BACKGROUND TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION FROM: Irwin Ungar, These United States (Boston, 1982), vol. I, 111-112, 131-151. Modified. The great nineteenth-century prime minister William Gladsome once described the American federal Constitution as “the most remarkable work—in modern times to have been produced by the human intellect at a single stroke—in its application to political affairs.” Those who have lived with it since its adoption have not always been so certain of its perfection, for they have amended it twenty-seven times. But few Americans would deny that this unique framework of government has served the American people immensely well in peace and war, in prosperity and depression. Contemporaries, of course, could not have known that the Constitution would work so effectively, yet in 1787 they called a convention to draw up a new political framework for the United States. Why was this necessary? Six years earlier, the states had ratified the Articles of Confederation. … The Articles were a clear improvement over the old arrangements. Most important, they established a formal union of the American states, which had not existed before. They gave legal standing to powers that the Continental Congress had exercised earlier. The Confederation Congress could conduct war and foreign affairs, make commercial treaties, and negotiate with the Indians. It could borrow and coin money and issue bills of credit. It now also had the authority to manage public lands in the West. Yet many imperfections remained. The new government consisted of only a legislature; it had no separate executive or judicial divisions. And not all of the new Congress’s powers were exclusive. The states could continue to deal directly with foreign governments and engage in war with Congress’s consent. And even without it, they could borrow, maintain mints, and issue bills of credit. The states also had sole right to legislate in matters concerning debts, contracts, and family affairs. Most important of all, they alone could tax their citizens. And if experience showed that changes in the Articles were desirable, they would be hard to make, since amendments required the consent of every state. Imperfect though they were, the Articles of Confederation were a move toward American national unity. Until the middle of the eighteenth century, the notion of a common national identity had been weak in America. Colonists often had closer contacts with residents of England or the West Indies than with their fellow “continentals.” After 1763 their sense of common interests and needs had grown, and after 1775 the Revolution reinforced continental ties and sentiments. Many young men serving in the revolutionary forces saw more of America in a few years than their parents had in a lifetime. In George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin they found national heroes to praise and admire. But the Continental Congress had been a makeshift, a purely volunt ...

1. BACKGROUND TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
FROM: Irwin Ungar, These United States (Boston, 1982), vol. I,
111-112, 131-151. Modified.
The great nineteenth-century prime minister William Gladsome
once described the American federal Constitution as “the most
remarkable work—in modern times to have been produced by
the human intellect at a single stroke—in its application to
political affairs.” Those who have lived with it since its
adoption have not always been so certain of its perfection, for
they have amended it twenty-seven times. But few Americans
would deny that this unique framework of government has
served the American people immensely well in peace and war,
in prosperity and depression.
Contemporaries, of course, could not have known that the
Constitution would work so effectively, yet in 1787 they called
a convention to draw up a new political framework for the
United States. Why was this necessary? Six years earlier, the
states had ratified the Articles of Confederation. …
The Articles were a clear improvement over the old
arrangements. Most important, they established a formal union
of the American states, which had not existed before. They gave
legal standing to powers that the Continental Congress had
exercised earlier. The Confederation Congress could conduct
war and foreign affairs, make commercial treaties, and negotiate
with the Indians. It could borrow and coin money and issue bills
of credit. It now also had the authority to manage public lands
in the West.
Yet many imperfections remained. The new government
consisted of only a legislature; it had no separate executive or

2. judicial divisions. And not all of the new Congress’s powers
were exclusive. The states could continue to deal directly with
foreign governments and engage in war with Congress’s
consent. And even without it, they could borrow, maintain
mints, and issue bills of credit. The states also had sole right to
legislate in matters concerning debts, contracts, and family
affairs. Most important of all, they alone could tax their
citizens. And if experience showed that changes in the Articles
were desirable, they would be hard to make, since amendments
required the consent of every state.
Imperfect though they were, the Articles of Confederation were
a move toward American national unity. Until the middle of the
eighteenth century, the notion of a common national identity
had been weak in America. Colonists often had closer contacts
with residents of England or the West Indies than with their
fellow “continentals.” After 1763 their sense of common
interests and needs had grown, and after 1775 the Revolution
reinforced continental ties and sentiments. Many young men
serving in the revolutionary forces saw more of America in a
few years than their parents had in a lifetime. In George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin
Franklin they found national heroes to praise and admire. But
the Continental Congress had been a makeshift, a purely
voluntary association entered into to deal with the imperial
crisis. Now, with the Articles of Confederation, for the first
time there was a permanent American government, one that
would speak for the citizens of the thirteen states.
The feeling of a common nationality was still incomplete,
however, and in 1781 Americans continued to talk of Virginia,
New York, or Massachusetts as “their country.” The weaknesses
of the Articles reflected Americans’ limited national allegiance.
But the Articles were an important milestone in a steady
development that would not be completed until 1865.

3. Although the Articles were by no means perfect, they
established the sort of central government most Americans
wanted. Indeed, to the end of the Confederation period, the
Articles had strong and loyal supporters. Obviously, many
Americans must have had a change of heart. Who were these
people, and what caused them to change their minds? …
AMERICA IN THE 1780s
Peace brought economic troubles to American farmers. During
the war years armies had swept across the landscape, destroying
fences and barns, burning crops and farmhouses. On the frontier
Indian raids had pushed back the line of settled farming. In the
Carolinas the dikes that controlled the tidal streams in the rice
country had been damaged by straggling troops and neglect. In
Virginia British removal of slaves and the flight of Loyalist
slaves had depleted the labor force on the plantations.
In time the physical damage and the labor disruption were
repaired, but political changes continued to cause serious
difficulties for American agriculture. The end of the imperial
connection had unforeseen consequences for farmers. The
British government removed the bounty that it had paid indigo
planters before 1776, and indigo virtually disappeared from the
Carolina coast. Still more damaging was British commercial
retaliation. Before independence American agricultural
commodities had found a ready market in the British West
Indies. But that had been when Americans were subjects of
King George. Now that they were foreigners, they no longer
could expect special rights in British markets.
Creditors, too, found the Confederation period a trying time.
Unable to impose taxes, Congress ceased paying the interest and
principal of the national debt in 1782. Thereafter, the value of
government securities—Congress’s promises to pay back money
it had borrowed during the Revolution—dropped sharply.

4. Speculators willing to take the chance that Congress might
eventually pay off its debts fully bought up government bonds
at a fraction of their face value and soon held a large part of the
national debt The original holders of the securities thus got
something for their money, but many felt cheated. Many state
creditors felt the same way. After the war some states taxed
themselves heavily and paid their debts. Others did not, and
their depreciated securities, like Congress’s, soon passed into
the hands of speculators.
Nor were private creditors much better off. The postwar years
brought a sharp drop in prices. Imports, as we have just seen,
had boomed briefly after 1783 as American consumers, starved
for British goods during the war, had snapped up every cargo
from Bristol, London, and Liverpool. To pay for this
merchandise merchants and customers spent the gold and silver
coin left behind by the French army or lent by Dutch bankers.
But there was a limit to the available cash, and the country soon
reverted to its normal condition of currency famine.
When money is scarce, it becomes more valuable relative to the
things it buys. Thus prices for domestic goods now fell sharply
and painfully. This deflation hurt farmers and artisans, who
produced goods for sale. It also hurt debtors, who found it hard
to get money to pay their creditors. To relieve their distress,
debtors demanded paper money, and in several states the
legislatures passed measures to oblige them.
In most states the paper currency caused few problems. In New
York and Pennsylvania, for example, paper money retained its
purchasing power because those states printed only moderate
amounts and did not make it “legal tender.” That is, creditors
and sellers did not have to accept it if they did not want to. New
York and Pennsylvania businessmen actually supported their
state’s paper money issues to help end the currency famine and
make business easier to conduct.

5. The situation was very different in Rhode Island. In that
turbulent state the debtors were in complete control and seemed
determined to cheat their creditors. In 1786 the legislature,
acting under debtor pressure, issued £100,000 of legal tender
paper money and declared that everyone had to accept it at face
value even if it lost purchasing power. A creditor who resisted
was breaking the law, and the debt would be canceled. Soon
debtors were pursuing their creditors and paying them without
mercy. Creditors complained bitterly, but to no avail.
The evidence thus confirms the economic difficulties of the
Confederation period. And the distress was widespread, not
confined Just to creditors. Merchants, farmers, and craftspeople,
as well as creditors, had good reason to complain in these early
postwar years. And they could usually blame the feeble national
government for their plight. Why had prices dropped? Why had
the British refused to make trade concessions to Americans?
Why could Spain close the port of New Orleans? Why were
American craftspeople not protected against cheap foreign
goods? Why could Rhode Island debtors arbitrarily scale down
their debts? Why must national creditors sell their government
securities to speculators at a fraction of their face value? The
fault, many Americans would soon come to believe, was the
weak government of the Articles of Confederation. Something
had to be done to strengthen it if the country was to prosper and
fulfill its economic promise. …
Besides economics, another important source of political change
in this period was nationalism. This is the feeling that
individual happiness, interests, gains, and losses are linked with
those of the nation as a whole; it is the emotional bond that
joins citizens of a country to one another. It is a powerful force
that can overwhelm individual and group interest and inspire
sacrifice of life itself.

6. The active nationalists of the period were mostly young men
who had served in the Continental army or Congress. They had
fought and worked for the United States. They had seen various
parts of the country, and they had met men like themselves from
every region and had shared with them their hopes for a new
national future. Their experiences had broadened their
perspectives into a “continental” view and had made them aware
of the inadequacies of localism. …
To the growing body of nationalists the Confederation’s
political feebleness seemed humiliating. Everywhere they
looked they found distressing signs of their country’s plight. In
June 1783 Congress had made itself ridiculous by fleeing
Philadelphia in fear of attack by unpaid and mutinous
Continental troops. During the next months it wandered from
town to town trying to find a decent resting place.
Congress disappointed the nationalists in other ways as well. In
the six weeks following ratification of the 1783 peace treaty, so
few members attended sessions that it was difficult to gather a
quorum to do business. In mid-February 1784 James Tilton of
Delaware wrote a fellow member that “the situation of Congress
is truly alarming; the most important business pending and not
states enough to take it up.” Another member declared: “The
Congress is abused, laughed at and cursed in every company.” It
is no wonder that sincere patriots feared for their country’s
future. …
Even more disturbing to patriotic nationalists than the domestic
weakness of the Confederation was its feebleness in foreign
affairs. Almost everywhere the United States was treated with
contempt. France remained friendly and honored the trade
privileges specified by the treaty of 1778; but Spain and Britain
were antagonistic, and even minor powers felt they could stamp
on American interests. As Jefferson, serving as American
minister in Paris, wrote in 1784: “All respect for our

7. government is annihilated on this side of the water from an idea
of its want of energy.” …
No matter how content some Americans were with the existing
political system, the overall failure of the Confederation
government humiliated American nationalists and made them
deeply dissatisfied. By 1785 it had become obvious to many
citizens that Congress was little more than a shadow, unable to
protect American interests abroad or to solve major problems at
home. Was it for this, patriots asked, that Americans had fought
and died?
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
The Confederation government was not without
accomplishments. But they were far outweighed by its failures.
By 1785 it seemed clear to many Americans, not just a small
elite, that the nation needed a more powerful and effective
central government to serve its interests and express its
patriotic aspirations.
The road to the Constitutional Convention was roundabout,
however. The process of revising or replacing the Articles
began in 1785 when Maryland and Virginia signed an agreement
over navigation on the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. The
success of this pact induced Maryland to call for a broader
arrangement that would include Pennsylvania and Delaware and
cover import duties, currency, and other commercial matters.
Nationalists in the Virginia legislature quickly proposed that all
states meet in September 1786 at Annapolis to consider common
commercial problems. Only five states attended the conference,
but the nationalists—led by Alexander Hamilton of New York,
James Madison of Virginia, and John Dickinson of Delaware—
took advantage of the situation. Declaring that a majority was
not present, they convinced the delegates to petition Congress
for a full-scale convention to meet at Philadelphia in May 1787

8. to discuss economic problems and fundamental political
changes.
By this time, Congress’s long decline had brought it close to
paralysis. The Annapolis convention’s resolution was referred
to a committee of three, which submitted it to another
committee of thirteen that the legislators never got around to
appointing. Congress, it seemed, intended to let the proposal
die.
Then events in Massachusetts, a center of political turbulence
since the 1760s, jolted the country and Congress into action.
Massachusetts was one of those states that had obligated itself
to pay its war debt. This commitment required substantial
amounts of revenue, and the Bay State legislature imposed on
its citizens the heaviest taxes in New England. To farmers
already suffering from low crop prices, the taxes were a
disaster. Debts and bankruptcies soon mounted in the western
counties, and many farmers fell behind in their tax payments.
As if this were not enough, Massachusetts law required that the
pettiest commercial transactions be recorded by a court, with
high fees paid to lawyers and court officials. The large volume
of legal business resulting from hard times thus added to the
heavy load imposed on citizens.
By the summer of 1786 discontent among farmers in the western
part of the state had reached the flash point. In late August they
convened in Worcester and condemned the taxes and heavy
legal fees. Shortly afterward, an armed mob of 1,500 men, eager
to end foreclosures for tax delinquency and debt default stopped
the convening of the Hampshire County Court. In early
September three more county courts were kept from sitting by
groups of angry men.
Although the Massachusetts legislature made some effort to
ease the burden of debtors, disaffected westerners began to arm

9. and drill as if they expected to take on King George’s redcoats
once more. Led by Daniel Shays, a former Continental army
officer, they formed a committee to resist what they judged to
be intolerable conditions. Meanwhile, in the eastern part of the
state, people had begun to panic. In Boston, the governor
decided to raise a military force to suppress the disorders.
Rather than impose new taxes to support this small array, he
appealed to the city’s rich men, who, in their fright, promptly
came up with $125,000. In January 1787 a rebel force of 1,200
met the smaller group of state militia at Springfield. The state
troops fired a single artillery volley, and the rebels fled in
panic. The uprising was over by spring.
Shays’s Rebellion amounted to very little, yet it frightened
many people. One citizen insisted that if the rebels had won,
there would have been “an abolition of all public and private
debts” followed by “an equal distribution of property.” The
rebellion also dismayed the country’s nationalists. Washington
wrote that he was “mortified beyond expression” by disorders.
For the country “to be more exposed in the eyes of the world
and more contemptible” than it already was seemed “hardly
possible.” Congress at last took heed of the restless mood of
many citizens, and on February 21 it voted to ask the states to
send delegates to a proposed constitutional convention at
Philadelphia.
The meeting, at Independence Hall on May 14, 1787, was an
assembly of giants, including George Washington, Benjamin
Franklin, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. … Seldom
has any group taken on so momentous a task. Civilized
governments have invariably been the products of a gradual
evolution of tradition, experience, and historical accident. The
idea of a written frame of government, of a structure of
fundamental law put down in precise words at one time, is an
American invention. The practice began with the making of
state constitutions after 1775. Its finest expression is the federal

10. Constitution of 1787.
The “Founding Fathers” did, of course, draw on the traditions of
the colonies and Great Britain; the English experience is
embedded in every legal and governmental institution of the
United States. They also relied on their understanding of the
ancient world, especially Rome, and on the views of the great
political and legal thinkers of their own time. But in the end
they were guided primarily by their own practical experience of
government.
A number of the men at Philadelphia owned substantial amounts
of unpaid Continental and state debt certificates. But although
most were rich men, their wealth was largely in the form of
land. A more important bond among the delegates than their
status as creditors was the nationalism, or continentalism. The
period from 1781 to 1787, they would have agreed, was indeed
critical: America had been treated with contempt abroad and
mob rule had threatened at home. There were some defenders of
states’ rights at Philadelphia, but most were men who believed
that the Articles of Confederation had failed as an instrument of
government and that Americans needed a stronger central
authority.
Few of the delegates, however, wished to strengthen the
government at the expense of freedom. The goal of the majority
was balance, an end much harder to achieve. They wished to
establish a “mixed” government, combining popular and elitist
elements that would protect private property. They intended to
construct a strong central government, but one that would
preserve local autonomy and local rights. In a nation of
continental proportions, the diversity of interests, opinions, and
philosophies made the task formidable. During the
deliberations, small states would clash with large states, slave
states with free states, commercial interests with agrarian
interests, democrats with aristocrats, champions of local rights

11. with nationalists. In the end, compromise would be a necessity.
After some preliminary skirmishing over procedural rules, the
convention began its real work with a proposal that has come to
be known as the Virginia Plan. It advocated, not merely a
revision of the Articles of Confederation, but a completely new
government, with separate legislative, executive, and Judicial
departments. Congress would have two houses, and the states
would be represented in each in proportion to population. In
each house the elected members would vote as individuals, not
as part of a single state unit as they did under the Articles. They
would, in effect, represent their constituents, not their states.
The legislature would choose the persons to fill positions in the
other branches of government.
The Virginia proposal emphasized the central government as
opposed to the states. Randolph hoped to establish a “strong
consolidated union, in which the idea of states would be nearly
annihilated.” The Articles had created a league of virtually
independent states; the new plan would confer broad powers on
the central government, which would “legislate in all cases to
which the separate States are incompetent”—that is, in every
area where it chose to go. But the Virginia proposal did not
spell out the new government’s powers.
The Virginia Plan was countered by the New Jersey Plan, which
recommended that the Articles be revised, not replaced. The
new government was to be a “federal,” not a truly centralized
one; that is, there would be a central government, but the states
would retain independent authority in some spheres. The plan
endorsed the one-house legislature of the Articles, in which
each state was represented equally. States would continue to
vote as units in Congress regardless of wealth or population, so
that the states, rather than the people, would be represented in
the new government. But the New Jersey Plan did improve on
the Articles by granting the national government the power to

12. tax and regulate foreign and interstate commerce. It made
federal laws and treaties superior to all state laws, and that, too,
was an advance.
It is easy to see that the New Jersey Plan would benefit states
with small populations more than the Virginia Plan. If the New
Jersey Plan’s arrangement was adopted, the less populous states
would have representation in Congress equal to that of the more
populous ones. If the other prevailed, their voices would be
drowned out by those of their larger neighbors. For this reason
it is often said that the two plans represented a conflict between
large and small states. But the disagreement was just as much
between the strong centralists and their more locally oriented
colleagues.
The two proposals became the basis for debate, and both were
modified in the discussions. On the whole, the centralizers came
out ahead. The new government would have greatly enlarged
powers, but they would be specified and not left to Congress to
decide. It would also be a true central government. Congress
would represent the citizens of the United States, not the states.
Members of Congress would therefore vote as individuals, and
not merely help cast a state vote. On the other issues of
representation, a compromise was adopted. In one house, the
Senate, each state would have equal representation regardless of
population; in the other, the House of Representatives,
population would determine the size of state delegations.
Now members raised the issue of what constituted “population.”
Were slaves only property, or were they people? If the former,
they might, Like other forms of property, be the basis for
levying taxes but could not be considered in calculating a
state’s representation in the lower house of Congress. If they
were people, they should be counted for determining
representation. However, because slaves were not free, and
could not vote, treating them as people would give the southern

13. states a voice in Congress disproportionate to the actual number
of voters. Each voter in the South, where slaves were numerous,
in effect would have more power than each voter in the North,
where they were few. Northerners naturally objected to such a
scheme. Southerners, noting that their wealth in slaves would
force them to pay a heavy tax bill, insisted on some political
compensation for the burden they would bear.
The issue was very sensitive. It touched on the continued
existence and prosperity of slavery in the South. And slavery,
the South’s “peculiar”—that is, special or unique—institution,
was entangled in every aspect of southern life. True, ever since
the Revolution had proclaimed that “all men are created equal,”
the supporters of slavery had been on the defensive. But slaves
still tilled the South’s fields, built its fences, and performed its
household chores. Though slavery was fast disappearing In the
North, only a handful of enlightened southerners were willing to
contemplate its total abolition.
The men at Philadelphia would deal with slavery at other
points; this time they elected to compromise. Taxes and
representation in the lower house of Congress would be based
on “the whole number of free Persons,” excluding Indians but
including indentured servants and “three-fifths of all other
Persons.” Thus, with the “three-fifths compromise,” America’s
Founding Fathers managed the neat trick of simultaneously
treating a slave as property and as three-fifths of a human
being.
Not only did the Founding Fathers compromise on conflicting
interests, they also compromised on conflicting principles. As
we have noted, the delegates desired both the representative
principle on the one hand, and order and rule by the “best men,”
a kind of elitism, on the other. Some leaned strongly to one
side, some to the other; most were in the middle.

14. The give-and-take among these approaches resulted in several
important features of the Constitution, particularly the principle
of separation of powers. Borrowing from the French
philosopher, Charles Louis de Montesquieu, the delegates
adopted the idea that each branch of government—executive,
legislative, and judicial—must exercise distinct powers and be
selected in a distinct way. This separation would ensure the
independence of each branch. In addition, the Founding Fathers
adopted the idea that each branch must be able to “check and
balance” the others. By such an arrangement the greatest
freedom would be ensured, for if one branch grew too powerful
and sought to dominate the others, it could be stopped.
Checks and balances were a defense of freedom in one way, but
they could also be a brake on excessive freedom—say of a
Daniel Shays. During the years when the states were writing
their first constitutions, extreme democrats generally favored
weak governors and strong legislatures. At Philadelphia the
principle of checks and balances seemed like a fine way to
accomplish both things at once: check “the mob” and also check
the executive.
To this end, the chief executive was to have a veto over acts of
Congress, the popular part of government. But the president was
not to be all-powerful. His veto could be overridden by a two-
thirds vote of Congress. The chief executive could make treaties
with foreign powers, but they would have to be confirmed by a
two-thirds vote of the Senate. He was to be commander in chief
of the army and navy, but only Congress could declare war.
Finally, he could appoint a host of officials, but these
appointments would have to be confirmed by the Senate. As a
final check on the president—and his appointees—the House of
Representatives could bring impeachment charges against
federal officials. If impeached officials were then found guilty
of “high crimes and misdemeanors” by the Senate, they would
be removed from office.

15. Standing guard against the excesses and abuses of Congress and
the president was to be the third branch, the federal judiciary,
capped by a Supreme Court. Although it is nowhere stated in the
Constitution, legal scholars believe that the delegates at
Philadelphia assumed the right of the federal courts to declare
acts of Congress contrary to the Constitution and hence invalid.
To free the judges of political influence, they gave them
lifetime tenure and declared that during their terms of office.
Congress could not reduce their salaries.
Checks and balances offered one way to combine strong and
stable government with a popular voice. The mixture of
democratic and aristocratic methods of choosing the officers of
each branch was another. The president would be selected not
by the direct vote of the people but by an electoral college
chosen by the states. The number of electors from each state
would be equal to the number of representatives and senators it
sent to Congress. State law would determine how they would be
chosen, but it was assumed that they would not be elected
directly by the people. Nor was the Senate, the upper house of
Congress, conceived of as a stronghold of democracy. Senators
would be selected by their state legislatures. To limit popular
control of Congress further, senators were to have long terms of
six years; only one-third would be seeking re-election in each
congressional election held every two years. Finally, the federal
judiciary, including the Supreme Court, was to be appointed,
and thus far removed from the popular will. To temper these
aristocratic features, the House of Representatives would be
directly controlled by “the people.” Representatives would be
elected for two-year terms by the same liberal rules that
governed the selection of members of the lower houses of the
state legislatures.
Besides establishing a new structure, the Constitution greatly
enlarged the powers and scope of the national government. The

16. new government as we have seen, would impose its authority on
the people directly, not through the states. It would also fuse
the nation into a single legal whole. Under the new charter each
state was required to give “full faith and credit” to all laws and
court decisions of the others and to surrender to others all
violators of the law who fled across state lines. The new
government could also do many specific things its predecessor
could not do. It could impose and collect taxes from citizens,
though by the Constitution’s original terms these taxes had to
be proportionate to each state’s population. It could control and
regulate foreign and interstate commerce, although at the urging
of the southern states that shipped large amounts of rice and
tobacco abroad. It was forbidden to tax exports. The new
government had sole control over the coinage of money and
could establish a postal system, build post roads, and pass laws
of naturalization. The power to establish a system of uniform
weights and measures and a uniform bankruptcy law also
belonged to the national government. Finally, the Constitution
declared that the new government could “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.” This
provision, which is known as the elastic clause, later became
the justification for greatly expanded federal authority. In sum,
a strengthened national government was to exercise broad
authority over economic and political affairs, and over a single
economic and legal unit.
Still, the Constitution created not a unitary but a federal
government; that is, it left the states with independent authority
in some spheres. Crime and breaches of the peace were in the
states’ jurisdiction, except when a state legislature or governor
specifically requested federal help to put down local violence.
Social relations, including marriage, divorce, and education,
were also left to the states.

17. Although slavery was considered a “domestic” institution like
the family, it could not be left solely to the states’ jurisdiction.
Conflict over representation had resulted in the three-fifths
compromise, and the problems of slaves escaping to free states
as well as the slave trade itself also had to be considered. After
much debate, the Philadelphia delegates agreed that Congress
could not forbid the foreign slave trade until 1808, but
thereafter it might do so if a majority wished. Congress could,
however, pass laws to deal with runaway slaves who crossed
state lines and guarantee slaveholders the right to recover such
fugitives regardless of local antislavery laws.
All through the summer and into September, the delegates
debated every issue. The discussion, like the weather, was often
heated. To quiet ruffled tempers and encourage greater good
will among the delegates, Franklin at one point proposed that a
chaplain be invited to open each morning session with a prayer.
Washington, the presiding officer, also worked to maintain
peace; and although he said little, his dignity and calm
demeanor helped to keep the delegates’ differences from getting
out of hand.
Nothing could prevent disagreement. A number of the delegates
considered the completed draft of the Constitution far too
centralizing and denounced the work of the convention. Some
went so far as to quit Philadelphia in protest. On the other hand,
the most extreme centralizers believed the proposed constitution
did not go far enough. Alexander Hamilton wanted the states
abolished in favor of a strong, unitary government. The views
that ultimately prevailed were those of James Madison, who
succeeded in mobilizing the majority around the compromise
proposals.
On September 8 the convention sent the completed draft to the
Committee of Style and Arrangement This group of five
polished the convention’s paragraphs and rearranged them in

18. logical order. One of its members wrote a preamble that
described the promotion of “the general welfare” as one of the
purposes of the new framework of government. On September
17, 1787, each of the state delegations voted its approval, and
the convention adjourned.
RATIFICATION
Now the Constitution’s friends faced the problem of securing its
adoption, and it seemed likely that the battle would prove
difficult The Confederation Congress had authorized the
Philadelphia convention only to “revise” and “amend” the
Articles of Confederation—not to propose a new form of
government. Would Congress reject the convention’s work? On
September 29 the new Constitution was presented to Congress.
That body was almost dead and had no heart for resistance.
After some minor debate it recommended the plan to the
separate states for adoption by convention. The more difficult
task was winning ratification by the states. The opposition
fought hard against it. Certain groups of debtors, aware that
state-issued paper money would be illegal under the new
government, were naturally opposed to it. So were taxpayers in
states that had paid their debts and those who considered
strengthened national government a retreat from “true
republicanism.” Finally, there were the cautious people,
inclined to stick to the ills they had than fly to others they knew
not of.
At one time scholars emphasized the formidable opposition to
the Constitution and described the battle to get it adopted as a
fierce struggle. In part this view projects back into the adoption
period attitudes that gelled in the years immediately following.
It also reflects the fact that in a few states the adoption issue
was indeed hard-fought. Because it would have been difficult to
achieve a successful Union without them, the debates that took
place in these states were important. Still, it is clear that the

19. “federalists”—those who favored the new federal government—
won with remarkable ease.
The delegates at Philadelphia had decided that the new
government would go into operation when nine states had
ratified the Constitution. Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New
Jersey were won over almost immediately, the first and third by
unanimous votes. Early in 1788 Georgia’s convention also
ratified unanimously. Connecticut soon followed with a heavy
federalist majority. In Massachusetts the friends of the
Constitution encountered their first serious opposition. By early
estimates the state convention had a solid anti-federalist
majority. Among the initial opponents were the influential Sam
Adams and John Hancock, for years leaders of the state’s
popular party. If these men could be converted, enough
delegates would follow them to carry ratification. Fortunately
for the Constitution, Adams was induced to change his mind by
a mass meeting of Constitution supporters staged by Paul
Revere. Convinced that the rally expressed the views of the
state’s common folk, Adams agreed to change his position.
Hancock, now the state’s governor, was coaxed and flattered by
federalists into believing he was in line for high federal office
under the new Constitution.
One of the federalists’ problems in Massachusetts and a number
of other states was that the Constitution lacked a bill of rights
to protect citizens against federal tyranny and guarantee civil
liberties. Some who complained of this lack were interested
merely in delaying or defeating adoption. But others, such as
Hancock, were sincere in their concern. When Hancock agreed
to endorse ratification, he proposed simultaneously that nine
amendments be added to protect the citizen against federal
tyranny. With this request tacked on to its motion, the
Massachusetts convention voted 187 to 168 for adoption.
In March the federalists suffered their first actual setback when

20. maverick Rhode Island overwhelmingly rejected the
Constitution by a popular vote. The state, as we saw, had been
the center of debtor-imposed paper money schemes and had not
sent a delegation to Philadelphia. During the ratification battle
the federalists did not stand a chance, and they boycotted the
vote. The results were as expected: the Constitution received
only 10 percent of the votes cast.
Rhode Island’s refection did not stop the federalists’ forward
momentum, however. In April and May Maryland and South
Carolina joined the parade of adoptions and did so by large
majorities. Then, by a close vote on June 21, New Hampshire
became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution. Under the
rules that the convention had prescribed, the Constitution was
now officially in force. But New York and Virginia had not
acted. If they voted no, it would be impossible to maintain a
workable political system.
Federalist forces in Virginia were strong and well organized.
Among them were some of the most prestigious men in the
state, including James Madison and John Marshall. Also
working in the federalists’ favor was the general assumption
that the first president under the Constitution would almost
certainly be the state’s greatest son, George Washington. Not
yet the “father of his country,” he was nevertheless a
commanding figure in the new nation and seemed to embody the
finest type of patriotism.
On the anti-federalist side, however, there was an impressive
array of talent, too, including Patrick Henry and James Monroe.
Henry was the spearhead of the anti-federalist attack. In an
impassioned speech to the state convention, he portrayed the
new Constitution as dangerous to liberty. Under it the citizen
would be abused, insulted, tyrannized. Henry also appealed to
localism and the self-love of his listeners. “The Constitution
reflects in the most degrading and mortifying manner on the

21. virtue, integrity, and wisdom of the state legislatures,” he
declared. It assumed “that the chosen few who go to Congress
will have more upright hearts, and more enlightened minds, than
those who are members of individual legislatures.” Many in his
audience believed it was the finest address of his distinguished
career as an orator. In the end, Henry’s eloquence was not
enough. The convention voted to ratify with the proviso, once
again, that a bill of rights be added to the new frame of
government.
The battle now shifted to New York. Without New York the
union would be physically split in half; with it the union would
be complete in all essentials. For weeks the federalists had been
bombarding the state’s newspaper readers with articles written
by Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay. These Federalist Papers,
explaining, defending, and praising the new Constitution, were
brilliant expositions of the federalist position. But they were not
only propaganda; they were also pithy analyses by
unsentimental men of the way politics was practiced in the real
world. Ordinary men were not equipped to govern the country
directly, they stated. They did not have the necessary
knowledge or understanding. The country would be well ruled
only by those who recognized that government was a
“complicated science” requiring “abilities and knowledge of a
variety of other subjects, to understand it.” Every just and
successful government must respect the wishes of ordinary
people, but wisdom must temper the decisions of majorities.
Majorities were often temporary and more often moved by
passion than by mature judgment. In the future, moreover, when
inequalities had become greater than at present they were
certain to attack property rights. Government must be strong
enough to guard against such natural but mistaken leveling
tendencies of democracy.
The persuasiveness of the Federalist Papers and Hamilton’s
impassioned presentation of the federalist position at the state

22. convention gave the adoption drive a great boost. But the pro-
Constitution people had more than eloquence on their side. If
New York State did not join the union, New York City might
choose to join anyway to avoid losing the lucrative commerce
that flowed through it to New Jersey and southern New
England. What would the state do then? The argument was
convincing, and in the end the logic of circumstances prevailed.
On July 26, 1788, the New York convention voted thirty to
twenty-seven to adopt the Constitution.
The new union was now secure. Early in 1789 national elections
were held for the first time under the Constitution, and
federalist candidates won a majority in the new Congress. In
January the electoral college voted unanimously for Washington
as president and settled on John Adams as his vice-president.
Rhode Island and North Carolina were still outside the Union,
and their citizens did not participate in the election.
Soon after the elections the new government as promised,
adopted the first ten amendments to the Constitution, commonly
called the Bill of Rights. The first nine guaranteed the rights of
free speech, press, and assembly and forbade the federal
government to make any law “respecting the establishment of
religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” They affirmed
the right of the people “to bear and keep arms,” protected the
citizen against “unreasonable searches and seizures,” required
jury trials in criminal and major civil cases, and forbade
“excessive” bail or fines and “cruel and unusual punishments.”
The tenth amendment “reserved” to the states all powers not
given the United States by the Constitution.
Note that these amendments placed limits on Congress and the
federal government in the area of fundamental civil rights; they
did not apply to the state governments. The states had similar
restraints in their own constitutions, and at this time it was
considered unnecessary to guard the citizen against tyranny by

23. state governments.
With their last objections gone, and fearful of being treated as
foreign nations if they did not join the Union, North Carolina
and Rhode Island reversed their earlier stands and ratified the
Constitution in 1789 and 1790, respectively. The United States
was now a nation; it had ceased to be a league of petty states.
******
THE BRITISH DECLARATION OF RIGHTS (1689)
In seventeenth-century Britain armed conflict arose twice over
the issue of sovereignty. Was the king the absolute sovereign of
the nation, or did he have to first consult Parliament before
engaging in acts such as those involving religion or revenue.
After a civil war in the middle of the century, the matter finally
was resolved in the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688, when the
supposed Catholic king, James II, was driven from the throne
and replaced by William of Orange (in the Netherlands) and his
wife (and James’s Protestant daughter), Mary. The next year
(the same year by the then British dating system, which began
years in March), William and Mary agreed to a declaration of
rights (later enacted as the Bill of Rights), which set limits on
the actions of the king. The declaration reiterated Parliament’s
assertion to be the representative of the “people,” even its
members were elected only by the elites.
And whereas the said late king James the Second having
abdicated the government and the throne being thereby vacant,
His Highness the prince of Orange (whom it hath pleased
Almighty God to make the glorious instrument of delivering this
kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) did (by the advice of
the lords spiritual and temporal [bishops and nobility in the
House of Lords] and divers principal persons of the commons)
cause letters to be written to the lords spiritual and temporal,

24. being Protestants; and other letters to the several counties,
cities, universities, boroughs and Cinque ports [ports with
special privileges] for the choosing of such persons to represent
them, as were of right to be sent to parliament, to meet and sit
at Westminster upon the two and twentieth day of January in
this year one thousand six hundred eighty and eight, in order to
[guarantee] ... that their religion, laws and liberties might not
again be in danger of being subverted; upon which letters
elections having been accordingly made,
And thereupon the said lords spiritual and temporal and
commons pursuant to their respective letters and elections being
now assembled in a full and free representative of this nation,
taking into their most serious consideration the best means for
attaining the ends aforesaid, do in the first place (as their
ancestors in like case have usually done) for the vindicating and
asserting their ancient rights and liberties, declare:
That the pretended power of suspending of laws or the
execution of laws by regal authority without consent of
parliament is illegal.
That the pretended power of dispensing with laws or the
execution of laws by regal authority as it hath been assumed and
exercised of late is illegal.
That the commission for erecting the late court of
commissioners for ecclesiastical causes and all other
commissions and courts of like nature are illegal and
pernicious.
That the levying money for or to the use of the crown by
pretence of prerogative without grant of parliament for a longer
time or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted is
illegal.

25. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king and all
commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal.
That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom
in time of peace unless it be with consent of parliament is
against law.
That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their
defense suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law.
That election of members of parliament ought to be free.
That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in
parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court
or place out of parliament.
That excessive bail ought not to be required nor excessive fines
imposed nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
That jurors ought to be duly impaneled and returned and jurors
which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be
freeholders.
That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of
particular persons before conviction are illegal and void.
And that for redress of all grievances and for the amending,
strengthening and preserving of the laws parliaments ought to
be held frequently.
And they do claim, demand and insist upon all and singular the
premises as their undoubted rights and liberties and that no
declarations, judgments, doings or proceedings to the prejudice
of the people in any of the said premises ought in any wise to be
drawn hereafter into consequence or example.

26. ******
THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT (1620)
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of
Plymouth Colony in what would become Massachusetts. The
group aboard the small, leaky ship was bound for Virginia, but
they ended up landing to the north at Plymouth Bay. Knowing
they were outside of Virginia and thus having no legal right to
be there, all of the adult males aboard signed the Compact and
constituted themselves as a “civil Body Politick” under King
James I.
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are
underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord
King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for
the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and
the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first
Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents,
solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another,
covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body
Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and
Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do
enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws,
Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to
time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the
general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due
Submission and Obedience. ...
******
RESOLUTIONS OF THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS (1765)
In October 1765 in New York City, representatives from nine of
the thirteen North American colonies met to discuss the Stamp

27. Act, which had been recently passed by the British Parliament.
The delegates approved a “Declaration of Rights and
Grievances,” which argued that only colonial assemblies could
properly make laws for the colonies, because the colonies had
no representatives in Parliament. The subsequent petition to the
king and Parliament secured the signatures of members of only
six of the colonies. The Congress was a forum for expressing
constitutional concerns and not for declaring independence.
The members of this Congress, sincerely devoted, with the
warmest sentiments of affection and duty to His Majesty’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 Parliament.
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.

28. 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 no
taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on
them, but by their respective legislatures. ...
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, etc., 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. …
12. That the increase, prosperity, and happiness of these
colonies, depend on the full and free enjoyment of their rights
and liberties, and an intercourse with Great-Britain mutually
affectionate and advantageous.
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 Parliament, 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 Admiralty is extended as aforesaid, and
of the other late Acts for the restriction of American commerce.
******

29. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (July 4, 1776)
On July 4, 1776 the Continental Congress adopted the
Declaration, which announced that the thirteen American
colonies—which had been at war with Great Britain for over a
year—were free and independent states. Thomas Jefferson was
the primary author. The document justified the independence of
the United States by listing grievances against Britain and by
asserting “certain unalienable rights,” including a right of
revolution.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of
America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected
them with another, and to assume among the powers of the
earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of
Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the
causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness. —That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any
Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the
Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed,
will dictate that Governments long established should not be
changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all
experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to

30. suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a
long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the
same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such
Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these
Colonies; 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 [George III] is a history of
repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the
establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. …
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 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 legislatures. …
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us. …

31. 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 taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable
Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our
Governments.
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
…
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the
merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare is an
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for
Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have
been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose
character is thus marked by every act which may define a
Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. …
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 the 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

32. levy War, conclude 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.
******
CONSTITUTION OF PENNSYLVANIA (September 28, 1776)
In 1776 Pennsylvania enacted its first state constitution in
direct response to the Declaration of Independence. With the
beginning of the revolution the Continental Congress issued two
resolutions in May 1776 calling for the colonies to reject British
rule and establish governments based on the authority of the
people. Revolutionaries in Pennsylvania, led by Benjamin
Franklin, held public meetings to elect representatives to a
constitutional convention. The framers of the constitution had
two goals: to make representatives more responsive to the
people, and to allow bad politicians to be removed from office
swiftly.
WHEREAS all government ought to be instituted and supported
for the security and protection of the community as such, and to
enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural
rights, and the other blessings which the Author of existence
has bestowed upon man; and whenever these great ends of
government are not obtained, the people have a right, by
common consent to change it, and take such measures as to
them may appear necessary to promote their safety and
happiness. … AND WHEREAS it is absolutely necessary for the
welfare and safety of the inhabitants of said colonies, that they
be henceforth free and independent States, and that just,
permanent, and proper forms of government exist in every part
of them, derived from and founded on the authority of the

33. people only, agreeable to the directions of the honourable
American Congress. We, the representatives of the freemen of
Pennsylvania, in general convention met, for the express
purpose of framing such a government, … ordain, declare, and
establish, the following Declaration of Rights and Frame of
Government, to be the CONSTITUTION of this commonwealth,
and to remain in force therein for ever, unaltered, except in such
articles as shall hereafter on experience be found to require
improvement, and which shall by the same authority of the
people, fairly delegated as this frame of government directs, be
amended or improved for the more effectual obtaining and
securing the great end and design of all government, herein
before mentioned.
A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE INHABITANTS
OF THE COMMONWEALTH OR STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA
I. That all men are born equally free and independent, and have
certain natural, inherent and inalienable rights, amongst which
are, the enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring,
possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining
happiness and safety.
II. That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship
Almighty God according to the dictates of their own
consciences and understanding. …
IV. That all power being originally inherent in, and
consequently derived from, the people; therefore all officers of
government, whether legislative or executive, are their trustees
and servants, and at all times accountable to them. …
IX. That in all prosecutions for criminal offences, a man hath a
right to be heard by himself and his council, to demand the
cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the
witnesses, to call for evidence in his favour, and a speedy

34. public trial, by an impartial jury of the country, without the
unanimous consent of which jury he cannot be found guilty; nor
can he be compelled to give evidence against himself; nor can
any man be justly deprived of his liberty except by the laws of
the land, or the judgment of his peers. …
XII. That the people have a right to freedom of speech, and of
writing, and publishing their sentiments; therefore the freedom
of the press ought not to be restrained.
XIII. That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence
of themselves and the state; and as standing armies in the time
of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up;
And that the military should be kept under strict subordination
to, and governed by, the civil power. …
XVI. That the people have a right to assemble together, to
consult for their common good, to instruct their representatives,
and to apply to the legislature for redress of grievances, by
address, petition, or remonstrance.
PLAN OR FRAME OF GOVERNMENT FOR THE
COMMONWEALTH OR STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA
SECTION 1. The commonwealth or state of Pennsylvania shall
be governed hereafter by an assembly of the representatives of
the freemen of the same, and a president and council, in manner
and form following-
SECT. 2. The supreme legislative power shall be vested in a
house of representatives of the freemen of the commonwealth or
state of Pennsylvania.
SECT. 3. The supreme executive power shall be vested in a
president and council.

35. SECT. 4. Courts of justice shall be established in the city of
Philadelphia, and in every county of this state. …
SECT. 6. Every freemen of the full age of twenty-one years,
having resided in this state for the space of one whole Year next
before the day of election for representatives, and paid public
taxes during that time, shall enjoy the right of an elector. …
SECT. 25. Trials shall be by jury as heretofore: And it is
recommended to the legislature of this state, to provide by law
against every corruption or partiality in the choice, return, or
appointment of juries. …
SECT. 41. NO public tax, custom or contribution shall be
imposed upon, or paid by the people of this state, except by a
law for that purpose. ...
Passed in Convention the 28th day of September, 1776, and
signed by their order. BENJ. FRANKLIN,
Prest.
******
THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION (1777, ratified 1781)
Drafted by the Continental Congress, the Articles were the first
constitution of the United States. Fearing that a national
government with too much power would deprive individual
states of their rights, the Congress gave the states the largest
share of power. Under the Articles each of the states retained
their “sovereignty, freedom, and independence.” There was no
separation of powers, and the weak central government
functions were assigned to the Congress, which was composed
of representatives from each state.
I The Stile of this Confederacy shall be “The United States of

36. America”.
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. …
In determining questions in the United States in Congress
assembled, each State shall have one vote. …
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. …
VIII All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be
incurred for the common defense or general welfare, and
allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be
defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by
the several States. …
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 causes whatever;
which authority shall always be exercised in the manner
following. …
In Witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress.
Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day
of July in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred
and Seventy-Eight, and in the Third Year of the independence
of America.
******

37. THOMAS JEFFERSON AND JAMES MADISON ON
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM (1777-1785)
Two of the most famous founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson,
primary author of the Declaration of Independence, and James
Madison, primary author of the U.S. Constitution, were strong
supporters of religious freedom and the separation of church
and state. In 1777, Jefferson wrote a draft for a bill establishing
religious freedom for the state of Virginia. He and Madison
promoted the bill for years before it was finally passed by the
Virginia legislature in 1786. The resulting law disestablished
the Anglican Church as the officially recognized state religion.
Jefferson’s pride in this measure can be seen in the epitaph he
wrote for his gravestone: “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson,
Author of the Declaration of Independence, Of the Statute of
Virginia for Religious Freedom, And Father of the University of
Virginia.” In 1785 Madison wrote the Memorial and
Remonstrance against Religious Assessments to oppose a
general assessment, or statewide tax, that would support the
Christian ministers in the state of Virginia. These two works are
viewed as precursors to the religion clauses of the U.S.
Constitution.
Thomas Jefferson, Draft for a Bill for Establishing Religious
Freedom (1777)
SECTION I.
Well aware that the opinions and belief of men depend not on
their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed
to their minds; that Almighty God hath created the mind free,
and manifested his supreme will that free it shall remain by
making it altogether insusceptible of restraint; that all attempts
to influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil
incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and
meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the holy author
of our religion, who being lord both of body and mind, yet

38. chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his
Almighty power to do, but to extend it by its influence on
reason alone; that the impious presumption of legislators and
rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but
fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the
faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of
thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavoring
to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false
religions over the greatest part of the world and through all
time; … that our civil rights have no dependence on our
religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or
geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy
the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being
called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or
renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him
injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which, in
common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right; that it
tends also to corrupt the principles of that very religion it is
meant to encourage, by bribing, with a monopoly of worldly
honours and emoluments, those who will externally profess and
conform to it; … that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his
powers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or
propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is
a dangerous fallacy …
SECTION II.
We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man
shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship,
place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained,
molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise
suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all
men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their
opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no
wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities. …

39. James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious
Assessments (1785)
To the Honorable the General Assembly of the Commonwealth
of Virginia
A Memorial and Remonstrance
We the subscribers, citizens of the said Commonwealth, having
taken into serious consideration, a Bill printed by order of the
last Session of General Assembly, entitled “A Bill establishing
a provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion,” and
conceiving that the same if finally armed with the sanctions of a
law, will be a dangerous abuse of power, are bound as faithful
members of a free State to remonstrate against it, and to declare
the reasons by which we are determined. We remonstrate
against the said Bill,
1. Because we hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth,
“that religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator and the
manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and
conviction, not by force or violence.” The Religion then of
every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of
every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as
these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable
right. … It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator
such homage and such only as he believes to be acceptable to
him. This duty is precedent, both in order of time and in degree
of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society. …
2. Because Religion be exempt from the authority of the
Society at large, still less can it be subject to that of the
Legislative Body. … The Rulers who are guilty of such an
encroachment, exceed the commission from which they derive
their authority, and are Tyrants. The People who submit to it are
governed by laws made neither by themselves nor by an

40. authority derived from them, and are slaves. …
5. Because the Bill implies either that the Civil Magistrate is
a competent Judge of Religious Truth; or that he may employ
Religion as an engine of Civil policy. The first is an arrogant
pretension falsified by the contradictory opinions of Rulers in
all ages, and throughout the world: the second an unhallowed
perversion of the means of salvation. …
15. Because finally, “the equal right of every citizen to the
free exercise of his Religion according to the dictates of
conscience” is held by the same tenure with all our other rights.
If we recur to its origin, it is equally the gift of nature; if we
weigh its importance, it cannot be less dear to us; if we consult
the “Declaration of those rights which pertain to the good
people of Virginia, as the basis and foundation of Government,”
it is enumerated with equal solemnity, or rather studied
emphasis. …
******
THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE (1787)
In July 1787, while a new constitution for the United States was
still being drafted, the Second Continental Congress of the
Confederation adopted the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which
is considered one of its most successful endeavors. The
Ordinance put the world on notice that the land north of the
Ohio River and east of the Mississippi would be settled and
would eventually become part of the United States. The
Ordinance specified four main things. First, it authorized a
provisional government for the vast territory northwest of the
Ohio River that the United States had obtained at the end of the
Revolutionary War. Second, it provided a method for making
new governments out of that territory. Third, it guaranteed a bill
of rights to inhabitants of the new territories and prohibited

41. slavery in them. Finally, it outlined a way to survey the new
lands so they could be sold to settlers. Increasing numbers of
settlers and land speculators, such as the Ohio Land Company,
were attracted to what are now the states of Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Above all, the Northwest
Ordinance accelerated the westward expansion of the United
States.
Be it ordained by the United States in Congress 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. …
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. ...
There shall be appointed from time to time by Congress, a
secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four
years unless sooner revoked. ... It shall be his duty to keep and
preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the
public records of the district, and the proceedings of the
governor in his executive department, and transmit authentic
copies of such acts and proceedings, every six months, to the
Secretary of Congress: There shall also be appointed a court to
consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who
shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside in the district.
...
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

42. 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.
The governor, for the time being, shall be commander in chief
of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same
below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall be
appointed and commissioned by Congress. ...
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 a representative from their counties or townships to
represent them in the general assembly. …
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:
Art. 1. 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 territory.
Art. 2. 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 according to the
course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless
for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident or the
presumption great. All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or
unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be
deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his
peers or the law of the land; and, should the public exigencies
make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any

43. person’s property, or to demand his particular services, full
compensation shall be made for the same. And, in the just
preservation of rights and property, it is understood and
declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the
said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with
or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide, and
without fraud, previously formed. …
Art. 5. There shall be formed in the said territory, not less than
three nor more than five States. ... And, whenever any of the
said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein,
such State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress
of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States
in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a
permanent constitution and State government: Provided, the
constitution and government so to be formed, shall be
republican, and in conformity to the principles contained in
these articles; and, so far as it can be consistent with the
general 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.
Art. 6. 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 labor or service as aforesaid.
Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions
of the 23rd of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this
ordinance, be, and the same are hereby repealed and declared
null and void.
******

44. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(framed in 1787, ratified in 1788, established in 1789)
After Congress agreed to the Philadelphia convention, 1787 a
total of 55 delegates (representing every state except Rhode
Island) assembled in May at Independence Hall. The convention
closed its sessions to the public and press to give themselves
freedom to debate and compromise. The final document that was
approved on September 17, 1787 was a complete departure from
the principles of the Articles. It was formally ratified by the
ninth state on June 21, 1788, and by July 26, the two largest
states, Virginia and New York, had also voted for ratification
with the provision that the document be amended to include a
list of basic freedoms (limitations on the new stronger national
government). In 1789, the new government was established with
George Washington as president and twelve amendments were
proposed. Ten of these were ratified in 1791 and later became
known as the Bill of Rights. Over the following 200 years the
document was further amended seventeen times.
PREAMBLE
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare,
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.
ARTICLE I
Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested
in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a
Senate and a House of Representatives.

45. Section 2. 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.
No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained
to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen
of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an
inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this Union,
according to their respective numbers, which shall be
determined by adding to the whole number of free persons,
including those bound to service for a term of years and
excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.
[Italicized clause modified by Section 2 of Amendment
XIV]The actual enumeration shall be made within three years
after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and
within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as
they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall
not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall
have at least one Representative; and until such enumeration
shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to
choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey
four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia
ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia
three. [Italicized clause was a temporary provision no longer in
effect.]
When vacancies happen in the representation from any State,

46. the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to
fill such vacancies. The House of Representatives shall choose
their Speaker and other officers: and shall have the sole power
of impeachment.
Section 3. TheSenate of the United States shall be composed of
two Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof,
[italicized phrase altered by Amendment XVII] for six years;
and each Senator shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the
first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into
three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be
vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class
at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the
expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen
every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or
otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any State, the
Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the
next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such
vacancies. [Italicized clause modified by Clause 2 of
Amendment XXVII]
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the
age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that
State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a
President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or
when he shall exercise the office of the President of the United
States.

47. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.
When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or
affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried,
the Chief Justice shall preside: and no person shall be convicted
without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.
Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than
to removal from the office, and disqualification to hold and
enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United
States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and
subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment,
according to law.
Section 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections
for Senate and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State
by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by
law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of
choosing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and
such meeting shall he on the first Monday in December, unless
they shall by law appoint a different day. [Italicized clause
superseded by Section 2 of Amendment XX]
Section 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections,
returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of
each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller
number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to
compel the attendance of absent members in such manner, and
under such penalties, as each house may provide.
Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish

48. its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence
of two-thirds, expel a member. Each house shall keep a journal
of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same,
excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy;
and the yeas and nays of the members of either house on any
question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be
entered on the journal.
Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor
to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be
sitting.
Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a
compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law and
paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all
cases except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be
privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of
their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the
same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall
not be questioned in any other place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which
he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the
authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or
the emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during such
time; and no person holding any office under the United States
shall be a member of either house during his continuance in
office.
Section 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur
with amendments as on other bills.

49. 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 objections to that house in
which it originated, who shall enter the objections at large on
their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such
reconsideration two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the
bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other
house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and, if
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But
in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by
yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and
against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President
within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been
presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if
he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment
prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except
on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the
President of the United States; and before the same shall take
effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him,
shall be re-passed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of
Representatives, according to the rules and limitations
prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 8. The Congress shall have power
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the
debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare
of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be

50. uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the
several States, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws
on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin,
and fix the standard of weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities
and current coin of the United States;
To establish post offices and post roads;
To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing
for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to
their respective writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the
high seas and offenses against the law of nations;

51. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make
rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to
that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and
naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of
the Union suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia,
and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the
service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively
the appointment of the Officers and the authority of training the
militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over
such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by
cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress,
become the seat of 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
erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other
needful buildings; and

52. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for
carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other
powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the
United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 9.The migration or importation of such persons as any
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not
be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808; but a tax
or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten
dollars for each person. [Italicized clause was a temporary
provision]
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be
suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the
public safety may require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed
to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or
revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall
vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear,
or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence
of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and
account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money
shall be published from time to time.

53. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no
person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall,
without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present,
emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any
king, prince, or foreign state.
Section 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or
confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money;
emit bills of credit; 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.
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 inspection laws: and the net produce
of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or
exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States;
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of
the Congress. No State shall, without the consent of Congress,
lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of
peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State,
or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually
invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
ARTICLE II
Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President
of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during
the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President,
chosen for the same term, be elected as follows:

54. 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 government of the United States,
directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and the House of
Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall
then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes
shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the
whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than
one who have such majority, and have an equal number of
votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person
have a majority, then from the five highest on the list said
house shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing
the President the votes shall be taken by States, the
representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for
this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-
thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be
necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the
President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the
electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain
two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from
them by ballot the Vice President. [Italicized clause superseded
by Amendment XII]
The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors
and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day

55. shall be the same throughout the United States.
No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution,
shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any
person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to
the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident
within the United States.
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and
duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice
President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of
removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President
and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as
President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the
disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
[Italicized clause modified by Amendment XXV]
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a
compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished
during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he
shall not receive within that period any other emolument from
the United States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the
following oath or affirmation:— “I do solemnly swear (or
affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of the President
of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve,
protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Section 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the
army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the

56. 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 offenses against
the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators
present concur, and he shall nominate, and by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors,
other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme
Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose
appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which
shall be established by law: but Congress may by law vest the
appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in
the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of
departments. The President shall have power to fill up all
vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by
granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next
session.
Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress
information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both
houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between
them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn
them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive
ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that
the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the
officers of the United States.
Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil officers
of the United States shall be removed from office on

57. impeachment for, and on 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. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law
and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the
United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under
their authority;—to all cases affecting ambassadors, other
public ministers and consuls;—to all cases of admiralty and
maritime jurisdiction;—to controversies to which the United
States shall be a party;—to controversies between two or more
States;—between a State and citizens of another State;—
between citizens of different States;—between citizens of the
same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and
between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states,
citizens or subjects. [italicized phrases restricted by
Amendment XI]
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme
Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases
before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate
jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and
under such regulations, as the Congress shall make.