shall be dealt with as if it were the
produce of the said province; that, in like manner, the in
habitants of the territory of the upper St. John, determined
by this treaty to belong to Her Britannic Majesty, shall
have free access to and through the river, for their produce,
in those parts where the said river runs wholly through the
State of Maine; Provided, always, that this agreement
shall give no right to either party to interfere with any
regulations not inconsistent with the terms of this treaty
which the governments, respectively, of Maine or of New
Brunswick may make respecting the navigation of the said
river, where both banks thereof shall belong to the same
party.
ARTICLE IV
All grants of land heretofore made by either party,
within the limits of the territory which by this treaty falls
within the dominions of the other party, shall be held valid,
ratified, and confirmed to the persons in possession under
such grants, to the same extent as if such territory had by
this treaty fallen within the dominions of the party by
whom such grants were made; and all equitable possessory
claims, arising from a possession and improvement of any
lot or parcel of land by the person actually in possession,
220
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
or by those under whom such person claims, for more than
six years before the date of this treaty, shall, in like man
ner, be deemed valid, and be confirmed and quieted by a
release to the person entitled thereto, of the title to such lot
or parcel of land, so described as best to include the im
provements made thereon; and in all other respects the two
contracting parties agree to deal upon the most liberal
principles of equity with the settlers actually dwelling upon
the territory falling to them, respectively, which has here
tofore been in dispute between them.
ARTICLE v
Whereas in the course of the controversy respecting the
disputed territory on the northeastern boundary, some
moneys have been received by the authorities of Her Bri
tannic Majesty's province of New Brunswick, with the
intention of preventing depredations on the forests of the
said territory, which moneys were to be carried to a fund
called the " disputed territory fund," the proceeds whereof
it was agreed should be hereafter paid over to the parties
interested, in the proportions to be determined by a final
settlement of boundaries, it is hereby agreed that a correct
account of all receipts and payments on the said fund shall
be delivered to the Government of the United States within
six months after the ratification of this treaty ; and the pro
portion of the amount due thereon to the States of Maine
and Massachusetts, and any bonds or securities appertain
ing thereto shall be paid and delivered over to the Govern
ment of the United States; and the Government of the
United States agrees to receive for the use of, and pay
over to, the States of Maine and Massachusetts, their re
spective portions of said fund, and further, to pay and
satisfy said States, respectively, for all claims for expenses
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
incurred by them in protecting the said heretofore disputed
territory and making a survey thereof in 1838; the Gov
ernment of the United States agreeing with the States of
Maine and Massachusetts to pay them the further sum of
three hundred thousand dollars, in equal moieties, on ac
count of their assent to the line of boundary described in
this treaty, and in consideration of the conditions and
equivalents received therefor from the Government of Her
Britannic Majesty.
ARTICLE VI
It is furthermore understood and agreed that, for the
purpose of running and tracing those parts of the line be
tween the source of the St. Croix and the St. Lawrence
River which will require to be run and ascertained, and for
marking the residue of said line by proper monuments on
the land, two Commissioners shall be appointed, one by the
President of the United States, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate thereof, and one by Her Britannic
Majesty; and the said Commissioners shall meet at Bangor,
in the State of Maine, on the first day of May next, or as
soon thereafter as may be, and shall proceed to mark the
line above described, from the source of St. Croix to the
river St. John ; and shall trace on proper maps the dividing-
line along said river and along the river St. Francis to the
outlet of the Lake Pohenagamook; and from the outlet of
the said lake they shall ascertain, fix, and mark, by proper
and durable monuments on the land, the line described
in the first article of this treaty; and the said Commis
sioners shall make to each of their respective Governments
a joint report or declaration, under their hands and seals,
designating such line of boundary, and shall accompany
such report or declaration with maps, certified by them to
be true maps of the new boundary.
222
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE VII
It is further agreed that the channels in the river St.
Lawrence on both sides of the Long Sault Islands and of
Barnhart Island, the channels in the river Detroit on both
sides of the island Bois Blanc, and between that island and
both the American and Canadian shores, and all the several
channels and passages between the various islands lying
near the junction of the river St. Clair with the lake of
that name, shall be equally free and open to the ships,
vessels, and boats of both parties.
ARTICLE VIII
The parties mutually stipulate that each shall prepare,
equip, and maintain in service on the coast of Africa a
sufficient and adequate squadron or naval force of vessels
of suitable numbers and descriptions, to carry in all not
less than eighty guns, to enforce, separately and respec
tively, the laws, rights and obligations of each of the two
countries for the suppression of the slave-trade, the said
squadrons to be independent of each other, but the two
Governments stipulating, nevertheless, to give such orders
to the officers commanding their respective forces as shall
enable them most effectually to act in concert and co-op
eration, upon mutual consultation, as exigencies may arise,
for the attainment of the true object of this article, copies
of all such orders to be communicated by each Govern
ment to the other, respectively.
ARTICLE IX
Whereas, notwithstanding all efforts which may be made
on the coast of Africa for suppressing the slave-trade, the
223
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
facilities for carrying on that traffic and avoiding the vigi
lance of cruisers, by the fraudulent use of flags and other
means, are so great, and the temptations for pursuing it,
while a market can be found for slaves, so strong, as that
the desired result may be long delayed unless all markets
be shut against the purchase of African negroes, the parties
to this treaty agree that they will unite in all becoming
representations and remonstrances with any and all Powers
within whose dominions such markets are allowed to exist,
and that they will urge upon all such Powers the propriety
and duty of closing such markets effectually, at once and
forever.
ARTICLE x
It is agreed that the United States and Her Britannic
Majesty shall, upon mutual requisitions by them, or their
Ministers, officers, or authorities, respectively made, de
liver up to justice all persons who, being charged with the
crime of murder, or assault with intent to commit murder,
or piracy, or arson, or robbery, or forgery, or the utter
ance of forged paper, committed within the jurisdiction of
either, shall seek an asylum or shall be found within the
territories of the other: Provided, that this shall only be
done upon such evidence of criminality as, according to the
laws of the place where the fugitive or person so charged
shall be found, would justify his apprehension and commit
ment for trial if the crime or offence had there been com
mitted; and the respective judges and other magistrates of
the two Governments shall have power, jurisdiction, and
authority, upon complaint made under oath, to issue a war
rant for the apprehension of the fugitive or person so
charged, that he may be brought before such judges or
other magistrates, respectively, to the end that the evidence
of criminality may be heard and considered; and if, on
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such hearing, the evidence be deemed sufficient to sustain
the charge, it shall be the duty of the examining judge or
magistrate to certify the same to the proper executive au
thority, that a warrant may issue for the surrender of such
fugitive. The expense of such apprehension and delivery
shall be borne and defrayed by the party who makes the
requisition and receives the fugitive.
ARTICLE XI
The eighth article of this treaty shall be in force for five
years from the date of the exchange of the ratification, and
afterwards until one or the other party shall signify a wish
to terminate it. The tenth article shall continue in force
until one or the other of the parties shall signify its wish
to terminate it, and no longer.
ARTICLE XII
The present treaty shall be duly ratified, and the mutual
exchange of ratification shall take place in London, within
six months from the date hereof, or earlier if possible.
In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries,
have signed this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals.
Done in duplicate at Washington, the ninth day of Au
gust, anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and forty-
two.
DANL. WEBSTER [L. s.]
ASHBURTON [L. S.]
225
Treaty with Great Britain 1846
Treaty between the United States of America and Her
Britannic Majesty for Settlement of Boundary West of
the Rocky Mountains, Concluded at Washington, June 15,
184-6; Ratification Advised by Senate June 18, 1846; Rati
fied by President June 19, 1846; Ratifications Exchanged
at London July 17, 1846; Proclaimed August 5, 1846.
The United States of America and Her Majesty the
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire
land, deeming it to be desirable for the future welfare of
both countries that the state of doubt and uncertainty
which has hitherto prevailed respecting the sovereignty and
government of the territory on the northwest coast of
America, lying westward of the Rocky or Stony Moun
tains, should be finally terminated by an amicable compro
mise of the rights mutually asserted by the two parties over
the said territory, have respectively named Plenipotentiaries
to treat and agree concerning the terms of such settlement,
that is to say:
The President of the United States of America has, on
his part, furnished with full powers James Buchanan,
Secretary of State of the United States, and Her Majesty
the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland has, on her part, appointed the Right Honorable
Richard Pakenham, a member of Her Majesty's Most Hon
orable Privy Council, and Her Majesty's Envoy Extraor
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States;
Who, after having communicated to each other their
respective full powers, found in good and due form, have
agreed upon and concluded the following articles:
226
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE I
From the point on the forty-ninth parallel of north lati
tude, where the boundary laid down in existing treaties and
conventions between the United States and Great Britain
terminates, the line of boundary between the territories of
the United States and those of Her Britannic Majesty
shall be continued westward along the said forty-ninth
parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel
which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island, and
thence southerly through the middle of the said channel,
and of Fuca's Straits, to the Pacific Ocean: Provided, how
ever, that the navigation of the whole of the said channel
and straits, south of the forty-ninth parallel of north lati
tude, remain free and open to both parties.
ARTICLE II
From the point at which the forty-ninth parallel of north
latitude shall be found to intersect the great northern
branch of the Columbia River, the navigation of the said
branch shall be free and open to the Hudson's Bay Com
pany, and to all British subjects trading with the same, to
the point where the said branch meets the main stream of
the Columbia, and thence down the said main stream to the
ocean, with free access into and through the said river or
rivers, it being understood that all the usual portages along
the line thus described shall, in like manner, be free and
open. In navigating the said river or rivers, British sub
jects, with their goods and produce, shall be treated on the
same footing as citizens of the United States; it being,
however, always understood that nothing in this article
shall be construed as preventing, or intended to prevent,
the Government of the United States from making any
227
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
regulations respecting the navigation of the said river or
rivers not inconsistent with the present treaty.
ARTICLE III
In the future appropriation of the territory south of the
forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, as provided in the
first article of this treaty, the possessory rights of the Hud
son's Bay Company, and of all British subjects who may
be already in the occupation of land or other property law
fully acquired within the said territory, shall be respected.
ARTICLE IV
The farms, lands, and other property of every descrip
tion belonging to the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company,
on the north side of the Columbia River, shall be confirmed
to the said company. In case, however, the situation of
those farms and lands should be considered by the United
States to be of public and political importance, and the
United States Government should signify a desire to obtain
possession of the whole, or of any part thereof, the prop
erty so required shall be transferred to the said Govern
ment, at a proper valuation, to be agreed upon between the
parties.
ARTICLE v
The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of
the United States, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate thereof, and by Her Britannic Majesty; and
the ratifications shall be exchanged at London, at the ex
piration of six months from the date hereof, or sooner if
possible.
In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have
228
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seals of their
arms.
Done at Washington the fifteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-
six.
RICHARD PAKENHAM [L. s.]
JAMES BUCHANAN [L. s.]
229
Treaty with Mexico 1848
Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement be
tween the United States of America and the United Mex
ican States, Concluded at Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2,
1848; Ratification Advised by Senate, with Amendments,
March 10, 1848; Ratified by President, March 16, 1848;
Ratifications Exchanged at Queretaro, May 30, 1848; Pro
claimed, July 4, 1848.
In the name of Almighty God:
The United States of America and the United Mexican
States, animated by a sincere desire to put an end to the
calamities of the war which unhappily exists between the
two Republics, and to establish upon a solid basis relations
of peace and friendship, which shall confer reciprocal bene
fits upon the citizens of both, and assure the concord, har
mony, and mutual confidence wherein the two people should
live, as good neighbours, have for that purpose appointed
their respective plenipotentiaries, that is to say :
The President of the United States has appointed Nicho
las P. Trist, a citizen of the United States, and the Presi
dent of the Mexican Republic has appointed Don Luis
Gonzaga Cuevas, Don Bernardo Couto, and Don Miguel
Atristain, citizens of the said Republic;
Who, after a reciprocal communication of their respec
tive full powers, have, under the protection of Almighty
God, the author of peace, arranged, agreed upon, and
signed the following:
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement
between the United States of America and the
Mexican Republic.
ARTICLE I
There shall be firm and universal peace between the
United States of America and the Mexican Republic, and
between their respective countries, territories, cities, towns,
and people, without exception of places or persons.
ARTICLE II
Immediately upon the signature of this treaty, a conven
tion shall be entered into between a commissioner or com
missioners appointed by the General-in-chief of the forces
of the United States, and such as may be appointed by the
Mexican Government, to the end that a provisional suspen
sion of hostilities shall take place, and that, in the places
occupied by the said forces, constitutional order may be
re-established, as regards the political, administrative, and
judicial branches, so far as this shall be permitted by the
circumstances of military occupation.
ARTICLE III
Immediately upon the ratification of the present treaty
by the Government of the United States, orders shall be
transmitted to the commanders of their land and naval
forces, requiring the latter (provided this treaty shall then
have been ratified by the Government of the Mexican
Republic, and the ratifications exchanged) immediately to
231
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
desist from blockading any Mexican ports; and requiring
the former (under the same condition) to commence, at
the earliest moment practicable, withdrawing all troops of
the United States then in the interior of the Mexican Repub
lic, to points that shall be selected by common agreement,
at a distance from the seaports not exceeding thirty leagues ;
and such evacuation of the interior of the Republic shall
be completed with the least possible delay; the Mexican
Government hereby binding itself to afford every facility
in its power for rendering the same convenient to the troops,
on their march and in their new positions, and for promoting
a good understanding between them and the inhabitants.
In like manner orders shall be despatched to the persons in
charge of the custom-houses at all ports occupied by the
forces of the United States, requiring them (under the same
condition) immediately to deliver possession of the same to
the persons authorized by the Mexican Government to receive
it, together with all bonds and evidences of debt for duties
on importations and on exportations, not yet fallen due.
Moreover, a faithful and exact account shall be made out,
showing the entire amount of all duties on imports and on
exports, collected at such custom-houses, or elsewhere in
Mexico, by authority of the United States, from and after
the day of ratification of this treaty by the Government
of the Mexican Republic; and also an account of the cost
of collection; and such entire amount, deducting only the
cost of collection, shall be delivered to the Mexican Govern
ment, at the city of Mexico, within three months after the
exchange of ratifications.
The evacuation of the capital of the Mexican Republic
by the troops of the United States, in virtue of the above
stipulation, shall be completed in one month after the orders
there stipulated for shall have been received by the com
mander of said troops, or sooner if possible.
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ARTICLE IV
Immediately after the exchange of ratifications of the
present treaty all castles, forts, territories, places, and pos
sessions, which have been taken or occupied by the forces of
the United States during the present war, within the limits
of the Mexican Republic, as about to be established by the
following article, shall be definitively restored to the said
Republic, together with all the artillery, arms, apparatus
of war, munitions, and other public property, which were in
the said castles and forts when captured, and which shall
remain there at the time when this treaty shall be duly
ratified by the Government of the Mexican Republic. To
this end, immediately upon the signature of this treaty,
orders shall be despatched to the American officers com
manding such castles and forts, securing against the remov
al or destruction of any such artillery, arms, apparatus
of war, munitions, or other public property. The city of
Mexico, within the inner line of intrenchments surrounding
the said city, is comprehended in the above stipulation, as
regards the restoration of artillery, apparatus of war, &c.
The final evacuation of the territory of the Mexican
Republic, by the forces of the United States, shall be com
pleted in three months from the said exchange of ratifica
tions, or sooner if possible ; the Mexican Government hereby
engaging, as in the foregoing article, to use all means in
its power for facilitating such evacuation, and rendering
it convenient to the troops, and for promoting a good under
standing between them and the inhabitants.
If, however, the ratification of this treaty by both parties
should not take place in time to allow the embarcation of
the troops of the United States to be completed before
the commencement of the sickly season, at the Mexican
ports on the Gulf of Mexico, in such case a friendly arrange-
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ment shall be entered into between the General-in-chief of
the said troops and the Mexican Government, whereby
healthy and otherwise suitable places, at a distance from the
ports not exceeding thirty leagues, shall be designated for
the residence of such troops as may not yet have embarked,
until the return of the healthy season. And the space of
time here referred to as comprehending the sickly season
shall be understood to extend from the first day of May to
the first day of November.
All prisoners of war taken on either side, on land or on
sea, shall be restored as soon as practicable after the
exchange of ratifications of this treaty. It is also agreed
that if any Mexicans should now be held as captives by any
savage tribe within the limits of the United States, as about
to be established by the following article, the Government
of the said United States will exact the release of such cap
tives, and cause them to be restored to their country.
ARTICLE v
The boundary line between the two Republics shall com
mence in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, oppo
site the mouth of the Rio Grande, otherwise called Rio
Bravo del Norte, or opposite the mouth of its deepest
branch, if it should have more than one branch emptying
directly into the sea; from thence up the middle of that
river, following the deepest channel, where it has more than
one, to the point where it strikes the southern boundary of
New Mexico ; thence, westwardly, along the whole southern
boundary of New Mexico (which runs north of the town
called Paso) to its western termination; thence, northward,
along the western line of New Mexico, until it intersects
the first branch of the river Gila ; (or if it should not inter
sect any branch of that river, then to the point on the said
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
line nearest to such branch, and thence in a direct line to
the same) ; thence down the middle of the said branch and
of the said river, until it empties into the Rio Colorado;
thence across the Rio Colorado, following the division line
between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific Ocean.
The southern and western limits of New Mexico, men
tioned in this article, are those laid down in the map entitled
" Map of the United Mexican States, as organized and
defined by various acts of the Congress of said republic,
and constructed according to the best authorities. . Revised
edition. Published at New York, in 1847, by J. Disturnell;"
of which map a copy is added to this treaty, bearing the
signatures and seals of the undersigned Plenipotentiaries.
And, in order to preclude all difficulty in tracing upon the
ground the limit separating Upper from Lower California,
it is agreed that the said limit shall consist of a straight
line drawn from the middle of the Rio Gila, where it unites
with the Colorado, to a point on the coast of the Pacific
Ocean, distant one marine league due south of the southern
most point of the port of San Diego, according to the plan
of said port made in the year 1782 by Don Juan Pantoja,
second sailing-master of the Spanish fleet, and published
at Madrid in the year 1802, in the atlas to the voyage of
the schooners Sutil and Mexicana ; of which plan a copy is
hereunto added, signed and sealed by the respective Pleni
potentiaries.
In order to designate the boundary line with due preci
sion, upon authoritative maps, and to establish upon the
ground land-marks which shall show the limits of both
republics, as described in the present article, the two
Governments shall each appoint a commissioner and a sur
veyor, who, before the expiration of one year from the date
of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, shall meet
at the port of San Diego, and proceed to run and mark the
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
said boundary in its whole course to the mouth of the Rio
Bravo del Norte. They shall keep journals and make out
plans of their operations; and the result agreed upon by
them shall be deemed a part of this treaty, and shall have
the same force as if it were inserted therein. The two
Governments will amicably agree regarding what may be
necessary to these persons, and also as to their respective
escorts, should such be necessary.
The boundary line established by this article shall be
religiously respected by each of the two republics, and no
change shall ever be made therein, except by the express
and free consent of both nations, lawfully given by the
General Government of each, in conformity with its own
constitution.
ARTICLE VI
The vessels and citizens of the United States shall, in
all time, have a free and uninterrupted passage by the Gulf
of California, and by the river Colorado below its conflu
ence with the Gila, to and from their possessions situated
north of the boundary line defined in the preceding article ;
it being understood that this passage is to be by navigating
the Gulf of California and the river Colorado, and not by
land, without the express consent of the Mexican Govern
ment.
If, by the examinations which may be made, it should be
ascertained to be practicable and advantageous to construct
a road, canal, or railway, which should in whole or in part run
upon the river Gila, or upon its right or its left bank, within
the space of one marine league from either margin of the
river, the Governments of both republics will form an agree
ment regarding its construction, in order that it may serve
equally for the use and advantage of both countries.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE VII
The river Gila, and the part of the Rio Bravo del Norte
lying below the southern boundary of New Mexico, being,
agreeably to the fifth article, divided in the middle between
the two republics, the navigation of the Gila and of the
Bravo below said boundary shall be free and common to
the vessels and citizens of both countries ; and neither shall,
without the consent of the other, construct any work that
may impede or interrupt, in whole or in part, the exercise
of this right; not even for the purpose of favoring new
methods of navigation. Nor shall any tax or contribution,
under any denomination or title, be levied upon vessels or
persons navigating the same, or upon merchandise or effects
transported thereon, except in the case of landing upon one
of their shores. If, for the purpose of making the said
rivers navigable, or for maintaining them in such state, it
should be necessary or advantageous to establish any tax
or contribution, this shall not be done without the consent
of both Governments.
The stipulations contained in the present article shall not
impair the territorial rights of either republic within its
established limits.
ARTICLE VIII
Mexicans now established in territories previously belong
ing to Mexico, and which remain for the future within the
limits of the United States, as defined by the present treaty,
shall be free to continue where they now reside, or to remove
at any time to the Mexican Republic, retaining the property
which they possess in the said territories, or disposing
thereof, and removing the proceeds wherever they please,
without their being subj ected, on this account, to any contri
bution, tax, or charge whatever.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Those who shall prefer to remain in the said territories
may either retain the title and rights of Mexican citizens,
or acquire those of citizens of the United States. But they
shall be under the obligation to make their election within
one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of
this treaty; and those who shall remain in the said terri
tories after the expiration of that year, without having
declared their intention to retain the character of Mexicans,
shall be considered to have elected to become citizens of the
United States.
In the said territories, property of every kind, now
belonging to Mexicans not established there, shall be invio
lably respected. The present owners, the heirs of these,
and all Mexicans who may hereafter acquire said property
by contract, shall en j oy with respect to it guarantees equally
ample as if the same belonged to citizens of the United
States.
ARTICLE IX
The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not
preserve the character of citizens of the Mexican Republic,
conformably with what is stipulated in the preceding article,
shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States,
and be admitted at the proper time (to be judged of by
the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of all
the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the
principles of the Constitution; and in the mean time, shall
be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their
liberty and property, and secured in the free exercise of
their religion without restriction.
ARTICLE X
[Stricken out.]
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE XI
Considering that a great part of the territories, which,
by the present treaty, are to be comprehended for the future
within the limits of the United States, is now occupied by
savage tribes, who will hereafter be under the exclusive con-
troul of the Government of the United States, and whose
incursions within the territory of Mexico would be preju
dicial in the extreme, it is solemnly agreed that all such
incursions shall be forcibly restrained by the Government
of the United States whensoever this may be necessary;
and that when they cannot be prevented, they shall be pun
ished by the said Government, and satisfaction for the same
shall be exacted — all in the same way, and with equal dili
gence and energy, as if the same incursions were meditated
or committed within its own territory, against its own
citizens.
It shall not be lawful, under any pretext whatever, for
any inhabitant of the United States to purchase or acquire
any Mexican, or any foreigner residing in Mexico, who
may have been captured by Indians inhabiting the territory
of either of the two republics; nor to purchase or acquire
horses, mules, cattle, or property of any kind, stolen within
Mexican territory by such Indians.
And in the event of any person or persons, captured
within Mexican territory by Indians, being carried into the
territory of the United States, the Government of the latter
engages and binds itself, in the most solemn manner, so soon
as it shall know of such captives being within its territory,
and shall be able so to do, through the faithful exercise of
its influence and power, to rescue them and return them to
their country, or deliver them to the agent or representative
of the Mexican Government. The Mexican authorities will,
as far as practicable, give to the Government of the United
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
States notice of such captures ; and its agents shall pay the
expenses incurred in the maintenance and transmission of
the rescued captives ; who, in the mean time, shall be treated
with the utmost hospitality by the American authorities at
the place where they may be. But if the Government of the
United States, before receiving such notice from Mexico,
should obtain intelligence, through any other channel, of
the existence of Mexican captives within its territory, it
will proceed forthwith to effect their release and delivery
to the Mexican agent, as above stipulated.
For the purpose of giving to these stipulations the fullest
possible efficacy, thereby affording the security and redress
demanded by their true spirit and intent, the Government of
the United States will now and hereafter pass, without
unnecessary delay, and always vigilantly enforce, such laws
as the nature of the subject may require. And, finally,
the sacredness of this obligation shall never be lost sight of
by the said Government, when providing for the removal
of the Indians from any portion of the said territories, or
for its being settled by citizens of the United States; but,
on the contrary, special care shall then be taken not to place
its Indian occupants under the necessity of seeking new
homes, by committing those invasions which the United
States have solemnly obliged themselves to restrain.
ARTICLE XII
In consideration of the extension acquired by the boun
daries of the United States, as defined in the fifth article
of the present treaty, the Government of the United States
engages to pay to that of the Mexican Republic the sum of
fifteen millions of dollars.
Immediately after this treaty shall have been duly rati
fied by the Government of the Mexican Republic, the sum of
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
three millions of dollars shall be paid to the said Govern
ment by that of the United States, at the city of Mexico,
in the gold or silver coin of Mexico. The remaining twelve
millions of dollars shall be paid at the same place, and in
the same coin, in annual instalments of three millions of
dollars each, together with interest on the same at the rate
of six per centum per annum. This interest shall begin to
run upon the whole sum of twelve millions from the day of
the ratification of the present treaty by the Mexican Govern
ment, and the first of the instalments shall be paid at the
expiration of one year from the same day. Together with
each annual instalment, as it falls due, the whole interest
accruing on such instalment from the beginning shall also
be paid.
ARTICLE XIII
The United States engage, moreover, to assume and pay
to the claimants all the amounts now due them, and those
hereafter to become due, by reason of the claims already
liquidated and decided against the Mexican Republic, under
the conventions between the two republics severally con
cluded On the eleventh day of April, eighteen hundred and
thirty-nine, and on the thirtieth day of January, eighteen
hundred and forty-three; so that the Mexican Republic
shall be absolutely exempt, for the future, from all expense
whatever on account of the said claims.
ARTICLE XIV
The United States do furthermore discharge the Mexican
Republic from all claims of citizens of the United States,
not heretofore decided against the Mexican Government,
which may have arisen previously to the date of the signa
ture of this treaty; which discharge shall be final and per-
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petual, whether the said claims be rejected or be allowed
by the board of commissioners provided for in the following
article, and whatever shall be the total amount of those
allowed.
ARTICLE xv
The United States, exonerating Mexico from all demands
on account of the claims of their citizens mentioned in the
preceding article, and considering them entirely and forever
cancelled, whatever their amount may be, undertake to make
satisfaction for the same, to an amount not exceeding
three and one-quarter millions of dollars. To ascertain the
validity and amount of those claims, a board of commis
sioners shall be established by the Government of the United
States, whose awards shall be final and conclusive; pro
vided that, in deciding upon the validity of each claim, the
board shall be guided and governed by the principles and
rules of decision prescribed by the first and fifth articles
of the unratified convention, concluded at the city of Mex
ico on the twentieth day of November, one thousand eight
hundred and forty-three; and in no case shall an award
be made in favour of any claim not embraced by these
principles and rules.
If, in the opinion of the said board of commissioners
or of the claimants, any books, records, or documents, in
the possession or power qf the Government of the Mexican
Republic, shall be deemed necessary to the just decision
of any claim, the commissioners, or the claimants through
them, shall, within such period as Congress may designate,
make an application in writing for the same, addressed
to the Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs, to be trans
mitted by the Secretary of State of the United States;
and the Mexican Government engages, at the earliest possi
ble moment after the receipt of such demand, to cause any
242
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
of the books, records, or documents so specified, which
shall be in their possession or power (or authenticated
copies or extracts of the same), to be transmitted to the said
Secretary of State, who shall immediately deliver them over
to the said board of commissioners; provided that no such
application shall be made by or at the instance of any claim
ant, until the facts which it is expected to prove by such
books, records, or documents, shall have been stated under
oath or affirmation.
ARTICLE XVI
Each of the contracting parties reserves to itself the
entire right to fortify whatever point within its territory
it may judge proper so to fortify for its security.
ARTICLE XVII
The treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, concluded
at the city of Mexico on the fifth day of April, A. D.
1831, between the United States of America and the United
Mexican States, except the additional article, and except
so far as the stipulations of the said treaty may be incom
patible with any stipulation contained in the present treaty,
is hereby revived for the period of eight years from the day
of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, with the
same force and virtue as if incorporated therein; it being
understood that each of the contracting parties reserves to
itself the right, at any time after the said period of eight
years shall have expired, to terminate the same by giving
one year's notice of such intention to the other party.
ARTICLE XVIII
All supplies whatever for troops of the United States
in Mexico, arriving at ports in the occupation of such
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troops previous to the final evacuation thereof, although
subsequently to the restoration of the custom-houses at
such ports, shall be entirely exempt from duties and charges
of any kind; the Government of the United States hereby
engaging and pledging its faith to establish and vigilantly
to enforce, all possible guards for securing the revenue of
Mexico, by preventing the importation, under cover of this
stipulation, of any articles other than such, both in kind
and in quantity, as shall really be wanted for the use and
consumption of the forces of the United States during the
time they may remain in Mexico. To this end it shall be
the duty of all officers and agents of the United States to
denounce to the Mexican authorities at the respective ports
any attempts at a fraudulent abuse of this stipulation,
which they may know of, or may have reason to suspect,
and to give to such authorities all the aid in their power
with regard thereto; and every such attempt, when duly
proved and established by sentence of a competent tribunal,
shall be punished by the confiscation of the property so
attempted to be fraudulently introduced.
ARTICLE XIX
With respect to all merchandise, effects, and property
whatsoever, imported into ports of Mexico, whilst in the
occupation of the forces of the United States, whether by
citizens of either republic, or by citizens or subjects of
any neutral nation, the following rules shall be observed:
(1) All such merchandise, effects, and property, if im
ported previously to the restoration of the custom-houses
to the Mexican authorities, as stipulated for in the third
article of this treaty, shall be exempt from confiscation,
although the importation of the same be prohibited by the
Mexican tariff.
24,4,
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
(2) The same perfect exemption shall be enjoyed by
all such merchandise, effects, and property, imported
subsequently to the restoration of the custom-houses, and
previously to the sixty days fixed in the following article
for the coming into force of the Mexican tariff at such
ports respectively; the said merchandise, effects, and prop
erty being, however, at the time of their importation, sub
ject to the payment of duties, as provided for in the said
following article.
(3) All merchandise, effects, and property described in
the two rules foregoing shall, during their continuance at
the place of importation, and upon their leaving such place
for the interior, be exempt from all duty, tax, or imposts
of every kind, under whatsoever title or denomination. Nor
shall they be there subjected to any charge whatsoever upon
the sale thereof.
(4) All merchandise, effects, and property, described in
the first and second rules, which shall have been removed
to any place in the interior whilst such place was in the
occupation of the forces of the United States, shall, during
their continuance therein, be exempt from all tax upon the
sale or consumption thereof, and from every kind of impost
or contribution, under whatsoever title or denomination.
(5) But if any merchandise, effects, or property,
described in the first and second rules, shall be removed
to any place not occupied at the time by the forces of the
United States, they shall, upon their introduction into such
place, or upon their sale or consumption there, be subject
to the same duties which, under the Mexican laws, they
would be required to pay in such cases if they had been
imported in time of peace, through the maritime custom
houses, and had there paid the duties conformably with the
Mexican tariff.
(6) The owners of all merchandise, effects, or property,
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS ,
described in the first and second rules, and existing in any
port of Mexico, shall have the right to reship the same,
exempt from all tax, impost, or contribution whatever.
With respect to the metals, or other property, exported
from any Mexican port whilst in the occupation of the
forces of the United States, and previously to the resto
ration of the custom-house at such port, no person shall be
required by the Mexican authorities, whether general or
state, to pay any tax, duty, or contribution upon any such
exportation, or in any manner to account for the same to
the said authorities.
ARTICLE xx
Through consideration for the interests of commerce
generally, it is agreed, that if less than sixty days should
elapse between the date of the signature of this treaty and
the restoration of the custom-houses, conformably with the
stipulation in the third article, in such case all merchan
dise, effects, and property whatsoever, arriving at the
Mexican ports after the restoration of the said custom
houses, and previously to the expiration of sixty days after
the day of signature of this treaty, shall be admitted to
entry; and no other duties shall be levied thereon than
the duties established by the tariff found in force at such
custom-houses at the time of the restoration of the same.
And to all such merchandise, effects, and property, the rules
established by the preceding article shall apply.
ARTICLE XXI
If unhappily any disagreement should hereafter arise
between the Governments of the two republics, whether with
respect to the interpretation of any stipulation in this treaty,
or with respect to any other particular concerning the polit-
246
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ical or commercial relations of the two nations, the said
Governments,, in the name of those nations, do promise to
each other that they will endeavour, in the most sincere
and earnest manner, to settle the differences so arising, and
to preserve the state of peace and friendship in which the
two countries are now placing themselves, using, for this
end, mutual representations and pacific negotiations. And
if, by these means, they should not be enabled to come to
an agreement, a resort shall not, on this account, be had to
reprisals, aggression, or hostility of any kind, by the one
republic against the other, until the Government of that
which deems itself aggrieved shall have maturely considered,
in the spirit of peace 'and good neighbourship, whether it
would not be better that such difference should be settled
by the arbitration of commissioners appointed on each side,
or by that of a friendly nation. And should such course
be proposed by either party, it shall be acceded to by the
other, unless deemed by it altogether incompatible with
the nature of the difference, or the circumstances of the
case.
ARTICLE XXII
If (which is not to be expected, and which God forbid)
war should unhappily break out between the two republics,
they do now, with a view to such calamity, solemnly pledge
themselves to each other and to the world to observe the
following rules; absolutely where the nature of the sub
ject permits, and as closely as possible in all cases where
such absolute observance shall be impossible:
(1) The merchants of either republic then residing in
the other shall be allowed to remain twelve months (for
those dwelling in the interior), and six months (for those
dwelling at the seaports) to collect their debts and settle
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
their affairs; during which periods they shall enjoy the same
protection, and be on the same footing, in all respects, as
the citizens or subjects of the most friendly nations; and,
at the expiration thereof, or at any time before, they shall
have full liberty to depart, carrying off all their effects
without molestation or hindrance, conforming therein to the
same laws which the citizens or subjects of the most friendly
nations are required to conform to. Upon the entrance of
the armies of either nation into the territories of the other,
women and children, ecclesiastics, scholars of every faculty,
cultivators of the earth, merchants, artisans, manufacturers,
and fishermen, unarmed and inhabiting unfortified towns,
villages, or places, and in general all persons whose occupa
tions are for the common subsistence and benefit of man
kind, shall be allowed to continue their respective employ
ments, unmolested in their persons. Nor shall their houses
or goods be burnt or otherwise destroyed, nor their cattle
taken, nor their fields wasted, by the armed force into whose
power, by the events of war, they may happen to fall;
but if the necessity arise to take anything from them for
the use of such armed force, the same shall be paid for at
an equitable price. All churches, hospitals, schools, colleges,
libraries, and other establishments for charitable and benefi
cent purposes, shall be respected, and all persons connected
with the same protected in the discharge of their duties,
and the pursuit of their vocations.
(2) In order that the fate of prisoners of war may be
alleviated, all such practices as those of sending them into
distant, inclement, or unwholesome districts, or crowding
them into close and noxious places, shall be studiously
avoided. They shall not be confined in dungeons, prison-
ships, or prisons ; nor be put in irons, or bound, or otherwise
restrained in the use of their limbs. The officers shall enjoy
liberty on their paroles, within convenient districts, and have
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
comfortable quarters; and the common soldier shall be dis
posed in cantonments, open and entensive enough for air
and exercise, and lodged in barracks as roomy and good as
are provided by the party in whose power they are for
its own troops. But if any officer shall break his parole
by leaving the district so assigned him, or any other
prisoner shall escape from the limits of his cantonment,
after they shall have been designated to him, such indi
vidual, officer, or other prisoner, shall forfeit so much of the
benefit of this article as provides for his liberty on parole
or in cantonment. And if any officer so breaking his parole,
or any common soldier so escaping from the limits assigned
him, shall afterwards be found in arms, previously to his
being regularly exchanged, the person so offending shall
be dealt with according to the established laws of war.
The officers shall be daily furnished, by the party in whose
power they are, with as many rations, and of the same arti
cles, as are allowed, either in kind or by commutation, to
officers of equal rank in its own army; and all others shall
be daily furnished with such ration as is allowed to a
common soldier in its own service; the value of all which
supplies shall, at the close of the war, or at periods to be
agreed upon between the respective commanders, be paid by
the other party, on a mutual adjustment of accounts for the
subsistence of prisoners; and such accounts shall not be
mingled with or set off against any others, nor the balance
due on them be withheld, as a compensation or reprisal for
any cause whatever, real or pretended. Each party shall
be allowed to keep a commissary of prisoners, appointed
by itself, with every cantonment of prisoners, in possession
of the other; which commissary shall see the prisoners as
often as he pleases; shall be allowed to receive, exempt
from all duties or taxes, and to distribute, whatever comforts
may be sent to them by their friends ; and shall be free to
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
transmit his reports in open letters to the party by whom
he is employed.
And it is declared that neither the pretence that war dis
solves all treaties, nor any other whatever, shall be con
sidered as annulling or suspending the solemn covenant
contained in this article. On the contrary, the state of war
is precisely that for which it is provided ; and, during which,
its stipulations are to be as sacredly observed as the most
acknowledged obligations under the law of nature or
nations.
ARTICLE XXIII
This 'treaty shall be ratified by the President of the
United States of America, by and with the advice and con
sent of the Senate thereof; and by the President of the
Mexican Republic, with the previous approbation of its
general Congress; and the ratifications shall be exchanged
in the city of Washington, or at the seat of Government of
Mexico, in four months from the date of the signature
hereof, or sooner if practicable.
In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries,
have signed this treaty of peace, friendship, limits, and
settlement, and have hereunto affixed our seals respectively.
Done in quintuplicate, at the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
on the second day of February, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
N. P. TRIST [L. s.]
Luis P. CUEVAS [L. s.]
BERNARDO COUTO [L. s.]
MIGL. ATRISTAIN [L. s.]
250
Treaty with Great Britain 1850
Convention between the United States of America and
Her Britannic Majesty Relative to a Ship-canal by way of
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part
of Central America, Concluded at Washington, April 19,
1850; Ratification Advised by the Senate, May 22, 1850;
Ratified by the President, May 23, 1850; Ratifications Ex
changed at Washington, July 4, 1850; Proclaimed July
5, 1850.
The United States of America and Her Britannic Ma
jesty, being desirous of consolidating the relations of amity
which so happily subsist between them by setting forth
and fixing in a convention their views and intentions with
reference to any means of communication by ship-canal
which may be constructed between the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans by the way of the river San Juan de Nicaragua,
and either or both of the lakes of Nicaragua or Managua,
to any port or place on the Pacific Ocean, the President
of the United States has conferred full powers on John
M. Clayton, Secretary of State of the United States, and
Her Britannic Majesty on the Right Honorable Sir Henry
Lytton Bulwer, a member of Her Majesty's Most Honor
able Privy Council, Knight Commander of the Most Hon
orable Order of the Bath, and Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty to the
United States, for the aforesaid purpose; and the said
Plenipotentiaries, having exchanged their full powers,
which were found to be in proper form, have agreed to
the following articles:
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE I
The Governments of the United States and Great
Britain hereby declare that neither the one nor the other
will ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive con
trol over the said ship-canal ; agreeing that neither will ever
erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same,
or in the vicinity thereof, or occupy, or fortify, or colonize,
or assume or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa
Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America;
nor will either make use of any protection which either
affords or may afford, or any alliance which either has or
may have to or with any State or people for the purpose
of erecting or maintaining any such fortifications, or of
occupying, fortifying, or colonizing Nicaragua, Costa Rica,
the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America, or of
assuming or exercising dominion over the same; nor will
the United States or Great Britain take advantage of any
intimacy, or use any alliance, connection, or influence that
either may possess, with any State or Government through
whose territory the said canal may pass, for the purpose of
acquiring or holding, directly or indirectly, for the citizens
or subjects of the one any rights or advantages in regard
to commerce or navigation through the said canal which
shall not be offered on the same terms to the citizens or
subjects of the other.
ARTICLE II
Vessels of the United States or Great Britain traversing
the said canal shall, in case of war between the contracting
parties, be exempted from blockade, detention, or capture
by either of the belligerents ; and this provision shall extend
to such a distance from the two ends of the said canal as
may hereafter be found expedient to establish.
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ARTICLE III
In order to secure the construction of the said canal, the
contracting parties engage that, if any such canal shall
be undertaken upon fair and equitable terms by any parties
having the authority of the local government or govern
ments through whose territory the same may pass, then
the persons employed in making the said canal, and their
property used or to be used for that object, shall be pro
tected, from the commencement of the said canal to its
completion, by the Governments of the United States and
Great Britain, from unjust detention, confiscation, seizure,
or any violence whatsoever.
ARTICLE IV
The contracting parties will use whatever influence they
respectively exercise with any State, States, or Govern
ments possessing, or claiming to possess, any jurisdiction
or right over the territory which the* said canal shall
traverse, or which shall be near the waters applicable
thereto, in order to induce such States or Governments to
facilitate the construction of the said canal by every means
in their power; and furthermore, the United States and
Great Britain agree to use their good offices, wherever or
however it may be most expedient, in order to procure the
establishment of two free ports, one at each end of the
said canal.
ARTICLE v
The contracting parties further engage that when the
said canal shall have been completed they will protect it
from interruption, seizure, or unjust confiscation, and that
they will guarantee the neutrality thereof, so that the said
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canal may forever be open and free, and the capital in
vested therein secure. Nevertheless, the Governments of
the United States and Great Britain, in according their
protection to the construction of the said canal, and guar
anteeing its neutrality and security when completed, always
understand that this protection and guarantee are granted
conditionally, and may be withdrawn by both Governments,
or either Government, if both Governments or either Gov
ernment should deem that the persons or company under
taking or managing the same adopt or establish such
regulations concerning the traffic thereupon as are contrary
to the spirit and intention of this convention, either by
making unfair discriminations in favor of the commerce of
one of the contracting parties over the commerce of the
other, or by imposing oppressive exactions or unreasonable
tolls upon passengers, vessels, goods, wares, merchandise,
or other articles. Neither party, however, shall withdraw
the aforesaid protection and guarantee without first giving
six months' notice to the other.
ARTICLE VI
The contracting parties in this convention engage to in
vite every State with which both or either have friendly
intercourse to enter into stipulations with them similar to
those which they have entered into with each other, to the
end that all other States may share in the honor and ad
vantage of having contributed to a work of such general
interest and importance as the canal herein contemplated.
And the contracting parties likewise agree that each shall
enter into treaty stipulations with such of the Central
American States as they may deem advisable for the pur
pose of more effectually carrying out the great design of
this convention, namely, that of constructing and maintain-
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ing the said canal as a ship communication between the
two oceans, for the benefit of mankind, on equal terms to
all, and of protecting the same; and they also agree that
the good offices of either shall be employed, when requested
by the other, in aiding and assisting the negotiation of such
treaty stipulations; and should any differences arise as to
right or property over the territory through which the said
canal shall pass, between the States or Governments of
Central America, and such differences should in any way
impede or obstruct the execution of the said canal, the
Governments of the United States and Great Britain will
use their good offices to settle such differences in the man
ner best suited to promote the interests of the said canal,
and to strengthen the bonds of friendship and alliance
which exist between the contracting parties.
ARTICLE VII
It being desirable that no time should be unnecessarily
lost in commencing and constructing the said canal, the
Governments of the United States and Great Britain de
termine to give their support and encouragement to such
persons or company as may first offer to commence the
same, with the necessary capital, the consent of the local
authorities, and on such principles as accord with the spirit
and intention of this convention; and if any persons or
company should already have, with any State through
which the proposed ship-canal may pass, a contract for the
construction of such a canal as that specified in this con
vention, to the stipulations of which contract neither of the
contracting parties in this convention have any just cause
to object, and the said persons or company shall, more
over, have made preparations and expended time, money,
and trouble on the faith of such contract, it is hereby
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agreed that such persons or company shall have a priority
of claim over every other person, persons, or company to
the protection of the Governments of the United States and
Great Britain, and be allowed a year from the date of the
exchange of the ratifications of this convention for con
cluding their arrangements and presenting evidence of
sufficient capital subscribed to accomplish the contemplated
undertaking; it being understood that if, at the expiration
of the aforesaid period, such persons or company be not
able to commence and carry out the proposed enterprize,
then the Governments of the United States and Great
Britain shall be free to afford their protection to any other
persons or company that shall be prepared to commence
and proceed with the construction of the canal in question.
ARTICLE VIII
The Governments of the United States and Great Britain
having not only desired, in entering into this convention,
to accomplish a particular object, but also to establish a
general principle, they hereby agree to extend their pro
tection, by treaty stipulations, to any other practicable com
munications, whether by canal or railway, across the
isthmus which connects North and South America, and
especially to the interoceanic communications, should the
same prove to be practicable, whether by canal or railway,
which are now proposed to be established by the way of
Tehuantepec or Panama. In granting, however, their joint
protection to any such canals or railways as are by this
article specified, it is always understood by the United
States and Great Britain that the parties constructing or
owning the same shall impose no other charges or condi
tions of traffic thereupon than the aforesaid Governments
shall approve of as just and equitable; and that the same
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canals or railways, being open to the citizens and subjects
of the United States and Great Britain on equal terms,
shall also be open on like terms to the citizens and sub
jects of every other State which is willing to grant thereto
such protection as the United States and Great Britain
engage to afford.
ARTICLE IX
The ratifications of this convention shall be exchanged
at Washington within six months from this day, or sooner
if possible.
In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries,
have signed this convention, and have hereunto affixed our
seals.
Done at Washington the nineteenth day of April, anno
Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty.
JOHN M. CLAYTON [L. s.]
HENRY LYTTON BULWER [L. s.]
257
Compromise of 1850
CLAY'S RESOLUTION
It being desirable, for the peace, concord, and harmony
of the Union of these States, to settle and adjust amicably
all existing questions of controversy between them arising
out of the institution of slavery upon a fair, equitable and
just basis: therefore,
(1) Resolved, That California, with suitable boundaries,
ought, upon her application to be admitted as one of the
States of this Union, without the imposition by Congress
of any restriction in respect to the exclusion or introduc
tion of slavery within those boundaries.
(2) Resolved, That as slavery does not exist by law, and
is not likely to be introduced into any of the territory
acquired by the United States from the republic of Mexico,
it is inexpedient for Congress to provide by law either for
its introduction into, or exclusion from, any part of the said
territory; and that appropriate territorial governments
ought to be established by Congress in all of the said terri
tory, not assigned as the boundaries of the proposed State
of California, without the adoption of any restriction or
condition on the subject of slavery.
(3) Resolved, That the western boundary of the State
of Texas ought to be fixed on the Rio del Norte, com
mencing one marine league from its mouth, and running
up that river to the southern line of New Mexico; thence
with that line eastwardly, and so continuing in the same
direction to the line as established between the United
States and Spain, excluding any portion of New Mexico,
whether lying on the east or west of that river.
(4) Resolved, That it be proposed to the State of Texas,
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that the United States will provide for the payment of all
that portion of the legitimate and bona fide public debt of
that State contracted prior to its annexation to the United
States, and for which the duties on foreign imports were
pledged by the said State to its creditors, not exceeding
the sum of dollars, in consideration of the said
duties so pledged having been no longer applicable to that
object after the said annexation, but having thenceforward
become payable to the United States; and upon the condi
tion, also, that the said State of Texas shall, by some solemn
and authentic act of her legislature or of a convention,
relinquish to the United States any claim which it has
to any part of New Mexico.
(5) Resolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish slavery
in the District of Columbia whilst that institution continues
to exist in the State of Maryland, without the consent of
that State, without the consent of the people of the Dis
trict, and without just compensation to the owners of slaves
within the District.
(6) But, resolved, That it is expedient to prohibit, within
the District, the slave trade in slaves brought into it from
States or places beyond the limits of the District, either
to be sold therein as merchandise, or to be transported to
other markets without the District of Columbia.
(7) Resolved, That more effectual provision ought to be
made by law, 'according to the requirement of the constitu
tion, for the restitution and delivery of persons bound to
service or labor in any State, who may escape into any other
State or Territory in the Union. And,
(8) Resolved, That Congress has no power to prohibit
or obstruct the trade in slaves between the slaveholding
States ; but that the admission or exclusion of slaves brought
from one into another of them, depends exclusively upon
their own particular laws.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
RECAPITULATION OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF
THIRTEEN
. . . The views and recommendations contained in this
report may be recapitulated in a few words:
(1) The admission of any new State or States formed out
of Texas to be postponed until they shall hereafter present
themselves to be received into the Union, when it will be the
duty of Congress fairly and faithfully to execute the com
pact with Texas by admitting such new State or States ;
(2) The admission forthwith of California into the
Union, with the boundaries which she has proposed ;
(3) The establishment of territorial governments, with
out the Wilmot proviso, for New Mexico and Utah, embrac
ing all the territory recently acquired by the United States
from Mexico not contained in the boundaries of California ;
(4) The combination of these two last-mentioned meas
ures in the same bill ;
(5) The establishment of the western and northern boun
dary of Texas, and the exclusion from her jurisdiction of
all New Mexico, with the grant to Texas of a pecuniary
equivalent; and the section for that purpose to be incorpo
rated in the bill admitting California and establishing
territorial governments for Utah and New Mexico;
(6) More effectual enactments of law *to secure the
prompt delivery of persons bound to service or labor in one
State, under the laws thereof, who escape into another State ;
and,
(7) Abstaining from abolishing slavery; but, under a
heavy penalty, prohibiting the slave trade in the District
of Columbia.
260
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
UTAH ACT
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa
tives of the United States of America in Congress assem
bled, That all that part of the territory of the United States
included within the following limits, to wit: bounded on
the west by the State of California, on the north by the
Territory of Oregon, and on the east by the summit of the
Rocky Mountains, and on the south by the thirty-seventh
parallel of north latitude, be, and the same is hereby, cre
ated into a temporary government, by the name of the Terri
tory of Utah; and, when admitted as a State, the said
Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received into
the Union, with or without slavery, as their constitution may
prescribe at the time of their admission: Provided, That
nothing in this act contained shall be construed to inhibit
the government of the United States from dividing said
Territory into two or more Territories, in such manner and
at such times as Congress shall deem convenient and proper,
or from attaching any portion of said Territory to any other
State or Territory of the United States. . . .
Approved, Sept. 9, 1850.
TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO ACT
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the following propositions shall be, and the same
hereby are, offered to the State of Texas, which, when
agreed to by the said State, in an act passed by the general
assembly, shall be binding and obligatory, upon the United
States, and upon the said State of Texas: Provided, The
said agreement by the said general assembly shall be given
on or before the first day of December, eighteen hundred
and fifty:
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FIRST. The State of Texas will agree that her boundary
on the north shall commence at the point at which the
meridian of one hundred degrees west from Greenwich is
intersected by the parallel of thirty-six degrees thirty min
utes north latitude, and shall run from said point due west
to the meridian of one hundred and three degrees west from
Greenwich; thence her boundary shall run due south to
the thirty-second degree of north latitude; thence on the
said parallel of thirty-two degrees of north latitude to the
Rio Bravo del Norte, thence with the channel of said river
to the Gulf of Mexico.
SECOND. The State of Texas cedes to the United States
all her claim to territory exterior to the limits and boun
daries which she agrees to establish by the first article of
this agreement.
THIRD. The State of Texas relinquishes all claim upon
the United States for liability of the debts of Texas, and
for compensation or indemnity for the surrender to the
United States of her ships, forts, arsenals, custom-houses,
custom-house revenue, arms and munitions of war, and
public buildings with their sites, which became the property
of the United States at the time of the annexation.
FOURTH. The United States, in consideration of said
establishment of boundaries, cession of claim to territory,
relinquishment of claims, will pay to the State of Texas
the sum of ten millions of dollars in a stock bearing five
per cent, interest, and redeemable at the end of fourteen
years, the interest payable half-yearly at the treasury of
the United States.
SEC. 2 And it be further enacted ', That all that portion
of the Territory of the United States bounded as follows:
Beginning at a point in the Colorado River where the
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boundary line with the republic of Mexico crosses the same;
thence eastwardly with the said boundary line to the Rio
Grande; thence following the main channel of said river
to the parallel of the thirty-second degree of north latitude ;
thence east with said degree to its intersection with the one
hundred and third degree of longitude west of Greenwich;
thence north with said degree of longitude to the parallel
of thirty-eighth degree of north latitude; thence west with
said parallel to the summit of the Sierra Madre; thence
south with the crest of said mountains to the thirty-seventh
parallel of north latitude; thence west with said parallel
to its intersection with the boundary line of the State of
California ; thence west with said boundary line to the place
of beginning — be, and the same is hereby, erected into a tem
porary government, by the name of the Territory of New
Mexico: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall
be construed to inhibit the government of the United States
from dividing said Territory into two or more Territories,
in such manner and at such times as Congress shall deem
convenient and proper, or from attaching any portion
thereof to any other Territory or State: And provided fur
ther That, when admitted as a State, the said Territory,
or any portion of the same shall be received into the Union,
with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe
at the time of their admission. . . .
Approved, September 9, 1850.
CALIFORNIA ACT
Whereas the people of California have presented a con
stitution and asked admission into the Union, which consti
tution was submitted to Congress by the President of the
United States by message dated February thirteenth, eigh
teen hundred and fifty, and which, on due examination, is
found to be republican in its form of government.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the State of California shall be one, and is hereby
declared to be one, of the United States of America; and
admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the orig
inal States in all respects whatever. . . .
Approved, September 9, 1850.
FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the persons who have been, or may hereafter be,
appointed commissioners, in virtue of any act of Congress,
by the Circuit Courts of the United States, and who, in con
sequence of such appointment, are authorized to exercise
the powers that any justice of the peace, or other magis
trate of any of the United States, may exercise in respect
to offenders for any crime or offense against the United
States, by arresting, imprisoning, or bailing the same under
and by virtue of the thirty-third section of the act of the
twenty-fourth of September seventeen hundred and eighty-
nine, entitled "An Act to establish the judicial courts of
the United States " shall be, and are hereby, authorized
and required to exercise and discharge all the powers and
duties conferred by this act.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Superior
Court of each organized Territory of the United States
shall have the same power to appoint commissioners to take
acknowledgments of bail and affidavits, and to take depo
sitions of witnesses in civil causes, which is now possessed
by the Circuit Court of the United States; and all com
missioners who shall hereafter be appointed for such pur
poses by the Superior Court of any organized Territory of
264
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
the United States, shall possess all the powers, and exercise
all the duties, conferred by law upon the commissioners
appointed by the Circuit Courts of the United States for
similar purposes, and shall moreover exercise and discharge
all the powers and duties conferred by this act.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Circuit
Courts of the United States shall from time to time enlarge
the number of the commissioners, with a view to afford rea
sonable facilities to reclaim fugitives from labor, and to the
prompt discharge of the duties imposed by this act.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted. That the commissioners
above named shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the
judges of the Circuit and District Courts of the United
States, in their respective circuits and districts within the
several States, and the judges of the Superior Courts of the
Territories, severally and collectively, in term-time and
vacation; shall grant certificates to such claimants, upon
satisfactory proof being made, with authority to take and
remove such fugitives from service or labor, under the
restrictions herein contained, to the State or Territory from
which such persons may have escaped or fled.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the,
duty of all marshals and deputy marshals to obey and exe
cute all warrants and precepts issued under the provisions of
this act, when to them directed; and should any marshal or
deputy marshal refuse to receive such warrant, or other pro
cess, when tendered, or to use all proper means diligently to
execute the same, he shall, on conviction thereof, be fined
in the sum of one thousand dollars, to the use of such
claimant, on the motion of such claimant, by the Circuit
or District Court for the district of such marshal;
and after arrest of such fugitive, by such marshal or his
deputy, or whilst at any time in his custody under the pro
visions of this act, should such fugitive escape, whether with
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or without the assent of such marshal or his deputy, such
marshal shall be liable, on his official bond, to be prosecuted
for the benefit of such claimant, for the full value of the
service or labor of said fugitive in the State, Territory, or
District whence he escaped: and the better to enable the
said commissioners, when thus appointed, to execute their
duties faithfully and efficiently, in conformity with the
requirements of the Constitution of the United States and
of this act, they are hereby authorized and empowered,
within their counties respectively, to appoint, in writing
under their hands, any one or more suitable persons, from
time to time, to execute all such warrants and other process
as may be issued by them in the lawful performance of their
respective duties; with authority to such commissioners, or
the persons to be appointed by them, to execute process as
aforesaid, to summon and call to their aid the bystanders,
or posse comitatus of the proper county, when necessary
to ensure a faithful observance of the clause of the Consti
tution referred to, in conformity with the provisions of this
act; and all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and
assist in the prompt and efficient execution of this law,
whenever their services may be required, as aforesaid, for
that purpose; and said warrants shall run, and be executed
by said officers, any where in the State within which they
are issued.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That when a person
held to service or labor in any State or Territory of the
United States, has heretofore or shall hereafter escape
into another State or Territory of the United States, the
person or persons to whom such service or labor may be due,
or his, her, or their agent or attorney, duly authorized, by
power of attorney, in writing, acknowledged and certified
under the seal of some legal officer or court of the State
or Territory in which the same may be executed, may pur-
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sue and reclaim such fugitive person, either by procuring a
warrant from some one of the courts, judges, or commis
sioners aforesaid, of the proper circuit, district, or county,
for the apprehension of such fugitive from service or labor,
or by seizing and arresting such fugitive, where the same
can be done without process, and by taking, or causing
such person to be taken, forthwith before such court, judge,
or commissioner, whose duty it shall be to hear and
determine the case of such claimant in a summary manner;
and upon satisfactory proof being made, by deposition or
affidavit, in writing, to be taken and certified by such court,
judge, or commissioner, or by other satisfactory testimony,
duly taken and certified by some court, magistrate, justice
of the peace, or other legal officer authorized to administer
an oath and take depositions under the laws of the State
or Territory from which such person owing service or labor
may have escaped, with a certificate of such magistracy or
other authority, as aforesaid, with the seal of the proper
court or officer thereto attached, which seal shall be sufficient
to establish the competency of the proof, and with proof,
also by affidavit, of the identity of the person whose ser
vice or labor is claimed to be due as aforesaid, that the
person so arrested does in fact owe service or labor to the
person or persons claiming him or her, in the State or Terri
tory from which such fugitive may have escaped as afore
said, and that said person escaped, to make out and deliver
to such claimant, his or her agent or attorney, a certificate
setting forth the substantial facts as to the service or labor
due from such fugitive to the claimant, and of his or her
escape from the State or Territory in which he or she was
arrested, with authority to such claimant, or his or her
agent or attorney, to use such reasonable force and restraint
as may be necessary, under the circumstances of the case,
to take and remove such fugitive person back to the State
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or Territory whence he or she may have escaped as afore
said. In no trial or hearing under this act shall the testi
mony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence; and
the certificates in this and the first [fourth] section men
tioned, shall be conclusive of the right of the person or
persons in whose favor granted, to remove such fugitive
to the State or Territory from which he escaped., and shall
prevent all molestation of such person or persons by any
process issued by any court, judge, magistrate, or other
person whomsoever.
SEC. 7- And be it further enacted, That any person who
shall knowingly and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent
such claimant, his agent or attorney, or any person or per
sons lawfully assisting him, her, or them, from arresting
such a fugitive from service or labor, either with or without
process as aforesaid, or shall rescue, or attempt to rescue,
such fugitive from service or labor, from the custody of
such claimant, his or her agent or attorney, or other person
or persons lawfully assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested,
pursuant to the authority herein given and declared ; or
shall aid, abet, or assist such person so owing service or labor
as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to escape from such
claimant, his agent or attorney, or other person or persons
legally authorized as aforesaid; or shall harbor or conceal
such fugitive, so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of
such person, after notice or knowledge of the fact that
such person was a fugitive from service or labor as afore
said, shall, for either of said offences, be subject to a fine
not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not
exceeding six months, by indictment and conviction before
the District Court of the United States for the district in
which such offence may have been committed, or before the
proper court of criminal jurisdiction, if committed within
any one of the organized Territories of the United States;
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and shall moreover forfeit and pay, by way of civil damages
to the party injured by such illegal conduct, the sum of one
thousand dollars for each fugitive so lost as aforesaid, to
be recovered by action of debt, in any of the District or
Territorial Courts aforesaid, within whose jurisdiction the
said offence may have been committed.
SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the marshals,
their deputies, and the clerks of the said District and Terri
torial Courts, shall be paid, for their services, the like fees
as may be allowed for similar services in other cases; and
where such services are rendered exclusively in the arrest,
custody, and delivery of the fugitive to the claimant, his
or her agent or attorney, or where such supposed fugitive
may be discharged out of custody for the want of sufficient
proof as aforesaid, then such fees are to be paid in whole
by such claimant, his or her agent or attorney; and in all
cases where the proceedings are before a commissioner,
he shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars in full for his
services in each case, upon the delivery of the said certifi
cate to the claimant, his agent or attorney; or a fee of five
dollars in cases where the proof shall not, in the opinion
of such commissioner, warrant such certificate and delivery,
inclusive of all services incident to such arrest and examin
ation, to be paid, in either case, by the claimant, his or her
agent or attorney. The person or persons authorized to
execute the process to be issued by such commissioner for
the arrest and detention of fugitives from service or labor
as aforesaid, shall also be entitled to a fee of five dollars
each for each person he or they may arrest and take before
any commissioner as aforesaid, at the instance and request
of such claimant, with such other fees as may be deemed
reasonable by such commissioner for such other additional
services as may be necessarily performed by him or them;
such as attending at the examination, keeping the fugitive
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in custody, and providing him with food and lodging during
his detention, and until the final determination of such
commissioners; and, in general, for performing such other
duties as may be required by such claimant, his or her
attorney or agent, or commissioner in the premises, such
fees to be made up in conformity with the fees usually
charged by the officers of the courts of justice within the
proper district or county, as near as may be practicable,
and paid by such claimants, their agents or attorneys,
whether such supposed fugitives from service or labor be
ordered to be delivered to such claimant by the final deter
mination of such commissioner or not.
SEC. 9- And be it further enacted, That, upon affidavit
made by the claimant of such fugitive, his agent or attorney,
after such certificate has been issued, that he has reason
to apprehend that such fugitive will be rescued by force
from his or their possession before he can be taken beyond
the limits of the State in which the arrest is made, it shall be
the duty of the officer making the arrest to retain such fugi
tive in his custody, and to remove him to the State whence
he fled, and there to deliver him to said claimant, his agent,
or attorney. And to this end, the officer aforesaid is hereby
authorized^ and required to employ so many persons as he
may deem necessary to overcome such force, and to retain
them in his service so long as circumstances may require.
The said officer and his assistants, while so employed, to
receive the same compensation, and to be allowed the same
expenses, as are now allowed by law for transportation
of criminals, to be certified by the judge of the district
within which the arrest is made, and paid out of the treas
ury of the United States.
SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That when any per
son held to service or labor in any State or Territory, or in
the District of Columbia, shall escape therefrom, the party
270
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
to whom such service or labor shall be due, his, her, or their
agent or attorney, may apply to any court of record
therein, or judge thereof in vacation, and make satisfactory
proof to such court, or judge in vacation, of the escape
aforesaid, and that the person escaping owed service or
labor to such party. Whereupon the court shall cause a
record to be made of the matters so proved, and also a
general description of the person so escaping, with such con
venient certainty as may be; and a transcript of such record,
authenticated by the attestation of the clerk and of the
seal of the said court, being produced in any other State,
Territory, or district in which the person so escaping may
be found, and being exhibited to any judge, commissioner,
or other officer authorized by the law of the United States
to cause persons escaping from service or labor to be deliv
ered up, shall be held and taken to be full and conclusive
evidence of the fact of escape, and that the service or labor
of the person escaping is due to the party in such record
mentioned. And upon the production by the said party
of other and further evidence if necessary, either oral or
by affidavit, in addition to what is contained in the said rec
ord of the identity of the person escaping, he or, she shall
be delivered up to the claimant. And the said court, com
missioner, judge, or other person authorized by this act
to grant certificates to claimants of fugitives, shall, upon the
production of the record and other evidences aforesaid,
grant to such claimant a certificate of his right to take any
such person identified and proved to be owing service or
labor as aforesaid, which certificate shall authorize such
claimant to seize or arrest and transport such person to the
State or Territory from which he escaped: Provided, That
nothing herein contained shall be construed as requiring
the production of a transcript of such record as evidence as
aforesaid. But in its absence the claim shall be heard and
271
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
determined upon other satisfactory proofs, competent in
law.
Approved, September 18, 1850.
ACT TO SUPPRESS THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That from and after the first day of January, eighteen
hundred and fifty-one, it shall not be lawful to bring into
the District of Columbia any slave whatever, for the pur
pose of being sold, or for the purpose of being placed in
depot, to be subsequently transferred to any other State
or place to be sold as merchandize. And if any slave shall
be brought into the said District by its owner, or by the
authority or consent of its owner, contrary to the provi
sions of this act, such slave shall thereupon become liber
ated and free.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted., That it shall and may
be lawful for each of the corporations of the cities of Wash
ington and Georgetown, from time to time, and as often as
may be necessary, to abate, break up, and abolish any depot or
place of confinement of slaves brought into the said District
as merchandize, contrary to the provisions of this act, by such
appropriate means as may appear to either of the said
corporations expedient and proper. And the same power is
hereby vested in the Levy Court of Washington county,
if any attempt shall be made, within its jurisdictional limits,
to establish a depot or place of confinement for slaves
brought into the said District as merchandize for sale con
trary to this act.
Approved, September 20, 1850.
272
Treaty with Mexico 1853
Treaty of Limits, Isthmus Transit, &c., between the
United States of America and the Republic of Mexico, Con
cluded at Mexico, December 30, 1853; Ratification Advised
by Senate, with Amendments, April 25, 1854; Ratified by
President, June 29, 1854; Ratifications Exchanged at
Washington, June 30, 1854; Proclaimed June 30, 1854.
In the name of Almighty God.
The Republic of Mexico and the United States of
America, desiring to remove every cause of disagreement
which might interfere in any manner with the better
friendship and intercourse between the two countries, and
especially in respect to the true limits which should be
established, when, notwithstanding what was covenanted
in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in the year 1848, op
posite interpretations have been urged, which might give
occasion to questions of serious moment: To avoid these,
and to strengthen and more firmly maintain the peace which
happily prevails between the two republics, the President
of the United States has, for this purpose, appointed James
Gadsden, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten
tiary of the same near the Mexican Government, and the
President of Mexico has appointed as Plenipotentiary "ad
hoc" his excellency Don Manuel Diez de Bonilla, cavalier
grand cross of the national and distinguished order of
Guadalupe, and Secretary of State and of the office of
Foreign Relations, and Don Jose Salazar Ylarregui and
General Mariano Monterde, as scientific commissioners, in
vested with full powers for this negotiation; who, having
communicated their respective full powers, and finding
273
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
them in due and proper form, have agreed upon the arti
cles following:
ARTICLE I
The Mexican Republic agrees to designate the follow
ing as her true limits with the United States for the future :
Retaining the same dividing line between the two Cali-
fornias as already defined and established, according to the
5th article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the limits
between the two republics shall be as follows: Beginning
in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite
the mouth of the Rio Grande, as provided in the fifth arti
cle of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; thence, as defined
in the said article, up the middle of that river to the point
where the parallel of 31° 47' north latitude crosses the
same; thence due west one hundred miles; thence south to
the parallel of 31° 20' north latitude; thence along the
said parallel of 31° 20' to the lllth meridian of longitude
west of Greenwich; thence in a straight line to a point on
the Colorado River twenty English miles below the junc
tion of the Gila and Colorado Rivers ; thence up the middle
of the said river Colorado until it intersects the present
line between the United States and Mexico.
For the performance of this portion of the treaty, each
of the two Governments shall nominate one commissioner,
to the end that, by common consent, the two thus nominated,
having met in the city of Paso del Norte, three months
after the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, may
proceed to survey and mark out upon the land the dividing
line stipulated by this article, where it shall not have al
ready been surveyed and established by the mixed com
mission, according to the treaty of Guadalupe, keeping a
journal and making proper plans of their operations. For
this purpose, if they should judge it necessary, the con-
274
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
tracting parties shall be at liberty each to unite to its
respective commissioner scientific or other assistants, such
as astronomers and surveyors, whose concurrence shall not
be considered necessary for the settlement and ratification
of a true line of division between the two republics; that
line shall be alone established upon which the commis
sioners may fix, their consent in this particular being con
sidered decisive and an integral part of this treaty,, without
necessity of ulterior ratification or approval, and without
room for interpretation of any kind by either of the parties
contracting.
The dividing line thus established shall, in all time, be
faithfully respected by the two Governments, without any
variation therein, unless of the express and free consent of
the two, given in conformity to the principles of the law
of nations, and in accordance with the constitution of each
country, respectively.
In consequence, the stipulation in the 5th article of the
treaty of Guadalupe upon the boundary line therein
described is no longer of any force, wherein it may con
flict with that here established, the said line being con
sidered annulled and abolished wherever it may not coin
cide with the present, and in the same manner remaining
in full force where in accordance with the same.
ARTICLE II
The Government of Mexico hereby releases the United
States from all liability on account of the obligations con
tained in the eleventh article of the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo ; and the said article and the thirty-third article
of the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation between
the United States of America and the United Mexican
States, concluded at Mexico on the fifth day of April,
1831, are hereby abrogated.
275
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE III
In consideration of the foregoing stipulations, the Gov
ernment of the United States agrees to pay the Govern
ment of Mexico, in the city of New York, the sum of ten
millions of dollars, of which seven millions shall be paid
immediately upon the exchange of the ratifications of this
treaty, and the remaining three millions as soon as the
boundary line shall be surveyed, marked, and established.
ARTICLE IV
The provisions of the 6th and 7th articles of the treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo having been rendered nugatory for
the most part by the cession of territory granted in the
first article of this treaty, the said articles are hereby ab
rogated and annulled, and the provisions as herein ex
pressed substituted therefor. The vessels and citizens of
the United States shall in all time, have free and uninter
rupted passage through the Gulf of California, to and from
their possessions situated north of the boundary line of the
two countries. It being understood that this passage is to
be by navigating the Gulf of California and the river Colo
rado, and not by land, without the express consent of the
Mexican Government; and precisely the same provisions,
stipulations, and restrictions, in all respects, are hereby
agreed upon and adopted, and shall be scrupulously ob
served and enforced, by the two contracting Governments,
in reference to the Rio Colorado, so far and for such dis
tance as the middle of that river is made their common
boundary line by the first article of this treaty.
The several provisions, stipulations, and restrictions
contained in the 7th article of the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo shall remain in force only so far as regards the
276
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Rio Bravo del Norte, below the initial of the said boundary
provided in the first article of this treaty; that is to say,
below the intersection of the 31° 47' 30" parallel of lati
tude, with the boundary line established by the late treaty
dividing said river from its mouth upwards, according to
the 5th article of the treaty of Guadalupe.
ARTICLE v
All the provisions of the eighth and ninth, sixteenth and
seventeenth articles of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
shall apply to the territory ceded by the Mexican Repub
lic in the first article of the present treaty, and to all the
rights of persons and property, both civil and ecclesiasti
cal, within the same, as fully and as effectually as if the
said articles were herein again recited and set forth.
ARTICLE VI
No grants of land within the territory ceded by the first
article of this treaty bearing date subsequent to the day —
twenty-fifth of September — when the Minister and sub
scriber to this treaty on the part of the United States pro
posed to the Government of Mexico to terminate the ques
tion of boundary, will be considered valid or be recognized
by the United States, or will any grants made previously
be respected or be considered as obligatory which have not
been located and duly recorded in the archives of Mexico.
ARTICLE VII
Should there at any future period (which God forbid)
occur any disagreement between the two nations which
might lead to a rupture of their relations and reciprocal
277
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
peace, they bind themselves in like manner to procure by
every possible method the adjustment of every difference;
and should they still in this manner not succeed, never will
they proceed to a declaration of war without having pre
viously paid attention to what has been set forth in article
21 of the treaty of Guadalupe for similar cases; which
article, as well as the 22d, is here re-affirmed.
ARTICLE VIII
The Mexican Government having on the 5th of Febru
ary, 1853, authorized the early construction of a plank and
railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and, to secure
the stable benefits of said transit way to the persons and
merchandize of the citizens of Mexico and the United
States, it is stipulated that neither Government will inter
pose any obstacle to the transit of persons and merchan
dize of both nations; and at no time shall higher charges
be made on the transit of persons and property of citizens
of the United States than may be made on the persons and
property of other foreign nations, nor shall any interest in
said transit way, nor in the proceeds thereof, be transferred
to any foreign government.
The United States, by its agents, shall have the right
to transport across the isthmus, in closed bags, the mails
of the United States not intended for distribution along the
line of communication; also the effects of the United
States Government and its citizens, which may be intended
for transit, and not for distribution on the isthmus, free
of custom-house or other charges by the Mexican Govern
ment. Neither passports nor letters of security will be re
quired of persons crossing the isthmus and not remaining
in the country.
When the construction of the railroad shall be completed,
278
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
the Mexican Government agrees to open a port of entry
in addition to the port of Vera Cruz, at or near the terminus
of said road on the Gulf of Mexico.
The two Governments will enter into arrangements for
the prompt transit of troops and munitions of the United
States, which that Government may have occasion to send
from one part of its territory to another, lying on opposite
sides of the continent.
The Mexican Government having agreed to protect with
its whole power the prosecution, preservation, and security
of the work, the United States may extend its protection
as it shall judge wise to it when it may feel sanctioned and
warranted by the public or international law.
ARTICLE IX
This treaty shall be ratified, and the respective ratifi
cations shall be exchanged at the city of Washington within
the exact period of six months from the date of its signa
ture, or sooner if possible.
In testimony whereof we, the Plenipotentiaries of the
contracting parties, have hereunto affixed our hands and
seals at Mexico, the thirtieth (30th) day of December, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
fifty-three, in the thirty-third year of the Independence of
the Mexican Republic, and the seventy-eighth of that of
the United States.
JAMES GADSDEN [L. s.]
MANUEL DIEZ DE BONILLA [L. s.]
JOSE SALAZAR YLARREGUI [L. s.]
J. MARIANO MONTERDE [L. s.]
279
Kansas- Nebraska Act 1854
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa
tives of the United States of America in Congress as
sembled, That all that part of the territory of the United
States included within the following limits, except such
portions thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted
from the operations of this act, to wit: beginning at a point
in the Missouri River where the fortieth parallel of north
latitude crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to
the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit
of the Rocky Mountains; thence on said summit northward
to the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude; thence east
on said parallel to the western boundary of the territory
of Minnesota; thence southward on said boundary to the
Missouri River; thence down the main channel of said
river to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby,
created into a temporary government by the name of the
Territory of Nebraska; and when admitted as a State or
States, the said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall
be received into the Union with or without slavery, as their
constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission:
Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be con
strued to inhibit the government of the United States from
dividing said Territory into two or more Territories, in
such manner and at such times as Congress shall deem
convenient and proper, or from attaching any portion of
said Territory to any other State or Territory of the
United States: Provided further, That nothing in this act
contained shall be construed to impair the rights of person
or property now pertaining to the Indians in said Terri
tory, so long as such rights shall remain unextinguished by
280
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
treaty between the United States and such Indians, or to
include any territory which, by treaty with any Indian
tribe, is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be in
cluded within the territorial limits or jurisdiction of any
State or Territory; but all such territory shall be excepted
out of the boundaries and constitute no part of the Terri
tory of Nebraska, until said tribe shall signify their assent
to the President of the United States to be included within
the said Territory of Nebraska, or to affect the authority
of the government of the United States to make any regu
lations respecting such Indians, their lands, property, or
other rights, by treaty, law, or otherwise, which it would
have been competent to the government to make if this act
had never passed.
SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the provisions
of the act entitled " An act respecting fugitives from
justice, and persons escaping from the service of their
masters," approved February twelfth, seventeen hundred
and ninety-three, and the provisions of the act entitled
" An act to amend, and supplementary to, the aforesaid
act," approved September eighteenth, eighteen hundred
and fifty, be, and the same are hereby, declared to extend
to and be in full force within the limits of the said Terri
tory of Nebraska.
SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, . . . That the Con
stitution, and all laws of the United States which are not
locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect
within the said Territory of Nebraska as elsewhere within
the United States, except the eighth section of the act pre
paratory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, ap-
281
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
proved March sixth, eighteen hundred and twenty, which,
being inconsistent with the principle of non-intervention by
Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, as
recognized by the legislation of eighteen hundred and fifty,
commonly called the Compromise Measures, is hereby de
clared inoperative and void; it being the true intent and
meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Terri
tory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the
people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their
domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the
Constitution of the United States : Provided, That nothing
herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force
any law or regulation which may have existed prior to the
act of sixth of March, eighteen hundred and twenty, either
protecting, establishing, prohibiting, or abolishing slavery.
[The provisions relating to Kansas follow and, with the
exception of the substitution of Kansas for Nebraska, are
identical with the matter here given.]
282
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address 1861
Fellow-citizens of the United States: In compliance with
a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before
you to address you briefly, and to take in your presence the
oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to
be taken by the President " before he enters on the execu
tion of his office."
I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss
those matters of administration about which there is no
special anxiety or excitement.
Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the
Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Ad
ministration their property and their peace and personal
security are to be endangered. There has never been any
reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most
ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and
been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the
published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do
but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that
" I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with
the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I
believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no
inclination to do so." Those who nominated and elected me
did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many
similar declarations, and had never recanted them. And,
more than this, they placed in the platform for my accept
ance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and
emphatic resolution which I now read:
"Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights
of the States, and especially the right of each State to order
and control its own domestic institutions according to its
own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of
283
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
power on which the perfection and endurance of our polit
ical fabric depend, and we denounce the lawless invasion
by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no
matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes."
I now reiterate these sentiments ; and, in doing so, I only
press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence
of which the case is susceptible, that the property, peace,
and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered
by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all
the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and
the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully given to all the
States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause — as
cheerfully to one section, as to another.
There is much controversy about the delivering up of
fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is
as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its
provisions :
" No person held to service or labor 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 labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the
party to whom such service or labor may be due."
• It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended
by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call
fugitive slaves; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law.
All Members of Congress swear their support to the whole
Constitution — to this provision as much as to any other.
To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within
the terms of this clause, " shall be delivered up," their oaths
are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good
temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame
and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unan
imous oath?
There is some difference of opinion whether this clause
284
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
should be enforced by national or by State authority; but
surely that difference is not a very material one. If the
slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence
to him, or to others, by which authority it is done. And
should any one, in any case, be content that his oath shall
go unkept, on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how
it shall be kept?
Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the
safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane juris
prudence to be introduced so that a free man be not, in
any case, surrendered as a slave ? And might it not be well
at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of
that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that " the
citizen of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and
immunities of citizens in the several States " ?
I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations
and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by
any hypercritical rules. And while I do not choose now
to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be
enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all,
both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide
by all those acts which stand unrepealed, than to violate any
of them trusting to find impunity in having them held to be
unconstitutional.
It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a
President under our National Constitution. During that
period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens
have, in succession, administered the Executive branch of
the Government. They have conducted it through many
perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this
scope of precedent, I now enter upon the same task for
the brief constitutional term of four years under great and
peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Federal Union, here
tofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted.
285
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
I hold that, in contemplation of universal law and of the
Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. Per
petuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law
of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no
government proper ever had a provision in its organic law
for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express
provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will
endure forever — it being impossible to destroy it except by
some action not provided for in the instrument itself.
Again, if the United States be not a Government proper,
but an association of States in the nature of contract merely,
can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all
the parties who made it? One party to a contract may
violate it — break it, so to speak, but does it not require all
to lawfully rescind it?
Descending from these general principles, we find the
proposition that, in legal contemplation, the Union is per
petual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The
Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed,
in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was
matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence
in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the
then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that
it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in
1778. And, finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for
ordaining and establishing the Constitution was, "to form
a more perfect Union."
But if the destruction of the Union by one, or by a part
only, of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less
perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital
element of perpetuity.
It follows from these views that no State, upon its own
mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union; that
resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void; and
286
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the
authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revo
lutionary, according to circumstances.
I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and
the laws, the Union is unbroken; and to the extent of my
ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly
enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully
executed in all of the States. Doing this I deem to be only
a simple duty on my part; and I shall perform it, so far
as practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American
people, shall withhold the requisite means, or in some
authoritative manner direct the contrary. I trust this will
not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared pur
pose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and
maintain itself.
In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence ;
and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national
authority. The power confided to me will be used to hold,
occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to
the Government, and to collect the duties and imposts; but
beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will
be no invasion, no using of force against or among the
people anywhere. Where hostility to the United States, in
any interior locality, shall be so great and universal as to
prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Fed
eral offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious
strangers among the people for that object. While the
strict legal right may exist in the Government to enforce the
exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irri
tating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I deem it
better to forego for the time the uses of such offices.
The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished
in all parts of the Union. So far as possible, the people
everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which
287
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
is most favorable to calm thought and reflection. The
course here indicated will be followed unless current events
and experience shall show a modification or change to be
proper,, and in every case and exigency my best discretion
will be exercised according to circumstances actually exist
ing, and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of
the national troubles, and the restoration of fraternal sym
pathies and affections.
That there are persons in one section or another who seek
to destroy the Union at all events, and are glad of any
pretext to do it, I will neither affirm nor deny; but if there
be such, I need address no word to them. To those, however,
who really love the Union may I not speak?
Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruc
tion of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories,
and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely
why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step while
there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly
from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain
ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones you fly
from — will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake ?
All profess to be content in the Union, if all constitu
tional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any
right, plainly written in the Constitution, has been denied?
I think not. Happily the human mind is so constituted, that
no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think,
if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written
provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If by
the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a
minority in any clearly written constitutional right, it might,
in a moral point of view, justify revolution — certainly would
if such a right were a vital one. But such is not our case.
All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so
plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guar-
288
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
antics and prohibitions, in the Constitution, that controver
sies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can
ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to
every question which may occur in practical administration.
No foresight can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable
length contain, express provisions for all possible questions.
Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or
by State authority? The Constitution does not expressly
say. May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories?
The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress
protect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does
not expressly say.
From questions of this class spring all our constitutional
controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and
minorities. If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority
must, or the Government must cease. There is no other
alternative; for continuing the Government is acquiescence
on one side or the other.
If a minority in such case will secede rather than
acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will divide
and ruin them ; for a minority of their own will secede from
them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such
minority. For instance, why may not any portion of a new
confederacy a year or two hence arbitrarily secede again,
precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to
secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are
now being educated to the exact temper of doing this.
Is there such perfect identity of interests among the
States to compose a new Union as to produce harmony only,
and prevent renewed secession?
Plainly, the central idea of secession is the essence of
anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional
checks and limitations, and always changing easily with
deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is
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the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it
does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or to despotism. Una
nimity is impossible ; the rule of a minority, as a permanent
arrangement, is wholly inadmissible ; so that, rej ecting the
majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is
all that is left.
I do not forget the position, assumed by some, that con
stitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court ;
nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding, in any
case, upon the parties to a suit, as to the object of that
suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and
consideration in all parallel cases by all other departments
of the Government. And while it is obviously possible that
such decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the
evil effect following it, being limited to that particular case,
with the chance that it may be overruled and never become
a precedent for other cases, can better be borne than could
the evils of a different practice. At the same time, the can
did citizen must confess that if the policy of the Govern
ment, upon vital questions affecting the whole people, is to
be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the
instant they are made, in ordinary litigation between parties
in personal actions, the people will have ceased to be their
own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their
government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Nor
is there in this view any assault upon the court or the judges.
It is a duty from which they may not shrink to decide cases
properly brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs
if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes.
One section of our country believes slavery is right, and
ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong,
and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial
dispute. The fugitive-slave clause of the Constitution, and
the law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade, are
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each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in
a community where the moral sense of the people imper
fectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people
abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few
break over in each. This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured ;
and it would be worse in both cases after the separation of
the sections, than before. The foreign slave trade, now
imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived without
restriction, in one section; while fugitive slaves, now only
partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by
the other.
Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot
remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an
impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may
be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the
reach of each other; but the different parts of our country
cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face, and
intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between
them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more
advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than
before? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can
make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced
between aliens than laws can among friends ? Suppose you
go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much
loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fight
ing, the identical old questions as to terms of intercourse
are again upon you.
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people
who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the
existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional
right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dis
member or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact
that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of
having the National Constitution amended. While I make
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no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the
rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to
be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instru
ment itself; and I should, under existing circumstances,
favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded
the people to act upon it. I will venture to add that to
me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows
amendments to originate with the people themselves,
instead of only permitting them to take or reject proposi
tions originated by others, not especially chosen for the pur
pose, and which might not be precisely such as they would
wish to either accept or refuse. I understand a proposed
amendment to the Constitution — which amendment, however,
I have not seen — has passed Congress, to the effect that the
Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic
institutions of the States, including that of persons held
to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have said,
I depart from my purpose, not to speak of particular amend
ments, so far as to say that, holding such a provision to
now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to
its being made express and irrevocable.
The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the
people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix terms
for the separation of the States. The people themselves
can do this also if they choose ; but the Executive, as such,
has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the
present Government, as it came to his hands, and to transmit
it, unimpaired by him, to his successor.
Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ulti
mate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal
hope in the world? In our present differences is either
party without faith of being in the right? If the Almighty
Ruler of Nations, with his eternal truth and justice, be on
your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this
great tribunal of the American people.
By the frame of the Government under which we live,
this same people have wisely given their public servants but
little power for mischief; and have, with equal wisdom,
provided for the return of that little to their own hands
at very short intervals. While the people retain their
virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of
wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the govern
ment in the short space of four years.
My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon
this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking
time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in hat
haste to a step which you would never take deliberately, that
obj ect will be frustrated by taking time ; but no good obj ect
can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatis
fied, still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the
sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it;
while the new Administration will have no immediate power,
if it would, to change either. If it were admitted that you
who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there
still is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelli
gence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him
who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still com
petent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty.
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not
in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Govern
ment will not assail you. You can have no conflict without
being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath regis
tered in Heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall
have the most solemn one to " preserve, protect, and
defend it."
I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends.
We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained,
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it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords
of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot
grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this
broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when
again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels
of our nature.
294
Constitution of the Confederate States of
America 1861
We, the people of the Confederate States, each State
acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order
to form a permanent federal government, establish justice,
insure domestic tranquility, and secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity — invoking the favor
and guidance of Almighty God — do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the Confederate States of America.
ARTICLE I
SECTION 1 All legislative powers herein delegated shall
be vested in a Congress of the Confederate States, which
shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
SECTION 2 (1) The House of Representatives shall be
composed of members chosen every second year by the peo
ple of the several States ; and the electors in each State shall
be citizens of the Confederate States, and have the qualifica
tions requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of
the State Legislature ; but no person of foreign birth, not a
citizen of the Confederate States, shall be allowed to vote
for any officer, civil or political, State or Federal.
(2) No person shall be a Representative who shall not
have attained the age of twenty-five years, and be a citizen
of the Confederate States, and who shall not, when elected,
be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
(3) Representatives and direct taxes shall be appor
tioned among the several States, which may be included
within this Confederacy, according to their respective num-
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bers, 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 slaves. The actual enumeration shall be made
within three years after the first meeting of the Congress
of the Confederate States, and within every subsequent
term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law di
rect. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one
for every fifty thousand, but each State shall have at least
one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be
made, the State of South Carolina shall be entitled to
choose six; the State of Georgia ten; the State of Alabama
nine; the State of Florida two; the State of Mississippi
seven; the State of Louisiana six; and the State of Texas
six.
(4) When vacancies happen in the representation from
any State, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs
of election to fill such vacancies.
(5) The House of Representatives shall choose their
Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power
of impeachment; except that any judicial or other Federal
officer, resident and acting solely within the limits of any
State, may be impeached by a vote of two-thirds of both
branches of the Legislature thereof.
SECTION 3 (1) The Senate of the Confederate States
shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen
for six years by the Legislature thereof, at the regular ses
sion next immediately preceding the commencement of the
term of service; and each Senator shall have one vote.
(2) Immediately after they shall be assembled, in con
sequence 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
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of the fourth year; and of the third class at the expira
tion 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 appoint
ments until the next meeting of the Legislature which shall
then fill such vacancies.
(3) No person shall be a Senator who shall not have
attained to the age of thirty years, and be a citizen of the
Confederate States; and who shall not, when elected, be
an inhabitant of the State for which he shall be chosen.
(4) The Vice President of the Confederate States shall
be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless
they be equally divided.
(5) 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 Confederate States.
(6) The Senate shall have power to try all impeach
ments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on
oath or affirmation. When the President of the Confeder
ate States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no
person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-
thirds of the members present.
(7) 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 Confederate States; but the party convicted shall,
nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial,
judgment and punishment according to law.
SECTION 4(1) The times, places and manner of holding
elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be pre
scribed in each State by the Legislature thereof, subject to
the provisions of this Constitution; but the Congress may,
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at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except
as to the times and places of choosing Senators.
(2) 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 (1) 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 busi
ness; 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.
(2) Each House may determine the rules of its proceed
ings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with
the concurrence of two-thirds of the whole number, expel
a member.
(3) 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.
(4) 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 (1) The Senators and Representatives shall
receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained
by law, and paid out of the treasury of the Confederate
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
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speech or debate in either House, they shall not be ques
tioned in any other place.
(2) No Senator or Representative shall,, during the time
for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office
under the authority of the Confederate 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 Confederate States shall be a member
of either House during his continuance in office. But Con
gress may, by law, grant to the principal officer in each of
the Executive Departments a seat upon the floor of either
House, with the privilege of discussing any measure ap
pertaining to his department.
SECTION 7(1) All bills for raising revenue shall origin
ate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may
propose or concur with the amendments, as on other bills.
(2) Every bill which shall have passed both Houses,
shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Presi
dent of the Confederate 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 Con-
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gress by their adjournment prevent its return; in which
case it shall not be a law. The President may approve
any appropriation and disapprove any other appropriation
in the same bill. In such case he shall, in signing the bill,
designate the appropriations disapproved; and shall return
a copy of such appropriations, with his objections, to the
House in which the bill shall have originated; and the
same proceedings shall then be had as in case of other bills
disapproved by the President.
(3) Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the con
currence of both Houses may be necessary (except on a
question of adjournment), shall be presented to the Presi
dent of the Confederate 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 both Houses,
according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of
a bill.
SECTION 8. The Congress shall have power —
( 1 ) To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises,
for revenue necessary to pay the debts, provide for the
common defence, and carry on the government of the Con
federate States; but no bounties shall be granted from the
treasury ; nor shall any duties or taxes on importations from
foreign nations be laid to promote or foster any branch of
industry; and all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uni
form throughout the Confederate States:
(2) To borrow money on the credit of the Confederate
States :
(3) To regulate commerce with foreign nations, arid
among the several States, and with the Indian tribes; but
neither this, nor any other clause contained in the consti
tution, shall ever be construed to delegate the power to
Congress to appropriate money for any internal improve
ment intended to facilitate commerce, except for the pui
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pose of furnishing lights, beacons, and buoys, and other
aids to navigation upon the coasts, and the improvement
of harbors and the removing of obstructions in river navi
gation, in all which cases, such duties shall be laid on the
navigation facilitated thereby, as may be necessary to pay
the costs and expenses thereof:
(4) To establish uniform laws of naturalization, and
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout
the Confederate States; but no law of Congress shall dis
charge any debt contracted before the passage of the same:
(5) To coin money, regulate the value thereof and of
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and meas
ures:
(6) To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting
the securities and current coin of the Confederate States:
(7) To establish post-offices and post-routes; but the
expenses of the Post-Office Department, after the first day
of March in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and
sixty-three, shall be paid out of its own revenue:
(8) 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 dis
coveries :
(9) To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme
Court:
(10) To define and punish piracies and felonies com
mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law of
nations :
(11) To declare war, grant letters of marque and re
prisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and
water :
(12) To raise and support armies; but no appropria
tion of money to that use shall be for a longer term than
two years :
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(13) To provide and maintain a navy:
(14) To make rules for the government and regulation
of the land and naval forces:
(15) To provide for calling forth the militia to execute
the laws of the Confederate States,, suppress insurrections.,
and repel invasions:
(16) To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin
ing the militia, and for governing such part of them as may
be emploj^ed in the service of the Confederate States, re
serving to the States, respectively, the appointment of the
officers, and the authority of training the militia according
to the discipline prescribed by Congress :
(17) To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases what
soever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square)
as may, by cession of one or more States and the accept
ance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of
the Confederate 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, dockyards, and other needful build
ings: and
(18) 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 Gov
ernment of the Confederate States, or in any department
or officer thereof.
SECTION 9(1) The importation of negroes of the Afri
can race, from any foreign country other than the slave-
holding States or Territories of the United States of Amer
ica, is hereby forbidden; and Congress is required to pass
such laws as shall effectually prevent the same.
(2) Congress shall also have power to prohibit the in
troduction of slaves from any State not a member of, or
Territory not belonging to, this Confederacy.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
(3) The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not
be suspended, unless when in case of rebellion or invasion
the public safety may require it.
(4) No bill of attainder,, or ex post facto law, or law
denying or impa[i]ring the right of property in negro
slaves shall be passed.
(5) No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, un
less in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore
directed to be taken.
(6) No tax or duty shall be laid upon articles exported
from any State, except by a vote of two-thirds of both
Houses.
(7) No preference shall be given by any regulation of
commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of
another.
(8) No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but
in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regu
lar statement and account of the receipts and expenditures
of all public money shall be published from time to
time.
(9) Congress shall appropriate no money from the
treasury except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses,
taken by yeas and nays, unless it be asked and estimated
for by some one of the heads of departments, and sub
mitted to Congress by the President; or for the purpose
of paying its own expenses and contingencies; or for the
payment of claims against the Confederate States, the
justice of which shall have been judicially declared by a
tribunal for the investigation of claims against the govern
ment, which it is hereby made the duty of Congress to
establish.
(10) All bills appropriating money shall specify in
federal currency the exact amount of each appropriation
and the purposes for which it is made; and Congress shall
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grant no extra compensation to any public contractor,
officer, agent or servant, after such contract shall have been
made or such service rendered.
(11) No title of nobility shall be granted by the Con
federate States; and no person holding any office of profit
or trust under them shall, without the consent of Congress,
accept of any present, emolument, office or title of any kind
whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
(12) Congress shall make no law respecting an estab
lishment 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 assemble and
petition the government for a redress of grievances.
(13) 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.
(14) 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.
(15) The right of the people to be secure in their per
sons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no war
rants 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.
(16) No person shall be held to answer for a capital or
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or in
dictment 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 be compelled, in any criminal case, to
be a witness against himself; nor to be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
private property be taken for public use, without just com
pensation.
(17) In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall en
joy 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 wit
nesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel
for his defence.
(18) In suits at common law, where the value in con
troversy shall not exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial
by jury shall be preserved; and no fact so tried by a jury
shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the Con
federacy, than according to the rules of common law.
(19) Excessive bail shall not be required, nor exces
sive fines imposed, nor cruel and inhuman punishment in
flicted.
(20) Every law, or resolution having the force of law,
shall relate to but one subject, and that shall be expressed
in the title.
SECTION 10(1) No State shall enter into any treaty, alli
ance, or confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ;
coin money ; make anything 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.
(2) No State shall, without the consent of Congress,
lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except
what may be absolutely necessary for executing its in
spection laws; and the nett produce of all duties and im
posts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for
the use of the Treasury of the Confederate States; and
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control
of Congress.
(3) No State shall, without the consent of Congress,
lay any duty on tonnage, except on sea-going vessels, for
the improvement of its rivers and harbors navigated by the
said vessels; but such duties shall not conflict with any
treaties of the Confederate States with foreign nations;
and any surplus revenue, thus derived, shall, after making
such improvement, be paid into the common treasury. Nor
shall any State 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. But when any river divides or flows
through two or more States, they may enter into compacts
with each other to improve the navigation thereof.
ARTICLE II
SECTION 1 (1) The executive power shall be vested in a
President of the Confederate States of America. He and
the Vice President shall hold their offices for the term of six
years ; but the President shall not be re-eligible. The Presi
dent and the Vice President shall be elected as follows :
(2) 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 Confederate States, shall be ap
pointed an elector.
(3) 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
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
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 list they shall sign and certify,
and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the Government of the
Confederate 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 certifi
cates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person hav
ing 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
a majority, then, from the persons having the highest num
bers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as
President, the House of Representatives shall choose im
mediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the
President, the votes shall be taken by States — the repre
sentation 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 the 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 con
stitutional disability of the President.
(4) The person having the greatest number of votes
as Vice President, shall be the Vice President, if such num
ber be a majority of the whole number of electors ap
pointed, 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 con-
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
sist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a
majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a
choice.
(5) But no person constitutionally ineligible to the
office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President
of the Confederate States.
(6) 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 Con
federate States.
(7) No person except a natural born citizen of the Con
federate States, or a citizen thereof at the time of the
adoption of this Constitution, or a citizen thereof born in
the United States prior to the 20th of December, I860,
shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any
person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained
the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resi
dent within the limits of the Confederate States, as they may
exist at the time of his election.
(8) 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 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 Presi
dent shall be elected.
(9) 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 Confederate States, or any
of them.
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(10) Before he enters 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 Confederate States,
and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and
defend the Constitution thereof."
SECTION 2 (1) The President shall be Commander-in-
chief of the army and navy of the Confederate States, and
of the militia of the several States, when called into the
actual service of the Confederate 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 Con
federate States, except in cases of impeachment.
(2) 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 nomi
nate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and con
suls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers
of the Confederate States whose appointments are not
herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be estab
lished by law; but the Congress may, by law, vest the ap
pointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper,
in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads
of departments.
(3) The principal officer in each of the executive de
partments, and all persons connected with the diplomatic
service, may be removed from office at the pleasure of the
President. All other civil officers of the executive depart
ment may be removed at any time by the President, or
other appointing power, when their services are unneces
sary, or for dishonesty, incapacity, inefficiency, misconduct,
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or neglect of duty; and when so removed, the removal
shall be reported to the Senate, together with the reasons
therefor.
(4) The President shall have power to fill all vacancies
that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by grant
ing commissions which shall expire at the end of their
next session; but no person rejected by the Senate shall
be re-appointed to the same office during their ensuing
recess.
SECTION 3 (1) The President shall, from time to time,
give to the Congress information of the state of the Confed
eracy, and recommend to their consideration such measures
as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extra
ordinary 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 Confederate States.
SECTION 4 (1) The President, Vice President, and all
civil officers of the Confederate States, shall be removed
from office on impeachment, for and conviction of, treason,
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE III
SECTION 1 (1) The judicial power of the Confederate
States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such in
ferior 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 behavior, and
shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compen
sation which shall not be diminished during their continu
ance in office.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
SECTION 2 (1) The judicial power shall extend to all
cases arising under this Constitution, the laws of the Con
federate 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 Con
federate States shall be a party; to controversies between
two or more States ; between a State and citizens of another
State, where the State is plaintiff; between citizens claim
ing lands under grants of different States; and between
a State or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens
or subjects; but no State shall be sued by a citizen or
subject of any foreign state.
(2) In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public
ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall
be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original juris
diction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Su
preme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to
law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regu
lations as the Congress shall make.
(3) The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach
ment, 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 (1) Treason against the Confederate States
shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adher
ing to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No per
son shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of
two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in
open court.
(2) The Congress shall have power to declare the pun
ishment of treason; but no attainder of treason shall work
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corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life
of the person attainted.
ARTICLE IV
SECTION 1 (1) Full faith and credit shall be given in
each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceed
ings of every other State. And the Congress may, by gen
eral laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records,
and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
SECTION 2 (1) The citizens of each State shall be en
titled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the
several States; and shall have the right of transit and so
journ in any State of this Confederacy, with their slaves and
other property ; and the right of property in said slaves shall
not be thereby impaired.
(2) A person charged in any State with treason, felony,
or other crime against the laws of such State, 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.
(3) No slave or other person held to service or labor in
any State or Territory of the Confederate States, under the
laws thereof, escaping or lawfully carried into another,
shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be
discharged from such service or labor ; but shall be delivered
up on claim of the party to whom such slave belongs, or to
whom such service or labor may be due.
SECTION 3 (1) Other States may be admitted into this
Confederacy by a vote of two-thirds of the whole House of
Representatives and two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate
voting by States ; but no new State shall be formed or erected
within the j urisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
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.
(2) The Congress shall have power to dispose of and
make all needful rules and regulations concerning the prop
erty of the Confederate States, including the lands thereof.
(3) The Confederate States may acquire new territory;
and Congress shall have power to legislate and provide
governments for the inhabitants of all territory belonging
to the Confederate States, lying without the limits of the
several States; and may permit them, at such times, and in
such manner as it may by law provide, to form States to
be admitted into the Confederacy. In all such territory, the
institution of negro slavery, as it now exists in the Con
federate States, shall be recognized and protected by Con
gress and by the territorial government : and the inhabitants
of the several Confederate States and Territories shall have
the right to take to such territory any slaves lawfully held
by them in any of the States or Territories of the Confeder
ate States.
(4) The Confederate States shall guarantee to every
State that now is, or hereafter may become, a member of
this Confederacy, a republican form of government; and
shall protect each of them against invasion; and on appli
cation of the legislature (or of the executive, when the
legislature is not in session), against domestic violence.
ARTICLE V
SECTION 1 (1) Upon the demand of any three States,
legally assembled in their several conventions, the Congress
shall summon a convention of all the States, to take into
consideration such amendments to the Constitution as the
said States shall concur in suggesting at the time when the
313
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
said demand is made ; and should any of the proposed amend
ments to the Constitution be agreed on by the said conven
tion — voting by States — and the same be ratified by the
legislature of two-thirds of the several States, or by con
ventions in two-thirds thereof — as the one or the other
mode of ratification may be proposed by the general conven
tion — they shall henceforward form a part of the Constitu
tion. But no State shall, without its consent, be deprived of
its equal representation in the Senate.
ARTICLE VI
(1) The Government established by this Constitution
is the successor of the Provisional Government of the Con
federate States of America, and all the laws passed by the
latter shall continue in force until the same shall be repealed
or modified: and all the officers appointed by the same shall
remain in office until their successors are appointed and
qualified, or the offices abolished.
(2) All debts contracted and engagements entered into
before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid
against the Confederate States under this Constitution, as
under the Provisional Government.
(3) This Constitution, and the laws of the Confederate
States made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made,
or which shall be made, under the authority of the Con
federate States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and
the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything
in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary
notwithstanding.
(4) The Senators and Representatives before mentioned,
and the members of the several State legislatures, and all
executive and judicial officers, both of the Confederate
States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or
affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious
314
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or
public trust under the Confederate States.
(5) The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain
rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others
retained by the people of the several States.
(6) The powers not delegated to the Confederate States
by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people thereof.
ARTICLE VII
(1) The ratification of the conventions of five States
shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution
between the States so ratifying the same.
(2) When five States shall have ratified this Constitu
tion, in the manner before specified, the Congress under the
Provisional Constitution shall prescribe the time for hold
ing the election of President and Vice President, and for
the meeting of the Electoral College, and for counting the
votes, and inaugurating the President. They shall, also,
prescribe the time for holding the first election of members
of Congress under this Constitution, and the time for assem
bling the same. Until the assembling of such Congress, the
Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall continue
to exercise the legislative powers granted them ; not extend
ing beyond the time limited by the Constitution of the Pro
visional Government.
Adopted unanimously by the Congress of the Confederate
States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mis
sissippi, Louisiana, and Texas, sitting in convention at the
capitol, in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, on the
Eleventh day of March, in the year Eighteen Hundred and
Sixty-one.
HOWELL COBB
President of the Congress.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
South Carolina. — R. Barnwell Rhett, C. G. Memminger,
Wm. Porcher Miles, James Chesnut, Jr., R. W. Barnwell,
William W. Boyce, Lawrence M. Keitt, T. J. Withers.
Georgia. — Francis S. Bartow, Martin J. Crawford, Ben
jamin H. Hill, Thos. R. R. Cobb.
Florida. — Jackson Morton, J. Patton Anderson, Jas.
B. Owens.
Alabama.— Richard W. Walker, Robt. H. Smith, Colin J.
McRae, William P. Chilton, Stephen F. Hale, David P.
Lewis, Tho. Fearn, Jno. Gill Shorter, J. L. M. Curry.
Mississippi. — Alex. M. Clayton, James T. Harrison, Will
iam S. Barry, W. S. Wilson, Walker Brooke, W. P. Harris,
J. A. P. Campbell.
Louisiana. — Alex, de Clouet, C. M. Conrad, Duncan F.
Kenner, Henry Marshall.
Texas.— John Hemphill, Thomas N. Waul, John H.
Reagan, Williamson S. Oldham, Louis T. Wigfall, John
Gregg, William Beck Ochiltree.
316
Emancipation Proclamation 1863
Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-
two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the
United States, containing, among other things, the follow
ing, to wit:
" That on the first day of January, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all per
sons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of
a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion
against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and
forever free; and the Executive Government of the United
States, including the military and naval authority thereof,
will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons,
and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of
them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
" That the Executive will, on the first day of January
aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts
of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively,
shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and
the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that
day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the
United States by members chosen thereto at elections
wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State
shall have participated, shall in the absence of strong coun
tervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that
such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion
against the United States."
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as com-
mander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United
317
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
States, in time of actual armed rebellion against authority
and government of the United States, and as a fit and nec
essary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on
this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thou
sand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with
my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period
of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned,
order and designate as the States and parts of States
wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in
rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St.
Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St.
James, Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St.
Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New
Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South
Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-
eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the
counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth
City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities
of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts
are, for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation
were not issued.
And by virtue of the power and for the purpose afore
said, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves
within said designated States and parts of States are, and
henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive govern
ment of the United States, including the military and naval
authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom
of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be
free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-
defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when
allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such per-
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
sons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed
service of the United States to garrison forts, positions,
stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts
in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of jus
tice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity,
I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gra
cious favor of Almighty God.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this first day of January,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
L. s.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State.
319
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address 1863
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated,
can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that
war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as
a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives
that the nation might live. It is altogether fitting and
proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we
cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow
— this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who strug
gled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to
add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remem
ber what we say here, but it can never forget what they did
here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here
to the unfinished work which they who fought here have
thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here
dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from
these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause
for which they gave the last full measure of devotion —
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have
died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new
birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
320
Proclamation of Amnesty 1863
Whereas in and by the Constitution of the United States
it is provided that the President " shall have power to grant
reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States,
except in cases of impeachment; " and
Whereas a rebellion now exists whereby the loyal State
governments of several States have for a long time been
subverted, and many persons have committed and are now
guilty of treason against the United States ; and
Whereas, with reference to said rebellion and treason,
laws have been enacted by Congress declaring forfeitures
and confiscation of property and liberation of slaves, all
upon terms and conditions therein stated, and also declaring
that the President was thereby authorized at any time there
after, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have
participated in the existing rebellion of any State or part
thereof pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions and at
such times and on such conditions as he may deem expedient
for the public welfare; and
Whereas the congressional declaration for limited and
conditional pardon accords with well-established judicial
exposition of the pardoning power; and
Whereas, with reference to said rebellion, the President
of the United States has issued several proclamations with
provisions in regard to the liberation of slaves ; and
Whereas, it is now desired by some persons heretofore
engaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the
United States, and to reinaugurate loyal State governments
within and for their respective states: Therefore —
I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do
proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have,
321
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
directly or by implication, participated in the existing
rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon
is hereby granted to them and each of them, with restora
tion of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in
property cases where rights of third parties shall have
intervened, and upon the condition that every such person
shall take and subscribe an oath, and thenceforward keep
and maintain said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be
registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the
tenor and effect following, to wit:
" I, , do solemnly swear, in presence of
Almighty God, that I - will henceforth faithfully support,
protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States
and the Union of the States thereunder; and that I will,
in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all acts
of congress passed during the existing rebellion with refer
ence to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified,
or held void by congress, or by decision of the supreme court ;
and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully sup
port all proclamations of the President made during the
existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and
so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the
supreme court. So help me God."
The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing
provisions are all who are, or shall have been, civil or diplo
matic officers or agents of the so-called Confederate govern
ment; all who have left judicial stations under the United
States to aid the rebellion; all who are, or shall have been,
military or naval officers of said so-called Confederate
government above the rank of colonel in the army or of
lieutenant in the navy; all who left seats in the United
States congress to aid the rebellion; all who resigned com
missions in the army or navy' of the United States and after
wards aided the rebellion; and all who have engaged in
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
any way in treating colored persons, or white persons in
charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war,
and which persons may have been found in the United
States service as soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity.
And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that
whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisi
ana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida,
South Carolina, and North Carolina, a number of persons,
not less than one tenth in number of the votes cast in such
state at the presidential election of the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and sixty, each having taken
the oath aforesaid, and not having since violated it, and
being a qualified voter by the election laws of the state
existing immediately before the so-called act of secession,
and excluding all others, shall reestablish a State government
which shall be republican, and in nowise contravening
said oath, such shall be recognized as the true government
of the State, and the State shall receive thereunder the bene
fits of the constitutional provision which declares that " 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 the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened),
against domestic violence."
And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that
any provision which may be adopted by such State govern
ment in relation to the freed people of such State, which
shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, pro
vide for their education, and which may yet be consistent
as a temporary arrangement with their present condition
as a laboring, landless, and homeless class, will not be
objected to by the National Executive.
And it is suggested as not improper that, in constructing
a loyal State government in any State, the name of the State,
323
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
the boundary, the subdivisions, the constitution, and the
general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained,
subject only to the modifications made necessary by the
conditions hereinbefore stated, and such others, if any, not
contravening said conditions, and which may be deemed
expedient by those framing the new State government.
To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that
this proclamation, so far as it relates to state governments,
has no reference, to states wherein loyal state governments
have all the while been maintained. And, for the same
reason, it may be proper to further say, that whether mem
bers sent to congress from any state shall be admitted to
seats constitutionally rests exclusively with the respective
houses, and not to any extent with the Executive. And
still further, that this proclamation is intended to present
the people of the states wherein the national authority has
been suspended, and loyal state governments have been sub
verted, a mode in and by which the national authority and
loyal state governments may be reestablished within said
states, or in any of them; and, while the mode presented is
the best the Executive can suggest, with his present impres
sions, it must not be understood that no other possible mode
would be acceptable.
Given under my hand at the city of Washington, on the
8th day of December, A. D. 1863, and of the Inde
pendence of the United States of America the eighty-
eighth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
SEAL
324.
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address 1865
Fellow-countrymen: At this second appearing to take the
oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an
extended address than there was at the first. Then, a state
ment, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed
fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years,
during which public declarations have been constantly called
forth on every point and phase of the great contest which
still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the
nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress
of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well
known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reason
ably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope
for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all
thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war.
All dreaded it — all sought to avert it. While the inaugural
address was being delivered from this place, devoted alto
gether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents
were in the city seeking to destroy it without war — seeking
to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation.
Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make
war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would
accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves,
not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in
the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar
and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was,
somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate,
and extend this interest was the object for which the insur
gents would rend the Union, even by war ; while the Govern-
325
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ment claimed no right to do more than to restrict the terri
torial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war
the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained.
Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease
with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each
looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental
and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to
the same God; and each invokes his aid against the other.
It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just
God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of
other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not
judged. The prayers of both could not be answered — that
of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his
own purposes. " Woe unto the world because of offenses !
for it must needs be that offenses come ; but woe to that man
by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that
American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the
providence of God, must needs come, but which, having con
tinued through his appointed time, he now wills to remove,
and that he gives to both North and South this terrible war,
as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shaJL
we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes
which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him?
Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this
mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if
God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the
bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited
toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with
the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as
was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said :
" The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous alto
gether."
With malice toward none ; with charity for all ; with firm
ness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
strive on to finish the work we are in ; to bind up the nation's
wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle,
and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may
achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our
selves, and with all nations.
327
Proclamation Declaring the Insurrection at an
End 1866
Whereas by proclamations of the 15th and 19th of April,
1861, the President of the United States in virtue of the
power vested in him by the Constitution and the laws,
declared that the laws of the United States were opposed
and the execution thereof obstructed in the States of South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisi
ana, and Texas by combinations too powerful to be sup
pressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by
the powers vested in the marshals of the law; and
Whereas by another proclamation made on the 16th day
of August, in the same year, in pursuance of an act of Con
gress approved July 13, 1861, the inhabitants of the States
of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Missis
sippi, and Florida (except the inhabitants of the State of
Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mountains, and except
also the inhabitants of such other parts of that State and the
other States before named as might maintain a loyal adhesion
to the Union and Constitution or might be from time to
time occupied and controlled by forces of the United States
engaged in the dispersion of the insurgents) were declared
to be in a state of insurrection against the United States;
and
Whereas by another proclamation of the 1st of July,
1862, issued in pursuance of an act of Congress approved
June 7, in the same year, the insurrection was declared
to be still existing in the States aforesaid, with the excep
tion of certain specified counties in the State of Virginia;
and
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Whereas by another proclamation made on the 2d day
of April, 1863, in pursuance of an act of Congress of July
13, 1861, the exceptions named in the proclamation of
August 16, 1861, were revoked and the inhabitants of the
States of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennes
see, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi,
Florida, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties of
Virginia designated as West Virginia and the ports of New
Orleans, Key West, Port Royal, and Beaufort, in North
Carolina) were declared to be still in a state of insurrection
against the United States; and
Whereas by another proclamation, of the 15th day of
September, 1863, made in pursuance of the act of Congress
approved March 3, 1863, the rebellion was declared to be
still existing and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
was in certain specified cases suspended throughout the
United States, said suspension to continue throughout the
duration of the rebellion or until said proclamation should,
by a subsequent one to be issued by the President of the
United States, be modified or evoked; and
Whereas the House of Representatives on the 22d day of
July, 1861, adopted a resolution in the following words,
namely :
Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Con
gress of the United States, That the present deplorable
civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunion-
ists of the Southern States now in revolt against the consti
tutional Government and in arms around the capitol; that
in this national emergency Congress, banishing all feelings
of mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty
to the whole country; that this war is not waged upon our
part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of
conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or
interfering with the rights or established institutions of
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
those States; but to defend and maintain the supremacy of
the Constitution and to preserve the Union, with all the
dignity, equality, and rights of the several States, unim
paired; and that as soon as these objects are accomplished
the war ought to cease.
And whereas the Senate of the United States on the 25th
day of July, 1861, adopted a resolution in the words follow
ing, to wit :
Resolved, That the present deplorable civil war has
been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the
Southern States now in revolt against the constitutional
Government and in arms around the capitol; that in this
national emergency Congress, banishing all feelings of
mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its own duty
to the whole country; that this war is not prosecuted upon
our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose
of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing
or interfering with the rights or established institutions of
those States; but to defend and maintain the supremacy
of the Constitution and all laws made in pursuance there
of and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equal
ity, and rights of the several States unimpaired; that as
soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to
cease.
And whereas these resolutions though not j oint or concur
rent in form, are substantially identical, and as such have
hitherto been and yet are regarded as having expressed
the sense of Congress upon the subj ect to which they relate ;
and
Whereas the President of the United States by procla
mation of the 13th of June, 1865, declared that the insur
rection in the State of Tennessee had been suppressed, and
that the authority of the United States therein was undis
puted, and such United States officers as had been duly
330
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
commissioned were in the undisturbed exercise of their
official functions; and
Whereas the President of the United States by further
proclamation, issued on the 2d day of April, 1866, did
promulgate and declare that there no longer existed any
armed resistance of misguided citizens or others to the
authority of the United States in any or in all the States
before mentioned, excepting only the State of Texas, and
did further promulgate and declare that the laws could be
sustained and enforced in the several States before
mentioned, except Texas, by the proper civil author
ities, State or Federal, and that the people of the said
States, except Texas, are well and loyally disposed and
have conformed or will conform in their legislation to the
condition of affairs growing out of the amendment to the
Constitution of the United States prohibiting slavery within
the jurisdiction of the United States;
And did further declare in the same proclamation that it is
the manifest determination of the American people that no
State, of its own will, has a right or power to go out of, or
separate itself from, or be separated from the American
Union; and that, therefore, each State ought to remain
and constitute an integral part of the United States ;
And did further declare in the same last-mentioned
proclamation that the several aforementioned States, except
ing Texas, had in the manner aforesaid given satisfactory
evidence that they acquiesce in this sovereign and important
resolution of national unity; and
Whereas the President of the United States in the same
proclamation did further declare that it is believed to be a
fundamental principle of government that the people who
have revolted and who have been overcome and subdued
must be dealt with so as to induce them voluntarily to
become friends or else they must be held by absolute military
331
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
power or devastated so as to prevent them from ever again
doing harm as enemies, which last-named policy is abhorrent
to humanity and to freedom; and
Whereas the President did in the same proclamation fur
ther declare that the Constitution of the United States
provides for constituent communities only as States, and
not as Territories, dependencies, provinces, or protectorates ;
And further, that such constituent States must necessa
rily be, and by the Constitution and laws of the United
States are, made equals and placed upon a like footing
as to political rights, immunities, dignity, and power with
the several States with which they are united ;
And did further declare that the observance of political
equality, as a principle of right and justice, is well calcu
lated to encourage the people of the before-named States,
except Texas, to become more and more constant and per
severing in their new allegiance; and
Whereas the President did further declare that standing
armies, military occupation, martial law, military tribunals,
and the suppression of the writ of habeas corpus are in
times of peace dangerous to public liberty, incompatible
with the individual right of the citizen, contrary to the
genius and spirit of our free institutions, and exhaustive
of the national resources, and ought not, therefore, to be
sanctioned or allowed except in cases of actual necessity
for repelling invasion and suppressing insurrection or
rebellion ;
And the President did further, in the same proclamation,
declare that the policy of the Government of the United
States from the beginning of the insurrection to its over
throw and final suppression had been conducted in conform
ity with the principles in the last-named proclamation
recited; and
Whereas the President, in the said proclamation, of the
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
13th of June, 1865, upon the grounds therein stated and
hereinbefore recited, did then and thereby proclaim and
declare that the insurrection which heretofore existed in
the several States before named, except in Texas, was at
an end and was therefore to be so regarded; and
Whereas subsequently to the said 2d day of April, 1866,
the insurrection in the State of Texas has been completely
and everywhere suppressed and ended and the authority
of the United States has been successfully and completely
established in the said State of Texas and now remains
therein unassisted and undisputed, and such of the proper
United States officers as have been duly commissioned within
the limits of the said State are now in the undisturbed
exercise of their official functions; and
Whereas the laws can now be sustained and enforced
in the said State of Texas by the proper civil authority,
State or Federal, and the people of the said State of Texas,
like the people of the other States before named, are well
and loyally disposed and have conformed or will conform
in their legislation to the condition of affairs growing out
of the amendment to the Constitution of the United States
prohibiting slavery within the limits and jurisdiction of
the United States; and
Whereas all the reasons and conclusions set forth in
regard to the several States therein specially named now
apply equally and in all respects to the State of Texas,
as well as to the other States which have been involved in
the insurrection; and
Whereas adequate provision has been made by military
orders to enforce the execution of the acts of Congress,
aid the civil authorities, and secure obedience to the Con
stitution and laws of the United States within the State of
Texas if a resort to military force for such purpose should
at any time be necessary:
333
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Now therefore, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the
insurrection which heretofore existed in the State of Texas
is at an end and is to be henceforth so regarded in that
State as in the other States before named in which the
said insurrection was proclaimed to be at an end by the
aforesaid proclamation of the 2d of April, 1866.
And I do further proclaim that the said insurrection is
at an end and that peace, order, and tranquility, and civil
authority now exist in and throughout the whole United
States of America.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[Seal.] Done at the city of Washington, this 20th day of
August, A. D. 1866, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the ninety-first.
ANDREW JOHNSON
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State.
334,
Treaty with Russia 1867
Convention between the United States of America and
His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, for the Cession of the
Russian Possessions in North America to the United States,
Concluded at Washington March 30, 1867; Ratification
Advised by Senate April 9, 1867; Ratified by President
May 28, 1867; Ratifications Exchanged at Washington
June 20, 1867; Proclaimed, June 20, 1867.
The United States of America and His Majesty the
Emperor of all the Russias, being desirous of strengthen
ing, if possible, the good understanding which exists between
them, have, for that purpose, appointed as their Plenipo
tentiaries, the President of the United States, William H.
Seward, Secretary of State; and His Majesty the Emperor
of all the Russias, the Privy Counsellor Edward de Stoeckl,
his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to
the United States;
And the said Plenipotentiaries, having exchanged their
full powers, which were found to be in due form, have
agreed upon and signed the following articles:
ARTICLE I
His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias agrees to
cede to the United States, by this convention, immediately
upon the exchange of the ratifications thereof, all the terri
tory and dominion now possessed by his said Majesty on
the continent of America and in adjacent islands, the same
being contained within the geographical limits herein set
forth, to wit: The eastern limit is the line of demarcation
between the Russian and the British possessions in North
335
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
America, as established by the convention between Russia
and Great Britain, of February 28-16, 1825, and described
in Articles III and JV of said convention, in the following
terms :
" Commencing from the southernmost point of the island
called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the paral
lel of 54 degrees 40 minutes north latitude, and between
the 131st and 133d degree of west longitude (meridian
of Greenwich), the said line shall ascend to the north along
the channel called Portland Channel, as far as the point of
the continent where it strikes the 56th degree of north lati
tude; from this last-mentioned point, the line of demarca
tion shall follow the summit of the mountains situated
parallel to the coast, as far as the point of intersection of
the 141st degree of west longitude (of the same meridian) ;
and finally, from the said point of intersection, the said
meridian line of the 141st degree, in its prolongation as far
as the Frozen Ocean.
" IV With reference to the line of demarcation laid
down in the preceding article, it is understood —
" 1st That the island called Prince of Wales Island shall
belong wholly to Russia " (now, by this cession to the
United States).
" 2d That whenever the summit of the mountains which
extend in a direction parallel to the coast from the 56th
degree of north latitude to the point of intersection of the
141st degree of west longitude shall prove to be at the
distance of more than ten marine leagues from the ocean,
the limit between the British possessions and the line of
coast which is to belong to Russia as above mentioned (that
is to say, the limit to the possessions ceded by this conven
tion), shall be formed by a line parallel to the winding
of the coast, and which shall never exceed the distance of
ten marine leagues therefrom."
336
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
The western limit within which the territories and domin
ion conveyed are contained passes through a point in Beh-
ring's Straits on the parallel of sixty-five degrees thirty
minutes north latitude, at its intersection by the meridian
which passes midway between the islands of Krusenstern
or Ignalook, and the island of Ratmanoff, or Noonarbook,
and proceeds due north without limitation, into the same
Frozen Ocean. The same western limit, beginning at the
same initial point, proceeds thence in a course nearly south
west, through Behring's Straits and Behring's Sea, so as
to pass midway between the northwest point of the island of
St. Lawrence and the southeast point of Cape Choukotski,
to the meridian of one hundred and seventy-two west longi
tude; thence, from the intersection of that meridian, in a
southwesterly direction, so as to pass midway between the
island of Attou and the Copper Island of the Kormandorski
couplet or group, in the North Pacific Ocean, to the meridian
of one hundred and ninety-three degrees west longitude, so
as to include in the territory conveyed the whole of the
Aleutian Islands east of that meridian.
ARTICLE II
In the cession of territory and dominion made by the
preceding article are included the right of property in all
public lots and squares, vacant lands, and all public build
ings, fortifications, barracks, and other edifices which are
not private individual property. It is, however, understood
and agreed, that the churches which have been built in the
ceded territory by the Russian Government, shall remain
the property of such members of the Greek Oriental Church
resident in the territory as may choose to worship therein.
Any Government archives, papers, and documents relative
to the territory and dominion aforesaid, which may now
337
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
be existing there, will be left in the possession of the agent
of the United States; but an authenticated copy of such
of them as may be required, will be, at all times, given by
the United States to the Russian Government, or to such
Russian officers or subjects as they may apply for.
ARTICLE III
The inhabitants of the ceded territory, according to their
choice, reserving their natural allegiance, may return to
Russia within three years; but if they should prefer to
remain in the ceded territory, they, with the exception of
uncivilized native tribes, shall be admitted to the enjoyment
of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of
the United States, and shall be maintained and protected in
the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion.
The uncivilized tribes will be subj ect to such laws and regu
lations as the United States may from time to time adopt
in regard to aboriginal tribes of that country.
ARTICLE IV
His Majesty, the Emperor of all the Russias shall
appoint, with convenient despatch, an agent or agents for
the purpose of formally delivering to a similar agent or
agents, appointed on behalf of the United States, the terri
tory, dominion, property, dependencies, and appurtenances
which are ceded as above, and for doing any other act which
may be necessary in regard thereto. But the cession, with
the right of immediate possession, is nevertheless to be
deemed complete and absolute on the exchange of ratifica
tions, without waiting for such formal delivery.
338
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE V
Immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of
this convention, any fortifications or military posts which
may be in the ceded territory shall be delivered to the agent
of the United States,, and any Russian troops which may
be in the territory shall be withdrawn as soon as may be
reasonably and conveniently practicable.
ARTICLE VI
In consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United
States agree to pay at the Treasury in Washington, within
ten months after the exchange of the ratifications of this
convention, to the diplomatic representative or other agent
of His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, duly
authorized to receive the same, seven million two hundred
thousand dollars in gold. The cession of territory and
dominion herein made is hereby declared to be free and
unincumbered by any reservations, privileges, franchises,
grants, or possessions, by any associated companies, whether
corporate or incorporate, Russian or any other, or by any
parties, except merely private individual property-holders;
and the cession hereby made conveys all the rights, fran
chises, and privileges now belonging to Russia in the said
territory or dominion, and appurtenances thereto.
ARTICLE VII
When this convention shall have been duly ratified by
the President of the United States, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, on the one part, and, on the other,
by His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, the ratifi-
339
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
cations shall be exchanged at Washington within three
months from the date thereof, or sooner if possible.
In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have
signed this convention, and thereto affixed the seals of their
arms.
Done at Washington the thirtieth day of March, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-
seven.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD [L. s.]
EDOUARD DE STOECKL [L. s.]
340
Treaty with Great Britain 1871
Treaty between the United States of America and Her
Britannic Majesty for an Amicable Settlement of all Causes
of Difference between the Two Countries, Concluded at
Washington May 8, 1871; Ratification Advised by Senate
May 24, 1871; Ratified by President May 25, 1871; Rati
fications Exchanged at London June 17, 1871; Proclaimed
July 4, 1871.
The United States of America and Her Britannic Maj
esty, being desirous to provide for an amicable settlement
of all causes of difference between the two countries, have
for that purpose appointed their respective Plenipoten
tiaries, that is to say: The President of the United States
has appointed, on the part of the United States, as Com
missioners in a Joint High Commission and Plenipoten
tiaries, Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State, Robert
Gumming Schenck, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary to Great Britain; Samuel Nelson, an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States; Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, of Massachusetts; and
George Henry Williams, of Oregon; and Her Britannic
Majesty, on her part, has appointed as her High Commis
sioners and Plenipotentiaries, the Right Honourable George
Frederick Samuel, Earl de Grey and Earl of Ripon, Vis
count Goderich, Baron Grantham, a Baronet, a Peer of the
United Kingdom, Lord President of Her Majesty's Most
Honourable Privy Council, Knight of the Most Noble Order
of the Garter, etc., etc. ; the Right Honourable Sir Stafford
Henry Northcote, Baronet, one of Her Majesty's Most
Honourable Privy Council, a Member of Parliament, a
341
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath.
etc., etc.; Sir Edward Thornton, Knight Commander of the
Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Her Majesty's Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United
States of America; Sir John Alexander Macdonald. Knight
Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath,
a Member of Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada, and
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Her Majesty's
Dominion of Canada; and Mountague Bernard, Esquire,
Chichele Professor of International Law in the University
of Oxford.
And -the said Plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged
their full powers, which were found to be in due and proper
form, have agreed to and concluded the following articles:
ARTICLE I
Whereas differences have arisen between the Government
of the United States and the Government of Her Britannic
Majesty, and still exist, growing out of the acts committed
by the several vessels which have given rise to the claims
generically known as the " Alabama Claims: "
And whereas Her Britannic Majesty has authorized her
High Commissioners and Plenipotentiaries to express, in a
friendly spirit, the regret felt by Her Majesty's Govern
ment for the escape, under whatever circumstances, of the
Alabama and other vessels from British ports, and for the
depredations committed by those vessels:
Now, in order to remove and adjust all complaints and
claims on the part of the United States, and to provide for
the speedy settlement of such claims which are not admitted
by Her Britannic Majesty's Government, the high contract
ing parties agree that all the said claims, growing out of
acts committed by the aforesaid vessels, and generically
342
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
known as the " Alabama Claims/' shall be referred to a
tribunal of arbitration to be composed of five Arbitrators,
to be appointed in the following manner, that is to say:
One shall be named by the President of the United States ;
one shall be named by Her Britannic Majesty; His Maj
esty the King of Italy shall be requested to name one;
the President of the Swiss Confederation shall be requested
to name one; and His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil shall
be requested to name one.
In case of the death, absence, or incapacity to serve of any
or either of the said Arbitrators, or, in the event of either of
the said Arbitrators omitting or declining or ceasing to
act as such, the President of the United States, or Her
Britannic Majesty, or His Majesty the King of Italy, or
the President of the Swiss Confederation, or His Majesty
the Emperor of Brazil, as the case may be, may forthwith
name another person to act as Arbitrator in the place and
stead of the Arbitrator originally named by such head of
a State.
And in the event of the refusal or omission for two
months after receipt of the request from either of the high
contracting parties of His Majesty the King of Italy, or
the President of the Swiss Confederation, or His Majesty
the Emperor of Brazil, to name an Arbitrator either to fill
the original appointment or in the place of one who may
have died, be absent, or incapacitated, or who may omit,
decline, or from any cause cease to act as such Arbitrator,
His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway shall be
requested to name one or more persons, as the case may be,
to act as such Arbitrator or Arbitrators.
ARTICLE II
The Arbitrators shall meet at Geneva, in Switzerland, at
the earliest convenient day after they shall have been named,
343
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
and shall proceed impartially and carefully to examine
and decide all questions that shall be laid before them on
the part of the Governments of the United States and Her
Britannic Majesty respectively. All questions considered
by the tribunal, including the final award, shall be decided
by a majority of all the Arbitrators.
Each of the high contracting parties shall also name one
person to attend the tribunal as its Agent to represent it
generally in all matters connected with the arbitration.
ARTICLE III
The written or printed case of each of the two parties,
accompanied by the documents, the official correspondence,
and other evidence on which each relies, shall be delivered
in duplicate to each of the Arbitrators and to the Agent of
the other party as soon as may be after the organization
of the tribunal, but within a period not exceeding six months
from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this
treaty.
ARTICLE IV
Within four months after the delivery on both sides of
the written or printed case, either party may, in like man
ner, deliver in duplicate to each of the said Arbitrators, and
to the Agent of the other party, a counter case and addi
tional documents, correspondence, and evidence, in reply
to the case, documents, correspondence, and evidence so
presented by the other party.
The Arbitrators may, however, extend the time for deliv
ering such counter case, documents, correspondence, and
evidence, when, in their judgment, it becomes necessary,
in consequence of the distance of the place from which the
evidence to be presented is to be procured.
344
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
If in the case submitted to the Arbitrators either party
shall have specified or alluded to any report or document
in its own exclusive possession without annexing a copy,,
such party shall be bound, if the other party thinks proper
to apply for it, to furnish that party with a copy thereof;
and either party may call upon the other, through the Arbi
trators, to produce the originals or certified copies of any
papers adduced as evidence, giving in each instance such
reasonable notice as the Arbitrators may require.
ARTICLE v
It shall be the duty of the Agent of each party, within
two months after the expiration of the time limited for the
delivery of the counter case on both sides, to deliver in
duplicate to each of the said Arbitrators and to the Agent of
the other party a written or printed argument showing
the points and referring to the evidence upon which his
Government relies ; and the Arbitrators may, if they desire
further elucidation with regard to any point, require a
written or printed statement or argument, or oral argument
by counsel, upon it; but in such case the other party shall
be entitled to reply either orally or in writing, as the case
may be.
ARTICLE VI
In deciding the matters submitted to the Arbitrators,
they shall be governed by the following three rules, which
are agreed upon by the high contracting parties as rules
to be taken as applicable to the case, and by such principles
of international law not inconsistent therewith as the Ar
bitrators shall determine to have been applicable to the
case.
345
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
RULES
A neutral Government is bound —
First, to use due diligence to prevent the fitting out,
arming, or equipping, within its jurisdiction, of any vessel
which it has reasonable ground to believe is intended to
cruise or to carry on war against a Power with which it is
at peace; and also to use like diligence to prevent the
departure from its jurisdiction of any vessel intended to
cruise or carry on war as above, such vessel having been
specially adapted, in whole or in part, within such juris
diction, to warlike use.
Secondly, not to permit or suffer either belligerent to
m,ake use of its ports or waters as the base of naval oper
ations against the other, or for the purpose of the renewal
or augmentation of military supplies or arms, or the recruit
ment of men.
Thirdly, to exercise due diligence in its own ports and
waters, and, as to all persons within its jurisdiction, to
prevent any violation of the foregoing obligations and
duties.
Her Britannic Majesty has commanded her High Com
missioners and Plenipotentiaries to declare that Her Maj
esty's Government cannot assent to the foregoing rules as
a statement of principles of international law which were
in force at the time when the claims mentioned in Article
I arose, but that Her Majesty's Government, in order to
evince its desire of strengthening the friendly relations
between the two countries and of making satisfactory pro
vision for the future, agrees that in deciding the questions
between the two countries arising out of those claims, the
Arbitrators should assume that Her Majesty's Government
had undertaken to act upon the principles set forth in these
rules.
346
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
And the high contracting parties agree to observe these
rules as between themselves in future, and to bring them
to the knowledge of other maritime Powers, and to invite
them to accede to them.
ARTICLE VII
The decision of the tribunal shall, if possible, be made
within three months from the close of the argument on both
sides.
It shall be made in writing and dated, and shall be
signed by the Arbitrators who may assent to it.
The said tribunal shall first determine as to each vessel
separately whether Great Britain has, by any act or omis
sion, failed to fulfil any of the duties set forth in the fore
going three rules, or recognized by the principles of inter
national law not inconsistent with such rules, and shall
certify such fact as to each of the said vessels. In case
the tribunal find that Great Britain has failed to fulfil any
duty or duties as aforesaid, it may, if it think proper, pro
ceed to award a sum in gross to be paid by Great Britain
to the United States for all the claims referred to it; and
in such case the gross sum so awarded shall be paid in coin
by the Government of Great Britain to the Government
of the United States, at Washington, within twelve months
after the date of the award.
The award shall be in duplicate, one copy whereof shall
be delivered to the Agent of the United States for his
Government, and the other copy shall be delivered to the
Agent of Great Britain for his Government.
ARTICLE VIII
Each Government shall pay its own Agent and provide
for the proper remuneration of the counsel employed by it
347
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
and of the Arbitrator appointed by it, and for the expense
of preparing and submitting its case to the tribunal. All
other expenses connected with the arbitration shall be
defrayed by the two Governments in equal moieties.
ARTICLE IX
The Arbitrators shall keep an accurate record of their
proceedings, and may appoint and employ the necessary
officers to assist them.
ARTICLE X
In case the tribunal finds that Great Britain has failed
to fulfil any duty or duties as aforesaid, and does not award
a sum in gross, the high contracting parties agree that a
board of assessors shall be appointed to ascertain and
determine what claims are valid, and what amount or
amounts shall be paid by Great Britain to the United States
on account of the liability arising from such failure, as to
each vessel, according to the extent of such liability as
decided by the Arbitrators.
The board of assessors shall be constituted as follows:
One member thereof shall be named by the President of
the United States, one member thereof shall be named
by Her Britannic Majesty, and one member thereof shall
be named by the Representative at Washington of His Maj
esty the King of Italy; and in case of a vacancy happening
from any cause, it shall be filled in the same manner in
which the original appointment was made.
As soon as possible after such nominations the board of
assessors shall be organized in Washington, with power to
hold their sittings there, or in New York, or in Boston. The
members thereof shall severally subscribe a solemn declara
tion that they will impartially and carefully examine and
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decide, to the best of their judgment and according to
justice and equity, all matters submitted to them, and shall
forthwith proceed, under such rules and regulations as they
may prescribe, to the investigation of the claims which shall
be presented to them by the Government of the United
States, and shall examine and decide upon them in such
order and manner as they may think proper, but upon such
evidence or information only as shall be furnished by or
on behalf of the Governments of the United States and of
Great Britain, respectively. They shall be bound to hear
on each separate claim, if required, one person on behalf
of each Government, as counsel or agent. A majority of
the Assessors in each case shall be sufficient for a decision.
The decision of the Assessors shall be given upon each
claim in writing, and shall be signed by them respectively
and dated.
Every claim shall be presented to the Assessors within
six months from the day of their first meeting, but they
may, for good cause shown, extend the time for the presen
tation of any claim to a further period not exceeding three
months.
The Assessors shall report to each Government, at or
before the expiration of one year from the date of their
first meeting, the amount of claims decided by them up to
the date of such report ; if further claims then remain unde
cided, they shall make a further report at or before the
expiration of two years from the date of such first meeting;
and in case any claims remain undetermined at that time,
they shall make a final report within a further period of
six months.
The report or reports shall be made in duplicate, and
one copy thereof shall be delivered to the Secretary of State
of the United States, and one copy thereof to the Represent
ative of Her Britannic Majesty at Washington.
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All sums of money which may be awarded under this
article shall be payable at Washington, in coin, within twelve
months after the delivery of each report.
The board of assessors may employ such clerks as they
shall think necessary.
The expenses of the board of assessors shall be borne
equally by the two Governments, and paid from time to
time, as may be found expedient, on the production of
accounts certified by the board. The remuneration of the
Assessors shall also be paid by the two Governments in
equal moieties in a similar manner.
ARTICLE XI
The high contracting parties engage to consider the result
of the proceedings of the tribunal of arbitration and of the
board of Assessors, should such board be appointed, as a
full, perfect, final settlement of all the claims hereinbefore
referred to, and further engage that every such claim,
whether the same may or may not have been presented to
the notice of, made, preferred, or laid before the tribunal
or board, shall, from and after the conclusion of the pro
ceedings of the tribunal or board, be considered and treated
as finally settled, barred, and thenceforth inadmissible.
ARTICLE XII
The high contracting parties agree that all claims on the
part of corporations, companies, or private individuals,
citizens of the United States, upon the Government of Her
Britannic Majesty, arising out of acts committed against
the persons or property of citizens of the United States
during the period between the thirteenth of April, eighteen
hundred and sixty-one, and the ninth of April, eighteen
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hundred and sixty-five, inclusive, not being claims growing
out of the acts of the vessels referred to in Article I of this
treaty, and all claims, with the like exception, on the part of
corporations, companies, or private individuals, subjects of
Her Britannic Majesty, upon the Government of the United
States, arising out of acts committed against the persons
or property of subjects of Her Britannic Majesty during
the same period, which may have been presented to either
Government for its interposition with the other, and which
yet remain unsettled, as well as any other such claims which
may be presented within the time specified in Article XIV
of this treaty, shall be referred to three Commissioners, to
be appointed in the following manner, that is to say : One
Commissioner shall be named by the President of the United
States, one by Her Britannic Majesty, and a third by the
President of the United States and Her Britannic Majesty
conjointly; and in case the third Commissioner shall not
have been so named within a period of three months from
the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty,
then the third Commissioner shall be named by the Repre
sentative at Washington of His Majesty the King of Spain.
In case of the death, absence, or incapacity of any Commis
sioner, or in the event of any Commissioner omitting or
ceasing to act, the vacancy shall be filled in the manner
hereinbefore provided for making the original appoint
ment; the period of three months in case of such substitu
tion being calculated from the date of the happening of
the vacancy.
The Commissioners so named shall meet at Washington at
the earliest convenient period after they have been respec
tively named; and shall, before proceeding to any business,
make and subscribe a solemn declaration that they will im
partially and carefully examine and decide, to the best of
their judgment, and according to justice and equity, all such
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claims as shall be laid before them on the part of the Govern
ments of the United States and of Her Britannic Majesty,
respectively; and such declaration shall be entered on the
record of their proceedings.
ARTICLE XIII
The Commissioners shall then forthwith proceed to the
investigation of the claims which shall be presented to them.
They shall investigate and decide such claims in such order
and such manner as they may think proper,, but upon such
evidence or information only as shall be furnished by or
on behalf of the respective Governments. They shall be
bound to receive and consider all written documents or state
ments which may be presented to them by or on behalf of
the respective Governments in support of, or in answer to,
any claim, and to hear, if required, one person on each side,
on behalf of each Government, as counsel or agent for
such Government, on each and every separate claim. A
majority of the Commissioners shall be sufficient for an
award in each case. The award shall be given upon each
claim in writing, and shall be signed by the Commissioners
assenting to it. It shall be competent for each Government
to name one person to attend the Commissioners as its agent,
to present and support claims on its behalf, and to answer
claims made upon it, and to represent it generally in all
matters connected with the investigation and decision
thereof.
The high contracting parties hereby engage to consider
the decision of the Commissioners as absolutely final arid
conclusive upon each claim decided upon by them, and to give
full effect to such decisions without any objection, evasion,
or delay whatsoever.
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ARTICLE XIV
Every claim shall be presented to the Commissioners
within six months from the day of their first meeting, unless
in any case where reasons for delay shall be established
to the satisfaction of the Commissioners, and then, and in
any such case, the period for presenting the claim may be
extended by them to any time not exceeding three months
longer.
The Commissioners shall be bound to examine and decide
upon every claim within two years from the day of their
first meeting. It shall be competent for the Commissioners
to decide in each case whether any claim has or has not been
duly made, preferred, and laid before them, either wholly
or to any and what extent, according to the true intent and
meaning of this treaty.
ARTICLE XV
All sums of money which may be awarded by the Com
missioners on account of any claim shall be paid by the
one Government to the other, as the case may be, within
twelve months after the date of the final award, without
interest, and without any deduction save as specified in
Article XVI of this treaty.
ARTICLE XVI
The Commissioners shall keep an accurate record, and
correct minutes or notes of all their proceedings, with the
dates thereof, and may appoint and employ a secretary, and
any other necessary officer, or officers, to assist them in the
transaction of the business which may come before them.
Each Government shall pay its own Commissioner and
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Agent or Counsel. All other expenses shall be defrayed
by the two Governments in equal moieties.
The whole expenses of the commission, including con
tingent expenses, shall be defrayed by a ratable deduction
on the amount of the sums awarded by the Commissioners,
provided always that such deduction shall not exceed the
rate of five per cent, on the sums so awarded.
ARTICLE XVII
The high contracting parties engage to consider the result
of the proceedings of this commission as a full, perfect, and
final settlement of all such claims as are mentioned in
Article XII of this treaty upon either Government; and fur
ther engage that every such claim, whether or not the same
may have been presented to the notice of, made, preferred,
or laid before the said commission, shall, from and after
the conclusion of the proceedings of the said commission, be
considered and treated as finally settled, barred, and thence
forth inadmissible.
ARTICLE XVIII
It is agreed by the high contracting parties that, in addi
tion to the liberty secured to the United States fishermen
by the convention between the United States and Great
Britain, signed at London on the 20th day of October, 1818,
of taking, curing, and drying fish on certain coasts of the
British North American Colonies therein defined, the inhabit
ants of the United States shall have, in common with the sub
jects of Her Britannic Majesty, the liberty, for the term of
years mentioned in Article XXXIII of this treaty, to take
fish of every kind, except shell-fish, on the sea-coasts and
shores, and in the bays, harbours, and creeks, of the provinces
of Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the colony
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of Prince Edward's Island, and of the several islands there
unto adjacent, without being restricted to any distance from
the shore, with permission to land upon the said coasts and
shores and islands, and also upon the Magdalen Islands,
for the purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish;
provided that, in so doing, they do not interfere with the
rights of private property, or with British fishermen, in
the peaceable use of any part of the said coasts in their
occupancy for the same purpose.
It is understood that the above-mentioned liberty applies
solely to the sea fishery, and that the salmon and shad fish
eries, and all other fisheries in rivers and the mouths of
rivers, are hereby reserved exclusively for British fishermen.
ARTICLE XIX
It is agreed by the high contracting parties that British
subjects shall have, in common with the citizens of the
United States, the liberty, for the term of years mentioned
in Article XXXIII of this treaty, to take fish of every kind,
except shell-fish, on the eastern sea-coasts and shores of
the United States north of the thirty-ninth parallel of north
latitude, and on the shores of the several islands thereunto
adjacent, and in the bays, harbours, and creeks of the said
sea-coasts and shores of the United States and of the said
islands, without being restricted to any distance from the
shore, with permission to land upon the said coasts of the
United States and of the islands aforesaid, for the purpose
of drying their nets and curing their fish; provided that,
in so doing, they do not interfere with the rights of private
property, or with the fishermen of the United States in the
peaceable use of any part of the said coasts in their occu
pancy for the same purpose.
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It is understood that the above-mentioned liberty applies
solely to the sea fishery, and that salmon and shad fisheries,
and all other fisheries in rivers and mouths of rivers, are
hereby reserved exclusively for fishermen of the United
States.
ARTICLE XX
It is agreed that the places designated by the Commis
sioners appointed under the first article of the treaty
between the United States and Great Britain, concluded at
Washington on the 5th of June, 1854, upon the coasts of
Her Britannic Majesty's dominions and the United States, as
places reserved for the common right of fishing under that
treaty, shall be regarded as in like manner reserved from
the common right of fishing under the preceding articles.
In case any question should arise between the Governments
of the United States and of Her Britannic Majesty as to
the common right of fishing in places not thus designated
as reserved, it is agreed that a commission shall be appointed
to designate such places, and shall be constituted in the same
manner, and have the same powers, duties, and authority as
the commission appointed under the said first article of the
treaty of the 5th of June, 1854.
ARTICLE XXI
It is agreed that, for the term of years mentioned in
Article XXXIII of this treaty, fish oil and fish of all kinds
(except fish of the inland lakes, and of the rivers falling
into them, and except fish preserved in oil), being the prod
uce of the fisheries of the United States, or of the Dominion
of Canada, or of Prince Edward's Island, shall be admitted
into each country, respectively free of duty.
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ARTICLE XXII
Inasmuch as it is asserted by the Government of Her
Britannic Majesty that the privileges accorded to the citi
zens of the United States under Article XVIII of this treaty
are of greater value than those accorded by Articles XIX
and XXI of this treaty to the subjects of Her Britannic
Majesty, and this assertion is not admitted by the Govern
ment of the United States, it is further agreed that Com
missioners shall be appointed to determine, having regard
to the privileges accorded by the United States to the sub
jects of Her Britannic Majesty, as stated in Articles XIX
and XXI of this treaty, the amount of any compensation
which, in their opinion, ought to be paid by the Government
of the United States to the Government of Her Britannic
Majesty in return for the privileges accorded to the citizens
of the United States under Article XVIII of this treaty; and
that any sum of money which the said Commissioners may
so award shall be paid by the United States Government,
in a gross sum, within twelve months after such award shall
have been given.
ARTICLE XXIII
The Commissioners referred to in the preceding article
shall be appointed in the following manner, that is to say:
One Commissioner shall be named by the President of the
United States, one by Her Britannic Majesty, and a third
by the President of the United States and Her Britannic
Majesty conjointly; and in case the third Commissioner
shall not have been so named within a period of three months
from the date when this article shall take effect, then the
third Commissioner shall be named by the Representative
at London of His Majesty the Emperor of Austria and
King of Hungary. In case of the death, absence, or inca-
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pacity of any Commissioner, or in the event of any Com
missioner omitting or ceasing to act, the vacancy shall be
filled in the manner hereinbefore provided for making the
original appointment, the period of three months in case
of such substitution being calculated from the date of the
happening of the vacancy.
The Commissioners so named shall meet in the city of
Halifax, in the province of Nova Scotia, at the earliest
convenient period after they have been respectively named,
and shall, before proceeding to any business, make and sub
scribe a solemn declaration that they will impartially and
carefully examine and decide the matters referred to them
to the best of their judgment, and according to justice and
equity; and such declaration shall be entered on the record
of their proceedings.
Each of the high contracting parties shall also name one
person to attend the commission as its Agent, to represent
it generally in all matters connected with the commission.
ARTICLE XXIV
The proceedings shall be conducted in such order as the
Commissioners appointed under Articles XXII and XXIII
of this treaty shall determine. They shall be bound to
receive such oral or written testimony as either Government
may present. If either party shall offer oral testimony,
the other party shall have the right of cross-examination,
under such rules as the Commissioners shall prescribe.
If in the case submitted to the Commissioners either
party shall have specified or alluded to any report or docu
ment in its own exclusive possession, without annexing a
copy, such party shall be bound, if the other party thinks
proper to apply for it, to furnish that party with a copy
thereof; and either party may call upon the other, through
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the Commissioners, to produce the originals or certified
copies of any papers adduced as evidence, giving in each
instance such reasonable notice as the Commissioners may
require.
The case on either side shall be closed within a period of
six months from the date of the organization of the Commis
sion, and the Commissioners shall be requested to give
their award as soon as possible thereafter. The aforesaid
period of six months may be extended for three months
in case of a vacancy occurring among the Commissioners
under the circumstances contemplated in Article XXIII of
this treaty.
ARTICLE XXV
The Commissioners shall keep an accurate record and
correct minutes or notes of all their proceedings, with the
dates thereof, and may appoint and employ a Secretary
and other necessary officer or officers to assist them in the
transaction of the business which may come before them.
Each of the high contracting parties shall pay its own
Commissioner and Agent or Counsel; all other expenses
shall be defrayed by the two Governments in equal moieties.
ARTICLE XXVI
The navigation of the river St. Lawrence, ascending and
descending, from the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude,
where it ceases to form the boundary between the two coun
tries, from, to, and into the sea, shall forever remain free
and open for the purposes of commerce to the citizens of the
United States, subject to any laws and regulations of Great
Britain, or of the Dominion of Canada, not inconsistent
with such privilege of free navigation.
The navigation of the rivers Yukon, Porcupine, and Stik-
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ine, ascending and descending from, to, and into the sea,
shall forever remain free and open for the purposes of com
merce to the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty and to the
citizens of the United States, subject to any laws and regu
lations of either country within its own territory, not incon
sistent with such privilege of free navigation.
ARTICLE XXVII
The Government of Her Britannic Majesty engages to
urge upon the Government of the Dominion of Canada to
secure to the citizens of the United States the use of the
Welland, St. Lawrence, and other canals in the Dominion
on terms of equality with the inhabitants of the Dominion ;
and the Government of the United States engages that the
subjects of Her Britannic Majesty shall enjoy the use of
the St. Clair Flats canal on terms of equality with the
inhabitants of the United States, and further engages to
urge upon the State Governments to secure to the subjects
of Her Britannic Majesty the use of the several State
canals connected with the navigation of the lakes or rivers
traversed by or contiguous to the boundary line between the
possessions of the high contracting parties, on terms of
equality with the inhabitants of the United States.
ARTICLE XXVIII
The navigation of Lake Michigan shall also, for the term
of years mentioned in Article XXXIII of this treaty, be
free and open for the purposes of commerce to the subjects
of Her Britannic Majesty, subject to any laws and regula
tions of the United States or of the States bordering thereon
not inconsistent with such privilege of free navigation.
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ARTICLE XXIX
It is agreed that, for the term of years mentioned in
Article XXXIII of this treaty, goods, wares, or merchan
dise arriving at the ports of New York, Boston, and Port
land, and any other ports in the United States which have
been or may, from time to time, be specially designated
by the President of the United States, and destined for Her
Britannic Majesty's possessions in North America, may be
entered at the proper custom-house and conveyed in transit,
without the payment of duties, through the territory of the
United States, under such rules, regulations, and conditions
for the protection of the revenue as the Government of the
United States may from time to time prescribe; and under
like rules, regulations, and conditions, goods, wares, or mer
chandise may be conveyed in transit, without the payment
of duties, from such possessions through the territory of
the United States for export from the said ports of the
United States.
It is further agreed that, for the like period, goods, wares,
or merchandise arriving at any of the ports of Her Britannic
Majesty's possessions in North America, and destined for
the United States, may be entered at the proper custom
house and conveyed in transit, without the payment of duties,
through the said possessions, under such rules and regu
lations, and conditions for the protection of the revenue,
as the Governments of the said possessions may from time
to time prescribe; and, under like rules, regulations, and
conditions, goods, wares, or merchandise may be conveyed
in transit, without payment of duties, from the United
States through the said possessions to other places in the
United States, or for export from ports in the said
possessions.
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ARTICLE XXX
It is agreed that, for the terms of years mentioned in
Article XXXIII of this treaty, subjects of Her Britannic
Majesty may carry in British vessels, without payment of
duty, goods, wares, or merchandise from one port or place
within the territory of the United States upon the St. Law
rence, the great lakes, and the rivers connecting the same,
to another port or place within the territory of the United
States as aforesaid : Provided, That a portion of such trans
portation is made through the Dominion of Canada by land
carriage and in bond, under such rules and regulations as
may be agreed upon between the Government of Her Bri
tannic Majesty and the Government of the United States.
Citizens of the United States may for the like period
carry in United States vessels, without payment of duty,
goods, wares, or merchandise from one port or place within
the possessions of Her Britannic Majesty in North America
to another port or place within the said possessions: Pro
vided, That a portion of such transportation is made through
the territory of the United States by land carriage and in
bond, under such rules and regulations as may be agreed
upon between the Government of the United States and the
Government of Her Britannic Majesty.
The Government of the United States further engages
not to impose any export duties on goods, wares, or mer
chandise carried under this article through the territory
of the United States; and Her Majesty's Government
engages to urge the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada
and the Legislatures of the other colonies not to impose
any export duties on goods, wares, or merchandise carried
under this article ; and the Government of the United States
may, in case such export duties are imposed by the Dominion
of Canada, suspend, during the period that such duties are
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imposed, the right of carrying granted under this article
in favor of the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty.
The Government of the United States may suspend the
right of carrying granted in favor of the subjects of Her
Britannic Majesty under this article, in case the Dominion
of Canada should at any time deprive the citizens of the
United States of the use of the canals in the said Dominion
on terms of equality with the inhabitants of the Dominion,
as provided in Article XXVII.
ARTICLE XXXI
The Government of Her Britannic Majesty further
engages to urge upon the Parliament of the Dominion of
Canada and the Legislature of New Brunswick, that no
export duty, or other duty, shall be levied on lumber or
timber of any kind cut on that portion of the American ter
ritory in the State of Maine watered by the river St. John
and its tributaries, and floated down that river to the sea,
when the same is shipped to the United States from the
province of New Brunswick. And, in case any such export
or other duty continues to be levied after the expiration of
one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of
this treaty, it is agreed that the Government of the United
States may suspend the right of carrying hereinbefore
granted under Article XXX of this treaty for such period
as such export or other duty may be levied.
ARTICLE XXXII
It is further agreed that the provisions and stipulations
of Articles XVIII to XXV of this treaty, inclusive, shall
extend to the colony of Newfoundland, so far as they are ap
plicable. But if the Imperial Parliament, the Legislature of
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Newfoundland,, or the Congress of the United States, shall
not embrace the colony of Newfoundland in their laws
enacted for carrying the foregoing articles into effect, then
this article shall be of no effect; but the omission to make
provision by law to give it effect, by either of the legislative
bodies aforesaid, shall not in any way impair any other
articles of this treaty.
ARTICLE XXXIII
The foregoing Articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, and
Article XXX of this treaty, shall take effect as soon as the
laws required to carry them into operation shall have been
passed by the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain, by the
Parliament of Canada, and by the Legislature of Prince
Edward's Island on the one hand, and by the Congress of
the United States on the other. Such assent having been
given, the said articles shall remain in force for the period
of ten years from the date at which they may come into
operation; and further until the expiration of two years
after either of the high contracting parties shall have given
notice to the other of its wish to terminate the same; each
of the high contracting parties being at liberty to give such
notice to the other at the end of the said period of ten years
or at any time afterward.
ARTICLE XXXIV
Whereas it is stipulated by Article I of the treaty con
cluded at Washington on the 15th of June, 1846, between
the United States and Her Britannic Majesty, that the line
of boundary between the territories of the United States and
those of Her Britannic Majesty, from the point on the
forty-ninth parallel of north latitude up to which it had
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already been ascertained, should be continued westward
along the said parallel of north latitude " to the middle of
the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's
Island, and thence southerly, through the middle of the said
channel and of Fuca Straits, to the Pacific Ocean ; " and
whereas the Commissioners appointed by the two high con
tracting parties to determine that portion of the boundary
which runs southerly through the middle of the channel
aforesaid, were unable to agree upon the same ; and whereas
the Government of Her Britannic Majesty claims that such
boundary line should, under the terms of the treaty above
recited, be run through the Rosario Straits, and the Govern
ment of the United States claims that it should be run
through the Canal de Haro, it is agreed that the respective
claims of the Government of the United States and of the
Government of Her Britannic Majesty shall be submitted
to the arbitration and award of His Majesty the Emperor
of Germany, who, having regard to the above-mentioned
article of the said treaty, shall decide thereupon, finally
and without appeal, which of those claims is most in accord
ance with the true interpretation of the treaty of June 15,
1846.
ARTICLE XXXV
The award of His Majesty the Emperor of Germany
shall be considered as absolutely final and conclusive; and
full effect shall be given to such award without any objec
tion, evasion, or delay whatsoever. Such decision shall be
given in writing and dated; it shall be in whatsoever form
His Majesty may choose to adopt; it shall be delivered to
the Representatives or other public Agents of the United
States and of Great Britain, respectively, who may be
actually at Berlin, and shall be considered as operative from
the day of the date of the delivery thereof.
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ARTICLE xxxvi
The written or printed case of each of the two parties,
accompanied by the evidence offered in support of the same,
shall be laid before His Majesty the Emperor of Germany
within six months from the date of the exchange of the
ratifications of this treaty, and a copy of such case and
evidence shall be communicated by each party to the other,
through their respective Representatives at Berlin.
The high contracting parties may include in the evidence
to be considered by the Arbitrator such documents, official
correspondence, and other official or public statements bear
ing on the subject of the reference as they may consider
necessary to the support of their respective cases.
After the written or printed case shall have been com
municated by each party to the other, each party shall have
the power of drawing up and laying before the Arbitrator
a second and definitive statement, if it think fit to do so, in
reply to the case of the other party so communicated, which
definitive statement shall be so laid before the Arbitrator,
and also be mutually communicated in the same manner
as aforesaid, by each party to the other, within six months
from the date of laying the first statement of the case before
the Arbitrator.
ARTICLE XXXVII
If, in the case submitted to the Arbitrator, either party
shall specify or allude to any report or document in its own
exclusive possession without annexing a copy, such party
shall be bound, if the other party thinks proper to apply
for it, to furnish that party with a copy thereof, and either
party may call upon the other, through the Arbitrator, to
produce the originals or certified copies of any papers
adduced as evidence, giving in each instance such reasonable
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notice as the Arbitrator may require. And if the Arbitrator
should desire further elucidation or evidence with regard
to any point contained in the statements laid before him, he
shall be at liberty to require it from either party, and he
shall be at liberty to hear one Counsel or Agent for each
party, in relation to any matter, and at such time, and in
such manner, as he may think fit.
ARTICLE XXXVIII
The Representatives or other public Agents of the United
States and of Great Britain at Berlin, respectively, shall
be considered as the Agents of their respective Governments
to conduct their cases before the Arbitrator, who shall be
requested to address all his communications and give all his
notices to such Representatives or other public Agents, who
shall represent their respective Governments generally, in
all matters connected with the arbitration.
ARTICLE XXXIX
It shall be competent to the Arbitrator to proceed in
the said arbitration, and all matters relating thereto, as and
when he shall see fit, either in person, or by a person or
persons named by him for that purpose, either in the pres
ence or absence of either or both Agents, and either orally
or by written discussion or otherwise.
ARTICLE XL
The Arbitrator may, if he think fit, appoint a Secretary,
or Clerk, for the purposes of the proposed arbitration, at
such rate of remuneration as he shall think proper. This,
and all other expenses of and connected with the said arbi
tration, shall be provided for as hereinafter stipulated.
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ARTICLE XLI
The Arbitrator shall be requested to deliver, together with
his award, an account of all the costs and expenses which
he may have been put to in relation to this matter, which
shall forthwith be repaid by the two Governments in equal
moieties.
ARTICLE XLII
The Arbitrator shall be requested to give his award in
writing as early as convenient after the whole case on each
side shall have been laid before him, and to deliver one copy
thereof to each of the said Agents.
ARTICLE XLIII
The present treaty shall be duly ratified by the President
of the United States of America, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate thereof, and by Her Britannic
Majesty; and the ratifications shall be exchanged either at
Washington or at London within six months from the date
hereof, or earlier if possible.
In faith whereof, we, the respective Plenipotentiaries,
have signed this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals.
Done in duplicate at Washington the eighth day of May,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
seventy-one.
[L. s.] HAMILTON FISH
[L. S.] ROBT. C. SCHENCK
[L. s.] SAMUEL NELSON
[L. s.] EBENEZER ROCKWOOD HOAR
[L. s.] GEO. H. WILLIAMS
[L. s.] DE GREY & RIPON
[L. s.] STAFFORD H. NORTHCOTE
[L. s.] EDWD. THORNTON
[L. s.] JOHN A. MACDONALD
[L. S.] MOUNTAGUE BERNARD
368
Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands 1898
Joint Resolution To provide for annexing the Hawaiian
Islands to the United States
Whereas the Government of the Republic of Hawaii
having, in due form, signified its consent, in the manner
provided by its constitution, to cede absolutely and without
reserve to the United States of America all rights of sover
eignty of whatsoever kind in and over the Hawaiian Islands
and their dependencies, and also to cede and transfer to
the United States the absolute fee and ownership of all
public, Government, or Crown lands, public buildings or
edifices, ports, harbors, military equipment, and all other
public property of every kind and description belonging
to the Government of the Hawaiian Islands, together with
every right and appurtenance thereunto appertaining:
Therefore,
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That
said cession is accepted, ratified, and confirmed, and that
the said Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies be, and
they are hereby, annexed as a part of the territory of the
United States and are subject to the sovereign dominion
thereof, and that all and singular the property and rights
hereinbefore mentioned are vested in the United States of
America.
The existing laws of the United States relative to public
lands shall not apply to such lands in the Hawaiian Islands;
but the Congress of the United States shall enact special
laws for their management and disposition: Provided, That
all revenue from or proceeds of the same, except as regards
369
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
such part thereof as may be used or occupied for the civil,
military, or naval purposes of the United States, or may be
assigned for the use of the local government, shall be used
solely for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Hawaiian
Islands for educational and other public purposes.
Until Congress shall provide for the government of such
islands all the civil, judicial, and military powers exercised
by the officers of the existing government in said islands shall
be vested in such person or persons and shall be exercised
in such manner as the President of the United States shall
direct; and the President shall have power to remove said
officers and fill the vacancies so occasioned.
The existing treaties of the Hawaiian Islands with for
eign nations shall forthwith cease and determine, being
replaced by such treaties as may exist, or as may be here
after concluded, between the United States and such foreign
nations. The municipal legislation of the Hawaiian Islands,
not enacted for the fulfillment of the treaties so extin
guished, and not inconsistent with this joint resolution
nor contrary to the Constitution of the United States nor to
any existing treaty of the United States, shall remain in
force until the Congress of the United States shall otherwise
determine.
Until legislation shall be enacted extending the United
States customs laws and regulations to the Hawaiian Islands
the existing customs relations of the Hawaiian Islands with
the United States and other countries shall remain
unchanged.
The public debt of the Republic of Hawaii, lawfully
existing at the date of the passage of this joint resolution,
including the amounts due to depositors in the Hawaiian
Postal Savings Bank, is hereby assumed by the Government
of the United States ; but the liability of the United States
in this regard shall in no case exceed four million dollars.
370
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
So long, however, as the existing Government and the pres
ent commercial relations of the Hawaiian Islands are con
tinued as hereinbefore provided said Government shall
continue to pay the interest on said debt.
There shall be no further immigration of Chinese into the
Hawaiian Islands, except upon such conditions as are now
or may hereafter be allowed by the laws of the United
States; and no Chinese, by reason of anything herein con
tained, shall be allowed to enter the United States from the
Hawaiian Islands.
The President shall appoint five commissioners, at least
two of whom shall be residents of the Hawaiian Islands,
who shall, as soon as reasonably practicable, recommend to
Congress such legislation concerning the Hawaiian Islands
as they shall deem necessary or proper.
SEC. 2. That the commissioners hereinbefore provided for
shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate.
SEC. 3. That the sum of one hundred thousand dollars,
or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropri
ated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated, and to be immediately available, to be
expended at the discretion of the President of the United
States of America, for the purpose of carrying this joint
resolution into effect.
APPROVED, July 7, 18Q8.
371
Recognition of the Independence of Cuba 1898
Joint Resolution for the recognition of the independence
of the people of Cuba,, demanding that the Government of
Spain relinquish its authority and government in the
Island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval forces
from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President
of the United States to use the land and naval forces of
the United States to carry these resolutions into effect.
Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed for
more than three years in the Island of Cuba, so near our own
borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the
United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization,
culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United
States battle ship, with two hundred and sixty-six of its
officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of
Havana, and can not longer be endured, as has been set
forth by the President of the United States in his message
to Congress of April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-
eight, upon which the action of Congress was invited:
Therefore,
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, First.
That the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right
ought to be, free and independent.
Second. That it is the duty of the United States to
demand, and the Government of the United States does
hereby demand, that the Government of Spain at once
relinquish its authority and government in the Island of
Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba
and Cuban waters.
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
Third. That the President of the United States be, and
he hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land
and naval forces of the United States, and to call into the
actual service of the United States the militia of the several
States, to such extent as may be necessary to carry these
resolutions into effect.
Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any
disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction,
or control over said Islands except for the pacification
thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accom
plished, to leave the government and control of the Island
to its people.
APPROVED, April 20, 1898.
373
Treaty with Spain 1898
Treaty of Peace between the United States of America
and the Kingdom of Spain, Signed at Paris, December 10,
1898; ratification advised by the Senate, February 6, 1899;
ratified by the President, February 6, 1899; ratified by Her
Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, March 19, 1899;
ratifications exchanged at Washington, April 11, 1899; pro
claimed at Washington, April 11, 1899.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND HER MAJESTY
THE QUEEN REGENT OF SPAIN, IN THE NAME OF HER
AUGUST SON DON ALFONSO XIII, desiring to end the state
of war now existing between the two countries, have for that
purpose appointed as Plenipotentiaries:
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
WILLIAM R. DAY, CUSHMAN K. DAVIS, WILLIAM P. FRYE,
GEORGE GRAY, and WHITELAW REID, citizens of the United
States ;
AND HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN REGENT OF SPAIN,
DON EUGENIO MONTERO Rios, President of the Senate,
DON BUENAVENTURA DE ABARZUZA, Senator of the King
dom, and ex- Minister of the Crown,
DON JOSE DE GARNICA, Deputy to the Cortes and Asso
ciate Justice of the Supreme Court;
DON WENCESLAO RAMIREZ DE VILLA-URRUTIA, Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Brussels,
and
DON RAFAEL CERERO, General of Division;
Who, having assembled in Paris, and having exchanged
their full powers, which were found to be in due and proper
form, have, after discussion of the matters before them,
agreed upon the following articles:
374
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE I
Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title
to Cuba.
And as the island is,, upon its evacuation by Spain, to be
occupied by the United States, the United States will, so
long as such occupation shall last, assume and discharge the
obligations that may under international law result from
the fact of its occupation, for the protection of life and
property.
ARTICLE II
Spain cedes to the United States the island of Porto
Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in
the West Indies, and the island of Guam in the Marianas
or Ladrones.
ARTICLE III
Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known
as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands
lying within the following line:
A line running from west to east along or near the twen
tieth parallel of north latitude, and through the middle of
the navigable channel of Bachi, from the one hundred and
eighteenth (118th) to the one hundred and twenty-seventh
(127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich,
thence along the one hundred and twenty -seventh (127th)
degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the par
allel of four degrees and forty five minutes (4° 45') north
latitude, thence along the parallel of four degrees and
forty-five minutes (4° 45') north latitude to its intersec
tion with the meridian of longitude one hundred and nine
teen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119° 35') east of
Greenwich, thence along the meridian of longitude one
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119°
35') east of Greenwich to the parallel of latitude seven
degrees and forty minutes (7° 40') north, thence along the
parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7°
40') north to its intersection with the one hundred and six
teenth (116th) degree meridian of longitude east of Green
wich, thence by a direct line to the intersection of the tenth
(10th) degree parallel of north latitude with the one hun
dred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude
east of Greenwich, and thence along the one hundred and
eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of
Greenwich to the point of beginning.
The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty
million dollars ($20,000,000) within three months after the
exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty.
ARTICLE IV
The United States will, for the term of ten years from
the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the present
treaty, admit Spanish ships and merchandise to the ports
of the Philippine Islands on the same terms as ships and
merchandise of the United States.
ARTICLE V
The United States will, upon the signature of the present
treaty, send back to Spain, at its own cost, the Spanish
soldiers taken as prisoners of war on the capture of Manila
by the American forces. The arms of the soldiers in ques
tion shall be restored to them.
Spain will, upon the exchange of the ratifications of the
present treaty, proceed to evacuate the Philippines, as well
as the island of Guam, on terms similar to those agreed upon
376
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by the Commissioners appointed to arrange for the evacua
tion of Porto Rico and other islands in the West Indies,
under the Protocol of August 12, 1898, which is to continue
in force till its provisions are completely executed.
The time within which the evacuation of the Philippine
Islands and Guam shall be completed shall be fixed by the
two Governments. Stands of colors, uncaptured war vessels,
small arms, guns of all calibres, with their carriages and
accessories, powder, ammunition, live stock, and materials
and supplies of all kinds, belonging to the land and naval
forces of Spain in the Philippines and Guam, remain the
property of Spain. Pieces of heavy ordnance, exclusive of
field artillery, in the fortifications and coast defences, shall
remain in their emplacements for the term of six months,
to be reckoned from the exchange of ratifications of the
treaty; and the United States may, in the meantime, pur
chase such material from Spain, if a satisfactory agreement
between the two Governments on the subject shall be
reached.
ARTICLE VI
Spain will, upon the signature of the present treaty,
release all prisoners of war, and all persons detained or
imprisoned for political offences, in connection with the
insurrections in Cuba and the Philippines and the war with
the United States.
Reciprocally, the United States will release all persons
made prisoners of war by the American forces, and will
undertake to obtain the release of all Spanish prisoners in
the hands of the insurgents in Cuba and the Philippines.
The Government of the United States will at its own
cost return to Spain and the Government of Spain will at its
own cost return to the United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, and
the Philippines, according to the situation of their respective
377
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
homes, prisoners released or caused to be released by them,
respectively, under this article.
ARTICLE VII
The United States and Spain mutually relinquish all
claims for indemnity, national and individual, of every kind,
of either Government, or of its citizens or subjects, against
the other Government, that may have arisen since the begin
ning of the late insurrection in Cuba and prior to the
exchange of ratifications of the present treaty, including
all claims for indemnity for the cost of the war.
The United States will adjudicate and settle the claims of
its citizens against Spain relinquished in this article.
ARTICLE VIII
In conformity with the provisions of Articles I, II, and
III of this treaty, Spain relinquishes in Cuba, and cedes in
Porto Rico and other islands in the West Indies, in the island
of Guam, and in the Philippine Archipelago, all the build
ings, wharves, barracks, forts, structures, public highways
and other immovable property which, in conformity with
law, belong to the public domain, and as such belong to the
Crown of Spain.
And it is hereby declared that the relinquishment or
cession, as the case may be, to which the preceding para
graph refers, cannot in any respect impair the property
or rights which by law belong to the peaceful possession
of property of all kinds, of provinces, municipalities, pub
lic or private establishments, ecclesiastical or civic bodies,
or any other associations having legal capacity to acquire
and possess property in the aforesaid territories renounced
or ceded, or of private individuals, of whatsoever nationality
such individuals may be.
378
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
The aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may
be, includes all documents exclusively referring to the sover
eignty relinquished or ceded that may exist in the archives
of the Peninsula. Where any document in such archives
only in part relates to said sovereignty, a copy of such part
will be furnished whenever it shall be requested. Like rules
shall be reciprocally observed in favor of Spain in request
of documents in the archives of the islands above referred to.
In the aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case
may be, are also included such rights as the Crown of Spain
and its authorities possess in respect of the official archives
and records, executive as well as judicial, in the islands
above referred to, which relate to said islands or the rights
and property of their inhabitants. Such archives and rec
ords shall be carefully preserved, and private persons shall
without distinction have the right to require, in accordance
with law, authenticated copies of the contracts, wills and
other instruments forming part of notarial protocols or files,
or which may be contained in the executive or judicial
archives, be the latter in Spain or in the islands aforesaid.
ARTICLE IX
Spanish subjects, natives of the Peninsula, residing in
the territory over which Spain by the present treaty relin
quishes or cedes her sovereignty, may remain in such terri
tory or may remove therefrom, retaining in either event all
their rights of property, including the right to sell or dis
pose of such property or of its proceeds; and they shall
also have the right to carry on their industry, commerce and
professions, being subject in respect thereof to such laws
as are applicable to other foreigners. In case they remain
in the territory they may preserve their allegiance to the
Crown of Spain by making, before a court of record, within
379
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
a year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of
this treaty, a declaration of their decision to preserve such
allegiance; in default of which declaration they shall be
held to have renounced it and to have adopted the national
ity of the territory in which they may reside.
The civil rights and political status of the native inhabit
ants of the territories hereby ceded to the United States
shall be determined by the Congress.
ARTICLE X
The inhabitants of the territories over which Spain
relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be secured in
the free exercise of their religion.
ARTICLE XI
The Spaniards residing in the territories over which
Spain by this treaty cedes or relinquishes her sovereignty
shall be subject in matters civil as well as criminal to the
jurisdiction of the courts of the country wherein they
reside, pursuant to the ordinary laws governing the same;
and they shall have the right to appear before such courts,
and to pursue the same course as citizens of the country to
which the courts belong.
ARTICLE XII
Judicial proceedings pending at the time of the exchange
of ratifications of this treaty in the territories over which
Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be deter
mined according to the following rules:
(1) Judgments rendered either in civil suits between
private individuals, or in criminal matters, before the date
mentioned, and with respect to which there is no recourse
or right of review under the Spanish law, shall be deemed to
380
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
be final, and shall be executed in due form by competent
authority in the territory within which such judgments
should be carried out.
(2) Civil suits between private individuals which may on
the date mentioned be undetermined shall be prosecuted
to judgment before the court in which they may then be
pending or in the court that may be substituted therefor.
(3) Criminal actions pending on the date mentioned
before the Supreme Court of Spain against citizens of
the territory which by this treaty ceases to be Spanish shall
continue under its jurisdiction until final judgment; but,
such judgment having been rendered, the execution thereof
shall be committed to the competent authority of the place
in which the case arose.
ARTICLE xin
The rights of property secured by copyrights and patents
acquired by Spaniards in the Island of Cuba, and in Porto
Rico, the Philippines and other ceded territories, at the time
of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, shall
continue to be respected. Spanish scientific, literary and
artistic works, not subversive of public order in the terri
tories in question, shall continue to be admitted free of duty
into such territories, for the period of ten years, to be
reckoned from the date of the exchange of the ratifications
of this treaty.
ARTICLE XIV
Spain shall have the power to establish consular officers
in the ports and places of the territories, the sovereignty
over which has been either relinquished or ceded by the
present treaty.
ARTICLE XV
The Government of each country will, for the term of ten
years, accord to the merchant vessels of the other country
381
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
the same treatment in respect of all port charges, including
entrance and clearance dues, light dues, and tonnage duties,
as it accords to its own merchant vessels, not engaged in the
coastwise trade.
This article may at any time be terminated on six months'
notice given by either Government to the other.
ARTICLE XVI
It is understood that any obligations assumed in this
treaty by the United States with respect to Cuba are limited
to the time of its occupancy thereof; but it will upon the
termination of such occupancy, advise any Government
established in the island to assume the same obligations.
ARTICLE XVII
The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of
the United States, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate thereof, and by Her Majesty the Queen Regent
of Spain; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Wash
ington within six months from the date hereof, or earlier if
possible.
In faith whereof, we, the respective Plenipotentiaries,
have signed this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals.
Done in duplicate at Paris, the tenth day of December,
in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
ninety-eight.
[SEAL.] WILLIAM R. DAY
[SEAL.] CUSHMAN K. DAVIS
[SEAL.] WM. P. FRYE
[SEAL.] GEO. GREY
[SEAL.] WHITELAW REID
382
Reciprocal Commercial Convention between the
United States and Cuba 1902
The President of the United States of America and the
President of the Republic of Cuba, animated by the desire
to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the two
countries, and to facilitate their commercial intercourse by
improving the conditions of trade between them, have re
solved to enter into a convention for that purpose, and
have appointed their respective Plenipotentiaries, to-wit:
The President of the United States of America, the
Honorable General Tasker H. Bliss;
The President of the Republic of Cuba, the Honorable
Carlos de Zaldo y Beurmann, Secretary of State and
Justice, and the Honorable Jose M. Garcia y Montes, Sec
retary of the Treasury;
Who, after an exchange of their full powers found to be
in good and due form, have, in consideration of and in
compensation for the respective concessions and engage
ments made by each to the other as hereinafter recited,
agreed and do hereby agree upon the following Articles
for the regulation and government of their reciprocal trade,
namely :
ARTICLE I
During the term of this convention, all articles of
merchandise being the product of the soil or industry of
the United States which are now imported into the Re
public of Cuba free of duty, and all articles of merchandise
being the product of the soil or industry of the Republic
of Cuba which are now imported into the United States
383
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free of duty, shall continue to be so admitted by the re
spective countries free of duty.
ARTICLE II
During the term of this convention, all articles of mer
chandise not included in the foregoing Article 'I and being
the product of the soil or industry of the Republic of Cuba
imported into the United States shall be admitted at a
reduction of twenty percentum of the rates of duty there
on as provided by the Tariff Act of the United States ap
proved July 24, 1897, or as may be provided by any tariff
law of the United States subsequently enacted.
ARTICLE III
During the term of this convention, all articles of mer
chandise not included in the foregoing Article I and not
hereinafter enumerated, being the product of the soil or
industry of the United States, imported into the Republic
of Cuba shall be admitted at a reduction of twenty per
centum of the rates of duty thereon as now provided or
as may hereafter be provided in the Customs Tariff of said
Republic of Cuba.
ARTICLE IV
During the term of this convention, the following articles
of merchandise as enumerated and described in the existing
Customs Tariff of the Republic of Cuba, being the product
of the soil or industry of the United States imported into
Cuba shall be admitted at the following respective reduc
tions of the rates of duty thereon as now provided or as
may hereafter be provided in the Customs Tariff of the
Republic of Cuba.
384
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
SCHEDULE A
To be admitted at a reduction of twenty-five (25) per-
centum :
Machinery and apparatus of copper or its alloys or ma
chines and apparatus in which copper or its alloys enter
as the component of chief value; cast iron, wrought iron
and steel, and manufactures thereof; articles of crystal
and glass, except window glass; ships and water borne
vessels of all kinds, of iron or steel ; whiskies and brandies ;
fish, salted, pickled, smoked or marinated; fish or shellfish,
preserved in oil or otherwise in tins; articles of pottery
or earthenware now classified under Paragraphs 21 and 22
of the Customs Tariff of the Republic of Cuba.
SCHEDULE B
To be admitted at a reduction of thirty (30) percentum:
Butter; flour of wheat; corn; flour of corn or corn meal;
chemical and pharmaceutical products and simple drugs;
malt liquors in bottles; non-alcoholic beverages ; cider; min
eral waters; colors and dyes; window glass; complete or
partly made up articles of hemp, flax, pita, jute, henequen,
ramie, and other vegetable fibers now classified under the
paragraphs of Group 2, Class V, of the Customs Tariff
of the Republic of Cuba; musical instruments; writing and
printing paper, except for newspapers; cotton and manu
factures thereof, except knitted goods (see Schedule C) ;
all articles of cutlery; boots, shoes and slippers, now classi
fied under Paragraphs 197 and 1Q8 of the Customs Tariff
of the Republic of Cuba; gold and silver plated ware;
drawings, photographs, engravings, lithographs, cromo-
lithographs, oleographs, etc., printed from stone, zinc, alu-
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
minium, or other material, used as labels, flaps, bands and
wrappers for tobacco or other purposes, and all the other
papers (except paper for cigarettes, and excepting maps
and charts), pasteboard and manufactures thereof, now
classified under Paragraphs 157 to 164 inclusive of the
Customs Tariff of the Republic of Cuba; common or
ordinary soaps, now classified under Paragraph 105,
letters "A" and " B," of the Customs Tariff of the Re
public of Cuba; vegetables, pickled or preserved in any
manner; all wines except those now classified under
Paragraph 279 (a) of the Customs Tariff of the Republic
of Cuba.
SCHEDULE C
To be admitted at a reduction of forty (40) percentum:
Manufactures of cotton, knitted, and all manufactures
of cotton not included in the preceding schedules; cheese;
fruits, preserved; paper pulp; perfumery and essences;
articles of pottery and earthenware now classified under
Paragraph 20 of the Customs Tariff of the Republic of
Cuba; porcelain; soaps, other than common, now classified
under Paragraph 105 of the Customs Tariff of the Repub
lic of Cuba ; umbrellas and parasols ; dextrine and glucose ;
watches; wool and manufactures thereof; silk and manu
factures thereof; rice; cattle.
ARTICLE V
It is understood and agreed that the laws and regula
tions adopted, or that may be adopted, by the United States
and by the Republic of Cuba, to protect their revenues and
prevent fraud in the declarations and proofs that the
articles of merchandise to which this convention may apply
are the product or manufacture of the United States and
386
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
the Republic of Cuba, respectively, shall not impose any
additional charge or fees therefor on the articles imported,
excepting the consular fees established, or which may be
established, by either of the two countries for issuing ship
ping documents, which fees shall not be higher than those
charged on the shipments of similar merchandise from any
other nation whatsoever.
ARTICLE VI
It is agreed that the tobacco, in any form, of the United
States or of any of its insular- possessions, shall not enjoy
the benefit of any concession or rebate of duty when im
ported into the Republic of Cuba.
ARTICLE VII
It is agreed that similar articles of both countries shall
receive equal treatment on their importation into the ports
of the United States and of the Republic of Cuba, re
spectively.
ARTICLE VIII
The rates of duty herein granted by the United States
to the Republic of Cuba are and shall continue during the
term of this convention preferential in respect to all like
imports from other countries, and, in return for said
preferential rates of duty granted to the Republic of Cuba
by the United States, it is agreed that the concession
herein granted on the part of the said Republic of Cuba
to the products of the United States shall likewise be, and
shall continue, during the term of this convention, prefer
ential in respect to all like imports from other countries:
Provided, That while this convention is in force, no sugar
imported from the Republic of Cuba, and being the product
387
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
of the soil or industry of the Republic of Cuba, shall be
admitted into the United States at a reduction of duty
greater than twenty percentum of the rates of duty thereon
as provided by the tariff act of the United States approved
July 24, 1897, and no sugar, the product of any other
foreign country, shall be admitted by treaty or convention
into the United States, while this convention is in force,
at a lower rate of duty than that provided by the tariff
act of the United States approved July 24, 1897.
ARTICLE IX
In order to maintain the mutual advantages granted in
the present convention by the United States to the Re
public of Cuba and by the Republic of Cuba to the United
States, it is understood and agreed that any tax or charge
that may be imposed by the national or local authorities
of either of the two countries upon the articles of mer
chandise embraced in the provisions of this convention,
subsequent to importation and prior to their entering into
consumption in the respective countries, shall be imposed
and collected without discrimination upon like articles
whencesoever imported.
ARTICLE X
It is hereby understood and agreed that in case of
changes in the tariff of either country which deprive the
other of the advantage which is represented by the per
centages herein agreed upon, on the actual rates of the
tariffs now in force, the country so deprived of this pro
tection reserves the right to terminate its obligations under
this convention after six months' notice to the other of its
intention to arrest the operations thereof.
And it is further understood and agreed that if, at any
time during the term of this convention, after the expira-
388
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
tion of the first year, the protection herein granted to the
products and manufactures of the United States on the basis
of the actual rates of the tariff of the Republic of Cuba
now in force, should appear to the government of the said
Republic to be excessive in view of a new tariff law that
may be adopted by it after this convention becomes opera
tive, then the said Republic of Cuba may reopen negotia
tions with a view to securing such modifications as may
appear proper to both contracting parties.
ARTICLE XI
The present convention shall be ratified by the appro
priate authorities of the respective countries, and the rati
fications shall be exchanged at Washington, District of
Columbia, United States of America, as soon as may be
before the thirty-first day of January, 1Q03, and the con
vention shall go into effect on the tenth day after the
exchange of ratifications, and shall continue in force for
the terms of five (5) years from date of going into effect,
and from year to year thereafter until the expiration of
one year from the day when either of the contracting
parties shall give notice to the other of its intention to
terminate the same.
This convention shall not take effect until the same shall
have been approved by the Congress.
In witness whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries,
have signed the same in duplicate, in English and Spanish,
and have affixed our respective seals, at Havana, Cuba, this
eleventh day of December, in the year one thousand nine
hundred and two.
TASKER H. BLISS. [SEAL]
CARLOS DE ZALDO. [SEAL]
JOSE M. GARCIA MONTES. [SEAL]
389
Supplementary Convention between the United
States and Cuba 1903
Extending the Time within which may be Exchanged the
Ratifications of the Commercial Convention Signed on De
cember 11, 1902. Signed at Washington, January 26, 1903.
Ratification advised by the Senate, February 16, 1903.
Ratified by the President, March 30, 1903. Ratified by
Cuba, March 30, 1903. Ratifications exchanged at Wash
ington, March 31, 1903. Proclaimed, December 17, 1903.
By the President of the United States of America.
A PROCLAMATION
Whereas . a Supplementary Convention between the
United States of America and the Republic of Cuba, ex
tending the time within which may be exchanged the ratifi
cations of the Commercial Convention signed at Habana,
December 11, 1902, was concluded and signed by their
respective Plenipotentiaries at Washington, on the twenty-
sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and
three, the original of which Supplementary Convention,
being in the English and Spanish languages, is word for
word as follows:
The President of the United States of America and the
President of the Republic of Cuba considering it expe
dient to prolong the period within which, by Article XI
of the Commercial Convention, signed by their respective
plenipotentiaries at Habana on December 11, 1902, the
exchange of ratifications of the said Convention shall take
390
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place,, have for that purpose appointed their respective
Plenipotentiaries, namely :
The President of the United States of America, John
Hay, Secretary of State of the United States of America;
and
The President of Cuba, Gonzalo de Quesada, Envoy Ex
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United
States ;
Who, after having communicated each to the other their
respective full powers which were found to be in good and
due form, have agreed upon the following additional and
amendatory article to be taken as a part of said Conven
tion:
SOLE ARTICLE
The respective ratifications of the said Convention shall
be exchanged as soon as possible, and within two months
from January 31, 1903.
Done in duplicate at Washington this twenty-sixth day
of January A. D. 1903.
JOHN HAY. [SEAL]
GONZALO DE QUESADA. [SEAL]
And whereas the said Supplementary Convention has
been duly ratified on both parts, and the ratifications of
the two governments were exchanged in the City of Wash
ington, on the thirty-first day of March, one thousand nine
hundred and three;
Now, therefore, be it known that I, THEODORE
ROOSEVELT, President of the United States of Amer
ica, have caused the said Supplementary Convention to be
made public, to the end that the sole article thereof may
be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United
States and the citizens thereof.
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In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the United States of America to be
affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this seven-
[SEAL] teenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord one thousand nine hundred and three, and
of the Independence of the United States the one hundred
and twenty-eighth.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
By the President:
JOHN HAY,
Secretary of State.
392
Convention between the United States and the
Republic of Panama 1904
For the Construction of a Ship Canal to Connect the
Waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Signed at
Washington, November 18, 1903. Ratification advised by
the Senate, February 23, 1904. Ratified by the President,
February 25, 1904. Ratified by Panama, December 2,
1903. Ratifications exchanged at Washington, February
26, 1904. Proclaimed, February 26, 1904.
By the President of the United States of America.
A PROCLAMATION
Whereas a Convention between the United States of
America and the Republic of Panama to insure the con
struction of a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama
to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, was concluded
and signed by their respective Plenipotentiaries at Wash
ington, on the eighteenth day of November, one thousand
nine hundred and three, the original of which Convention,
being in the English language, is word for word as follows :
ISTHMIAN CANAL CONVENTION
The United States of America and the Republic of
Panama being desirous to insure the construction of a ship
canal across the Isthmus of Panama to connect the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans, and the Congress of the United States
of America having passed an act approved June 28, 1902,
in. furtherance of that object, by which the President of
the United States is authorized to acquire within a reason-
393
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able time the control of the necessary territory of the
Republic of Colombia, and the sovereignty of such terri
tory being actually vested in the Republic of Panama,
the high contracting parties have resolved for that purpose
to conclude a convention and have accordingly appointed
as their plenipotentiaries, —
The President of the United States of America, John
Hay, Secretary of State, and
The Government of the Republic of Panama, Philippe
Bunau-Varilla, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni
potentiary of the Republic of Panama, thereunto specially
empowered by said government, who after communicating
with each other their respective full powers, found to be
in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded
the following articles:
ARTICLE I
The United States guarantees and will maintain the in
dependence of the Republic of Panama.
ARTICLE II
The Republic of Panama grants to the United States
in perpetuity the use, occupation and control of a zone of
land and land under water for the construction, main
tenance, operation, sanitation and protection of said Canal
of the width of ten miles extending to the distance of five
miles on each side of the center line of the route of the
Canal to be constructed; the said zone beginning in the
Caribbean Sea three marine miles from mean low water
mark and extending to and across the Isthmus of Panama
into the Pacific Ocean to a distance of three marine miles
from mean low water mark with the proviso that the cities
of Panama and Colon and the harbors adjacent to said
394
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cities, which are included within the boundaries of the
zone above described, shall not be included within this
grant. The Republic of Panama further grants to the
United States in perpetuity the use, occupation and con
trol of any other lands and waters outside of the zone
above described which may be necessary and convenient
for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation
and protection of the said Canal or of any auxiliary canals
or other works necessary and convenient for the construc
tion, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of
the said enterprise.
The Republic of Panama further grants in like manner
to the United States in perpetuity all islands within the
limits of the zone above described and in addition thereto
the group of small islands in the Bay of Panama, named
Perico, Naos, Culebra and Flamenco.
ARTICLE III
The Republic of Panama grants to the United States
all the rights, power and authority within the zone men
tioned and described in Article II of this agreement and
within the limits of all auxiliary lands and waters men
tioned and described in said Article II which the United
States would possess and exercise if it were the sovereign
of the territory within which said lands and waters are
located to the entire exclusion of the exercise by the Re
public of Panama of any such sovereign rights, power
or authority.
ARTICLE IV
As rights subsidiary to the above grants the Republic
of Panama grants in perpetuity to the United States the
right to use the rivers, streams, lakes and other bodies of
395
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water within its limits for navigation, the supply of water
or water-power or other purposes, so far as the use of
said rivers, streams, lakes and bodies of water and the
waters thereof may be necessary and convenient for the
construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and pro
tection of the said Canal.
ARTICLE v
The Republic of Panama grants to the United States
in perpetuity a monopoly for the construction, maintenance
and operation of any system of communication by means
of canal or railroad across its territory between the Carib
bean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
ARTICLE VI
The grants herein contained shall in no manner invali
date the titles or rights of private land holders or owners of
private property in the said zone or in or to any of the
lands or waters granted to the United States by the pro
visions of any Article of this treaty, nor shall they inter
fere with the rights of way over the public roads passing
through the said zone or over any of the said lands or
waters unless said rights of way or private rights shall
conflict with rights herein granted to the United States in
which case the rights of the United States shall be superior.
All damages caused to the owners of private lands or pri
vate property of any kind by reason of the grants contained
in this treaty or by reason of the operations of the United
States, its agents or employees, or by reason of the con
struction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection
of the said Canal or of the works of sanitation and pro-
396
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tection herein provided for, shall be appraised and settled
by a joint Commission appointed by the Governments of
the United States and the Republic of Panama, whose de
cisions as to such damages shall be final and whose awards
as to such damages shall be paid solely by the United
States. No part of the work on said Canal or the Panama
railroad or on any auxiliary works relating thereto and
authorized by the terms of this treaty shall be prevented,
delayed or impeded by or pending such proceedings to
ascertain such damages. The appraisal of said private
lands and private property and the assessment of damages
to them shall be based upon their value before the date of
this convention.
ARTICLE VII
The Republic of Panama grants to the United States
within the limits of the cities of Panama and Colon and
their adjacent harbors and within the territory adjacent
thereto the right to acquire by purchase or by the exercise
of the right of eminent domain, any lands, buildings, water
rights or other properties necessary and convenient for the
construction, maintenance, operation and protection of the
Canal and of any works of sanitation, such as the collection
and disposition of sewage and the distribution of water
in the said cities of Panama and Colon, which, in the discre
tion of the United States may be necessary and convenient
for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation
and protection of the said Canal and railroad. All such
works of sanitation, collection and disposition of sewage
and distribution of water in the cities of Panama and
Colon shall be made at the expense of the United States,
and the Government of the United States, its agents or
nominees shall be authorized to impose and collect water
397
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rates and sewage rates which shall be sufficient to provide
for the payment of interest and the amortization of the
principal of the cost of said works within a period of fifty
years and upon the expiration of said term of fifty years
the system of sewers and water works shall revert to and
become the properties of the cities of Panama and Colon
respectively, and the use of the water shall be free to the
inhabitants of Panama and Colon, except to the extent
that water rates may be necessary for the operation and
maintenance of said system of sewers and water.
The Republic of Panama agrees that the cities of
Panama and Colon shall comply in perpetuity with the
sanitary ordinances whether of a preventive or curative
character prescribed by the United States and in case the
Government of Panama is unable or fails in its duty to
enforce this compliance by the cities of Panama and Colon
with the sanitary ordinances of the United States the Re
public of Panama grants to the United States the right
and authority to enforce the same.
The same right and authority are granted to the United
States for the maintenance of public order in the cities of
Panama and Colon and the territories and harbors adjacent
thereto in case the Republic of Panama should not be, in
the judgment of the United States, able to maintain such
order.
ARTICLE VIII
The Republic of Panama grants to the United States all
rights which it now has or hereafter may acquire to the
property of the New Panama Canal Company and the
Panama Railroad Company as a result of the transfer of
sovereignty from the Republic of Colombia to the Republic
of Panama over the Isthmus of Panama and authorizes
the New Panama Canal Company to sell and transfer to
398
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the United States its rights, privileges, properties and con
cessions as well as the Panama Railroad and all the shares
or part of the shares of that company; but the public lands
situated outside of the zone described in Article II of this
treaty now included in the concessions to both said enter
prises and not required in the construction or operation
of the Canal shall revert to the Republic of Panama ex
cept any property now owned by or in the possession of
said companies within Panama or Colon or the ports or
terminals thereof.
ARTICLE IX
The United States agrees that the ports at either en
trance of the Canal and the waters thereof, and the Re
public of Panama agrees that the towns of Panama "and
Colon shall be free for all time so that there shall not be
imposed or collected custom house tolls, tonnage, anchor
age, lighthouse, wharf, pilot, or quarantine dues or any
other charges or taxes of any kind upon any vessel using
or passing through the Canal or belonging to or employed
by the United States, directly or indirectly, in connection
with the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation
and protection of the main Canal, or auxiliary works, or
upon the cargo, officers, crew, or passengers of any such
vessels, except such tolls and charges as may be imposed
by the United States for the use of the Canal and other
works, and except tolls and charges imposed by the Re
public of Panama upon merchandise destined to be intro
duced for the consumption of the rest of the Republic of
Panama, and upon vessels touching at the ports of Colon
and Panama and which do not cross the Canal.
The Government of the Republic of Panama shall have
the right to establish in such ports and in the towns of
Panama and Colon such houses and guards as it may deem
399
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
necessary to collect duties on importations destined to
other portions of Panama and to prevent contraband trade.
The United States shall have the right to make use of the
towns and harbors of Panama and Colon as places of an
chorage, and for making repairs, for loading, unloading,
depositing, or transshipping cargoes either in transit or
destined for the service of the Canal and for other works
pertaining to the Canal.
ARTICLE X
The Republic of Panama agrees that there shall not be
imposed any taxes, national, municipal, departmental, or
of any other class, upon the Canal, the railways and aux
iliary works, tugs and other vessels employed in the service
of the Canal, store houses, work shops, offices, quarters for
laborers, factories of all kinds, warehouses, wharves, ma
chinery and other works, property, and effects appertaining
to the Canal or railroad and auxiliary works, or their
officers or employees, situated within the cities of Panama
and Colon, and that there shall not be imposed contribu
tions or charges of a personal character of any kind upon
officers, employees, laborers, and other individuals in the
service of the Canal and railroad and auxiliary works.
ARTICLE XI
The United States agrees that the official dispatches of
the Government of the Republic of Panama shall be
transmitted over any telegraph and telephone lines estab
lished for canal purposes and used for public and private
business at rates not higher than those required from
officials in the service of the United States.
400
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ARTICLE XII
The Government of the Republic of Panama shall per
mit the immigration and free access to the lands and work
shops of the Canal and its auxiliary works of all employees
and workmen of whatever nationality under contract to
work upon or seeking employment upon or in any wise
connected with the said Canal and its auxiliary works, with
their respective families, and all such persons shall be
free and exempt from the military service of the Republic
of Panama.
ARTICLE XIII
The United States may import at any time into the said
zone and auxiliary lands, free of custom duties, imposts,
taxes, or other charges, and without any restrictions, any
and all vessels, dredges, engines, cars, machinery, tools,
explosives, materials, supplies, and other articles necessary
and convenient in the construction, maintenance, operation,
sanitation and protection of the Canal and auxiliary
works, and all provisions, medicines, clothing, supplies and
other things necessary and convenient for the officers, em
ployees, workmen and laborers in the service and employ
of the United States and for their families. If any such
articles are disposed of for use outside of the zone and
auxiliary lands granted to the United States and within
the territory of the Republic, they shall be subject to the
same import or other duties as like articles imported under
the laws of the Republic of Panama.
ARTICLE XIV
As the price or compensation for the rights, powers and
privileges granted in this convention by the Republic of
401
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Panama to the United States, the Government of the
United States agrees to pay to the Republic of Panama
the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in gold coin
of the United States on the exchange of the ratification of
this convention and also an annual payment during the life
of this convention of two hundred and fifty thousand dol
lars ($250,000) in like gold coin, beginning nine years
after the date aforesaid.
The provisions of this Article shall be in addition to all
other benefits assured to the Republic of Panama under
this convention.
But no delay or difference of opinion under this Article
or any other provisions of this treaty shall affect or inter
rupt the full operation and effect of this convention in all
other respects.
ARTICLE xv
The joint commission referred to in Article VI shall be
established as follows:
The President of the United States shall nominate two
persons and the President of the Republic of Panama shall
nominate two persons and they shall proceed to a decision;
but in case of disagreement of the Commission (by reason
of their being equally divided in conclusion) an umpire
shall be appointed by the two Governments who shall
render the decision. In the event of the death, absence,
or incapacity of a Commissioner or Umpire, or of his
omitting, declining or ceasing to act, his place shall be
filled by the appointment of another person in the manner
above indicated. All decisions by a majority of the Com
mission or by the umpire shall be final.
402
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE XVI
The two Governments shall make adequate provision by
future agreement for the pursuit, capture, imprisonment,
detention and delivery within said zone and auxiliary lands
to the authorities of the Republic of Panama of persons
charged with the commitment of crimes, felonies or mis
demeanors without said zone and for the pursuit, capture,
imprisonment,, detention and delivery without said zone to
the authorities of the United States of persons charged
with the commitment of crimes, felonies and misdemeanors
within said zone and auxiliary lands.
ARTICLE XVII
The Republic of Panama grants to the United States
the use of all the ports of the Republic open to commerce
as places of refuge for any vessels employed in the Canal
enterprise, and for all vessels passing or bound to pass
through the Canal which may be in distress and be driven
to seek refuge in said ports. Such vessels shall be exempt
from anchorage and tonnage dues on the part of the Re
public of Panama.
ARTICLE XVIII
The Canal, when constructed, and the entrances thereto
shall be neutral in perpetuity, and shall be opened upon
the terms provided for by Section I of Article three of,
and. in conformity with all the stipulations of, the treaty
entered into by the Governments of the United States and
Great Britain on November 18, 1901.
403
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE XIX
The Government of the Republic of Panama shall have
the right to transport over the Canal its vessels and its
troops and munitions of war in such vessels at all times
without paying charges of any kind. The exemption is
to be extended to the auxiliary railway for the transpor
tation of persons in the service of the Republic of Panama,
or of the police force charged with the preservation of
public order outside of said zone, as well as to their bag
gage, munitions of war and supplies.
ARTICLE XX
If by virtue of any existing treaty in relation to the
territory of the Isthmus of Panama, whereof the obliga
tions shall descend or be assumed by the Republic of
Panama, there may be any privilege or concession in favor
of the Government or the citizens and subjects of a third
power relative to an interoceanic means of communication
which in any of its terms may be incompatible with the terms
of the present convention, the Republic of Panama agrees
to cancel or modify such treaty in due form, for which
purpose it shall give to the said third power the requisite
notification within the term of four months from the date
of the present convention, and in case the existing treaty
contains no clause permitting its modifications or annul
ment, the Republic of Panama agrees to procure its modi
fication or annulment in such form that there shall not exist
any conflict with the stipulations of the present convention.
404
NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
ARTICLE XXI
The rights and privileges granted by the Republic of
Panama to the United States in the preceding Articles are
understood to be free of all anterior debts, liens, trusts, or
liabilities, or concessions or privileges to other Govern
ments, corporations, syndicates or individuals, and conse
quently, if there should arise any claims on account of
the present concessions and privileges or otherwise, the
claimants shall resort to the Government of the Republic
of Panama and not to the United States for any indemnity
or compromise which may be required.
ARTICLE XXII
The Republic of Panama renounces and grants to the
United States the participation to which it might be en
titled in the future earnings of the Canal under Article XV
of the concessionary contract with Lucien N. B. Wyse now
owned by the New Panama Canal Company and any and
all other rights or claims of a pecuniary nature arising
under or relating to said concession, or arising under or
relating to the concessions to the Panama Railroad Com
pany or any extension or modification thereof; and it like
wise renounces, confirms and grants to the United States,
now and hereafter, all the rights and property reserved
in the said concessions which otherwise would belong to
Panama at or before the expiration of the terms of ninety-
nine years of the concessions granted to or held by the
above mentioned party and companies, and all right, title
and interest which it now has or may hereafter have, in
and to the lands, canal, works, property and rights held
by the said companies under said concessions or otherwise,
405
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and acquired or to be acquired by the United States from
or through the New Panama Canal Company, including
any property and rights which might or may in the future
either by lapse of time, forfeiture or otherwise, revert to
the Republic of Panama under any contracts or conces
sions, with said Wyse, the Universal Panama Canal Com
pany, the Panama Railroad Company and the New Panama
Canal Company.
The aforesaid rights and property shall be and are
free and released from any present or reversionary interest
in or claims of Panama and the title of the United States
thereto upon consummation of the contemplated purchase
by the United States from the New Panama Canal Com
pany, shall be absolute, so far as concerns the Republic of
Panama, excepting always the rights of the Republic
specifically secured under this treaty.
ARTICLE XXIII
If it should become necessary at any time to employ
armed forces for the safety or protection of the Canal, or
of the ships that make use of the same, or the railways
and auxiliary works, the United States shall have the right,
at all times and in its discretion, to use its police and its
land and naval forces or to establish fortifications for these
purposes.
ARTICLE XXIV
No change either in the Government or in the laws and
treaties of the Republic of Panama shall, without the con
sent of the United States, affect any right of the United
States under the present convention, or under any treaty
stipulation between the two countries that now exists or
406
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may hereafter exist touching the subject matter of this
convention.
If the Republic of Panama shall hereafter enter as a
constituent into any other Government or into any union
or confederation of states, so as to merge her sovereignty
or independence in such Government,, union or confedera
tion, the rights of the United States under this convention
shall not be in any respect lessened or impaired.
ARTICLE XXV
For the better performance of the engagements of this
convention and to the end of the efficient protection of the
Canal and the preservation of its neutrality, the Govern
ment of the Republic of Panama will sell or lease to the
United States lands adequate and necessary for naval or
coaling stations on the Pacific coast and on the western
Caribbean coast of the Republic at certain points to be
agreed upon with the President of the United States.
ARTICLE XXVI
This convention when signed by the Plenipotentiaries of
the Contracting Parties shall be ratified by the respective
Governments and the ratifications shall be exchanged at
Washington at the earliest date possible.
In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have
signed the present convention in duplicate and have here
unto affixed their respective seals.
Done at the City of Washington the 18th day of Novem
ber in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and three.
JOHN HAY. [SEAL]
P. BUNAU VARILLA. [SEAL]
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS
And whereas the said Convention has been duly ratified
on both parts, and the ratifications of the two governments
were exchanged in the City of Washington, on the twenty-
sixth day of February, one thousand nine hundred and
four;
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Theodore Roosevelt,
President of the United States of America, have caused
the said Convention to be made public, to the end that the
same and every article and clause thereof, may be observed
and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the
citizens thereof.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the United States of America to be
affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-sixth day
of February, in the year of our Lord one thou-
[SEAL] sand nine hundred and four, and of the Inde
pendence of the United States the one hundred
and twenty-eighth.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
By the President:
JOHN HAY,
Secretary of State.
408
NOTES ON THE TEXT
First Charter of Virginia 1606
[Text derived from Smith's History of Virginia.]
The first English colony in America was planted by Sir
Walter Raleigh in 1584 under a grant from Queen Eliza
beth. After several ventures which came to nothing he gave
up his hope of colonizing America. England was occupied
with her war with Spain and for a time Virginia, which was
the name given to the country at large, was forgotten.
After the close of the war the interest in Virginia was
renewed by the reports of some returned explorers and
some enterprising gentlemen petitioned King James for a
charter enabling them to plant colonies in the new world.
This charter which is a typical one, was granted 10 April
1606 to an association having two branches, one having its
headquarters in London and the other being established
at Plymouth.
AUTHORITIES
Old Virginia and her Neighbors. Vol. I. John Fiske.
Virginia, Maryland and the Oarolinas. J. A. Doyle.
A Short History of the English Colonies in America.
Henry Cabot Lodge.
The Making of Virginia and the Middle Colonies. S. A.
Drake.
The Mayflower Compact 1620
[Text derived from Bradford's History "Of Plimoth
Plantation." Edition of 1899- From the original. The
spelling is slightly modernized.]
409
NOTES ON THE TEXT
This compact was made in the cabin of the Mayflower
21 November (11 November old style) 1620. The vessel
had dropped anchor in Cape Cod harbor at noon and the
Pilgrims were about to land and settle in the neighborhood.
They carried with them a grant or patent from the London
branch of the Virginia company but owing to foul weather
instead of making the Virginia coast they had been driven
to Cape Cod bay. All this northern coast belonged to the
Plymouth company but the Pilgrims anticipated no trouble
in securing a charter from that body. In the mean time
there would be no recognized authority in the land where
they were about to settle for the London company had no
jurisdiction over New England. There was reason to fear
that there were lawless spirits among the hired laborers
on shipboard. Bradford says in his History of New Eng
land that some of them " had let fall . . . that when they
came ashore they would u§e their own liberty, for none had
power to command them." " It was thought good," says
Mourt's Relation, " that there should be an association or
agreement that we should combine together in one body;
to submit to such government and Governors as we should,
by common consent, agree to make or choose." The com
pact was signed by 41 of the 65 adult male passengers of
the Mayflower, seven of the signers being servants or hired
laborers.
18 Northern parts of Virginia. The Pilgrims used the
old name for New England. It was called North Virginia
till Captain John Smith in 1614 proposed the name New
England.
AUTHORITIES
New England's Memorial. Nathaniel Morton.
History of New England. Vol. I. John Gorham Palfrey.
The Pilgrim Fathers of New England. John Brown.
410
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Articles of Confederation of the New England
Colonies 1643
[Text derived from Bradford's History "Of Plimoth
Plantation." Edition of 1899- From the original. The
spelling is modernized.]
A confederation of the New England colonies was first
proposed in 1637. The matter was discussed from time
to time but it was not till 1643 that commissioners from
Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven,, and Massachusetts
met at Boston to form a union. " These coming to a con
sultation, encountered some difficulties; but being all de
sirous of union and studious of peace, they readily yielded
to each other in such things as tended to common utility,
so as in some two or three meetings they lovingly accorded,"
wrote John Winthrop.
The articles were signed 10 May by all the commis
sioners except those from Plymouth, who had not been
authorized to sign but they were soon ratified by the govern
ment of that colony. In 1662 a charter was granted Con
necticut. New Haven was annexed to that colony and
the articles were revised in accordance with this change.
The confederation came to an end when the charter of Mas
sachusetts was revoked in 1684.
19 Further dispersed. The dispersion of the colonists
was partly due to differences of opinion on theology and
on questions touching the relations of church and state.
Thomas Hooker, a pastor of the church at Newtown, Mas
sachusetts, and his congregation of over a hundred migrated
to the Connecticut valley because unlike the majority of the
ministers he was opposed to a measure intended to increase
the political weight of the clergy and maintained that the
411
NOTES ON THE TEXT
foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the
people.
19 People of several nations. The French were upon
the eastern border, the Dutch upon the western, and the
Swedes upon Delaware bay.
19 Combined . . . against us. " By reason of the plot
ting of the Narragansetts . . . the Indians were drawn
into a general conspiracy against the English," wrote Brad
ford.
19 Sad distractions in England. War had begun be
tween King Charles and parliament. If the Puritan cause
should fail in England there was all the more need that
New England should be a safe refuge for exiles.
19 Hindered . . . seeking advice. The colonists found
it necessary to send some one to London to explain and
defend the action of the colonies and Edward Winslow was
chosen. He said to the king, "If we in America should
forbear to unite for offence and defence against a common
enemy till we have leave from England, our throats might
all be cut before the messenger would be half seas through."
20 The Massachusetts. Massachusetts was incorpo
rated under the name of " The Governor and Company of
the Massachusetts Bay in New England."
20 Member of this confederation. Rhode Island asked
to join the federation but was refused on the ground that
she had no separate government. She was offered annexa
tion to Massachusetts or Plymouth.
21 A true account and number. The population of the
colonies was 24,000; 15,000 belonged to Massachusetts
while the other colonies had only about 3,000 each. There
were 39 towns.
21 An hundred men. Massachusetts had hesitated about
joining a confederation in which she would have no more
power than the smaller and less populous states and yet
412
NOTES ON THE TEXT
would be obliged to bear more than an equal share of ex
pense for the common safety.
AUTHORITIES
New England's Memorial. Nathaniel Morton.
History of New England. Vols. I and II. John Gorham
Palfrey.
Beginnings of New England. John Fiske.
The Pilgrim Fathers of New England. John Brown.
The Puritan Colonies. Vol. I. J. A. Doyle.
The Rise of the Republic of the United States. Richard
Frothingham.
A Typical Early Indian Treaty 1645
[Text derived from Historical Collection Consisting of
State Papers. By Ebenezer Hazard, 1792-Q4.]
The Narragansett and Mohegan Indians were the most
powerful tribes in southern New England and they were
constantly on the verge of war. In 1640 the colonists
undertook to arbitrate and the tribes agreed not to make war
upon each other without the consent of the English. The
Narragansetts broke the agreement, attacked the Mohegans
and were defeated. Uncas, the Mohegan chief, took Mian-
tonomo, the Narragansett chief, prisoner, and after
consulting with the colonists put him to death. The Narra
gansetts claimed that a ransom had been paid for Mianto-
nomo ; the Mohegans denied it. Again the English arbitrated
and in September 1644 a truce was made, the Narra
gansetts and their allies, the Nyanticks, promising not to
commit any acts hostile to Uncas " till after the next plant
ing of corn " and that before making war on the Mohegans
they would give thirty days' warning to the English. In
413
NOTES ON THE TEXT
the following spring the Narragansetts again attacked the
Mohegans. The Federal commissioners sent for the Narra-
gansett and Nyantick chiefs to come "to declare and prove
upon what occasions and grounds this war was thus broken
out " and to be prepared to treat for peace. Instead of
sending their chiefs the Narragansetts sent their defiance.
The colonists at once prepared for war when the chiefs
reconsidered the matter and presented themselves at Bos
ton where a treaty was concluded 26 September 1645.
31 Peacotts. Pequots. In May 1637 a force of 77
colonists surprised the Pequot Indians and nearly annihi
lated them. The few who survived were divided among the
Narragansetts and Nyanticks and adopted by them.
33 Any parcel of land. The Narragansetts had sold a
tract of land to the king of England through one
Samuel Gorton who with some of his followers had been
banished from the colonies for heresy.
AUTHORITIES
The History of New England. Vol. II. John Gorham
Palfrey.
Bradford's History " Of Plimoth Plantation."
Historical Collection Consisting of State Papers. Com
piled by Ebenezer Hazard.
Declaration of Rights 1765
[Text derived from Journal of the First Congress of
the American Colonies. Edition of 1845.]
In March 1765 the British parliament passed an act
called the Stamp Act which provided that no legal instru
ment used in the American colonies should be valid unless
it bore a government stamp. The measure aroused intense
414
NOTES ON THE TEXT
indignation throughout the colonies. All the assemblies
protested and there was a demand for a general congress
to be held before the Stamp Act should go into effect.
Delegates from nine colonies met in New York 7 October
and continued in session fourteen days. The result was a
declaration of rights which stated the right of the colonies
to govern themselves as loyal subjects of the king but not
under control of parliament. The declaration was adopted
by congress 19 October and was sent to the king. In the
following March the Stamp Act was repealed after one of
the hottest debates that ever took place in the house of
commons. The breach between the colonies and the mother
country was healed for the present. There was an outburst
of loyalty toward the king and nearly all the colonial as
semblies voted an address of thanks to him. At the same
time that the Stamp Act was repealed a Declaratory Act
was passed which stated the right of the king " by and
with the advice and consent " of parliament to make laws
binding the colonies " in all cases whatsoever." In their
joy at the repeal of the Stamp Act the Americans seem
to have paid little heed to this measure which was largely
responsible for their subsequent trouble.
34 This Congress. This is known as the Stamp Act
congress.
35 Trial by jury. In order to put a stop to smuggling,
admiralty courts created by parliament were to deal with
all cases of violation of tariff laws without a trial by jury.
The jurisdiction of these courts was gradually extended
to other cases, thus robbing the colonists of one of the
oldest rights of Englishmen.
35 Duties imposed. The Sugar Act was passed 5 April
1764. This imposed fresh and heavier taxes on sugar,
wines, coffee and all goods brought from France and the
East Indies.
415
NOTES ON THE TEXT
35 Restrictions ... on the trade. In March 1764 the
old Navigation Acts or tariff laws of the seventeenth cen
tury were amended and extended.
AUTHORITIES
The Rise of the Republic of the United States. Richard
Frothingham.
The American Revolution. W. E. H. Lecky.
The American Revolution. Vol. I. John Fiske.
A Short History of the English Colonies in America.
Henry Cabot Lodge.
History of New England. Vol. V. John Gorham Palfrey.
Declaration and Resolves of the First
Continental Congress 1774
[Text derived from Journals of the American Congress
from 1774 to 1778. Vol. I. Edition of 1823.]
After the passage of the Boston Port Bill several of the
Massachusetts towns sent a circular letter to the various
colonies asking their sympathy and support. Some con
certed action on the part of the colonies was seen to be
necessary and calls for a continental congress came from
New York and Virginia. Massachusetts was asked to ap
point the date and place for the meeting of such a congress
and her assembly on 17 June 1774 passed a resolve to send
five delegates to meet delegates from the other colonies at
Philadelphia on the first of the following September " to
deliberate upon wise and proper measures to be by them
recommended to all the colonies, for the recovery and estab
lishment of their just rights and liberties, civil and relig-
416
NOTES ON THE TEXT
ious, and the restoration of union and harmony between
Great Britain and the colonies."
The congress met 5 September and on 1 4 October after a
session of five weeks agreed upon a declaration of rights.
Four other papers were drawn up by this body — an address
to the people of Great Britain, a memorial to the inhabit
ants of British America, an address to the king, and a non
importation and non-exportation association.
Of these documents the Earl of Chatham said in the
house of lords, " When your lordships look at these papers
transmitted us from America, when you consider their
decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their
cause and wish to make it your own. For myself, I must
own that in all my reading — and I have read Thucydides,
and have studied and admired the master states of the world
— for solidity of reason, force of sagacity, and wisdom of
conclusion under a complication of difficult circumstances, no
body of men can stand in preference to the general con
gress at Philadelphia. The histories of Greece and Rome
can give us nothing equal to it, and all attempts to impose
servitude upon such a mighty race must be in vain. We
shall be forced ultimately to retract ; let us retract when we
can, not when we must."
37 The last war. The war between Great Britain and
France terminated by the treaty of Paris, 1763. At first
the congress intended to state the rights of the colonies
in general with all the violations of such rights but it was
decided to confine themselves " at present, to the consider
ation of such rights as have been infringed by acts of the
British Parliament since 1763."
37 Imposed rates and duties. Since the Declaration of
Rights of 1765 fresh taxes had been imposed. On 29 June
1767 a bill was passed laying duties on glass, lead, paper,
painters' colors and tea. By an act of 2 July 1767 the tax
417
NOTES ON THE TEXT
on tea was lowered so that it was cheaper for the colonists
to buy it from England than to smuggle it from Holland.
But the Americans stood out for the principle involved. A
tax was a tax, no matter how small. On the other hand,
though the revenue derived from the tea tax would be a mere
trifle, Great Britain refused to remove it. She too was
fighting for a principle. " To reduce the tea tax would
stamp us with timidity/' said the prime minister.
37 Board of commissioners. " An act to enable His
Majesty to put the customs, and other duties, in the British
dominions in America, and the execution of the laws relat
ing to trade there, under the management of commissioners
to be appointed for that purpose, and to be resident in the
said dominions " was passed 29 June 1767. Formerly many
of the commissioners lived in England and were under the
authority of the high treasurer or of commissioners of the
treasury. Now the resident commissioners were to have
the same " powers and authorities " as formerly had been
exercised by the commissioners of customs in England, " to
the better securing of said rates and duties by the more
speedy and effectual collection thereof."
37 Dependent on the crown. In 1772 an act was passed
providing for the payment of the salaries of the Massa
chusetts judges by the crown. The Massachusetts assem
bly threatened to impeach the judges if they accepted
salaries from the king. Since the judges were no longer
dependent on the colonies for their salaries their tyranny
was not likely to be checked for politic reasons as
heretofore.
37 Standing armies. After the close of the French and
Indian war Great Britain left a number of troops in Amer
ica and compelled the colonists to contribute to their sup
port.
37 Statute . . . Henry the Eighth, " This raking-up
418
NOTES ON THE TEXT
of an obsolete statute, enacted at one of the worst periods
of English history and before England had any colonies
at all was extremely injudicious/' says John Fiske.
37 An act to discontinue . . . Boston. This was the
Boston Port Act of 31 March 1774.
37 An act . . . for . . . Massachusetts-Bay. This
measure, known as the Regulating Act, was passed 20 May
1774. "The act to alter the charter of Massachusetts/'
says H. C. Lodge, " firmly united the American colonies
and divided the empire of England."
38 An act for . . . administration of justice. This
act provided that if any British officer or soldier in Massa
chusetts should be indicted for murder or other capital
offence he should be tried in England.
38 Government . . . of Quebec. This refers to the
Quebec Act of 1774. This measure " dealt with the recent
conquests of England, gave toleration to the Roman Cath
olics, erected an arbitrary government, and extended the
bounds of the new province to the Ohio, absorbing the terri
tory of the old colonies, and threatening the possessions of
Virginia and Pennsylvania," comments H. C. Lodge.
38 Assemblies . . . dissolved. The assembly of New
York was dissolved in 1767 because it refused to comply
with the Quartering Act. The Massachusetts assembly was
dissolved in 1768 and the Virginia house of burgesses in
1769. Other representative bodies were dissolved from
time to time.
40 Right peaceably to assemble. By the Regulation
Act the right of public meeting was practically denied.
Only election meetings could be called by the selectmen
without the consent of the governor in writing " express
ing the special business of the said meeting."
40 Council appointed . . . by the Crown. The same
act provided for the appointment of the council or upper
419
NOTES ON THE TEXT
chamber of Massachusetts by the crown as already was the
case in some of the other American colonies.
41 Judges' certificate. The Administration of Justice
Act provided that a British officer or soldier indicted for
a crime in Massachusetts might have the attendance at his
tria] of any witness he chose, the witness to receive his
expenses and a certificate from the governor that he had
" entered into a recognizance to give evidence."
42 Providing suitable quarters. This refers to the
Quartering Act of 2 June 1774. The Quartering Act of
April 1 765 obliged the colonists to provide the soldiers with
lodgings, fuel, bedding, drink, soap and candles.
42 Non-importation . . . association. This measure
was felt in England. The exports to the colonies in 1768
amounted to 2,378,000 1; in 1769 they fell to 1,634,000 1.
AUTHORITIES
American Archives. Fourth Series. Vol. I. Compiled by
Peter Force.
The Rise of the Republic of the United States. Richard
Frothingham.
The American Revolution. Vol. I. Sir George Otto
Trevelyan.
The American Revolution. W. E. H. Lecky.
The American Revolution. Vol. I. John Fiske.
A Brief History of the English Colonies in America.
Henry Cabot Lodge.
420
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of
Taking up Arms 1775
[Text derived from Journals of the American Congress
from 1774 to 1778. Vol. I. Edition of 1823.]
The second continental congress met at Philadelphia 10
May 1775. Since its last session war with England had
begun. The battles of Lexington and Concord had been
fought,, the provincial congress of Massachusetts had raised
an army and Boston was virtually in a state of siege. The
congress still declared itself for peace but it made prepara
tions for war. On 15 June it passed a resolution offered
by John Adams that the army at Boston be adopted and
George Washington be appointed commander. Orders were
issued for the enlistment and provisioning of troops and
the erection of forts. In order to defray expenses notes to
the value of $3,000,000 were to be issued in the name of the
United Colonies. A committee was appointed 23 June to
draw up " a declaration setting forth the causes and ne
cessity of taking up arms." The committee reported 27 June
and on 6 July congress voted the adoption of the declara
tion. A second petition to the king was adopted 8 July.
44 The minister . . . publicly declared. This minister
was William Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham. He and
the Duke of Newcastle shared the duties of prime minister,
Newcastle being the nominal and Pitt the real head of the
government.
44 Change in his counsels. Pitt resigned in October
1761, leaving the Duke of Newcastle at the head of affairs.
He was succeeded in May 1762 by Lord Bute.
45 The late king. George III came to the throne in
1760. George II, his predecessor, had been but a nominal
421
NOTES ON THE TEXT
king; Sir Robert Walpole, the prime minister, had been
the real head of affairs. When a plan for taxing the col
onies was suggested to him he replied, " What! I have half
Old England set against me already, and do you think I
will have all New England likewise? "
46 Break off . . . intercourse. This reference is to
the non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation
association of 1774.
47 Commercial intercourse . . . sustenance. "An act
to restrain the trade and commerce of the provinces of Mas
sachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, and colonies of Con
necticut and Rhode Island, and Providence Plantation, in
North America, to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British
islands in the West Indies; and to prohibit such provinces
and colonies from carrying on any fishery on the banks of
Newfoundland, or other places therein mentioned, under
certain conditions and limitations " was passed 30 March
1775.
47 Peers and commoners. Lord Chatham, the Duke of
Richmond, Edmund Burke, Colonel Barre and many other
notable members of both houses protested against the course
of the ministry.
50 We mean not to dissolve that union. With the ex
ception of Samuel Adams few if any of the statesmen had
any idea of separation from the mother country. Franklin
told Lord Chatham that he had never heard from any Amer
ican " drunk or sober, the least expression of a wish for a
separation or a hint that such a thing would be advanta
geous to America." And John Adams said in March 1775
that it was slander against Massachusetts to say that " any
part hankered after independence."
422
NOTES ON THE TEXT
AUTHORITIES
American Archives. Fourth Series. Vol. II. Compiled
by Peter Force.
The American Revolution. W. E. H. Lecky.
Life of Washington. Vol. I. Washington Irving.
The American Revolution. Vol. I. John Fiske.
The Rise of the Republic of the United States. Richard
Frothingham.
The Declaration of Independence 1776
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States, edition of 1878.]
The second continental congress convened for its third
annual session in May 1776. One of its first steps was to
urge the several colonies to provide themselves governments
which should supersede the make-shift committees and con
gresses which had managed their affairs since they had
ceased to be governed by the British. The resolution which
conveyed the advice amounted to a declaration of inde
pendence for it stated that " the exercise of every kind of
•authority under the crown ought to be totally suppressed."
North Carolina was the first colony to make a move in the
right direction; she framed for herself a government and
empowered her delegates to congress to join any measure
which seemed essential to the public good. Georgia gave
her representatives similar instructions. Virginia went still
farther and authorized her delegates to congress " to pro
pose to that respectable body to declare the United Colonies
free and independent States." Other colonies promised to
uphold congress should it see fit to make such a declaration.
On 7 June Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed and
423
NOTES ON THE TEXT
John Adams of Massachusetts seconded the following reso
lutions :
" That these United Colonies are, and of a right ought to
be, free and independent States; that they are absolved
from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all polit
ical connection between them and the State of Great Bri
tain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.
" That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual
measures for forming foreign alliances.
" That a plan of confederation be prepared and trans
mitted to the several colonies, for their consideration and
approbation."
So important was the measure that it was agreed to post
pone the debate till 1 July. In the mean time Thomas
Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert Liv
ingstone were to draw up a declaration of independence.
A second committee was appointed to frame a confederation
to be submitted to the colonies and a third to consider the
question of treaties with foreign powers.
When on 1 July congress took up Lee's motion nine col
onies voted for it. On the following day three more fell in
line. On 4 July the delegates of the 12 colonies unani
mously adopted the declaration of independence presented
by the committee, the work being almost entirely Jeffer
son's. New York adopted it 9 July. The thing was done
and the joy and relief of the people were shown in bonfires,
torch-light processions, firing of guns and ringing of bells.
The people seemed " to recognize this resolution," said
Samuel Adams, " as though it were a decree promulgated
from heaven."
A newspaper of this time thus describes the reception
of the news in New York: " This afternoon the Declaration
of Independence was read at the head of each brigade of
the Continental Army posted at New York. It was received
424
NOTES ON THE TEXT
everywhere with loud huzzas and the utmost demonstrations
of joy and tonight the equestrian statue of George III
which Tory pride and folly raised in the year 1770, has,
by the Sons of Freedom, been laid prostrate in the dirt —
the just reward of the ungrateful tyranny! The lead
wherewith the monument was made is to be run into bullets."
53 Laws . . . wholesome and necessary. Frequently
laws made by the colonial assemblies, dealing with commer
cial necessities, were denied the assent of the crown.
53 Laws of immediate . . . importance. The assembly
of Massachusetts was prorogued from time to time and
important bills " utterly neglected."
53 Places unusual. After the Boston tea-party the Bos
ton Port Bill was passed. Ships were prohibited from en
tering or leaving Boston till the tea was paid for and Mar-
blehead instead of Boston was made a port of entry. The
seat of government was removed to Salem but the public
records were kept in Boston under military guard so that
the colonists could not use them. The South Carolina as
sembly was convened at Beaufort instead of the capital.
53 Prevent the population. A proclamation was issued
by the king in 1763 excluding settlers from the western
territory just acquired from France by the treaty of 1763.
It was the policy of England to keep settlers out of the
" back country," reserving it for a hunting-ground for the
Indians through whom she carried on a large trade in furs.
54 Swarms of Officers. Collectors of duties and
officers of the admiralty courts. The colonists paid their
salaries. Many of them were men of whom England was
glad to be rid.
54 Military . . . superior to the Civil Power. In 1774
General Gage was appointed governor of Massachusetts.
In New York too the military was made superior to the
civil power.
425
NOTES ON THE TEXT
54 Jurisdiction foreign to our constitution. This refers
to the appointment of the council of Massachusetts by the
crown in 1774. This and most of the other grievances
enumerated here are also stated in the previous declara
tions.
55 Abdicated Government. In 1775 the king in a mes
sage to parliament declared the colonists to be in a state
of rebellion. This and the fact that he had made war on
them probably seemed to the colonists an abdication of
government.
55 Foreign mercenaries. King George hired 20,000 in
fantry from the small German states. The Hessians, as
all these hired soldiers were called, were especially hateful
to the colonists.
55 Constrained our fellow Citizens. England kept up
this practice of impressing American seamen till the close
of the war of 1812.
56 These United Colonies. On 9 September 1776 con
gress resolved " That in all continental commissions, and
other instruments where, heretofore, the words United
Colonies have been used, the style be altered, for the future,
to the United States."
AUTHORITIES
The American Revolution. Vol. I. John Fiske.
The Story of the Revolution. Vol. II. Henry Cabot
Lodge.
The Rise of the Republic of the United States. Richard
Frothingham.
The Constitutional and Political History of the United
States. Vol. I. Dr. H. von Hoist.
The French War and the Revolution. W. M. Sloane.
Thomas Jefferson. John T. Morse, Jr.
American Archives. Fifth Series. Vol. I. Complied by
Peter Force. 426
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Articles of Confederation 1777
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States, edition of 1878.]
Before the adoption of the Declaration of Independence
congress appointed a committee " to prepare and digest the
form of confederation to be entered into between these col
onies." The committee presented 12 July 1776 a draft of
a constitution said to have been written by John Dickinson
of Delaware but many changes were made and it was not
till 15 November 1777 that the final draft was adopted by
congress. Before the close of 1778 all of the states except
Delaware and Maryland had adopted the articles. Delaware
ratified them in the following year but Maryland held back,
though by so doing she kept the country without a govern
ment. Some of the large states, especially Virginia, claimed
large portions of what was known as the Northwest terri
tory and that fact in the opinion of Maryland would give
them too large a preponderance in the proposed confeder
ation. At length, 1 March 1781, on the assurance that these
claims would be transferred to the proposed central govern
ment as soon as possible, Maryland fell into line and on the
next day congress met for the first time under a written
constitution.
The instrument had many weaknesses. The rights and
powers of the 13 states were clearly defined but the central
government had little power. " The congress was but a
board of advice, and its advice could be ignored with im
punity." Fortunately the states had been so slow in ratify
ing the articles that they were to be in force only eight
years. They were superseded in 1789 by the Constitution.
62 Letters of marque and reprisal. "A license or extraor-
427
NOTES ON THE TEXT
dinary commission granted by the supreme power of one
state to its subjects, to make reprisals at sea 011 the sub
jects of another, under pretense of indemnification for
injuries received."
63 Taxes . . . shall be laid. Congress had no power
to levy taxes; it could only make requisitions on the states
and depend upon their contributions. It took fifteen months
of struggle with the states to collect one-fifth of the taxes
assessed in 1783. Nor did conditions improve as time went
on. Madison wrote in 1787: " No money is paid into the
treasury . . . not a single state complies with the requisi
tions — some pass them over in silence, some absolutely re
ject them. It is quite impossible that a government so weak
ened can much longer hold together."
64 Disputes . . . concerning boundary. Disputes on
this point were likely to occur. The English sovereigns in
granting charters had been very vague in regard to the
limits of territory. Consequently the claims of some of
the states overlapped.
65 Coin struck by . . . authority. " Until 1785
no national coinage was established and none was issued till
1793/' says John Fiske. " English, French, Spanish and
German coins, of various and uncertain value passed from
hand to hand. . . . During the period of the Confederation
the chaotic state of the currency was a serious obstacle to
trade."
The decimal system of currency is the work of Gouver-
neur Morris, aided by Jefferson.
66 To borrow money. Congress found that foreign
powers were not anxious to loan money on such credit.
Franklin, writing from Paris, put the matter in a nutshell:
" When the States have not faith in a Congress of their
own choosing to trust it with money for the payment of their
common debt, how can they expect Congress should meet
428
NOTES ON THE TEXT
with credit when it wants to borrow money for their use
from strangers ? "
67 Raise the men . . . and equip them. Congress had
power to maintain an army for national defence but it could
not force the states to feed and pay the soldiers. There
was great dissatisfaction in the army. Many deserted be
cause they were not paid and at times there was danger of
actual mutiny. Had not patriotic citizens contributed their
private fortunes to the cause congress could not have kept
the army together.
67 Unless nine States assent. " The necessity of a vote
of nine States for the passage of any important measure
made the absence of a State's delegation quite as effective
as a negative vote/' says Alexander Johnston. " In order
to save the expense of a delegation,, the States began to
neglect the election of them, unless they had some object
to gain by their attendance. It was necessary for Congress
to make repeated and urgent appeals in order to obtain a
quorum for the ratification of the treaty of peace with Great
Britain."
68 Canada . . . shall be admitted. There was a theory
held by the statesmen of the day that Canada wished to be
annexed to the United States.
AUTHORITIES
History of the Formation of the Constitution of the
United States of America. Vol. I. George Bancroft.
The Making of the Nation. Francis A. Walker.
The Constitutional and Political History of the United
States. Vol. I. Dr. H. von Hoist.
The United States, its History and Constitution. Alex
ander Johnston.
429
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Treaty with France 1778
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
Toward the close of the year 1775 the continental con
gress appointed a committee of secret correspondence with
instructions to correspond with friends of the colonies in
foreign countries. France was found to be friendly and
a commissioner was sent in March 1776 to ascertain whether
she would enter into an alliance with the colonies in case
they should declare their independence. After the Decla
ration of Independence congress sent Benjamin Franklin to
France to negotiate for a treaty of alliance. He reached
Paris in December 1776 and was well received. Just then
came the news of American defeats on the Hudson, and
France drew back though she secretly furnished ships and
funds. For months nothing was done about the alliance,
but the surrender of Burgoyne changed the face of Ameri
can affairs and 20 December 1777 Franklin was informed
that France would acknowledge the independence of the
colonies and give her support. On 6 February 1778 two
treaties were concluded, one of alliance and one of amity
and commerce. On 10 April France sent a minister to the
United States thus making the alliance complete. These
were the first treaties made by the United States.
AUTHORITIES
Franklin in France. Edward E. Hale and Edward E.
Hale, Jr.
Benjamin Franklin. John T. Morse, Jr.
The American Revolution. W. E. H. Lecky.
The Story of the Revolution. Vol. I. Henry Cabot Lodge.
430
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Treaty with Great Britain 1783
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
Lord Cornwallis surrendered 19 October 1781 and 5
March 1782 parliament passed an act enabling the king to
make peace until July 1783. Congress put the negotiations
for peace into the hands of Benjamin Franklin, John
Adams and John Jay, and Henry Laurens was sent as an
" adjoint." In accordance with the treaty of 1778 the
American commissioners were instructed to act on the ad
vice of France. Congress was influenced both by gratitude
for the aid given by France and by motives of policy. But
the commissioners, when they reached Paris, understood
foreign affairs better than congress did and they saw that
France was playing a double game. To " confide " in
France meant to confide in Spain, and the Spanish interests
in the Mississippi river and those of the United States con
flicted. So the commissioners used their own judgment
instead of that of Vergennes, the French minister. After
they had cut loose from France the negotiations with Great
Britain went on fairly well. The American conditions
of peace were full and complete independence, the with
drawal of all British troops, the freedom of fishing off the
banks of Newfoundland, and the establishment of the Mis
sissippi river as the western boundary, the northern boun
dary to be the same as before the Quebec act of 1774. The
negotiations went on from 15 April to 30 November 1782
when a provisional treaty was signed. A cessation of hos
tilities was declared 20 January 1783. The definitive
treaty, in practically the same terms as the provisional one,
was signed 3 September 1783.
78 Free . . . independent States. The commissioners
431
NOTES ON THE TEXT
from the United States refused to treat with Great Britain
" under the description of colonies." Before entering into
negotiations they demanded to be considered as representa
tives of an independent people.
80 Article III. Adams was better posted on the fishery
claims than the other commissioners and he made a stand
for the American rights. The restoration of the New Eng
land boundary is also largely due to Adams.
81 Article V. The Articles of Confederation did not
give congress power to force the states to make restitution
of property to British subjects and Franklin plainly told
the British commissioner so.
83 Without . . . carrying away any negroes. This
clause, which was the work of Laurens, caused a great deal
of trouble. The British troops did carry away about 3,000
negroes and because compensation was not made some of
the states refused to pay British debts. The British retali
ated by refusing to vacate the western military posts.
83 Article Fill. It was Jay who insisted upon this
article. He had just come from Spain and he knew that
through France she was working against the demand of
the Americans for the Mississippi.
AUTHORITIES
The Life and Works of John Adams. Vol. III. Edited by
Charles Francis Adams.
The Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin. Vol. VIII.
Compiled and edited by John Bigelow.
Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay. Vols.
I. and II.
John Jay. George Pellew.
The Critical Period of American History. John Fiske.
The Story of the Revolution. Vol. II. Henry Cabot
Lodge.
432
NOTES ON THE TEXT
The Northwest Territorial Government 1787
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States, edition of 1878.]
By the treaty of 1783 Great Britain relinquished her
claim to the great territory east of the Mississippi. Por
tions of this country were claimed by Massachusetts,, New
York and other states by virtue of their charters which
granted them land from sea to sea. Some of these claims
overlapped and were the cause of much discussion. The
difficulties were finally settled by a cession of most of the
state claims to congress as a national domain known as the
Northwest territory. In 1784< Thomas Jefferson submitted
a plan for a temporary government which after a few
changes was accepted by congress.
In 1786 there was formed in Boston an association called
the Ohio company whose obj ect was the settlement of a por
tion of the Northwest territory by old soldiers. The com
pany offered to purchase from congress a large tract of land
provided that congress would guarantee that the settlers
should be " under the immediate government of Congress
in such mode and for such time as Congress shall judge
proper." Congress needed funds and it wished to aid its
old soldiers, so measures were at once taken to provide a
suitable government for the territory. The result was the
act known as the Ordinance of 1787 which was passed 13
July. A few days after the Ohio company purchased
5,000,000 acres of land in the new territory.
The ordinance was of great importance because it pre
pared the way for national sovereignty. Under the Articles
of Confederation congress had no right to pass the act. It
was never ratified by the states yet even the states the most
433
NOTES ON THE TEXT
j ealous for state rights did not protest. When the adoption
of the Constitution was hanging in the balance this inde
pendent action of congress in an emergency was used as an
argument to prove the necessity of framing a government
with clearly defined powers. The ordinance was re-enacted
by the constitutional congress 7 August 1789-
85 In equal parts. This provision was intended to pre
vent the entailing of estates and a consequent landed aris
tocracy.
88 Legislative council. The appointment by congress
of the members of the upper house met with much opposi
tion and congress found it expedient to change the law.
90 Habeas corpus. "A writ having for its object to
bring a party before a court or judge; especially one to
inquire into the cause of a person's imprisonment or deten
tion by another, with a view to protect the right to personal
liberty."
92 Five states. Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin,
Michigan and a part of Minnesota were formed from this
territory. The Ordinance of 1784 provided for the erec
tion of ten states.
93 Such state shall be admitted. So fast did the tide
of emigration set westward that Ohio was admitted to the
Union only 16 years after the passage of this ordinance.
94 Slavery nor . . . servitude. The Ordinance of 1784
as presented to congress by Jefferson provided for the pro
hibition of negro slavery within the limits of the national
territory after the year 1800. Only seven states voted for
the measure and a two-thirds vote was necessary. Jeffer
son's plan, however, " covered the whole western territory,
ceded or to be ceded, south as well as north of the Ohio."
As the Ordinance of 1787 was " for the government only
of the territory northwest of the Ohio, its prohibition of
slavery was territorially only about half as large as Jeffer-
434
NOTES ON THE TEXT
son's ; and this may help to explain the different fates of the
two."
AUTHORITIES
The Old Northwest. Burke A. Hinsdale.
The Critical Period of American History. John Fiske.
The Westward Movement. Justin Winsor.
The Winning of the West. Vol. III. Theodore Roosevelt.
The Public Domain. T. Donaldson.
The Constitution of the United States 1787
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States, edition of 1878.]
The Articles of Confederation had scarcely been rati
fied before statesmen realized their weakness and began to
discuss a new plan of government. Washington summed
up the matter when he said,, " We either are a united people
or we are not. If the former, let us in all matters of gen
eral concern act as a nation which has a national authority
to support ; if we are not, let us no longer act a farce by pre
tending to it."
In January 1786 through the influence of James Madi
son Virginia issued an invitation to all the states to send
delegates to a conference to be held at Annapolis in Sep
tember 1786 to discuss a plan for the control of commerce
by the general government. Only Virginia, Delaware, New
Jersey and New York were represented and their delegates
could do no more than issue a call for a fuller conference
to be held at Philadelphia in the following May, " to take
into consideration the situation of the United States, and to
devise such further provision as shall appear to them nec-
435
NOTES ON THE TEXT
essary to render the constitution of the federal government
adequate to the exigencies of the Union." The delegates,,
numbering 55, met 25 May 1787. Washington was chair
man and Edward Randolph of Virginia presented a plan
of government which had been drawn up by Madison. The
discussion went on behind bolted doors till the middle of
September. It was a hotly contested battle; the old ques
tion of state or national sovereignty had to be met and
states with radically different interests had to be brought
into union. The end was effected only after much com
promise and concession and the result was not a revision
of the articles but an entirely new constitution.
It was necessary that nine states out of the thirteen should
ratify the Constitution,, and congress referred the matter to
the several states 28 September 1787. The states ratified
in the following order: Delaware 7 December,, Pennsylvania
12 December,, New Jersey 18 December 1787; Georgia 2
January, Connecticut 9 January, Massachusetts 6 Febru
ary, Maryland 28 April, South Carolina 23 May, New
Hampshire 21 June, Virginia 25 June, New York 26 July
1788; North Carolina 21 November 1789; Rhode Island 29
May 1790. The seat of government had been changed from
Philadelphia to New York and on 30 April 1789 the new
government was set up at Federal hall.
The first ten amendments to the constitution were pro
posed by the first congress to the legislatures of the several
states 25 September 1789. They went into effect 3 No
vember 1791. The eleventh amendment was proposed by
the third congress 5 September 1794 and went into effect
8 January 1798. The eighth congress on 12 December
1803 proposed the twelfth amendment in lieu of the origi
nal third paragraph of the first section of the second article.
This amendment went into effect 25 September 1804. The
thirteenth was proposed by the thirty-eighth congress 1
436
NOTES ON THE TEXT
February 1865 and went into effect 18 December 1865.
The thirty-ninth congress on 16 June 1866 proposed the
fourteenth amendment which went into effect 28 July 1868.
The fifteenth amendment was proposed 27 February 1869
by the fortieth congress and went into effect 30 March
1870.
95 Senate and House of Representatives. The method
of representing the states caused great discussion in the
constitutional convention. It seemed fitting to many that
the members of the lower house which was to correspond to
the British house of commons should be elected by the peo
ple. "It is essential to the democratic rights of the com
munity that the first branch be elected by the people,"
argued Hamilton, and Madison and others brought forth
convincing arguments for a popular election. Several plans
were proposed for choosing the members of the senate.
The Virginia plan, which had a strong following, would
have based the members of both houses upon the popula
tion of the states. The smaller states insisted upon an
equal vote in at least one branch of congress. Feeling ran
so high that there was danger that the convention would
come to nothing. At last by considerable compromise it
was arranged that representation in the lower house should
be based upon population and that each state without regard
to size should have two senators.
95 Representatives . . . shall be apportioned, etc. This
basis of representation was changed by the fourteenth
amendmment.
95 Those bound to service. The manner of counting
slaves caused a lengthy debate. At last it was decided to
count every five slaves as three persons. " The Articles of
Confederation," says Bancroft, " took no notice of slavery
except by withholding the privileges of intercitizenship
from the slave. The enumeration of slaves was in the dis-
437
NOTES ON THE TEXT
tribution of political power a matter of indifference as long
as congress voted by states. ... In framing a constitu
tion in which representation in one branch of the legislature
was made to depend on population,, it became the political
interest of the states in which the slaves abounded to have
them included in the enumeration of the population equally
with the free negroes and whites."
95 The actual enumeration. The first census was taken
in 1790 and gave to congress 105 representatives.
96 One for every thirty thousand. At first it was pro
posed that each 40,000 inhabitants should entitle a state to
send a representative to congress but on that basis the house
was likely to be too small and at Washington's suggestion
the number was changed to 30,000. The basis of represen
tation has been changed from time to time as the population
of the states increased.
101 The Migration . . . of such persons, etc. This
was a compromise effected after a hot discussion. Some of
the congress were for an immediate prohibition of the slave-
trade, but South Carolina, Georgia and probably North
Carolina and Virginia would have refused to accept the
Constitution, and consequently there would have been from
the beginning a federation of slave-holding states. The
Articles of Confederation had no power to interfere with
the slave-trade.
101 Bill of Attainder. "An act of Parliament pro
nouncing sentence of death against an accused person, espe
cially against political offenders of high degree, which
enactment is followed by forfeiture of estate and corrup
tion of blood as in attainder under judicial sentence."
101 Ex post facto Law. Any law which makes an inno
cent act, done before its passage, criminal; or aggravates
the crime, making it legally greater than when committed;
or changes the punishment, inflicting a greater one or one
438
NOTES ON THE TEXT
different in kind than the law affixed to the crime when it
was committed.
102 No capitation . . . shall be laid, etc. " This was
intended to prevent congress from enforcing a general
emancipation by the special taxation of slaves/' comments
Bancroft.
102 Vessels u . . pay Duties. Some of the states,
notably New York, had collected for themselves at their
own ports duties on foreign goods and had taxed articles
brought in from other states.
103 No State shall . . . enter into any Compact. " The
country had been filled with schemes for a division of the
13 states into two or more separate groups."
103 The executive Power, etc. There was much dis
cussion concerning the chief executive — whether the power
should be vested in one or in several persons, whether he or
they should be re-eligible to office, whether the election
should be by congress or by electors chosen by the state
legislatures. The matter was not decided till near the close
of the convention.
103 The electors shall meet, etc. This method of elect
ing the president and the vice president was abrogated by
the twelfth amendment. But even the amendment failed
to specify by whom the votes should be counted and this
omission resulted in the Tilden-Hayes contest of 1877. A
bill to regulate the electoral count was passed by congress
3 February 1887. This provides for the states' certifica
tion of their votes. The certificate presented by a state
cannot be rejected unless both houses vote against it.
104 Removal of the President from office. An act of
congress passed in 1886 provides for the succession in case
of the death or disability of both president and vice presi
dent. The office falls to the members of the cabinet in the
order of the creation of their departments.
439
NOTES ON THE TEXT
106 He shall . . . recommend . . . such measures.
Washington and Adams read their messages to congress
and congress replied with an address, but beginning with
Jefferson's first term the presidents have since sent to con
gress messages which require no answer.
106 The judicial Power of the United States, etc.
" The Constitution's leading difference from the Confeder
ation is that it gives the national government power over
individuals. The Federal courts are the principal agent in
securing this essential power; without them, the Constitu
tion might easily have been as dismal a failure as the Con
federation," says Johnston.
108 No person held to Service, etc. The fugitive slave
law of 1850 was based upon this clause. It was abrogated
by the thirteenth amendment.
109 Shall propose amendments. Several of the states
voted for the adoption of the Constitution on the virtual
condition that amendments should be made as soon as prac
ticable. Nearly 1 700 amendments have been proposed since
the adoption of the Constitution.
AUTHORITIES
The Federalist.
The Critical Period of American History. John Fiske.
History of the Formation of the Constitution of the
United States of America. George Bancroft.
The Making of the Nation. Francis A. Walker.
The United States, its History and Constitution. Alexan
der Johnston.
James Madison. Sidney Howard Gay.
History of the Life and Times of James Madison. Vol. I.
William C. Rives.
440
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Washington's First Inaugural Address 1789
[Text derived from " The Writings of George Washing
ton," Vol. XII, edited by Jared Sparks.]
One of the provisions of the Constitution was for the elec
tion of a chief executive officer to be called the president.
The question of the adoption of the Constitution had been the
cause of the first political agitation in the country. Those
who favored its adoption were called Federalists, those who
opposed it Anti-Federalists. There was however no divi
sion of opinion as to the man to be nominated for president.
Washington loomed up the largest figure in the country, not
only on account of his military service but for his work as
a statesman as well. His cool judgment, his firmness and
his foresight had stood his country in good stead in more
than one emergency. He had urged the Declaration of
Independence, had been chairman of the constitutional con
vention and now all eyes were turned toward him as the
fitting chief executive. He was unanimously elected and
John Adams was chosen vice president. On 30 April 1789
Washington was inaugurated at Federal hall at Wall and
Nassau streets, New York. His private secretary thus de
scribed the scene:
" The oath was administered in public by Chancellor Liv
ingston and at the moment the chancellor proclaimed him
president of the United States the air was rent by repeated
shouts and huzzas — ' God bless our Washington. Long live
Washington.' We then returned to the hall, where, being
seated as before, the president arose and addressed the two
branches of Congress in a speech which was heard with
eager and marked attention."
441
NOTES ON THE TEXT
AUTHORITIES
George Washington. Vol. II. Henry Cabot Lodge.
The Life of George Washington. Vol. IV. Washington
Irving.
George Washington. Woodrow Wilson.
Life and Times of George Washington. Vol. II. J. F.
Schroeder.
Washington's Second Inaugural Address 1793
[Text derived from " A Compilation of the Messages
and Papers of the Presidents." By James D. Richardson.
Vol. I.]
At the second election for president Washington was again
unanimously chosen by the electors. That the strength of
the Federalists was waning was shown in the congressional
elections but to both parties Washington still seemed the
safest guide and leader. His own party naturally wished
to see his policy continued and the leaders of the Anti-
Federalists felt that his re-election stood for the general
welfare of the country. So far as their own party was con
cerned it was still in an unformed condition and they pre
ferred to continue under Washington's administration to
risking that of a more avowed Federalist. It was with much
hesitation that Washington accepted the office. He had
served his country for many years and he longed for the
retirement of Mount Vernon. But he felt that he was still
needed at the head of national affairs and he set aside his
own inclinations.
The second inauguration took place in the senate cham
ber. " On either side of the broad aisle that was left
vacant in the center, were assembled the two houses of con-
442
NOTES ON THE TEXT
gress. As the president entered, all arose, and remained
standing till he had ascended the steps at the upper end
of the chamber, and taken his seat in the speaker's chair.
. . . Having retained his seat for a few moments, while
the members resumed their seats, the president arose, and
taking from his breast a roll of manuscript, proceeded to
read his address. His voice was full and sonorous, deep
and rich in its tones, free from that trumpet call which
it could assume amid the tumult of battle . . . but suffi
ciently loud and clear to fill the chamber."
The oath of office was administered by Judge Gushing.
AUTHORITIES
The Life and Times of George Washington. Vol. II. J.
F. Schroeder.
Washington after the Revolution. Vol. II. William
Spohn Baker.
Proclamation of Neutrality 1793
[Text derived from American State Papers, Foreign
Relations, I.]
In 1793, the year when Washington was a second time
made president, France reached the height of her revolu
tion and in addition to her civil troubles found that she had
almost the whole of Europe to fight. American sympa
thizers who did not foresee the consequences of such an
alliance were anxious to join France and thus repay her
services during the American Revolution. By the treaty
of alliance made in 1778 the United States had promised
to aid France against her enemies. Hamilton and others
insisted that the change of government in France from
kingdom to republic abrogated the treaty. Washington
443
NOTES ON THE TEXT
and his cabinet saw that aid to France would mean war with
Great Britain and Spain, for both countries had a foot
hold in the United States. Great Britain still held the
military posts on the northern frontier and Spain controlled
the lower Mississippi. Washington decided and his cabinet
agreed with him that the United States must take no sides
in European wars and on 22 April he issued a definitive
proclamation of neutrality.
AUTHORITIES
History of the People of the United States. Vol. II. John
Bach McMaster.
George Washington. Vol. II. Henry Cabot Lodge.
The Life of George Washington. Vol. V. Washington
Irving.
Treaty with the Six Nations 1794
[Text derived from Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties,
Vol. II, 1903.]
The Six Nations or Iroquois was a confederation of In
dians who lived in central New York and controlled the
surrounding tribes. The federation comprised the Mo
hawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the
Senecas and the Tuscaroras. During the American Revo
lution the Iroquois fought with the British under Brant and
committed the massacres of Wyoming and Cherry Valley.
When the war closed the Indians were at the mercy of the
Americans and most of them except the Oneidas and the
Tuscaroras migrated to Canada. By the treaty of Fort
Stanwix concluded 22 October 1784 the United States con
firmed the Oneidas and the Tuscaroras in the possession of
their lands and guaranteed to the remnants of the other
444
NOTES ON THE TEXT
tribes the territory then in actual possession. In return the
Indians ceded to the United States all the land west " of
a line beginning on Lake Ontario at the mouth of Oyon-
wayea creek, running south to the mouth of Buffalo creek,
and thence to the north line of Pennsylvania, which it
followed west and south to the Ohio." The Indians were
to be secure in the possession of all the territory east and
north of this boundary, excepting a reservation six miles
square around Oswego. This transfer of territory was
confirmed by the treaties of 1789, 1790 and 1794. The
date of the treaty of 1794 is 11 November. The treaty is
typical of many made between the United States and the
Indian tribes.
126 Treaties . . . with . . . New York. The state
of New York in 1785 and 1788 purchased the lands of the
Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Onondagas, and Cayugas, except a
reservation for each.
127 Sir William Johnson. He was a famous agent
among the Indians. The treaty referred to was made at
Fort Stanwix in 1768.
AUTHORITIES
New American Encyclopedia. Vol. IX.
Treaty with Great Britain 1794
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
Although the Proclamation of Neutrality was not issued
to favor England it did favor her; but she responded by
many offensive acts, as if trying to force the United States
to declare war against her. She still held the military posts
on the western frontier because the debts due to British
subjects were not paid as agreed in the treaty of 1783,
445
NOTES ON THE TEXT
American seamen were impressed, American ships carrying
corn to France were seized as " contraband of war " and
duties were raised on goods imported from America. She
refused to maintain a minister in the United States and the
American minister to England, John Adams, was treated
with scant courtesy. An embargo proclaimed against Brit
ish ships helped to bring matters to a crisis and war seemed
inevitable. At this juncture Washington despatched Chief
Justice John Jay to London as envoy extraordinary to
arrange for a settlement of the difficulties. He returned 28
May 1795 with a treaty which has since been called by his
name. It was confirmed by the senate in special session
after the clause referring to the trade with the West Indies
was stricken out. When the treaty became public it met a
storm of indignation, not only from the people but from
the house of representatives as well who claimed the right
to be consulted. This was the first treaty made under the
Constitution and at this time it was decided that power to
make treaties lies with the president and the senate. Despite
its shortcomings the Jay treaty has since been considered
a wise measure. It held back the war with England for 18
years till the United States could gather strength and
resources.
132 All posts and places. These were Oswego, Niagara,
Detroit, Mackinaw, etc. The British refused to compen
sate the United States for the detention of these posts on
the ground that the United States had permitted the states
to prevent the recovery of British debts.
136 What river . . . the St. Croix. This was decided
to be the Schoodic river.
137 Article FI. By a convention concluded at London
8 January 1802 Great Britain made a concession in regard
to this claim and it was settled by the payment of $2,-
664,000 by the United States.
446
NOTES ON THE TEXT
140 Article VII. The commissioners appointed to set
tle the question of illegal captures or condemnations
decided in favor of the United States and her merchants
received an award of $10,345,000.
141 Letter from Mr. Jefferson. This letter promised
restitution of or compensation for vessels captured between
5 June and 7 August 1793. After August 7 restitution
would be made if possible.
143 Article X. The provision in this article is called
by Pellew in his " John Jay " " a novelty in international
diplomacy, and a distinct advance in civilization. ... In
the War of 1812 the United States happened for the
moment to be the creditor nation, and the millions which
this provision saved to her citizens it would be difficult to
estimate."
143 Article XII. This article, rejected by the senate,
dealt with the trade between the United States and the West
Indies.
AUTHORITIES
History of the People of the United States. Vol.11. John
Bach McMaster.
John Jay. George Pellew.
Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay. Vol. IV.
The Westward Movement. Justin Winsor.
Washington's Farewell Address 1796
[Text derived from " The Writings of George Washing
ton," Vol. XIII. Edited by W. C. Ford. Mr. Ford's text
follows exactly the original manuscript.]
Although the Anti-Federalists had steadily been gaining
strength during Washington's second administration he
would again have been the choice of the people had he al-
447
NOTES ON THE TEXT
lowed himself to be a candidate for a third term. Toward
the close of his first term he wished to retire from office
and return to Mount Vernon and at that time he decided to
issue a farewell address which should embody his views on
governmental affairs and at the same time warn the country
of dangers which he foresaw. During his second adminis
tration his mind often dwelt on the projected farewell and
in May 1796 he sent to Hamilton a rough draft of an
address with the request that he make any revision which
seemed necessary or rewrite it entirely if he thought advis
able. There were several revisions before the document
met the views of both Washington and Hamilton and it
was not till 19 September 1796 that the address was given
out for publication. The style may be Hamilton's but the
ideas are Washington's and together they drew up what
Henry Cabot Lodge has called " the most famous and most
influential piece of advice in the history of our country."
The address was read in the chamber of the house of repre
sentatives. Adams reported that there was hardly a dry
eye but Washington's.
157 Sacrifice of inclination. On 16 April 1789 Wash
ington wrote in his diary: " About ten o'clock, I bade adieu
to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity;
and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful
sensations than I have words to express, set out for New
York . . . with the best disposition to render service to
my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of
answering its expectations." And Jefferson reported that
soon after his second inauguration Washington said that
he would rather be in his grave than in his present
situation.
158 Perplexed . . . affairs with foreign Nations. At
that time our relations with both France and England were
very much strained.
448
NOTES ON THE TEXT
161 Interior communications. As early as 1770 Wash
ington had agitated the question of an easy means of com
munication between the Atlantic states and the western
territory. In 1785 he accepted the presidency of a com
pany whose object was the extension of the navigation of
the James and Potomac rivers.
163 Two Treaties. These were the treaty with Spain
of 1795 and the Jay treaty with Great Britain. The Span
ish treaty secured to the United States the free navigation
of the Mississippi. The Jay treaty was especially gratify
ing to the West because by it the western posts which had
been held by the British in violation of the treaty of 1783
were at last opened. So long as these posts were in the
hands of the British the West was deprived of a lucrative
trade in furs. Then too the Indians were incited to keep up
a warfare on the settlers along the frontier.
164 Sever them from their Brethren. There had been
threats by some of the people of the western territory of
separation from the Union in case a treaty was not made
with Spain for the opening of the Mississippi.
164 Improved upon your first essay. Washington had
been one of the first to see the weakness of the Articles of
Confederation and one of the strongest advocates of a con
stitution which should bind the several states together.
Throughout this address he holds up the practical advan
tages to be gained from the continuance of the Union.
165 Combinations and association. Political clubs in
imitation of certain French organizations were the fashion
at that time. Washington in his message to congress in
1794 had referred to these associations which he thought
indicated dangerous French influence.
167 Foreign influence. There was much sympathy for
France in the United States and on the other hand Great
Britain had many partisans.
449
NOTES ON THE TEXT
168 Constitutional spheres. Much was said in the early
days of the Constitution about the necessity of preserving
a balance between the administrative, executive and judicial
departments.
169 Discharge the debts. The national debt was paid
in 1835.
170 Taxes . . . unpleasant. Probably this remark was
occasioned by the Whiskey Insurrection in Pennsylvania.
An excise law passed in 1791 was especially disliked in
four of the western counties of Pennsylvania, where whis
key was used as currency. Attempts to enforce the law in
July 1794 led to an insurrection of such proportions that
Washington ordered out 15,000 militia. When congress
assembled Washington addressed to them a message dealing
with the insurrection.
170 Passionate attachments. This is another allusion to
the sentimental sympathy with France. Washington had
been much censured for his neutrality during the troubles
between France and Great Britain.
173 Our detached situation . . . shall counsel. This
paragraph contains the germ and gist of our foreign policy
which has long been known as the Monroe Doctrine.
175 Proclamation of the 22nd of April, 1798. His
proclamation of neutrality.
AUTHORITIES
The Life of George Washington. Vol. V. Washington
Irving.
George Washington. Vol. II. Henry Cabot Lodge.
Life and Times of George Washington. Vol. II. J. F.
Schroeder.
An Enquiry into the Formation of Washington's Farewell
Address. Horace Binney.
450
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Treaty with France 1803
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United States
Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
In 1802 Spain closed the Mississippi to the United States
and forbade the use of New Orleans as a deposit for mer
chandise. This was in violation of the treaty of 1795 by
which Spain promised to continue the use of New Orleans
or to assign to the United States " on another part of the
banks of the Mississippi an equivalent establishment." But
this was not all; it transpired that Spain had by a secret
treaty ceded the territory of Louisiana to France. Spain
was a worn-out power and therefore a fairly safe neighbor,
but to have the territory of Louisiana in the hands of France
and Napoleon was quite another matter. President Jeffer
son wrote to Livingston, the American minister at Paris,
" The cession of Louisiana and the Floridas by Spain to
France completely reverses all the political relations of the
United States and will form a new epoch in our political
career. There is on the globe one single spot the possessor
of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is New Or
leans, through which the produce of three-eighths of our
territory must go to market; and from its fertility it will
yield more than half of our whole produce and contain more
than half of our inhabitants. France placing herself at
that door assumes to us the attitude of defiance . . . the
day that France takes possession of New Orleans . . .
seals the union of two nations, who in conjunction, can main
tain exclusive possession of the ocean. From that moment
we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation."
It was clearly necessary that the United States should pur
chase New Orleans and congress appropriated $2,000,000
for that purpose. James Monroe was sent to Paris to treat,
451
NOTES ON THE TEXT
together with Livingston, for the purchase. The commis
sioners dealt directly with Napoleon instead of his prime
minister. Napoleon saw that he could not long hold the
Louisiana territory against Great Britain and rather than
have it fall into her hands he would sell it to the United
States. Accordingly he offered the Americans the whole
vast territory for $1 5,000,000. They exceeded their instruc
tions and concluded the bargain. The treaty of cession and
two conventions were concluded 30 April 1803. "I have
just given England a maritime rival that will humble her
pride," said Napoleon as the French minister signed his
name. The senate ratified the treaty and 10 November an
act was passed to provide for raising funds for the pur
chase. The Louisiana territory passed into the possession
of the United States 20 December 1 805.
AUTHORITIES
History of the Louisiana Purchase. James K. Hosmer.
A History of the People of the United States. Vol. III.
John Bach McMaster.
History of the United States of America. Vol. II. Henry
Adams.
The Winning of the West. IV. Theodore Roosevelt.
Treaty with Great Britain 1814
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
On 18 June 1812 the United States again declared war
against Great Britain. This struggle, sometimes called the
second war for independence, continued till 8 January 1815
when General Packenham surrendered to General Jackson
at New Orleans. In the autumn of 1812 the czar of Russia
452
NOTES ON THE TEXT
offered to mediate between Great Britain and the United
States. The United States would have accepted his offices
but Great Britain refused them,, though she declared her
readiness to treat with the United States directly. After
many delays the commissioners met at Ghent in August
1814. Great Britain took a high hand and made demands,
many of which had no relation to the causes of the war.
The Americans refused to consider them and negotiations
were broken off. Then came a series of defeats to the army
of Great Britain and her commissioners were instructed to
ask the Americans for the heads of a treaty. A dispute
between the American commissioners caused more delay but
a compromise was finally effected and the treaty was con
cluded 24 December 1814.
AUTHORITIES
A History of the People of the United States. Vol. IV.
John Bach McMaster.
History of the United States of America. Vol. IX. Henry
Adams.
John Quincy Adams. John T. Morse, Jr.
Treaty with Spain 1819
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
Florida which was the property of Spain was the source
of considerable trouble to the southern states. It was an
asylum for fugitive slaves, and a rendezvous for pirates
and other desperadoes who gradually gained control of a
large part of the territory. The Seminole Indians fre
quently combined with these desperate characters in attacks
upon the Georgia plantations. Several attempts were made
453
NOTES ON THE TEXT
to subdue the Indians and at last General Jackson who
invaded Florida in 1818 conquered them, though the terri
tory remained in the hands of the Spanish. President
Madison had in 1810 taken possession of West Florida, as
the strip of coast on the Gulf was called, and at the same
time congress had authorized him to take " temporary pos
session " of East Florida. Although this was not done
Spain saw that she could not long hold East Florida and she
decided to sell it to the United States. A treaty for the
cession of the territory was made 22 February 1819 but it
was not ratified by Spain till 24 October 1820. By an act
of congress of 3 March 1821 President Madison was author
ized to take possession of the territory.
AUTHORITIES
A History of the People of the United States. Vol. IV.
John Bach McMaster.
John Quincy Adams. John T. Morse, Jr.
Missouri Compromise 1820-1821
[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large,
in.]
In March 1818 Missouri, which was a part of the Louisi
ana territory, made application for admission to the Union
with her rights as a slave-holding state secured to her in
her constitution. This demand set the north and the south
at issue and a debate began which lasted nearly two years.
The question was not only one of admitting Missouri as a
slave-holding state; a larger one was involved — what divi
sion of the Louisiana territory was to be made as between
free and slave states? After much delay a compromise
was proposed: Missouri might be admitted as a slave-hold
ing state upon the condition that all the states afterward
454
NOTES ON THE TEXT
formed from the portion of the Louisiana territory lying
north of latitude 36° SO' should be free and that slavery
should forever be excluded from that part of the territory.
The conditions were accepted and Missouri was authorized
to organize a state government with slavery in its constitu
tion. The members of the Missouri convention who framed
the constitution inserted a paragraph making it the duty of
the state legislature to prevent mulattoes and free negroes
from settling in the state. The constitution was presented
to congress for approval and the battle was fought over
again. Another compromise was proposed by Henry Clay
offering Missouri admission provided the objectionable
clause relating to free negroes should " never be construed
to authorize the passage of any law." The compromise
was accepted and on 2 March 1821 the bill passed both
houses. President Monroe announced the admission of
Missouri 10 August 1821.
AUTHORITIES
The Middle Period. John W. Burgess.
A History of the American People. Vol. IV. John Bach
McMaster.
Life of Henry Clay. Carl Schurz.
The American Conflict. Vol. I. Horace Greeley.
History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America.
Vol. I. Henry Wilson.
The Monroe Doctrine 1823
[Text derived from President Monroe's seventh annual
message to congress, dated 2 December 1823. The message
is found in House and Senate Journals, 1st session of 18th
congress.]
After the fall of Napoleon the sovereigns of Europe
455
NOTES ON THE TEXT
formed themselves into an alliance for restoring monarchies
and at the same time for crushing the idea of constitutional
liberty which had begun in France and had spread over
Europe. In 1823 the alliance aided Spain to put down a
revolution and restore Ferdinand VII to his throne and was
about to consider Spain's request for assistance in winning
back her South American colonies which had revolted and
declared their independence. In the mean time Russia
which owned Alaska asserted her claim to all of the Pacific
coast north of the fifty-first parallel and forbade seamen
of any other nation to sail within a hundred miles of the
coast. Fur traders from Alaska were gradually creeping
down to Oregon which at that time was held in common by
the United States and Great Britain. The probable policy
of the alliance and the encroachments of Russia led Presi
dent Monroe in his message of 1823 to state his policy to
ward foreign powers who might attempt " to extend their
system to this portion of the hemisphere." The protest
was effective; Spain took no more steps toward regaining
her American colonies and Russia soon made a treaty which
opened the Pacific to the United States.
This foreign policy has since been known as the Monroe
Doctrine,, though its principles are those of Washington
and his immediate successors. It has seemed to the presi
dents following Monroe as a safe and necessary policy.
There is still some discussion as to what the doctrine really
is. It has been stated in various ways and has sometimes
been understood in a broader sense than intended by Pres
ident Monroe. The doctrine has never been ratified by
congress and foreign powers are not bound by international
law to observe it. It is efficacious because the United States
has power to enforce it.
212 Rights . . . menaced. Aside from the invasions
of Russia there was fear that if the alliance helped Spain
456
NOTES ON THE TEXT
to regain her American colonies Russia might demand Cali
fornia as her share of payment from Spain and thus com
mand the Pacific.
212 Whose independence we have . . . acknowledged.
The United States in May 1822 recognized the inde
pendence of the Spanish-American states.
213 Government de facto. By a de facto government
is meant the one in power though it may not be the rightful
one.
AUTHORITIES
The Middle Period. John W. Burgess.
A History of the People of the United States. Vol. V.
John Bach McMaster.
James Monroe. Daniel Coit Oilman.
Treaty with Great Britain 1842
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
Several questions between the United States and Great
Britain called for settlement during the administration of
President Tyler. Only part of the boundary-line between
the United States and Canada had been denned by the Jay
treaty. The boundary from the River St. Croix to the
St. Lawrence and from Lake Huron to the Rocky mountains
was still in dispute. Then too there were difficulties con
nected with the acts of American sympathizers during the
Canadian rebellion of 1837 and with the suppression of the
slave-trade. Great Britain sent Lord Ashburton to Wash
ington with full power to settle the disputes and Daniel
Webster represented the United States. On 9 August the
457
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Webster-Ashburton treaty was concluded which settled
most of the disputed points except the Oregon boundary.
AUTHORITIES
History of the United States. Vol. IV. J. Schouler.
Life of Daniel Webster. Vol. II. George Ticknor Curtis.
Daniel Webster. John Bach McMaster.
Thomas Hart Benton. Theodore Roosevelt.
Treaty with Great Britain 1846
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
The Ashburton treaty concluded in 1842 between Great
Britain and the United States defined part of the disputed
boundary between the two countries, but the dividing line
west of the Rocky mountains was left undetermined. The
territory known as the Oregon country, between 40° and
54° 40', was claimed by the United States both by virtue
of the discovery of the Columbia river and by purchase
from France in 1803, France having included it in the
Louisiana territory. Great Britain claimed the country as
far south as the Columbia river. It had seemed impossible
to effect a compromise and since 1818 the two countries had
agreed upon a joint occupation of the territory with an
understanding that either party could terminate the arrange
ment on twelve months' notice. During the presidential
campaign of 1844 the Democratic party stood for the re-
occupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas and
their slogan was " Fifty-four Forty or Fight." President
Polk in 1846 notified Great Britain that the United States
was about to withdraw from the agreement for joint occu
pancy. In this crisis Great Britain made terms with the
458
NOTES ON THE TEXT
United States and a treaty was concluded. The United
States accepted the forty-ninth degree of north latitude as
her northern boundary and relinquished Vancouver's island
to Great Britain.
AUTHORITIES
Thomas Hart Benton. Theodore Roosevelt.
Thirty Years' View. Vol. II. Thomas Hart Benton.
Treaty with Mexico 1848
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
In 1821 Mexico revolted from Spain and established her
independence, including Texas in her territory. Texas had
been a part of the Louisiana purchase but in order to secure
the Floridas the United States had in 1819 relinquished
Texas to Spain. Two offers of the United States for the
purchase of Texas were refused by Mexico. Meanwhile
Texas was rapidly being settled by immigrants from the
states, most of them from the south. Mexico had a few
years after her declaration of independence abolished
slavery, nevertheless the slave-holding immigrants took
their slaves with them and when they had become sufficiently
strong they framed a constitution for Texas. In 1836
Texas seceded from Mexico with a view to annexation by
the United States. There was much controversy on the
subject in congress, for the admission of Texas meant the
extension of slavery. At last by a joint resolution of both
houses Texas was annexed 3 March 1845 and in December
of that year received her statehood. The question of the
boundaries of Texas was certain to result in trouble with
Mexico and war was declared 13 May 1846. The struggle
459
NOTES ON THE TEXT
ended with the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
by which the United States gained more than it had set out
to fight for — the territory known as New Mexico and Upper
California, in addition to Texas, a region comprising 851,-
590 square miles.
AUTHORITIES
History of the War with Mexico. Horatio O. Ladd.
Thirty Years' View. Vol. II. Thomas Hart Benton.
The Constitutional and Political History of the United
States. Vol. III. Dr. H. von Hoist.
Treaty with Great Britain 1850
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
By the treaty of 1848 with Mexico the United States
acquired California and simultaneously gold was discovered
in that territory. The rush of immigration caused the
government to consider the question of an easy route to Cali
fornia and in 184-9 a treaty was made with Nicaragua by
which the United States gained the right to construct a
ship-canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The eastern
coast of Nicaragua was occupied by the Mosquito Indians
over whom Great Britain claimed a protectorate. The Unit
ed States maintained that "the Mosquito Indians had no
such settled territorial site; that if they had Great Britain
had no such protectorate or sovereignty over them as to
authorize her to exercise dominion over their soil, even if
they had any." But fearing that the prosecution of the
canal might bring on a war with Great Britain the United
States authorized the Secretary of State to negotiate with
the British minister at Washington for the settlement of
460
NOTES ON THE TEXT
the difficulty. The result was the Clayton-Bulwer treaty
by which Great Britain and the United States agreed to
a joint protectorate over the proposed canal. The signing
of the treaty was followed by much discussion about its
provisions and before work on the canal was begun the
Civil war occupied the attention of the United States. Since
then the United States claimed that the treaty was void
or voidable for these reasons : " first,, that the consideration
of the treaty having failed, its object never having been
accomplished,, the United States did not receive that for
which they covenanted; and second, that Great Britain has
repeatedly violated her agreement not to colonize the Cen
tral American coast."
AUTHORITIES
History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850.
Vol. I. J. F. Rhodes.
Digest of the International Law of the United States. F.
Wharton.
Compromise of 1850
[The text of Clay's Resolutions is derived from Senate
Journal, 31st Congress, 1st Session; The Report of the
Committee of Thirteen from Senate Report 123, 31st Con
gress, 1st Session; The Texas and New Mexico Act, the
California Act, the Utah Act, the Fugitive Slave Act and
the Act to Suppress the Slave Trade in the District of
Columbia are from United States Statutes at Large, IX.]
By the treaty of 1848 with Mexico the United States ac
quired Texas, New Mexico and California. As early as
1846 at the first prospect of the acquisition the question
whether or not slavery should be tolerated in the new terri-
461
NOTES ON THE TEXT
tory began to be debated. While the bill to provide for the
purchase was before the house David Wilmot of Pennsyl
vania proposed an amendment, since known as the Wilmot
proviso, excluding slavery from any territory to be acquired
from Mexico. This proviso expressed the opinion of the
anti-slavery party which insisted that in territory strictly
under the jurisdiction of congress slavery should be pro
hibited. The slave-holding men on the other hand main
tained that in order to keep the balance between the two
sections any new territory must be equally divided between
the slave-holding and the free states.
The struggle went on for three years ; bills for organizing
the territory according to the Wilmot proviso passed the
house but were rejected by the senate. California framed
an anti-slavery constitution and 3 June 1819 asked for
admission. New Mexico, part of which was claimed by
Texas, also formed a state constitution. The slavery party
demanded the rejection of California and an amendment to
the United States Constitution which would guarantee no
further proscription of slavery. On 29 January 1850
Henry Clay proposed a series of resolutions intended to
settle the vexed questions and restore harmony between the
North and the South. On 19 April the resolutions were
referred to a compromise committee of 13 and 8 May they
reported a new series of seven resolutions which composed
the real Compromise of 1850. These measures were
grouped in one bill called the Omnibus bill. It was debated
and amended till nothing was left of it but the act to estab
lish a territorial government for Utah,, which was passed.
By this time however some compromise was seen to be
necessary, for Texas with the promise of aid from some of
the other southern states was ready to enforce her claim
to New Mexico. The bills which had failed when grouped
as the Omnibus bill were all passed separately. The anti-
462
NOTES ON THE TEXT
slavery side gained by this compromise the admission of
California as a free state and the prohibition of the slave-
trade, though not of slavery, in the District of Columbia.
The slavery party gained extensive concessions to Texas
and a more stringent fugitive slave law. New Mexico and
Utah were organized under territorial governments, the
question of slavery within their limits being left for the
present to the inhabitants.
264 Persons . . . appointed commissioners. Accord
ing to decisions of the supreme court the state officials could
not be compelled to enforce the fugitive slave law, so com
missioners were appointed for the purpose.
266 Posse comitatus. The law-abiding citizens of a
community called upon to assist a legal officer in enforcing
a law.
AUTHORITIES
Life of Henry Clay. Carl Schurz.
History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850.
Vol. I. J. F. Rhodes.
Daniel Webster. Henry Cabot Lodge.
Life of Daniel Webster. Vol. II. George Ticknor Curtis.
History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America.
Vol. II. Henry Wilson.
Treaty with Mexico 1853
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo did not clearly define
the boundaries between the United States and Mexico. The
difference was adjusted by a treaty which ceded to the
United States the Masilla valley, or that part of Arizona
south of the Gila river, a region containing 45,435 square
463
NOTES ON THE TEXT
miles. The negotiations were conducted by James Gadsden,
the American minister to Mexico, and the treaty is called
by his name.
AUTHORITIES
History of the Pacific States. Vol. V. Hubert Howe Ban
croft.
The Constitutional and Political History of the United
States. Vol. V. Dr. H. von Hoist.
Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large, X.]
For a brief time the compromise of 1850 was regarded by
both the slavery and the anti-slavery party as a " finality."
The slavery issue was opened again early in 1854 by a
bill introduced in the senate by Stephen A. Douglas, Chair
man of the senate committee on territories, providing for the
organization of the Nebraska territory with the question
of slavery to be left for its inhabitants to settle at the time
of the adoption of their state constitution. Bills for the
organization of the territory had previously been presented
but no reference had been made to slavery. This demand
was in accordance with the doctrine of Popular Sovereignty
(called Squatter Sovereignty by its opponents) which
claimed the " right of the people of an organized Territory
under the Constitution and laws of the United States to
govern themselves in respect to their own internal polity
and domestic affairs." The slavery provision in the Doug
las bill was virtually a repeal of the Missouri compromise,
for Nebraska was a part of the territory from which slavery
was forever to be prohibited. Douglas and his party
claimed that the Compromise of 1850 had repealed that of
464
NOTES ON THE TEXT
1820 and cited the cases of the territories of Utah and New
Mexico in which the question of slavery had been left to
the option of the inhabitants. An amendment to the
Nebraska bill was moved, repealing that part of the Mis
souri compromise which related to the territory in question.
This was accepted by Douglas and he presented a new bill
which provided for the organization of the Kansas and
Nebraska territories within the disputed region instead of
Nebraska alone. After a few other amendments the bill
passed the senate 4 March 1854. It was discussed in the
house till 22 May when it was passed. Because of more
amendments it was again sent to the senate and passed 26
May 1854.
AUTHORITIES
History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850.
Vol. I. James Ford Rhodes.
Constitutional and Political History of the United States.
Vol. III. Dr. H. von Hoist.
History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America.
Vol. II. Henry Wilson.
Lincoln s First Inaugural Address 1861
[Text derived from Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol.
8. By John G. Nicolay and John Hay.]
Lincoln was nominated at Chicago 18 May I860 by the
National Republican Convention " on the policy of restrict
ing slavery so as to let it die a natural death within a
narrowly confined area." He was elected by a majority of
57 votes in the electoral college. Between his election and
his inauguration seven southern states had seceded, formed
a confederation and were living under a provisional consti-
465
NOTES ON THE TEXT
tution. Most of the forts, dock-yards and arsenals belong
ing to the United States within these seven states had been
seized by the Confederate government. Thus Lincoln met
a problem which might have appalled even his stout heart.
All the country was looking to see what the new president
would do and his inaugural address was awaited with
anxiety.
The inauguration ceremonies were held 4 March 1861
on the east portico of the capitol in the presence of the
largest gathering that had ever witnessed the inauguration
of a president. Lincoln was introduced by Senator Baker
of Oregon,, then he delivered his inaugural. The address
which outlined the policy of the new president was wise,
farseeing, yet dispassionate. While it yielded no principle
to which he was bound to adhere it was not radical nor
calculated to antagonize those who were wavering between
loyalty to country and state.
283 One of those speeches. This speech was Lincoln's
reply to Douglas in the first joint debate given at Ottawa,
Illinois 21 August 1858.
AUTHORITIES
The Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln. Henry
J. Raymond.
The Life of Abraham Lincoln. Vol. II. Ida M. Tarbell.
Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol. 3. John G. Nicolay
and John Hay.
The Civil War and the Constitution. Vol. I. John W.
Burgess.
History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850.
Vol. III. J. F. Rhodes.
466
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Constitution of the Confederate States of
America 1861
[Text derived from Confederate Statutes at Large, edi
tion of 1864.]
The legislature of South Carolina,, convened for the pur
pose of appointing presidential electors, was still in ses
sion when the election of Lincoln was announced. A con
vention was appointed to meet at Columbia to take steps for
the preservation of the commonwealth. The convention
met 17 December I860, and 20 December unanimously
voted that the ordinance adopted 23 May 1788 ratifying
the Constitution of the United States and all subsequent
ratifications of amendments were to be considered null and
void and that " the union subsisting between South Caro
lina and the other states under the name of the United
States of America is hereby dissolved." By 1 February
1861 Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and
Texas had seceded. Deputies from the seven states met in
convention at Montgomery, Alabama and drew up a consti
tution for a provisional government which was adopted 9
February. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was chosen pres
ident and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia vice president.
On the day of the election of the president a committee
was appointed to frame a constitution for a permanent
government. This constitution was adopted 11 March and
at once ratified by all the seceding states. The constitution
was based upon the United States Constitution, with only
such changes as from the point of view of the seceding
states were demanded by the exigencies of the situation.
295 Each State acting. This wording was adopted " in
order that the role of the States in the free partnership
might not again be questioned."
467
NOTES ON THE TEXT
301 Expenses of . . . the Post Office Department, etc.
The makers of the constitution thought that the franking
privilege had been abused and for that reason the post office
department was to pay all expenses out of its own revenue
after the given date.
306 The President . . . shall be elected. In this con
vention as in that of 1787 the method of electing the pres
ident caused much discussion. The old method was reluc
tantly adopted till a better one could be devised. In making
the president ineligible for a second term the makers of
this constitution thought they were making a vast improve
ment upon the United States Constitution. They elected
the president for six years in order to have the advantage
of his " experience, ability and services " but they would
not renominate him lest he should be tempted to use his
power and influence to secure re-election.
AUTHORITIES
Civil History of the Government of the Confederate States.
J. L. M. Curry.
Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. Vol. I.
Jefferson Davis.
The American Conflict. Vol. I. Horace Greeley.
The Civil War and the Constitution. Vol. I. John W.
Burgess.
Division and Reunion. Woodrow Wilson.
Emancipation Proclamation 1863
[Text derived from Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol.
6. By John G. Nicolay and John Hay.]
Lincoln was censured by many of his party because he
did not at once take measures to emancipate the slaves.
But he knew that the time was not ripe for such a step;
468
NOTES ON THE TEXT
he must wait for public sentiment to change. " He declared
openly," says Carl Schurz, " that he had a right to summon
the people to fight for the Union, but not to summon them
to fight for the abolition of slavery as a primary object;
and this declaration gave him numberless soldiers for the
Union who at that period would have hesitated to do battle
against the institution of slavery." The war had been in
progress for a year and a half when on 22 September
1862 Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation that on
the first day of January in the following year all slaves in
the seceded states should be freed unless in the mean time
such states should have come back into the Union. Accord
ingly 1 January 1863 the definitive emancipation proclama
tion was issued.
" It was necessary to put the South at a moral disadvan
tage by transforming the contest from a war waged against
States fighting for the maintenance and extension of slavery
by making some open move for emancipation as the real
motive of the struggle," says Woodrow Wilson. " Once
make the war a struggle against slavery, and the world,
it might be hoped, would see it a moral war, not a political,
and the sympathy of nations would begin to run for the
North, not for the South."
AUTHORITIES
Abraham Lincoln. Vol. II. John T. Morse, Jr.
The Life of Abraham Lincoln. Vol. II. Ida M. Tarbell.
A History of the American People. Vol. IV. Woodrow
Wilson.
History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850.
Vol. IV. J. F. Rhodes.
The Civil War and the Constitution. Vol. II. John W.
Burgess.
The American Conflict. Vol. II. Horace Greeley.
469
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Lincoln s Gettysburg Address 1863
[Text derived from Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol.
8. By John G. Nicolay and John Hay.]
After the battle of Gettysburg the burial of the dead and
the care of the wounded left on the battle-field fell to the
authorities of the state of Pennsylvania. At that time it
was proposed to set aside a portion of the battle-field as
a cemetery where the remains of the fallen soldiers might
be brought together and marked with fitting monuments.
The governors of the 17 Union states whose soldiers had
fallen in that great struggle gave their co-operation and the
plan was carried through. It was desired to dedicate the
cemetery by an impressive ceremony and Mr. David Wills,
acting for the governors of the several states, wrote to Pres
ident Lincoln asking that he as chief executive of the nation
would " formally set aside these grounds to their sacred
use by a few appropriate remarks." The ceremonies took
place 19 November 1863. Edward Everett was the orator
of the day and Lincoln followed his brilliant oration with
" an address of dedication so pertinent, so brief yet so
comprehensive, so terse yet so eloquent, linking the deeds
of the present to the thoughts of the future, with simple
words, in such living, original, yet exquisitely molded,
maxim-like phrases that the best critics have awarded it
an unquestioned rank as one of the world's masterpieces
of rhetorical art." (Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln.}
AUTHORITIES
The Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln. Henry
J. Raymond.
The Life of Abraham Lincoln. Isaac N. Arnold.
Abraham Lincoln. Noah Brooks.
470
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Proclamation of Amnesty 1863
[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large,
XIII.]
This proclamation of amnesty was Lincoln's first step
toward the solution of the problem of reconstruction which
confronted president and congress. " Lincoln seems to
have held from the beginning that while,, as commander-
in-chief he was bound to carry the war into the heart of
the seceding states, he was also bound, as civil executive,
to endeavor to restore civil relations with the states them
selves." In his annual message of the same date he de
fended the theories set forth in the proclamation. This
proclamation indicates what his policy would have been had
he lived to carry it out — to create by pardon a loyal party
in the seceded states and as soon as possible put the loyal
class in control of the state government. On 26 March
1864 Lincoln issued a supplementary proclamation to ex
plain that he did not intend to include prisoners of war in
the first proclamation.
321 Laws . . . declaring . . . confiscation, etc. "An
Act to confiscate Property used for Insurrectionary Pur
poses " was passed 6 August 1861 and " An Act to suppress
Insurrection, to punish Treason and Rebellion, to seize
and confiscate the Property of Rebels, and for other Pur
poses " was passed 17 July 1862. The latter authorized
the president to extend pardon and amnesty to persons who
had taken part in the rebellion.
322 Such person shall take . . . an oath. In his mes
sage of the same date as the proclamation President Lincoln
said, " There must be a test by which to separate the oppos
ing elements, so as to build only from the sound, and that
test is a sufficiently liberal one which accepts as sound who
ever will make a sworn recantation of his unsoundness."
471
NOTES ON THE TEXT
323 States of Arkansas . . . North Carolina. Virginia
is not included because her government had already been
recognized.
AUTHORITIES
A History of the American People. Vol. V. Woodrow
Wilson.
Reconstruction and the Constitution. John W. Burgess.
Lincoln s Second Inaugural Address 1865
[Text derived from Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol.
10. John G. Nicolay and John Hay.]
Lincoln was renominated 8 June 1864* despite the oppo
sition of the radical wing of his own party who criticised
his caution and thought that the war should have been
pushed to a finish. Before the election, however, the for
tune of war turned and the North gained some important
victories. Confidence in the president's policy was restored
and he received 212 electoral votes.
As before, the inauguration took place on the east portico
of the capitol but this time the spectators saw what was
never seen before at such a ceremony — negro citizens
marching in the procession and forming a part of the mili
tary escort. The president's inaugural, in beauty and sub
limity, rivaled the address given on the battle-field of
Gettysburg. Lincoln himself said of it, " I expect it to
wear as well as, perhaps better, than anything I have pro
duced."
At the conclusion of the address the oath was adminis
tered by Chief Justice Chase.
472
NOTES ON THE TEXT
AUTHORITIES
The Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln. Henry
J. Raymond.
Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol. 10. John G. Nicolay
and John Hay.
Proclamation Declaring the Insurrection at an
End 1866
[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large,
XIV.]
On 10 May 1865 President Johnson issued a proclama
tion which substantially declared that actual hostilities had
ceased and that armed resistance to the United States was
virtually at an end in the seceding states. A proclamation
of 2 April 1866 declared the insurrection at an end in all
the states except Texas. Texas soon after adopted the
revised constitution and the president's proclamation of 20
August 1866 was an official notice that the insurrection was
at an end throughout the country and that the government
in the lately seceded states could be carried on by civil
instead of military authority.
AUTHORITIES
Reconstruction and the Constitution. John W. Burgess.
Treaty with Russia 1867
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
The possession of Alaska gave Russia a foothold upon
American soil and that fact at one time caused the United
473
NOTES ON THE TEXT
States no little anxiety. However, the statement of his
policy toward foreign powers made by President Monroe
in 1823 put a stop to the encroachment of Russia on the
Pacific coast. Russia did not value Alaska highly and knew
that in case of war she would have difficulty in defending
it. As early as 1859 she intimated her willingness to sell
it to the United States. Throughout the Civil war Russia
had been most friendly toward the United States and the
desire to continue the cordial relations and at the same time
decrease the foreign power in the United States led our
government to accept the offer. The purchase was con
cluded 30 March 1867, the formal transfer of the territory
was made at Sitka 18 October 1867, thus adding 531,409
square miles to the possessions of the United States.
AUTHORITIES
History of the Pacific States. Vol. XXVIII. Hubert
Howe Bancroft.
Twenty Years of Congress. Vol. II. James G. Elaine.
The Life of William H. Seward. Vol. II. Frederic Ban
croft.
Treaty with Great Britain 1871
[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.]
At the close of the Civil war several important questions
were pending between the United States and Great Britain.
First in importance was the claim for injuries done during
the war by the Alabama, the Florida and other Confeder
ate cruisers which were fitted out in English ports and par
tially manned by English seamen. Besides there were dif
ferences in regard to the northwest boundaries which
474
NOTES ON THE TEXT
former treaties had not satisfactorily settled, the respective
rights of American and Canadian fishermen and the trade
between the United States and Canada. The correspond
ence in regard to the Alabama claims was begun as early as
1862. A treaty known as the Johnson-Clarendon convention
was signed at London 14 January 1869 but was rejected by
the senate " because although it made provision for the part
of the Alabama claims . . . for individual losses, the pro
vision for the more extensive national losses was not satis
factory to the Senate." On 26 January 1871 Great Britain
proposed the appointment of a joint high commission which
should meet at Washington to treat regarding the differences
between the two governments concerning the British pos
sessions in North America. To this the United States agreed
provided Great Britain would at the same time take up the
Alabama claims. Accordingly five commissioners from each
country met at Washington and concluded a treaty which
provided for the settlement by arbitration of most of the
difficulties.
342 Article I— IX. The Geneva tribunal met in Decem
ber 1871 and gave a verdict in favor of the United States,
awarding a gross sum of $15,500,000 to be distributed by
the government. Charles Francis Adams represented the
United States.
350 Article XII-XVIL The three commissioners met
at Washington in September 1871 and decided in favor of
Great Britain, giving her a net award of about $2,000,000.
James Frazer represented the United States.
354 Article XVIII— XXV. The three commissioners ap
pointed to decide whether " the privileges accorded to the
citizens of the United States under Article XVIII of this
treaty are of greater value than those accorded by Articles
XIX and XXI of this treaty to the subjects of her Bri
tannic Majesty" met at Halifax in 1877 and decided that
475
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Great Britain gave more than she received and awarded her
$5,500,000.
364 Article XXXIV-XLII. The emperor of Germany
decided the boundary question in favor of the United
States. " The award leaves us for the first time in the
history of the United States as a nation, without a question
of disputed boundary between our territory and the posses
sions of Great Britain/' said President Grant.
AUTHORITIES
The History of the Last Quarter-Century in the United
States. Vol. I. E. Benjamin Andrews.
History of the United States. Vol. II. E. Benjamin
Andrews.
Mr. Fish and the Alabama Claims. J. C. Bancroft Davis.
Charles Francis Adams. Charles Francis Adams.
Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands 1898
[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large,
XXX.]
In 1893 a revolution took place in the Hawaiian islands.
The queen, Liliuokalani, was only a nominal sovereign, the
power being vested in the legislature. The queen attempted
to force upon the people a new constitution which should
bring the legislature under her control but the attempt
failed. The foreigners living in the capital, most of them
Americans, took matters into their own hands. The queen
was forced to abdicate and a provisional government was
set up which promised that negotiations for annexation to
the United States should be made. The United States
minister in the mean time took it upon himself to proclaim
476
NOTES ON THE TEXT
a protectorate over the islands. The outgoing president,
Mr. Harrison, sent an annexation treaty to the senate but
it was withdrawn by President Cleveland who disclaimed
all that the United States minister had done. On 16 June
1897 a second treaty was sent to congress by President
McKinley which had that day been signed by representatives
of both governments. The question of annexation was dis
cussed till March 1898 when a joint resolution was intro
duced into congress. This was finally passed by the house
15 June and by the senate 6 July. The islands were for
mally transferred to the United States 12 August 1898
and in April 1900 an act was passed providing for a terri
torial form of government.
AUTHORITIES
America in Hawaii. Edmund Janes Carpenter.
A History of the American People. Vol. V. Woodrow
Wilson.
Recognition of the Independence of Cuba 1898
[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large,
XXX.]
On 11 April 1898 President McKinley sent a special
message to congress asking for power and authority " to
take measures to secure a full and final termination of
hostilities between the Government of Spain and the people
of Cuba, and to secure in the island the establishment of
a stable government,, capable of maintaining order and ob
serving its international obligations, insuring peace and
tranquility and the security of its citizens as well as our
477
NOTES ON THE TEXT
own, and to use the military and naval forces of the United
States as may be necessary for these purposes." In accord
ance with this message a joint resolution for the recog
nition of the independence of Cuba was adopted by congress
20 April 1898.
AUTHORITIES
The War With Spain. Henry Cabot Lodge.
A History of the American People. Vol. V. Woodrow
Wilson.
Treaty with Spain 1898
[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large,
XXX.]
On 17 July 1898 the town of Santiago and all the eastern
ports of Cuba were surrendered to the United States forces.
On 26 July the Spanish government through M. Cambon,
the French ambassador at Washington, began overtures for
peace and on 30 July definite terms were proposed. Hos
tilities were suspended 12 August and a peace protocol
"was signed at Washington. The United States sent five
commissioners to Paris to treat for peace. They met the
Spanish commissioners 1 October and 10 December the
treaty was concluded. The appropriation called for by
article III was made 2 March 1899-
AUTHORITIES
The War with Spain. Henry Cabot Lodge.
Senate Document No. 148 (Papers Relating to the Treaty
with Spain) 56th Congress 2nd Session.
478
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Reciprocal Commercial Convention Between the
United States and Cuba 1902
[Text derived from message of the President of the United
States.]
After the adoption of the Cuban Constitution President
McKinley promised the Cubans that he would use his influ
ence to get some reciprocity measures passed which should
lighten the burden of the tariff. President Roosevelt felt
pledged to carry out Mr. McKinley's promise and in his
message of December 1901 he strongly urged the passage
of reciprocity measures. This was most necessary for the
Cuban sugar industry was greatly depressed. There was
much opposition to the proposition, chiefly from the manu
facturers of beet sugar and from parties interested in cane
sugar in the southern states and Hawaii,, and it was impossi
ble to get a reciprocity bill through congress before its
adjournment in June 1902. Then the administration tried
another plan. It sent a representative to Cuba to negotiate
a reciprocity treaty. Such a treaty was drawn up and rati
fied by Cuba. A supplementary convention, extending
the time within which the ratifications of the commercial
treaty might be exchanged, was signed by the representa
tives of both countries 26 January 1903. After consider
able discussion the commercial treaty was ratified by the
United States senate, 19 March 1903. A change of tariff
rates was involved and since the Constitution gives the
house a voice in all matters dealing with revenue, it was
necessary to pass a bill before the treaty could go into
effect. A joint resolution was considered in the special
session of congress which began in November 1903, and was
passed 16 December. The president signed the treaty the
following day and issued a proclamation announcing that
it would go into effect 27 December 1903.
479
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Panama Ship-Canal Treaty 1904
[Text derived from message of the President of the United
States.]
The work of building the Panama canal was begun by a
French company organized about the year 1879- The stock
was taken in small sums by thousands of French people and
concessions were obtained from the republic of Colombia
for land and other rights necessary for the work. On 21
February 1881 the construction of the canal began under
the direction of Ferdinand de Lessups, the famous French
engineer. In 1888 the French stockholders grew suspicious
that their money was not properly appropriated and refused
to give more. It transpired that the funds had been wasted
and that only a small part of the work had been done. In
spite of the scandal another company was organized in
1894-5. After a few months there was another scandal and
no more money could be raised. Since then very little work
has been done and the machinery and other property of
the company on the isthmus has been going to ruin.
In the meantime the United States government was in
vestigating the Nicaragua route. Some of the engineers
became convinced that the Panama route was more desir
able. At this juncture the French company saw an oppor
tunity to get rid of a " white elephant " and proposed to
sell out to the United States for $40,000,000. The latter
then began negotiations, after the necessary measures had
passed through Congress, for the purchase of the canal
rights. In order to clear the way for the building of the
canal the United States had to do two things — buy out the
French company and make a treaty with Colombia for the
control of the canal strip across the isthmus, over which
the republic held sovereignty. A treaty with Colombia was
480
NOTES ON THE TEXT
drawn up early in 1903 and ratified by the congress of the
United States, but was rejected by the Colombian congress.
It is now said that the politicians did not intend to defeat
the treaty finally, but the plan was to delay the matter until
late in 1904,, when the concession to the French company
would expire, and then claim a part of the money which
was to go to that company.
But the prosperity of the cities of Colon and Panama de
pended on the building of the canal and the people of the
isthmus were so dissatisfied with Colombia for rejecting
the treaty that in November 1903 they seceded and set up
a republic for themselves. Another treaty for the canal
strip wras drawn up and was ratified by the United States
and the republic of Panama. Final steps have been taken
for the transfer of the French company's rights to the
United States.
405 Contract with . . . Wyse. In 1877 the Colombian
government granted a concession to Lucien N. B. Wyse
for constructing a canal across the isthmus. The Panama
Canal Company purchased the concession.
481
CONTENTS
First Charter of Virginia 1606 5
The Mayflower Compact 1620 18
Articles of Confederation of the New England Col
onies 1643 19
A Typical Early Indian Treaty 1645 28
Declaration of Rights 1765 34
Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental
Congress 1774 37
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up
Arms 1775 43
The Declaration of Independence 1776 52
Articles of Confederation 1777 59
Treaty with France 1778 72
Treaty with Great Britain 1783 77
The Northwest Territorial Government 1787 85
Constitution of the United States 1787 95
Washington's First Inaugural Address 1789 118
Washington's Second Inaugural Address 1793 123
Proclamation of Neutrality 1793 124
Treaty with the Six Nations 1794 126
Treaty with Great Britain 1794 131
Washington's Farewell Address 1796 157
Treaty with France 1803 177
Treaty with Great Britain 1814 183
Treaty with Spain 1819 195
Missouri Compromise 1820-21 206
The Monroe Doctrine 1823 211
Treaty with Great Britain 1842 215
Treaty with Great Britain 1846 226
Treaty with- Mexico 1848 230
482
CONTENTS
Treaty with Great Britain 1850 251
Compromise of 1850 258
Treaty with Mexico 1853 273
Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854 280
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address 1861 283
Constitution of the Confederate States of America
1861 295
Emancipation Proclamation 1863 317
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address 1863 320
Proclamation of Amnesty 1863 321
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address 1865 325
Proclamation Declaring the Insurrection at an End
1866 328
Treaty with Russia 1867 335
Treaty with Great Britain 1871 341
Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands 1898 369
Recognition of the Independence of Cuba 1898 372
Treaty with Spain 1898 374
Reciprocal Commercial Convention between the United
States and Cuba 1902 383
Supplementary Convention between the United States
and Cuba 1903 390
Convention between the United States and the Repub
lic of Panama 1904 393
Notes on the Text 409
Contents 482
Index 484
483
INDEX
Address, of colonists, to king, 42,
46; to people of Great Britain,
42, 46, 55; Washington's fare
well, 157-176.
Admiralty courts, extension of jur
isdiction of, 35, 37, 41, 45.
Admission of new states into Union,
93, 108.
Alabama claims, settlement of, 342-
354.
Alaska, boundaries of, 335-337;
treaty for cession of, 335-340.
Alliance, treaty of between United
States and France, 72-76.
Ambassadors, duty of president to
receive, 106; original jurisdic
tion of supreme court in cases
affecting, 107; recall of, 154.
Amendments, to Constitution, pro
vision for, 109; added to Con
stitution, 112-117; Lincoln on,
292.
Amnesty, proclamation of, 321-
324.
Annexation of Hawaiian islands,
resolution for, 369-371.
Appellate jurisdiction of supreme
court, 107.
Arbitration, settlement of Alabama
claims by, 343-354; settlement
of Oregon boundary by, 365-
368.
Arms, declaration of causes and
necessity of taking up, 43-51;
colonists forced to resort to, 43;
right of people to keep and bear,
112.
Army, power of congress to raise
and equip, 66, 67.
Articles, of confederation of New
England colonies, 19-27; of con
federation of 1777, 59-71.
Ashburton treaty, 215-225.
Assemblies, colonial, dissolved, 38,
53, 55.
Association, non-importation, non-
consumption, and non-exporta
tion, 42, 46.
Attainder, no bill of to be passed
by congress, 101; by any state,
102.
Bail, excessive, not allowed by con
stitution, 114.
Bankruptcies, laws for, established
by congress, 100.
Bills, for raising revenue to orig
inate in house of representatives,
99; all to be presented to presi
dent, 99; how passed over presi
dent's veto, 99.
Boston, act to discontinue use of as
port, 37, 42, 45; treachery of
General Gage to inhabitants of,
48.
Boundaries, of Quebec enlarged,
54; method of deciding disputes
about between states, 64, 65;
INDEX
between British possessions and
United States, 79, 80, 186-192,
215-219, 227, 364, 365; of
states formed from northwest
territory, 92, 93; of territory of
Six Nations, 127; between
United States and Spanish pos
sessions, 196-198; of Missouri,
206, 207; of Oregon, 227, 365-
368; between United States and
Mexico, 234-236, 274, 275; of
Texas, 258, 260, 262; of Utah,
261; of New Mexico, 262, 263;
of Alaska, 335-337; of the Phil
ippine islands, 375, 376; of
Panama canal strip, 394, 395.
Bulwer, Clayton-Bulwer treaty,
251-257.
California, Clay's resolution for
admission of, 258; report on res
olution for admission of, 260; act
for admission of, 263, 264.
California, gulf of, open by treaty
with Mexico, 236.
Canada, provision for admission to
confederation, 68.
Canal, Washington urges construc
tion of interior, 161 ; treaty with
Great Britain for Nicaragua,
251-257; Great Britain to urge
Canada to open to United
States, 360; convention between
United States and Panama for
construction of, 393-408.
Charlestown, burned by British,
49.
Charter, first Virginia, 5-17; col
onists entitled to rights granted
by, 40; Massachusetts, taken
away by crown, 54.
Chinese, immigration of to Hawai
ian islands forbidden, 371.
Claims, mutual relinquishment of
by United States and Spain,
200-203; to New Mexico, re
linquished by Texas, 259, 260;
Alabama, settlement of, 342,
354
Clay's resolutions, 258, 259.
Clayton-Bulwer treaty, 251-257.
Coin, exclusive right of congress to
regulate value of, 65.
Colombia, president of United
States authorized to acquire
control of territory from, 393,
394.
Colonists, American, entitled to
rights of native-born British
subjects, 34; petitions of treated
with contempt, 46, 55.
Colorado river open by treaty of
1848, 236.
Columbia, District of, suppression
of slave-trade in, 259, 260, 272;
fugitive slave law in, 270-272.
Columbia river open to Hudson
bay company, 227.
Commerce, power of congress to
regulate, 100.
Commissioners, board of, estab
lished by parliament, 37.
Committee of thirteen, recapitula
tion of report of, 260.
Compact, Mayflower, 18.
Compromise, Missouri, 206-210;
repeal of, 281, 282.
Compromise of 1850, 258-272;
485
INDEX
Clay's resolutions, 258, 259; re
capitulation of report of com
mittee of thirteen, 260; Utah act,
261; Texas and New Mexico
act, 261-263; California act,
263, 264; Fugitive slave act,
264-271 ; act to suppress slave-
trade in District of Columbia,
272.
Concord, assault on, 48.
Confederation, articles of new
England colonies, 19-27; arti
cles of 1777, 59-71.
Confiscations, not to be made
against British loyalists, 82; not
to be made in case of war be
tween Great Britain and United
States, 143; of Mexican property
not allowed, 244.
Congress, confederate, choice and
apportionment of representa
tives, 295, 296; choice and ap
portionment of senators, 296;
powers and duties of each house,
298; adjournment of, 298; power
of, 300-302; appropriation of
money by, 303; messages and
recommendations of president to,
310; power to punish treason,
311; power to legislate over new
territory, 313; proposition of
amendments by, 313, 314.
Congress, continental, declaration
and resolves of first, 37-42;
deputies to appointed by several
colonies, 38.
Congress, United States, choice
and apportionment of represen
tatives, 95, 96; choice and appor
tionment of senators, 96; powers
and duties of each house, 98;
adjournment of, 98; power of,
99-101, 108; time of choosing
presidential electors determined
by, 104; messages and recom
mendations to by president, 106;
power of to punish treason, 107;
proposition of amendments by,
109.
Constitution, confederate, 295-316;
qualifications of representatives,
295; apportionment of repre
sentatives, 295, 296; qualifica
tions of senators, 297 ; powers of
each house, 298; compensation
of members of congress, 298;
passage of bills, 299, 300; power
of congress, 300-302; importa
tion of negroes from foreign
countries forbidden, 302; right
of habeas corpus, 303; bill of at
tainder and ex post facto law for
bidden, 303; rules for appropria
tion of money, 303; no title of
nobility to be granted, 304; no
law respecting an establishment
of religion allowed, 304 ; freedom
of speech and of the press not to
be abridged, 304; right to bear
arms, 304; right to trial by jury,
305; restrictions on power of
states, 305, 306; election of presi
dent and vice-president, 306,
307; removal of president from
office, 308; duties of president,
309, 310; judicial power, 310,
311; treason and its punishment,
311; jurisdiction of supreme
486
INDEX
court, 311; fugitive slave law,
312; rights of states, 312; ad
mission of new states, 312; ac
quisition of territory, 313; con
stitution guarantees protection to
every state, 313; provision for
amendments, 313, 314; shall be
the law of the land, 314.
Constitution, United States, 95-
111; qualifications of represen
tatives, 95; apportionment of
representatives, 95, 96; qualifi
cations of senators, 97; duties of
the senate, 97; powers and duties
of each house, 97, 98; compen
sation of members of congress,
98 ; passage of bills, 99 ; powers of
congress, 99-101 ; importation of
slaves forbidden after 1808, 101;
right of habeas corpus, 101; bill
of attainder and ex post facto law
forbidden, 101 ; no taxes between
states, 102; appropriations of
money from treasury, 102; no
title of nobility to be granted,
102; restrictions on power of
states, 102, 103; election of presi
dent and vice-president, 103,
104, 114, 115; qualifications for
president, 104; removal of presi
dent from office, 104; duties of
president, 105, 106; judicial
power, 106, 107; jurisdiction of
supreme court, 107; treason and
its punishment, 107; rights of
states, 107, 108; fugitive slave
law, 108; admission of new
states, 108; rules respecting ter
ritory, 108; protection of United
States guaranteed to each state,
108; provision for amendments,
109; shall be the supreme law
of the land, 109; amendments to,
112-117; Lincoln quotes from,
284; Lincoln declares no right
therein written denied, 288.
Consuls appointed by United
States and Great Britain, 147.
Contraband of war, citizens of
United States forbidden to carry,
124; procedure with vessels sus
pected of carrying, 147; enumer
ation of articles comprising, 148.
Convention, reciprocal, between
United States and Cuba, 383-
389; supplementary, between
United States and Cuba, 390-
392; between United States and
Panama, 393-408.
Copyright secured to authors by
congress, 100.
Council appointed by British
crown, 40, 54.
Counterfeiting of coin punishable
by congress, 100.
Credit, full, to be given to each
state, 60, 107, 108.
Creditors, debts to be paid to both
British and United States, 81;
compensation to be made to
British, 137.
Cuba, recognition of independence
of, 372, 373; Spain relinquishes
claim to, 375; reciprocal com
mercial convention between
United States and, 383-389;
supplementary, between United
States and, 390-392.
487
INDEX
Declaration of rights, 34-36.
Declaration and resolves of first
continental congress, 37-42.
Declaration of causes and neces
sity of taking up arms, 43-51.
Declaration of independence, 52-
58.
Debt, public, power of congress to
pay, 99; as valid under Consti
tution as under articles of con
federation, 109; validity not to
be questioned, 117; Washing
ton urges payment of, 169.
Detroit river open by treaty of
1842, 223.
District of Columbia, suppres
sion of slave-trade in, 259, 260,
272; fugitive slave law in, 27Q
271.
Duties, imposed on colonists by
Great Britain, 35, 37, 45, 47, 54;
repeal of stamp requested, 36; on
British goods, 134, 361-363; on
Indian goods, 134; between
Great Britain and United States,
146; on French and Spanish
goods, 180; between United
States and Spain, 382; between
United States and Cuba, 383-
388; between United States and
Panama, 401.
Education, encouragement of
means of in northwest territory,
91.
Election, writs of, vacancies in
representation filled by, 96; of
president and vice-president,
103, 104, 114, 115.
Electors, presidential, qualifica
tions of, 95; appointment of,
103; method of voting, 114, 115.
Emancipation proclamation, 317-
319.
Excises, power of congress to lay
and collect, 99 ; must be uniform
throughout United States, 100.
Ex post facto law, not be passed by
congress, 101 ; by any state, 102.
Extradition of criminals, between
states, 60, 108; agreement for
between United States and
Great Britain, 155, 224.
Farewell address, Washington's,
157-176.
Fisheries, colonists prohibited
from by Great Britain, 47;
rights in granted to United
States by Great Britain, 80,
354-356.
Florida, Spain cedes to United
States, 196.
France, and United States unite
against Great Britain, 72, 73;
treaty with of 1778, 72-76;
treaty with of 1803, 177-182;
cedes Louisiana to United
States, 178, 179.
Fugitive slaves, law for reclaiming
in northwest territorial govern
ment, 94; clause in Constitution,
108; provision for prompt de
livery of, 259, 260; act, 264-272;
law in District of Columbia,
270, 271; law in Nebraska, 281;
Lincoln quotes clause from
Constitution, 284; enforcement
488
INDEX
of law, 285, 290, 291; clause in
Confederate Constitution, 312.
Gadsden treaty, 273-279.
Gage, General, sent to subdue
colonists, 47; assault upon Lex
ington and Concord, 48; treach
ery of to inhabitants of Boston,
48; proclamation of, 49.
Gettysburg, Lincoln's address at,
320.
Ghent, treaty of, 183-194.
Gila river open by treaty of 1848,
237.
Great Britain, colonists disclaim
intention to separate from, 50;
France and United States form
treaty of alliance against, 72;
acknowledges independence of
United States, 78; treaty with of
1783, 77-84; treaty with of 1794,
131-156; promises to vacate
posts and places assigned to
United States, 132; United
States agree to pay delayed debts
to subjects of, 137; agrees to in
demnify United States citizens
for illegal capture of vessels, 140;
United States agrees to indem
nify subjects of for capture of
vessels, 142; subjects of to retain
lands held in the United States,
143; debts nor money of not to
be confiscated in case of war,
143; consuls to be appointed by,
147; treaty with of 1814, 183-
194; and United States agree to
stop hostilities with Indians, 193;
and United States unite to
abolish traffic in slaves,- 193;
treaty with of 1842,215-225; and
United States agree to suppress
slave-trade, 223, 224 ; treaty
with of 1846, 226-229; treaty
with of 1850, 251-257; treaty
with of 1871, 341-368.
Guadalupe Hidalgo, treaty of,
230-250; abrogation of articles
in, 275-277.
Guam, Spain cedes to United
States, 375.
Habeas corpus, right of in north
west territory, 90; not to be sus
pended unless required by pub
lic safety, 101 .
Hawaiian islands, annexation of,
369-371; public debt of, 370,
371; government of, 370, 371;
treaties of, with foreign powers,
370.
House of representatives, choice of
members, 95; qualification of
members, 95 ; apportionment of
representatives, 95, 96, 116; has
sole power of impeachment, 96;
compensation of members, 98;
all bills for raising revenue to
originate in, 99; part of in elec
tion of president, 104, 115.
Hudson's bay company, Columbia
river open to, 227.
Impeachment, punishment of, 97;
senate has sole power to try, 97;
of president and all civil offi
cers, 106.
489
INDEX
Importation of slaves after 1808
forbidden by Constitution, 101.
Imposts, power of congress to lay,
99; to be uniform throughout
United States, 100; net produce
to be for United States treasury,
102.
Impressment of American seamen
by Great Britain, 55.
Inaugural address, Washington's
first, 118-122; Washington's
second, 123; Lincoln's first, 283-
294; Lincoln's second, 325-327.
Independence, declaration of, 52-
58; Great Britain acknowledges
the United States, 78; of Spanish-
American colonies, recognition
of, 212, 213; of Cuba, recogni
tion of, 372, 373; United States
guarantees to Panama, 394.
Indians, typical early treaty with,
28-33; instigated against colo
nists by Great Britain, 49, 55;
good faith toward in northwest
territory, 91; treaty with Six
Nations, 126-130; United States
and Great Britain agree to stop
hostilities toward, 192, 193;
control of in territory ceded by
Mexico, 239, 240; rights of in
Nebraska, 281.
Insurrection, proclamation declar
ing at an end, 328-334.
James, king, grants charter of Vir
ginia, 5-17.
Jay treaty, 131-156.
Jefferson, Thomas, on capture of
British vessels, 141.
Johnson, Andrew, proclamation
declaring insurrection at an end,
328-334.
Judges made dependent on British
crown, 37, 54.
Judicial power of United States,
how vested, 106; extent of, 107.
Jury, trial by, colonists deprived
of, 41, 45, 54; right to in north
west territory, 90; provided for
in Constitution, 107, 113.
Kansas-Nebraska act, 280-282.
Kansas, provisions relating to ter
ritory of, 282.
Law of nations, violation of pun
ishable by congress, 100.
Legislations, colonial, suspended,
45, 55.
Letters of marque and reprisal, 63,
100.
Lexington, assault on, 48.
Lincoln, Abraham, first inaugural
address, 283-294; denies inten
tion to interfere with existing
slavery, 283; quotes fugitive
slave clause from Constitution,
284; on enforcement of fugitive
slave law, 284, 285, 290, 291;
holds union of states to be per
petual, 286, 287; declares no law
written in Constitution denied,
288; calls central idea of seces
sion anarchy, 289, 290; dis
cusses decision of constitutional
questions by supreme court, 290;
shows difference between seces-
490
INDEX
sion and divorce, 291 ; on amend
ments to Constitution,292 ; eman
cipation proclamation, 317-319;
Gettysburg address, 320; proc
lamation of amnesty, 321-324;
second inaugural address, 325-
327.
Louisiana, treaty for cession of,
177-182; ceded to France by
Spain, 178; ceded to United
States by France, 178.
Maine, destruction of battleship,
372.
Manila, capture of, 376.
Marque, letters of, 63, 100.
Massachusetts Bay, act for regu
lating government of, 38, 42, 45 ;
act for impartial administration
of justice in, 38, 42, 45; parlia
ment declares to be in rebellion,
47.
Mayflower compact, 18.
Mexico, treaty with, of 1848, 230-
250; possession of custom houses
to be restored to, 232; military
property to be restored to, 233;
control of Indians in territory
ceded by, 239, 240; claims of
and against discharged, 241-
243; no slavery condition in ter
ritory derived from, 258; treaty
with of 1853, 273-279.
Michigan, lake, open to Great
Britain, 360.
Militia, provision for organization
of, 101 ; power of congress to call
out, 101; president commander
of, 105; necessary to security of
state, 112; trial of cases arising
in, 113.
Mississippi river, open by treaty of
1783, 83; by treaty of 1794, 133;
survey of, 135, 136.
Missouri compromise, 206-210;
enabling act, 206-209; resolu
tion of March 2, 209, 210; repeal
of compromise, 281, 282.
Missouri, state of, enabling act,
206-209; authorized to form
state constitution, 206; bounda
ries of, 206, 207; resolution for
admission of, 209, 210.
Money, coinage of in power of con
gress, 100; power of congress to
borrow, 100.
Monroe doctrine, 211-214.
Monroe, James, states his foreign
policy, 211-214.
Most favored nation, France to be
treated on footing of, 181.
Napoleon sells Louisiana to United
States, 178.
Nations, law of, offence against
punishable by congress, 100.
Naturalization, laws for obstruct
ing passed by British, 53 ; rule
for established by congress, 100.
Navy, power of congress to pro
vide, 66, 100.
Nebraska, provision for admission
of without slavery restrictions,
280; Kansas-Nebraska act, 280-
282; boundary of, 280, 281.
Negroes, not to be carried away by
the British, 83; importation of
forbidden by Constitution, 101;
491
INDEX
emancipated 8 January, 1863,
317.
Neutrality, proclamation of, 124;
Washington's views on, 174, 175;
principles of in Monroe doctrine,
213, 214; of Nicaragua canal
guaranteed, 253, 254.
New England colonies, articles of
confederation, 19-27.
New Mexico, excluded from Texas
258, 260; claim to relinquished
by Texas, 259; government
of, 260; act for admission of,
262, 263; boundary of, 262, 263.
New Orleans, ceded to United
States, 179; French and Spanish
ships admitted to by United
States, 180.
Nicaragua canal, treaty with Great
Britain for, 251-257.
Nobility, no title of to be granted,
102.
Non-importation, non - consump
tion, non-exportation association,
42, 46.
Northwest territorial government,
85-94.
Oath, form taken by president, 105;
members of congress bound
by to support the Constitution,
110; form to be taken by those
desiring amnesty, 322.
Oregon, boundaries of, 227, 365-
368.
Original jurisdiction of supreme
court, 107.
Panama, proposed canal by way of
isthmus of, 256; convention be
tween United States and repub
lic of, 393-408.
Patents secured to inventors by
congress, 100.
Petitions of colonists treated with
contempt, 38, 46, 55.
Philippine islands, Spain cedes to
United States, 375; boundaries
of, 375.
Piracies punishable by congress,
100.
Pirates, privileges of states against,
62; treatment of by treaty of
1794, 150, 151.
Porto Rico, Spain cedes to United
States, 375.
Post offices and post roads estab
lished by congress, 100.
President, all bills, orders, resolu
tions to be presented to, 99 ;
election of, 103, 104, 114, 115;
removal of from office, 104;
powers and duties of, 105, 106;
compensation of, 105.
Proclamation, of neutrality, 124,
125; emancipation, 317-319; of
amnesty, 321-324; declaring in
surrection at an end, 328-334.
Proviso, Wilmot, territorial gov
ernment in New Mexico and
Utah without, 260.
Puget's sound company, property
confirmed to, 228.
Quartering of British soldiers, 42,
45, 54.
Quebec, act for government of, 38,
42, 45, 54.
492
INDEX
Reciprocal convention between
United States and Cuba, 383-
389.
Religion, Roman Catholic estab
lished in Quebec, 42; no person
to be molested on account of, 90;
congress not to make laws re
specting establishment of, 112.
Representatives, qualifications of,
95; apportionment of, 95, 96,
116; time of electing, 97; com
pensation of, 98.
Representation, in legislative coun
cils the foundation of English
liberty, 39; method of, under
confederation, 61; provision for
in northwest territory, 88, 89;
vacancies in filled by writs of
election, 96.
Reprisal, letters of, granted by
congress, 100.
Republican administration, fears
of South in regard to, 283.
Restitution of estates to be made
to British, 81, 82.
Revenue, bills for to originate in
house of representatives, 99;
taxes necessary for, 170.
Rights, declaration of, 34-36; col
onists declare they did not forfeit
by emigration from Great Brit
ain, 39, 40; state, maintenance
of essential to balance of power,
283, 284.
Rio Bravo del Norte, open by
treaty of 1848, 237.
Roman Catholic religion estab
lished in Quebec, 42.
Russia, proposal to negotiate be
tween United States and Great
Britain, 211; treaty with for
Alaska, 335-340.
St. Croix river, survey of, 137.
St. Johns river open by treaty of
1842, 219, 220.
St. Lawrence river open by treaty
of 1842, 223; by treaty of Wash
ington, 359.
Secession, Lincoln's definition of,
289; Lincoln contrasts with di
vorce, 291.
Senate, United States, members of,
96; vice-president the president
of, 97; sole power of to try im
peachments, 97; relation of to
bills for raising revenue, 99;
president of to open certificates
of election, 103, 115; advice and
consent of, necessary to make
treaties, 105.
Senators, qualifications of, 96, 97;
division of, 96; time of election
of, 97; compensation of, 98.
Six Nations, treaty with, 126-130;
boundaries of territory, 127;
annual allowance to, 129.
Slavery, provision against in north
west territory, 94; abolition of by
thirteenth amendment, 116; pro
hibited north of 36° 30' north
latitude, 209; admission of Cal
ifornia without restriction as to,
258; exclusion of from territory
acquired from Mexico, 258; inex
pedient to abolish in District of
Columbia, 259; admission of
Utah without restriction as to,
493
INDEX
261 ; admission of New Mexico
without restriction as to, 263;
admission of Nebraska without
restriction as to, 280; Lincoln's
declaration of non-interference
with existing, 283; position of
under the Constitution, 289;
prohibition of by congress in the
territories, 289; the real dispute
between North and South, 290.
Slaves, importation of after 1808
forbidden, 101; Great Britain
and United States agree to abol
ish traffic in, 193, 215, 216; freed
by Lincoln's proclamation, 317,
318.
Slave trade, Great Britain and
United States agree to suppress,
223; suppression of in District
of Columbia, 259, 260, 272; no
power in congress to prohibit
between slave-holding states,
259.
Soldiers, quartering of on colonists,
42, 45, 54.
Spain, treaty with, of 1795, 164;
cedes Louisiana to France, 178;
treaty with of 1819, 195-205;
cedes Florida to United States,
196; United States renounces
claim against, 200-203; receives
help from allied powers, 213;
treaty with of 1898, 374-382;
relinquishes claim to Cuba, 375,
378; cedes Porto Rico to United
States, 375; cedes Guam to
United States, 375; cedes Phil
ippine islands to United States,
375, 376.
Spanish-American colonies, recog
nition of independence of, 212,
213.
Speaker of house of representa
tives chosen by members,
96.
South, slavery believed to be right
by, 290.
Stamp duties tend to subvert
rights of colonists, 35; repeal of
asked, 36.
Standing armies, kept by Great
Britain in America, 37, 40, 42,
54.
State rights, maintenance of essen
tial to balance of power, 283,
284.
Supreme court, judges of, 106;
original and appellate jurisdic
tion of, 107; questions to be de
cided by, 290.
Tariff laws between United States
and Cuba, 384-389.
Taxes, illegally imposed on colo
nists, 34, 35, 37, 54; for war ex
penses to be levied by state legis
latures, 63; in northwest terri
tory, 92; apportionment by Con
stitution, 95; power of congress
to lay, 99; on slaves imported,
101; forbidden between states,
102; Washington shows neces
sity for, 170; agreement con
cerning between United States
and Panama, 399-401.
Tehuantepec, isthmus of, proposed
canal across, 256; proposed road
across, 278.
494-
INDEX
Territories, government of, 258,
260, 281.
Texas, boundary of, 258, 260, 262;
relinquishes claim to New Mex
ico, 259, 262; admission of new
states formed from, 260; act for
admission of, 261 ; payment to by
United States, 262.
Tobacco, United States, no rebate
of duty on when imported into
Cuba, 387.
Trade, of colonists cut off by Great
Britain, 35, 54; between British
possessions and United States,
144, 145.
Treason, colonists transported to
England to be tried for, 37, 45,
54; defined, 107; punishment of,
107.
Treaty, a typical early Indian, 28-
33; with France, 1778, 72-76?
with Great Britain, 1783, 77-84;
with the Six Nations, 126-130;
with Great Britain, 1794, 131-
156; with France, 1803, 177-182;
with Great Britain, 1814, 183-
194; with Spain, 1819, 195-205;
with Great Britain, 1842, 215-
225; with Great Britain, 1846,
226-229; with Mexico, 1848,
230-250; with Great Britain,
1850, 251-257; with Mexico,
1853, 273-279; with Russia,
1867, 335-340; with Great
Britain, 1871, 341-368; between
the Hawaiian islands and foreign
nations, 370; with Spain, 1898,
374-382; between United States
and Cuba, 383-389, 390-392;
between United States and
Panama, 393-408.
Uncas, defended by colonies, 28;
Narragansetts and Nyanticks
make peace with, 30.
Union, federal, Washington urges
continuance of, 160-164; older
than Constitution, 286; declared
by Lincoln to be perpetual, 286,
287; disruption of physically
impossible, 291.
United States Constitution, 95-
111; qualifications of represen
tatives, 95; apportionment of
representatives, 95, 96; qualifi
cations of senators, 97; duties of
the senate, 97; powers and duties
of each house, 97, 98; compensa
tion of members of congress, 98;
passage of bills, 99; power of
congress, 99-101 ; importation of
slaves forbidden after 1808, 101;
right of habeas corpus, 101; bill
of attainder and ex post facto law
forbidden, 101; no taxes be
tween states, 102; appropria
tions of money from treasury,
102; no title of nobility to be
granted, 102; restrictions on
power of states, 102, 103; elec
tion of president and vice-
president, 103, 104, 114, 115;
qualifications for president, 104;
removal of president from office,
104; duties of president, 105,
106; judicial power, 106, 107;
jurisdiction of supreme court,
107; treason and its punishment,
495
INDEX
107; rights of stales, 107, 108;
fugitive slave law, 108; admis
sion of new states, 108; rules re
specting territory, 108; protec
tion of United States guaranteed
to each state, 108; provision for
amendments, 109; shall be the
supreme law of the land, 109;
amendments to, 112-117; Lin
coln quotes from, 284; Lincoln
declares no right written there
in denied, 288.
Utah, government of, 260; act for
admission of, 261; boundary of,
261.
Vice-president, president of senate,
97; election of, 103, 104, 114, 115;
succession to presidency, 104;
removal of from office, 104; im
peachment of, 106.
Virginia, first charter of, 5-17.
Vote, right to not to be abridged
by race or color, 117.
War, power of congress to declare,
63, 100; states forbidden to en
gage in, 62, 103.
Warrants to be supported by oath
or affirmation, 113.
Washington, George, first inaugu
ral address, 118-122; traces
hand of Providence in history of
country, 119: pays tribute to
congress, 120; declines salary for
services, 121, 122; second in
augural address, 123; proclama
tion of neutrality, 124; farewell
address, 157-176; declines re-
nomination, 157; expresses grati
tude to country, 158, 159; urges
continuance of union of states,
160-164; warns against factions,
165; shows need of strong gov
ernment, 166; warns against
party spirit, 166, 167; advises
departments to keep within
their constitutional spheres, 168;
shows religion and morality to
be necessary to government, 168,
169; need of institutions of
learning, 169; urges payment of
national debt, 169; refers to
necessity for taxes, 170; attitude
of toward other nations, 170-
176.
Washington, treaty of, 341-368.
Webster-Ashburton treaty, 215-
225.
Wilmot proviso, territorial govern
ment in New Mexico and Utah
without, 260.
Witnesses, criminals to have com
pulsory process for obtaining,
113.
Writs of election, vacancies in
representation to be filled by,
96.
496
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19 The Old Red Sandstone Hugh Miller 1 Mch. 1905
20 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen 1 April 1905
21 Hertzka's Trip to Freeland 1 May 1905
22 Horace in Latin and English 1 June 1905
23 Swinburne's Poems 1 July 1905
24 The Philippines in the 17th Century 1 Aug. 1905
25 The Yemassee W. G. Simms 1 Sept. 1905
26 Knickerbocker's New York Irving 1 Oct. 1905
--27 Democracy in America De Tocqueville 1 Nov. 1905
28 Unit Book of Facts 1 Dec. 1905
29 Poems of Walt Whitman 1 Jan. 1906
30 Autobiography and Poor Richard's
Almanac by Franklin 1 Feb. 1906
Vanity Fair Thackeray
Arthur Mervyn Charles Brockden Brown
Law for Every Day
The Conspiracy of Pontiac Parkman
502
The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table Holmes
Geoffrey Hamlyn Henry Kingsley
Doctor Thorne Anthony Trollope
Eothen Kinglake
The Conquest of Mexico Prescott
A First Book on Electricity
A Sentimental Journey Sterne
On the Origin of Species Darwin
The Buccaneers of America Lieut. Burney
The Poems of Robert Browning
Pickwick Papers Dickens
Margaret Sylvester Judd
Tales Gaboriau
Two Years Before the Mast Dana
A Pronouncing Dictionary
A Tale of Two Cities Dickens
Monarchs Retired from Business John Doran
Chemical History of a Candle Faraday
Our Village (first series) Mary Mitford
Confessions of Rousseau
Past and Present Carlyle
The Last Days of Pompeii Lytton
Noctes Ambrosianae John Wilson
Some Fruits of Solitude William Penn
The Microscope P. H. Gosse
Last of the Mohicans Cooper
The Comedies of Sheridan
Familiar Colloquies of Erasmus
The Rise of the Dutch Republic Motley
Voyage of a Naturalist Darwin
Typee Herman Melville
Natural History of Selborne Gilbert White
The Three Musketeers Dumas
Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green Cuthbert Bede
Physical Geography of the Sea Lieut. Maury
A Cyclopedia of Literary Allusions
Discourse on Painting Sir Joshua Reynolds
503
A Dictionary of Classical Quotations
A Handbook of Proverbs
Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry
Plutarch's Lives
Dante's Divine Comedy
Homer's Odyssey
Virgil in Latin and English
The Essays of Sainte-Beuve
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Ivanhoe Scott
Don Quixote Cervantes
The Plays of Shakespeare
Fairy Tales The Brothers Grimm
Notre Dame Victor Hugo
Paul and Virginia Saint Pierre
Monks of Thelema Besant and Rice
The Bible in Spain George Borrow
Legends of the Madonna Mrs. Jameson
Essays of Elia Charles Lamb
The Cloister and the Hearth Charles Reade
Adam Bede George Eliot
Aurora Leigh Mrs. Browning
On Compromise John Morley
Villette Charlotte Bronte
Marjorie Fleming and Rab and his Friends John
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St. Winifred's F. W. Farrar
Fable of the Bees Bernard de Mandeville
The Apocrypha
Apologia Pro Vita Sua Newman
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