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Eepu"blicaii Campaign Edition for the Million. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 
 
 THE LIVES OF 
 
 FREMONT AND DAYTON, 
 
 WITH BEAUTIFUL STEEL PORTRAITS OF EACH. 
 
 THE DECLARATM OF IJ(DEPE^'DE^^CE, 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY. 
 
 CLEVELAND, OHIO: 
 
 JEWETT, PKOCTOR AKD WORTHINGTON. 
 
 KEW YORK : SHELDON, BLAKEMAN AND COMPANY. 
 185 6. 
 
.1T4 
 
 CAMBRIDGE : 
 
 ALLEN AND FARNHAM, STEEEOTYPERS AND PRINTERS. 
 -I ft. 
 
 FE3 15 tSlO 
 
 PRESS CF Cr.O. C. RAND; 
 
 WOOD CUT AXDPOOK PRI INTER, 
 
 CORXaiLL, DOSTON. 
 
THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 
 
 ADOPTED BY THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION, JUNE 
 17th, 1856. A GOOD DAY FOR THE ADOPTION OF 
 SUCH PRINCIPLES. 
 
 This Convention of Delegates, assembled in 
 pursuance of a call to the people of the United 
 States, without regard to past political differences 
 or divisions, who are opposed to the repeal of the 
 Missouri Compromise — to the policy of the pres- 
 ent administration — to the extension of slavery 
 into tree territory ; in favor of the admission of 
 Kansas as a free State — of restoring the action of 
 the Federal Government to the principles of 
 Washington and Jeiferson, and for the purpose of 
 presenting candidates for the offices of President 
 and Vice-President, do — 
 
 Resolve, That the maintenance of the principles 
 promulgated in the Declaration of Independence, 
 and embodied in the Federal Constitution, are 
 essential to the preservation of our Republican 
 Institutions, and that the Federal Constitution, the 
 
 (3) 
 
4 THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. 
 
 rights of the States, and the union of the States, 
 must and shall be preserved. 
 
 Resolved, That with our Republican fathers, we 
 hold it to be a self-evident truth that all men are 
 endowed with the inahenable right of life, Uberty, 
 and the pursuit of happiness, and that the primary 
 object and ulterior design of our Federal Govern- 
 ment is to grant these rights to all persons under 
 its exclusive jurisdiction. That, as our Republican 
 fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our 
 national territory, ordained that no person shall be 
 deprived of life, Hberty, or property, without due 
 process of law, it becomes our duty to maintain 
 this provision of the Constitution against all at- 
 tempts to violate it, for the purpose of establishing 
 slavery in the territories of the United States by 
 positive legislation, prohibiting its existence or 
 extension therein. That we deny the authority 
 of Congress, of a Territorial Legislature, of any 
 individual or association of individuals, to give 
 legal existence to slavery in any territory of the 
 United States, while the present Constitution shall 
 be maintained. 
 
 Resolved, That the Constitution confers upon 
 Congress sovereign power over the territories of 
 the United States for their government, and that 
 in the exercise of this power, it is both the right 
 
THE REPUBLICAX PLATFORM. O 
 
 and the imperative duty of Congress to prohibit 
 in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, 
 polygamy and slavery. 
 
 Resolved, That Avhile the Constitution of the 
 United States was ordained and established by the 
 people " in order to form a more perfect union, 
 establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro- 
 vide for the common defence, promote the general 
 welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty," and 
 contains ample provisions for the protection of 
 the life, liberty, and property of every citizen, the 
 dearest constitutional rights of the people of Kan- 
 sas have been fraudeutly and violently taken from 
 them. 
 
 Their territory has been invaded by an armed 
 force ; 
 
 Spurious and pretended legislative, judicial, and 
 executive officers have been set over them, by 
 whose usurped authority, sustained by the mili- 
 tary power of the government, tyrannical and 
 unconstitutional laws have been enacted and en- 
 forced ; 
 
 The right of the people to keep and bear arms 
 has been infringed ; test oaths of an extraordinary 
 and entangling nature have been imposed as a 
 condition of exercising the right of suffrage and 
 holding office ; 
 
6 THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. 
 
 The right of an accused person to a speedy and 
 public trial by an impartial jury has been denied ; 
 
 The right of the people to be secure in their 
 persons, houses, papers, and effects, against un- 
 reasonable searches and seizures, has been vio- 
 lated ; 
 
 They have been deprived of life, hberty, and 
 property, without due process of law ; 
 
 That the freedom of speech and of the press 
 has been abridged ; 
 
 The right to choose their representatives has 
 been made of no effect ; 
 
 Murders, robberies, and arsons have been insti- 
 gated and encouraged, and the offenders have 
 been allowed to go unpunished ; 
 
 That all these things have been done with the 
 knowledge, sanction, and procurement of the pres- 
 ent national administration, and that for this high 
 crime against the Constitution, the Union, and 
 humanity we arraign that administration, the Pres- 
 ident, his advisers, agents, supporters, apologists, 
 and accessories, either hefore or after the fact, 
 before the country and before the world ; and that 
 it is our fixed purpose to bring the actual perpe- 
 trators of these atrocious outrages, and their ac- 
 complices, to a sure and condign punishment here- 
 after. 
 
THE RErUBLICAX TLATFORM. 7 
 
 Resolved^ That Kansas should be immediately 
 admitted as a State of this Union, with her pres- 
 ent free Constitution, as at once the most effectual 
 ■way of securing to her citizens the enjoyment of 
 thQ rights and privileges to which they are enti- 
 tled, and of ending the civil strife now raging in 
 her territory. 
 
 Eesolced, That the highwayman's plea that 
 might makes right, embodied in the Ostend Cir- 
 cular, was in every respect unworthy of American 
 diplomacy, and would bring shame and dishonor 
 upon any government or people that gave it their 
 sanction. 
 
 Besolved, That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean, 
 by the most central practical route, is imperatively 
 demanded by the interests of the whole country, 
 and that the federal government ought to render 
 immediate and sufficient aid in the construction, 
 and as an auxiliary thereto, to the immediate con- 
 struction of an emigrant road on the line of the 
 railroad. 
 
 Resolved, That appropriations by Congress for 
 the improvement of rivers and harbors of a na- 
 tional character required for the accommodation 
 and security of an existing conmierce, are author- 
 ized by the Constitution, and justified by the obli- 
 gations of government to protect the Uves and 
 property of its citizens. 
 
8 THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. 
 
 Resolved., That we invite the affiliation and co- 
 operation of men of all parties, however differing 
 from us in other respects, in support of the prin- 
 ciples herein declared, and believing that the 
 spirit of our institutions, as well as the Constitu- 
 tion of our country, guarantees liberty of con- 
 science and equality of rights among citizens, we 
 opposQ all legislation impairing their security. 
 
JOHN CHARLES FEEMONT, 
 
 THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The following sketch of the life of this distinguished man, 
 who will be, if he Uves, the next President of the United States, 
 we take from the New York Tribune. 
 
 John C. Fremont, whom tlie People's Con- 
 vention at Philadelphia have selected to head the 
 grand exploring expedition in search of the lost 
 and almost forgotten landmarks of the Constitu- 
 tion, is still a young man. His father, who died 
 when he was a child, was a Frenchman, his mother 
 a Virginian. He was born at Savannah on the 
 21st of January, 1813, and educated at Charleston, 
 South Carolina, where his mother, left a widow 
 with three children, had taken up her residence. 
 The circumstances of the family were exceedingly 
 narrow, and the childhood of Fremont was sur- 
 rounded by privations and difficulties which with 
 
 (9) 
 
10 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT. 
 
 a powerful nature like his, naturally tended to de- 
 velop the heroic elements of his character. 
 
 At Charleston, Fremont enjoyed the instruc- 
 tions of Dr. John Robertson, who, in the preface 
 to a translation of Zenophon's Retreat of the Ten 
 Thousand,, which he published in 1850, records 
 with pride the remarkable proficiency of his pupil. 
 In 1828 he entered the junior class of Charleston 
 College. After leaving which he employed him- 
 self for some time as a teacher of mathematics. 
 In 1833 he obtained that post on board the sloop- 
 of-war Natchez, which had been sent to Charleston 
 to put down the nullifiers (a purpose similar to 
 that for which he is now nominated for President), 
 and on board of her he made a cruise of two 
 years and a half On his return he adopted the 
 profession of a surveyor and railroad engineer, 
 and was employed in that capacity under Captain 
 Williams of the Topographical Engineers in the 
 survey of a route from Charleston to Cincinnati. 
 When this survey was suspended, he accompanied 
 Captain Williams in a reconnoissance of the coun- 
 try then occupied by the Cherokees, after which he 
 joined M. Nicolet, a distinguished French savan in 
 the employ of the United States, in an explormg 
 expedition over the north-western prairies. He 
 was employed in this survey, in which he acted as 
 
JOHN CHARLES FREMONT. 11 
 
 principal assistant, during the years 1838 and 1839, 
 and while absent upon it was appointed a Second 
 Lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engi- 
 neers. While reducing the materials of this sur- 
 vey, and preparing maps and a report, he resided 
 for some time at Washington, where he formed 
 the acquaintance of the family of Mr. Benton, re- 
 sulting in his marriage, in 1841, to one of Mr 
 Benton's daughters. 
 
 Sho^'tly after, in May, 1842, he started on the 
 first of his three great exploring expeditions. This 
 expedition, which occupied about five months, re- 
 sulted in the exploration of the famous South Pass 
 across the Bocky Mountains, and in the ascent by 
 Fremont and four of his men of the Wind Biver 
 Peak, the highest summit of the Bocky Mountain 
 chain. The report of this exploration attracted 
 great attention, both at home and abroad, as well 
 for its unpretending modesty as for the impor- 
 tance of the information contained in it. This 
 report was scarcely published when its author 
 started on a second expedition designed to con- 
 nect the discoveries of the first one with the sur- 
 veys to be made by Commodore Wilkes of the 
 Exploring Expedition on the Pacific coast, and 
 thus to embrace a connected survey of the almost 
 unknown regions on both sides of the Bocky 
 
12 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT. 
 
 Mountains. The party, including thirty-nine per- 
 sons, started from the village of Kansas on the 
 29th of May, 1843, and were employed in the ex- 
 ploration till August of the next year. It was this 
 exploration that first furnished any accurate in- 
 formation as to the Great Salt Lake, the great 
 interior basin of Utah, and the mountain ran^e of 
 the Sierra Nevada, and first brought to light, as it 
 were, the region now constituting the Territory 
 of Utah and the State of California. 
 
 After preparing the report of this expedition in 
 the spring of 1845, Fremont, now a captain, set 
 out on a third expedition designed to make a more 
 particular survey of the regions which'he had pre- 
 viously visited. It was while engaged in this ex- 
 pedition, and before he had received any intima- 
 tion of the commencement of the war with Mexico, 
 that, after having himself been once ordered off 
 by the authorities, he was induced by the entrea- 
 ties of the American settlers in the valley of the Sa- 
 cramento, whom the Mexicans threatened to drive 
 out of the country, to put himself at their head. 
 Thus led, they defeated the Mexicans. Fremont 
 put himself into communication with the naval 
 commanders on the coast, and soon in conjunction 
 with Commodore Stockton, obtained complete pos- 
 session of California, of which, on the 24th of Au- 
 
JOHN CUARLES FREMONT. 13 
 
 gust, lie was appointed by Stockton, Military Com- 
 mander. The fighting, however, was not yet over. 
 The Californians rose in insurrection ; but the 
 arrival of General Kearney with his dragoons 
 from New Mexico, enabled the Americans, after 
 some hard-fought battles, to maintain themselves 
 in possession. Pending these operations, a com- 
 mission arrived for Fremont as Lieutenant-Colonel 
 — a promotion which neither he nor his friends 
 had solicited, but which he gladly received as a 
 ratification on the part of the government of his 
 intervention, on his own responsibility, in the af- 
 fairs of California. 
 
 From the moment of Kearney's arrival a dis- 
 pute had sprung up between him and Commodore 
 Stockton as to the chief command. Kearney sought 
 to throw upon Fremont the responsibility of de- 
 ciding between their respective claims. This he 
 declined, professing his readiness, if they would 
 agree between themselves, to obey cither ; but de- 
 claring his intention, till that point was settled, to 
 continue to obey the commander under whom he 
 had first placed himself, and by whom the war had 
 been conducted. Kearney was greatly dissatis- 
 fied at this, but dissembled his resentment till they 
 both reached Fort Leavenworth on their return 
 home, when he arrested Fremont for disobedi- 
 
14 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT. 
 
 ence of orders and brought him to trial before a 
 court-martial. 
 
 As this court held that Kearney was the right- 
 ful commander, they found Fremont guilty of the 
 charges, and sentenced him to be dismissed from 
 the service. Mr. Polk, then President, signed the 
 sentence as being technically right, but at the 
 same time offered Fremont a new commission of 
 the same grade as that of which he had been 
 deprived. This Fremont refused, and returned a. 
 simple citizen to private life. Thus, discharged 
 from the service of the government, he undertook 
 a fourth exploring expedition of his own, with a 
 view to discover a passage across the Rocky Moun- 
 tains southerly of the South Pass, near the head 
 of the Arkansas, which might serve the purpose 
 of a railroad communication with California. He 
 started from Pueblo, on the Upper Arkansas, with 
 thirty-three men and a hundred and thirty-three 
 mules ; but, misled by his guides, all his mules and 
 a third of his men perished in the snows and cold 
 of the Sierra San Juan, and he himself arrived on 
 foot at Santa Fe with the loss of every thing but 
 his life. Not, however, to be baffled, he refitted 
 the expedition, and in a hundred days, after fresh 
 dangers, reached the banks of the Sacramento. 
 In the rising State of California in which he 
 
JOHN CHARLES FREMONT. 15 
 
 had become one of the earliest American proprie- 
 tors by the purchase during his former visit of the 
 since famous Mariposa grant, Mr. Fremont took a 
 great interest. He -svas active in the formation 
 of the State constitution, and in securing in that 
 document a positive exclusion of Slavery, and was 
 chosen one of the first Senators to represent the 
 new State in Congress. A short term of two years 
 fell to his lot, and, owing to the delay in the ad- 
 mission of the State, he sat in the Senate only 
 one short session. On the expiration of his term 
 the political control of the State had passed into 
 new hands, of which a striking proof was given in 
 the choice of John B. Weller, a decided Pro-Sla- 
 very man, as his successor in the Senate. 
 
 Mr. Fremont now devoted himself to develop- 
 ing the resources of his California estate, which 
 had been discovered to be rich in gold ; but, in 
 addition to the loss of his commission, as the only 
 reward he had realized for his services in Califor- 
 nia, he now found liimself greatly annoyed by 
 claims against him for supplies which, during his 
 campaign in California, had been furnished to the 
 United States on his private credit. During a 
 A'isit to London he was arrested on one of these 
 claims, and it was only after great delay that the 
 Government of the United States was finally 
 
16 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT. 
 
 induced to relieve him from further annoyance 
 by the payment of these debts. In maintaining 
 his right to the Mariposa property, he was also 
 obliged to encounter many annoyances on the 
 part of the government which resisted his claim, 
 but finally, by repeated decisions of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, he triumphed over all 
 of them. 
 
 Having exhibited a singular force of character 
 and a distinguished ability in every undertaking 
 to which he has applied himself, he has now been 
 called by the loud voice of his fellow-citizens in 
 almost all parts of the Union, to place himself at 
 the head of a new, more difficult, but at the same 
 time most glorious enterprise- — that of rescuing 
 the Government and the Union from the hands of 
 a body of unprincipled pohticians, who threaten to 
 subject the country to the double misery of despot- 
 ism and of anarchy. May he be as successful in 
 this as in every thing else that he has undertaken ! 
 And that he will be, who can doubt ? for surely 
 every honest man in the country will hasten to aid 
 him with his voice and his vote. 
 
WILLIAM LEWIS DAYTON, 
 
 THE REPUBLICAIN" CANDIDATE FOR VICE- 
 PRESIDENT. 
 
 We are indebted to the able editor of the Boston Chronicle 
 for the following sketch of this eminent statesman. 
 
 William Lewis Dayton, the Republican 
 candidate for Vice-President, belongs to an old 
 revolutionary family of New Jersey, a State that 
 has produced a large number of eminent men, 
 whose names are imperishably recorded on the 
 pages of their country's history. The Daytons 
 were among the early settlers of New Jersey. 
 They were people of good standing in the colo- 
 nial times, and in the Revolution became conspic- 
 uous for their services in the patriotic cause. EHas 
 Dayton was a General of Brigade. His son, Jon- 
 athan Dayton, was conspicuous as a member of 
 the national legislature, and was elected speaker 
 of the House of Representatives in 1795. Joel 
 
 (17) 
 
18 WILLIAM LEWIS DAYTON. 
 
 Dayton, a farmer, and not a public man, resided 
 at Baskenridge. His eldest son was Williaim 
 Lewis Dayton, who was born on the 1 7th of 
 February, 1807. He was graduated at the Col- 
 lege of New Jersey, in 1825. He made choice of 
 the legal profession, but want of health prevented 
 his being admitted to the bar until five years later, 
 in 1830. He studied with Governor Yroom, one 
 of the first lawyers of the country. In 1835, he 
 was chosen a member of the Senate of New Jer- 
 sey, though Monmouth county, in which he re- 
 sided, was a strong Democratic place, and Mr. 
 Dayton was a thorough-going Whig. We believe 
 the county was never before or afterwards carried 
 by the Whigs. It shows how popular he must 
 have been to be able to cause his political oppo- 
 nents so completely to " conquer their prejudices," 
 for in those days the lines of division were strongly 
 drawn between the Whigs and the Democrats. 
 Appointed to the chairmanship of the Judiciary 
 Committee, Mr. Dayton was instrumental in efiect- 
 ing valuable legal reforms, a fact that shows his 
 superiority to professional influences, lawyers being 
 generally conservative in all their ideas, and par- 
 ticularly averse to changes in modes of legal pro- 
 cedure. The next year he was made a justice of 
 the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and, though 
 2 
 
WILLIAM LEWIS DAYTON. 19 
 
 he was but twenty-nine years old, he early ob- 
 tained a high reputation as a jurist. No name 
 stands higher than his on the roll of the Judges 
 of New Jersey. lie held the oflice three years, 
 at the end of Avhich time he returned to the bar, 
 and soon became its head, as for some time before 
 he had been one of its most brilliant ornaments. 
 
 Mr. Dayton's career as a national statesman com- 
 menced in 1842, when he was in his thirty-sixth 
 year. Samuel L. Southard, a man of the highest 
 talent and reputation, and Avho had done much to 
 elevate the character of New Jersey in the na- 
 tional councils, died that year. At the time of his 
 death he was a member of the United States Sen- 
 ate, in which body he had served for many years. 
 The legislature of New Jersey not being in ses- 
 sion at the time, a vacancy was thus caused in that 
 State's delegation ; it was filled by Executive ap- 
 pointment, and Governor Pennington named 
 Judge Dayton to fill it. This appointment was 
 approved by the legislature, which elected Mr. 
 Dayton to serve out the balance of Mr. Southard's 
 term. That term expiring in 1845, he was re- 
 elected for a full term of six years. He served in 
 the Senate from the Gth of July, 1842, to the 4th 
 of March, 1851. He soon became known to the 
 nation as one of the ablest members of the Senate, 
 
20 WILLIAM LEAVIS DAYTON. 
 
 wliicli then commanded the highest respect of the 
 people, a position which in these latter days it has 
 done much to forfeit by its servility to executive 
 power. He spoke on the various great questions 
 that came before the Senate, and his speeches 
 were remarkable for the evidences they contained 
 of various, extensive, and well-digested attain- 
 ments, their vigorous logic, and their strict per- 
 tinence to the subjects under discussion. No sen- 
 ator was more respected, or enjoyed a larger 
 measure of public confidence and esteem. His 
 retirement fnom the public service was a loss that 
 was felt, the more so that the Senate was losing 
 its high character through the withdrawal from it 
 of many of its oldest and best members. We 
 have understood that if President Taylor had 
 lived. Senator Dayton was to have been appointed 
 to one of the first diplomatic posts witliin his gift, 
 and doubtless he would have filled the place with 
 that usefulness which has marked all his official 
 life. 
 
 The nomination of Mr. Dayton is on all ac- 
 counts an excellent one. His long experience in 
 the Senate has made him familiar with the order 
 of proceeding in that body, and qualified him to 
 preside over its deliberations. His character is 
 »!ure, and commends him to the confidence of the 
 
WILLIAM LEAVIS DAYTON. 21 
 
 people. It was due to the Whigs, so many of 
 whom are engaged in the movement against the 
 extension of slavery, that one of the nominees 
 should be selected from among their old leaders, 
 and in naming Mr. Dayton as the candidate for 
 the Vice-Presidency, the Philadelphia Convention 
 did no more than justice to a numerous and influ- 
 ential portion of the opposition, whose hostility to 
 the encroachments of slavery in past times is the 
 best guaranty for their present sincerity and for 
 their future labors being rightly directed. On the 
 leading question of the day, that to settle which in 
 favor of freedom has caused so many old political 
 foes to forget past quarrels, and to unite in order 
 the better to labor for their country's Avelfare, Mr. 
 Dayton's views are every thing that could be de- 
 sired. He is no sudden convert to the party of 
 freedom, as the views of that party concerning the 
 power of Congress to legislate with respect to sla- 
 very in the territories were entertained by him 
 years ago, and were boldly expressed long before 
 the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was thought 
 of " It does seem to me," he said, in his speech 
 on the Treaty with Mexico, " that if there ever 
 were any doubts on this question as to the power 
 of Congress to legislate with respect to slavery in 
 the territories, those doubts must be held settled 
 
22 WILLIAM LEWIS DAYTOX. 
 
 by the past conduct of the government." It is 
 well known that President Taylor intended to 
 settle the disputes about slavery that he found 
 existing when he came into power, in a manner 
 which would have been very liberal to the North, 
 and at the same time have been strictly just to the 
 South. His death — the most serious loss our 
 country ever sustained in that way, as it opened 
 up the political field to a gang of political agita- 
 tors, who sought to make " political capital " out 
 of the slavery cpiestlon — caused the failure of his 
 plans, and the triumph of the pro-slavery interest 
 under the lead of Northern flunkies. Mr. Dayton 
 was one of the most intimate and influential advis- 
 ers of President Taylor, in this matter, and was 
 first among those who were relied upon to carry 
 the proper measures through the Senate. The 
 country would never have been cursed, and in- 
 sulted, and degraded in the eyes of the world, by 
 the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, had the 
 views of Mr. Dayton and his friends prevailed, — 
 as would have been the case had President Taylor 
 lived. Such a man is well worthy of the votes of 
 all who would have something done to put a stop 
 to the usurpations of the slave poTver, and who 
 would have the high places of government filled 
 with high-minded and able statesmen. The oppo- 
 
WILLIAM LKWIS DAYTON. 23 
 
 sition can carry the country it' they choose to do 
 so. Thvy have it in their power, thronirh union, 
 to strike down the revolutionists at AV^ashiniiton, 
 and to place the government once more in the 
 hands of men who will administer it according to 
 the terms of the Constitution. With such candi- 
 dates as Fremont and Dayton they can unite 
 with perfect propriety, those candidates being the 
 representatives of ideas that are entertained by 
 three fourths of the voters of the country, and 
 which therefore ought to predominate in and con- 
 trol the councils of government. Union is vic- 
 tory always, but it is emphatically so in this elec- 
 tion, on the part of the opposition. The very fact 
 that the electoral system operates most unequally 
 against us should cause us to contend the more 
 earnestly, so that our success shall be the more 
 striking, and more the result of our labors than of 
 the favors of fortune. 
 
THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE. 
 
 The following admirable parallelism between Washington, the 
 father of his country, and Fremont, the finder and pre- 
 server of Republics, we copy from the New York Indepen- 
 dent. 
 
 As our readers well know, we were not of the 
 number of those who urged most strenuously the 
 selection of Colonel Fremont by the Convention 
 at Philadelphia, as the standard-bearer, in the 
 great political campaign which is now upon us, of 
 those principles of justice, humanity, and liberty 
 to which our earnest adherence is given. While 
 highly appreciating, and heartily admiring, the no- 
 ble and signal qualities of this gentleman, we felt 
 a desire that if possible some well-tried Captain in 
 the ranks, Avhich so long have stood unconcpiered 
 for the Kight, should be selected to lead them to 
 the victory which is now, we trust and believe, 
 before them. But since this selection has been 
 made, we are led most clearly to recognize in it 
 the good hand of God ; and to feel, as Ave almost 
 never have felt hitherto, that Providence has raised 
 up, has endowed, and has trained this workman for 
 his office, the Man for the Hour. If the election in 
 November shall result, as we are well pereuaded 
 (24) 
 
THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE. 25 
 
 that it will, in placing him in the chair of the 
 President of these United States, then we are 
 compelled to say that in no one instance in all the 
 history of our nation, since the freight of the May- 
 flower was landed at Plymouth, will the guiding 
 and governing mind of God, interposing for our 
 protection, have been more clearly shown than in 
 raising him up to meet this crisis. 
 
 Young, unworn, entirely fresh in political life, 
 there are upon him no marks of past controver- 
 sies, there are about him no odors of past political 
 errors, or partisan wrongs. Of an inventive, 
 prompt, and discriminating mind, as all his history 
 shows, and now in the full and perfect prime of 
 every power, he is able to meet, if any man can, 
 the whole demand of the present emergency. Of 
 French extraction, on his father's side, he is yet 
 thoroughly an American, by birth, by training, by 
 his maternal ancestry, and by all his ideas of gov- 
 ernment and of religion. Born in Georgia, and 
 educated at the institutions of South Carolina, his 
 chosen home has still been at the West, and his 
 ardor for freedom has never failed or wavered. 
 A child of poverty, and a man of the people, his 
 career has been more signally heroic than that of 
 any other hving American ; and he has won his 
 steady way to opulence and honor, through the 
 unaccustomed paths of self-denial and fortitude. 
 
 Delicate in frame, entirely modest and unas- 
 suming in deportment, he has inspired the love of 
 the stalwart and fiery pioneers of the West, as 
 almost no man before has done ; and his name 
 would now rally thousands on the borders to any 
 
26 THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE. 
 
 most difficult and hazardous enterprise. Of ex- 
 traordinary executive and administrative po^vers, 
 he combines with these equally the tastes of the 
 scholar, the practised enterprise and skill of the 
 soldier. His name is as well knoAvn in the Old 
 World as in the New, And while the South has 
 furnished his birthplace, and the wildernesses of 
 the West the chosen scene of his chief exertions, 
 California, the youngest and wealtliiest of the 
 States, owes to him her exploration and her sub- 
 sequent conquest, and to him in great j^art her 
 present freedom. The whole country, therefore, 
 and every part of it, has an interest in his name. 
 The young men of the country, especially, must 
 rally to him as their natural leader, with ready en- 
 thusiasm. His very name seems a watchword for 
 liberty ; and already crowds make the echoes ring 
 with the stii-ring refrain of Free-soil, Free-speecb, 
 Free-men, and Fremont ! 
 
 AVith him iii the Presidential chair, the last 
 threat of disunion will speedily and for ever be 
 silenced at the South. The bravos who steal un- 
 suspected into the Senate-chamber, and whose 
 only reply to an argument is the bludgeon, Avill be 
 as whist as a London pickpocket with the po- 
 lice-man beside him, before the intrepid and self- 
 poised will of him Avho has faced the mountain- 
 snows Avhile they were daintily dallying at home ; 
 of him whom Indians and Mexicans could not 
 scare — though with tenfold his force — now 
 wielding the treasury and the army of the coun- 
 try. jS'ay, with him in that chair we have the 
 firmest conviction that all sections will feel safe. 
 
THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE. 27 
 
 and that speedy calm will succeed the recent 
 and the present auitatlons ; while his lite and his 
 words give the amplest guaranty that the induence 
 of the oovernniL-nt Avill all be employed on the 
 side of freedom and its benign order. 
 
 It is somewhat eurious to notice the striking cor- 
 respondences between the history of this young 
 Republican Captain, and that of him whom our 
 fathers took as their leader, in the y»>'^ great strug- 
 gle for Liberty on this continent. A part of these 
 have been noticed by the papers, and by speakers. 
 Others we have not seen referred to. They are 
 interesting and suggestive. AVashington was left 
 in childhood, by the death of his lather, to the 
 charge of his mother. Fremont was so likewise, 
 at a still earlier period, and in circumstances cer- 
 tainly much less auspicious. Washington had 
 early a passion for the sea, so strong that a mid- 
 shipman's warrant was obtained for him by his 
 friends. Fremont went to sea, and was there em- 
 ployed for more than two years. Washington was 
 introduced to public life through his service on 
 the frontiers, as a surveyor and civil engineer. 
 Fremont won his discipline and his early tame in 
 the same department, and by his use and practice 
 in it became fitted, in mind and body, to '' endure 
 hardness." AVashington learned all that he knew 
 of war in Indian combats and the striie of the wil- 
 derness, and rose thus to the rank of Colonel in 
 the provincial troops. FremonTs school was the 
 same, and he has gained the same rank. A\'asliing- 
 ton had had small e.\j>erlence as a legislator, until 
 he was called to the head of the Government. lie 
 
28 THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE. 
 
 was taken for his well-tried general qualities, and 
 not for any distinction he had achieved as a diplo- 
 matist or a statesman ; and here again the parallel 
 holds. Washington was sneered at by the men of 
 routine, was hated and assailed by the tories of 
 that day, as a soldier who had " never set a squad- 
 ron in the field ; " until his energy and patience 
 drove them all out of it. The same class of at- 
 tacks are now made on Fremont ; to be answered 
 we trust, in the same impressive way. His friends 
 early felt that AVashington was specially fitted and 
 preserved of Providence to become the head of 
 the nation ; as Kev. Samuel Davies expressed it, 
 that " Providence has hitherto preserved him in 
 so signal a manner for some important service to 
 his country." The same expectation, becoming 
 almost a premonition, has for years been general 
 among the friends of Fremont. Dr. Robertson, 
 his early teacher, expressed it in the preface to his 
 edition of the Anabasis, published years ago, in 
 these words : " Such, my young friends, is an im- 
 perfect sketch of my once beloved and favorite 
 pupil, who may yet rise to be at the head of this 
 great and growing Republic. My prayer is that 
 he may ever be opposed to war, injustice, and op- 
 pression of every kind, a blessing to his country, 
 and an example of every noble virtue to the whole 
 world." Washington was called to the head of 
 the army at the age of forty-four ; and if Colonel 
 Fremont shall live to see the 4th of March next, 
 we confidentl}' expect that the singular parallel 
 will so far be perfected ! 
 
COL. FREMONT'S LETTER OF ACCEPT- 
 ANCE. 
 
 Nf.w York, July 8, 1856. 
 
 Gentlemen — You call me to a high responsibility by 
 placing me in the van of a great movement of the peo- 
 ple of the United States, Avho, without regard to past 
 differences, are uniting in a common effort to bring 
 back the action of the Federal Government to the prin- 
 ciples of Washington and Jefferson. Comprehending 
 the magnitude of the trust which they have declared 
 themselves willing to place in my hands, and deeply 
 sensible to the honor which their unreserved confidence 
 in this threatening position of the public affairs im- 
 plies, I feel that I cannot better respond than by a 
 sincere declaration that, in the event of my election 
 to the Presidency, I should enter upon the execution 
 of its duties with a single-hearted determination to 
 promote the good of the whole country, and to direct 
 solely to this end all the power of the government, 
 irrespective of party issues, and regardless of sec- 
 tional strifes. 
 
 The declaration of principles embodied in the re- 
 
30 COL. Fremont's letter op acceptance. 
 
 solves of your Convention, expresses the sentiments 
 in which I have been educated, and which have been 
 ripened into convictions by personal observation and 
 experience. With this declaration and avowal, I 
 think it necessary to revert to only two of the sub- 
 jects embraced in the resolutions, and to those only 
 because events have surrounded them with grave and 
 critical circumstances, and given to them especial 
 importance. 
 
 I concur in the views of the Convention deprecat- 
 ing the foreign policy to which it adverts. The as- 
 sumption that we have the right to take from another 
 nation its domains, because we want them, is an 
 abandonment of the honest character which our coun- 
 try has acquired. To provoke hostilities by unjust 
 assumptions, would be to sacrifice the peace and char- 
 acter of the country, when all its interests might be 
 more certainly secured and its objects attained by 
 just and healing counsels, involving no loss of repu- 
 tation. 
 
 International embarrassments are mainly the re- 
 sults of a secret diplomacy, which aims to keep from 
 the knowledge of the people the operations of the 
 government. This sj^stem is inconsistent with the 
 character of our institutions, and is itself yielding 
 gradually to a more enlightened public opinion, and 
 to the power of a free press, which, by its broad dis- 
 semination of political intelligence, secures in advance 
 
COL. Fremont's letter of acceptance. 31 
 
 to the side of justice the judgment of the civilized 
 world. An honest, firm and open policy in our foreign 
 relations, would command the united support of the 
 nation, whose deliberate opinions it would necessarily 
 reflect. 
 
 Nothing is clearer in the history of our institutions 
 than the design of the nation in asserting its own 
 independence and freedom to avoid giving counte- 
 nance to the extension of slavery. The influence of 
 the small, but compact and powerful class of men in- 
 terested in slavery, who command one section of the 
 country, and wield a vast political control as a conse- 
 quence, in the other, is now directed to turn back this 
 impulse of the revolution, and reverse its principles. 
 The extension of slavery across the continent is the 
 object of the power which now rules the government, 
 and from this spirit has sprung those kindred wrongs 
 in Kansas, so truly portrayed in one of your resolu- 
 tions, which prove that the elements of the most ar- 
 bitrary governments have been vanquished by the 
 just theory of our own. 
 
 It would be out of place here to pledge myself to 
 any particular policy that may be suggested to ter- 
 minate the sectional controversy engendered by po- 
 litical animosities operating on a powerful class, 
 banded together by a common interest. A practical 
 remedy is the admission of Kansas into the Union as 
 a free State. The South should, in my judgment, 
 
32 COL. Fremont's letter of accepta.xce. 
 
 earnestly desire sucli a consummation. It would vin- 
 dicate its good faith ; it would correct the mistake of 
 the repeal, and the North, having practically the 
 henefit of the agreement between the two sections, 
 would be satisfied, and good feeling be restored. The 
 measure is perfectly consistent with the honor of the 
 South, and vital to its interests. 
 
 That fatal act which gave birth to this purely sec- 
 tional strife, originating in the scheme to take from 
 free labor the country secured to it by a solemn cove- 
 nant, cannot be too soon disarmed of its pernicious 
 force. The only genial region of the middle lati- 
 tudes left to the emigrants of the Northern States for 
 homes, cannot be conquered from the free laborers, 
 who have long considered it as set apart for them in 
 our inheritance, without provoking a desperate strug- 
 gle. Whatever may be the persistence of the particular 
 class which seems ready to hazard everything for the 
 success of the unjust scheme it has partially effected, 
 I firmly believe that the great heart of the nation 
 which throbs with the patriotism of the free men of 
 both sections, will have power to overcome it. They 
 will look to the rights secured to them by the Consti- 
 tution of the Union, as their best safeguard from the 
 oppression, of the class, which by a monopoly of the 
 soil, and of slave labor to till it, might, in time, re- 
 duce them to the extremity of laboring upon the same 
 terms with the slaves. The great body of non-slave- 
 
COL. Fremont's letter of acceptance. 33 
 
 holding freemen, including those of the South, upon 
 whose welfare slavery is an oppression, will discover 
 that the power of the General Government over the 
 public lands may be beneficially exerted to advance 
 their interests and secure their independence. Know- 
 ing this, their suffrages will not be wanting to 
 maintain that authority in the Union, which is 
 absolutely essential to the maintenance of their own 
 liberties, and which has more than once indicated the 
 purpose of disposing of the public lands in such a 
 way as would make every settler upon them a free- 
 holder. 
 
 If the people entrust to me the administration of 
 the Government, the laws of Congress in relation to 
 the Territories will be faithfully executed. All its 
 authority will be exerted in aid of the National will 
 to re-establish the peace of the country, on the just 
 principles which have heretofore received the sanc- 
 tion of the Federal Government, of the States, and of 
 the people of both sections. Such a policy would 
 leave no aliment to that sectional party which seeks 
 its aggrandisement by appropriating the new terri- 
 tories to capital in the form of slavery, but would in- 
 evitably result in the triumph of free labor, the 
 natural capital which constitutes the real wealth of 
 this great country, and creates that intelligent power 
 in the masses alone to be relied on as the bulwark of 
 free institutions. 
 
34 JUDGE Dayton's letter of acceptance. 
 
 Trusting that I have a heart capable of compre- 
 hending our whole country with its varied interests, 
 and confident that patriotism exists in all parts of 
 the Union, I accept the nomination of your Conven- 
 tion in the hope that I may be enabled to serve use- 
 fully its cause, which I consider the cause of Con- 
 stitutional Freedom. 
 
 Yery respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. C. Fremont. 
 To Henry S. Lane, President of the Convention. 
 
 JUDGE DAYTON'S LETTER OF ACCEPT- 
 ANCE. 
 
 Trenton, N. J., July 7, 1856. 
 
 Gentlemen — I have the honor to acknowledge the 
 receipt of your letter informing me that, at a Con- 
 vention of Delegates, recently assembled in Phila- 
 delphia, I was unanimously nominated as their can- 
 didate for the Vice Presidency of the United States, 
 and requesting my acceptance of such nomination. 
 
 For the distinguished honor thus conferred, be 
 pleased to accept for yourselves and in behalf of the 
 Convention you represent, my sincere thanks. 
 
JUDGE DAYTON 'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 35 
 
 I have only to add, that having carefully examined 
 the resolutions adopted in that Convention, as indi- 
 cating the principles by which it was governed, I 
 find them, in their general features, suclt as have 
 heretofore had my hearty support. My opinions and 
 votes against the extension of slavery into free terri- 
 tory, are of record and well known. Upon that record 
 I am willing to stand. Certainly nothing has since 
 occurred which would tend to modify my opinions 
 previously expressed upon that subject. On the con- 
 trary, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise (that 
 greatest wrong, ^portentous of mischief,) but adds 
 strength to the conviction, that these constant en- 
 croachments must be calmly, but firmly, met ; — that 
 this repealing Act should be itself repealed, or reme- 
 died by every just and constitutional means in our 
 power. 
 
 I very much deprecate all sectional issues. I have 
 not been in the past, nor shall I be in the future, in- 
 strumental in fostering such issues. But the repeal 
 of the Missouri Compromise, and, as a consequence, 
 the extension of slavery, are no issues raised by us ; 
 they are issues forced upon us, and we act but in 
 self-defence when we repel them. That section of 
 the country which presents these issues is responsible 
 for them ; and it is this sectionalism which has sub- 
 verted past compromises, and now seeks to force 
 slavery into Kanzas. In reference to other subjects 
 
36 JUDGE Dayton's letter of acceptance. . 
 
 treated of in tlie resolutions of the Convention, I find 
 no general principle or rule of political conduct to 
 which I cannot and do not yield a cordial assent. 
 But while thus expressing a general concurrence in 
 the views of the Convention, I cannot but remember 
 that the Constitution gives to the Vice President 
 little power in matters of general legislation ; that 
 he has uoteven a vote except in special cases; and 
 that his rights and duties as prescribed in that in- 
 strument are limited to presiding over the Senate of 
 the United States. Should' I be elected to that high 
 office, it will be my pleasure, as it will be my duty, 
 to conduct, so far as I can, the business of that body 
 in such a manner as will best comport with its own 
 dignity ; in strict accordance with its own rules, and 
 with a just and courteous regard to the equal rights 
 and privileges of all its members. 
 
 Accepting the nomination tendered through you, as 
 I now do, 1 am, gentlemen. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 Wm. L. Dayton. 
 
 To Henry S. Lane, President of the Convention. 
 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 AND 
 
 CONSTITUTION 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 WITH ITS 
 
 AIMENDMENTS. 
 
 CENSUS OF 1850. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. JEWETT & COMPANY 
 
 CLEVELAND, OHIO: 
 
 JEWETT, PROCTOR & WORTIIINGTON. 
 
 185G. 
 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 When, in the course of human events, it he 
 comes necessary for one people to dissolve the 
 political hands \vhich have connected them with 
 anotlier, 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 re- 
 quires that they should declare the causes which 
 impel them to the separation. 
 
 We hold these truths to be self-evident — thai 
 all men are created equal ; that they are endowed 
 by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; 
 that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit 
 of happiness. That to secure these rights, gov- 
 ernments are instituted among men, deriving their 
 just powers from the consent of the governed ; 
 that whenever any foi-m of government becomes 
 destructive of these ends, it is the right of the 
 people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a 
 new government, laying its foundation on such 
 principlas, 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 chanjjed for light and transient causes, 
 and accordingly, all experience liath shown, that 
 
4 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 mankind are more disposed to suffer, while fevils 
 are sufferable, than to right themselves by abol- 
 ishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 
 Bdt 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 suf- 
 ferance of these colonies ; and such is now the 
 necessity which constrains them to alter their for- 
 mer systems of government. The history of the 
 resent king of Great Britain is a history of re- 
 peated injuries and usurpations, all having in 
 direct object, the establishment of an absolute 
 tyranny over these states. To prove this, let 
 facts be submitted to a candid world. 
 
 He has refused his assent to laws the most 
 wholesome and necessary for the public good. 
 
 He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of 
 immediate and pressing importance, unless sus- 
 pended in their operation till his assent should be 
 obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly 
 neglected to attend to them. 
 
 He has refused to pass other laws for the ac- 
 commodation of large districts of people, unless 
 those people would relinquish the right of repre- 
 sentation in the legislature ; a right inestimable 
 to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 
 
 He has called together legislative bodies at 
 places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from 
 the depository of their public records, for the sole 
 purpose of fatiguing them into a compliance with 
 his measures. 
 
DKCLA.RATION OF INDEPINDENCE. 5 
 
 He has dissolved representative houses repeat- 
 edly, for opposing with manly firmness his inva- 
 eioii on the riglits of the people. 
 
 He lias refused for along time, afier such dis- 
 solutions, 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 with- 
 out, and convulsions from within. 
 
 He has endeavored to prevent the population 
 of these states ; for that purpose obstructing the 
 laws for naturalization of foreigners ; refusing to 
 pass others to encourage their migration hither, 
 and raising the conditions of new appropriations 
 of lands. 
 
 He has obstructed the administration of justice, 
 by refusing his assent to laws for establishing 
 judiciary powers. 
 
 He has made judges dependent on his will 
 alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the 
 amount and payment of their salaries. 
 
 He has erected a multitude of new offices, and 
 sent hither swarms of new officers to harass our 
 people, and eat out their substance. 
 
 He h:is kept among us, in times of peace, 
 standing armies, without the consent of our legis- 
 latures. 
 
 He has affected to render the military indepen- 
 dent of, and superior to, the civil power. 
 
 He has combined with others to subject us to a 
 
 1'urisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unao- 
 Lnowledged by our laws, giving his assent to 
 their acts of pretended legislation. 
 
6 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 For quartering- large bodies of armed troops 
 among us. 
 
 For protecting them, by a mock trial, from 
 punishment for any murders which they should 
 commit on the inhabitants of these states. 
 
 For cutting off our trade with all parts of the 
 world. 
 
 For imposing taxes on us without our consent. 
 
 For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits 
 of trial by jury. 
 
 For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for 
 pretended offences. 
 
 For abolishing the free system of English laws 
 in a neighboring province, establishing therein 
 an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boun- 
 daries, so as to render it at once an example and 
 fit instrument for introducing the same absolute 
 rule into these colonies. 
 
 For taking awa.y our charters, abolishing our 
 most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally 
 the forms of our governments. 
 
 For suspending our own legislatures, and de- 
 claring themselves invested with power to legis- 
 late for us in all cases whatsoever. 
 
 He has abdicated government here, by declar- 
 ing us out of his protection, and waging war 
 against us. 
 
 He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, 
 burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our 
 people. 
 
 He is at this time transporting large armies of 
 foreign mercenaries to complete the works of 
 death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun 
 with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarce 
 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 7 
 
 paralleled in the most barbarous apes, and totally 
 unworthy the l^ead of a civilized nation ! 
 
 He has consirained our fellow-citizens, taken 
 captive on the high seas, to bear arms aofainst 
 their country, become the executioners of their 
 friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by 
 their hands. 
 
 He has excited domestic insurrections among 
 us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabi 
 tants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian sava 
 ges, whose known rule of warfare is an un- 
 distinguished 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 injuries. A prince whose characte. 
 •s thus marked by every act which may define a 
 tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 
 
 Nor have we been wanting in attention to our 
 British brethren. We have warned them from 
 time to time of attempts by their legislature^^ to 
 extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. 
 We have reminded them of the circumstances of 
 our emigration and settlement here. We have 
 appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, 
 and we have conjured them by the ties of our 
 common kindred to disavow these usurpations, 
 ivhich would inevitably interrupt our connection 
 and correspondence. They too, have been deaf 
 to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We 
 must therefore acquiesce in the necessity which 
 denounces our separation, and hold them as w« 
 hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in 
 peace, friends. 
 
8 DECLARATION OF INDIPENDENCE. 
 
 We, therefore, the representatives of the United 
 States of America, in general congress assembled, 
 appealing to the Snpreme 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 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 Provi- 
 dence, we mutually pledge to each other, oui 
 lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 Framed at Philadelpliia, m 1787, by a Convention of 
 Delegates from the Stales of New Hampshire, Massa- 
 chusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersej-, Penn- 
 sylvania, Delaware, iMaryland, Virginia, North Caro- 
 lina, South Carolina, and Georgia, — ratified by the 
 Convention of Eleven States, in 17SS, — and went into 
 operation the 4th of March, 17S9, 
 
 WITH THE AMENDMENTS. 
 
 We, the people of the United States, in order 
 to form a more perfect union, establish justice, 
 ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the com- 
 mon defence, promote the general welfare, and 
 secure the blessing-s of liberty to ourselves and 
 our posterity, do ordain and establish this Con- 
 stitution for the United States of America. 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 Section I. Legislative Powers. 
 1. All legislative powers herein granted, shall 
 be vested in a congress of the United States, 
 which shall consist of a senate and house of rep- 
 resentatives. 
 
 Section 2. — Members of House of Representatives how 
 chosen. Qualification. Apportionment. Vacancies, 
 how filled. Officers. Impeachment. 
 
 1. The house of representatives shall be com- 
 posed of members chosen every second year by 
 
10 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 the people of the several states, and the electors 
 in each state shall have the qualifications requisite 
 for electors of the most numerous branch of the 
 state legislature. 
 
 2. No person shall be a representative who 
 shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five 
 years, and been seven years a citizen of the 
 United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
 be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall 
 be chosen. 
 
 3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be 
 apportioned among the several states w^hich may 
 be included within this union, according to their 
 respective numbers, which shall be determined 
 by adding to the whole number of free persons, 
 including those bound to service for a term of 
 years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three- 
 fifths of all other persons. The actual enumera- 
 tion 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, Mas- 
 sachusetts 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. 
 
 4. When vacancies happen in the representa- 
 tion from any state, the executive authority thereof 
 
UNITED STATES. 11 
 
 shall issue writs of election to fill such vacan- 
 cies. 
 
 5. The house of representatives shall choose 
 their spea/J^sr and other officers, and shall have 
 the sole power of impeachment. 
 
 Section III. — Senate, how chosen. Classification. Qual- 
 ification. Vice-President's vote. Officers. Try Im- 
 peachments. Judgment on Impeachment. 
 
 1. The senate of the United States shall he 
 composed of two senators from each state, chosen 
 by the legislature thereof, for six years ; and each 
 senator shall have one vote. 
 
 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled 
 in consequence of the first election, they shall be 
 divided as equally as may be into three classes. 
 Th.6 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 tbe 
 legislature of any state, the exectitive tbereof may 
 make temporary appointments, until the next 
 meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill 
 such vacancies. 
 
 3. No person shall be a senator, who shall not 
 have 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 the 
 state for which he shall be chosen. 
 
 4. The vice-president of the United States 
 shall be president of the senate, but shall have 
 no vote, unless they be equally divided. 
 
12 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 5. The senate shall choose their other officers 
 and also a president jpro tempore, in the absence 
 of the vice-president, or when he shall exercise 
 the office of president of the United States. 
 
 6. The senate shall have the sole power to try 
 all impeachments. When sitting for that pur- 
 pose, 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. 
 
 7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not 
 extend farther than to removal from office, and 
 disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of 
 honor, trust, or profit, under the United States ; 
 but the party convicted shall nevertheless be lia- 
 ble, and subject to, indictment, trial, judgment, 
 and punishment according to law. 
 
 Section IV. — Elections for Senators and Representa- 
 tives, how held. Congress assemble annually. 
 
 1. The times, places, and manner of holding 
 elections for senators and representatives, shall be 
 prescribed in each state by the legislature there- 
 of; but the congress may, at any time, by law, 
 make or alter such regulations, except as to the 
 places of choosing senators. 
 
 2. The congress shall assemble at least once 
 in every year, and such meeting shall be on the 
 first Monday in December, unless they shall by 
 law appoint a different day. 
 
 Section V. ^-Elections, by whom judged, duoram. 
 Rules. Journal. Adjournment. 
 
 1. Each house shall be the judge of the eleo 
 
UNITED STATES. 13 
 
 lions, returns, and qualifications of its own mem- 
 bers, 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 author- 
 ized to compel the attendance of absent members, 
 in such manner, and under such penalties as each 
 house may provide. 
 
 2. Each house may determine the rules of its 
 proceedings, punish its members for disorderly 
 behavior, and with the concurrence of two thirds, 
 expel a member. 
 
 3. Each house shall keep a journal of its pro- 
 ceedings, 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 en- 
 tered on the journal. 
 
 4. Neither house, during the session of con- 
 gress, shall, without the consent of the other, 
 adjourn for more than three days, nor to any 
 other place tiian that in which the two houses 
 siiall be sitting. 
 
 Section' VI. — Compensation. Privileges. Members 
 not appointed to office. 
 
 1. The senators and representatives shall re- 
 ceive a compensation for their services, to be 
 ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury 
 of the United States. Tlicy shall, in all cases, 
 except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, 
 be privileged from arrest during tlieir attendance 
 at tbe session of their respective houses, and in 
 going to, and returning from, the same ; and for 
 
14 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 any speech or debate in either house, they shall 
 not be questioned in any other place. 
 
 2. No senator or representative shall, during 
 the time for which he was elected, be appointed 
 to any civil office under the authority of the 
 United States, which shall have been created, 
 or the emoluments whereof shall have been in- 
 creased during such time : and no person holdiny^ 
 any office under the United States, shall be a 
 member of either house during his continuance in 
 office. 
 
 Section VII. — Revenue. >Bills. Orders, resolutions, 
 &c., to be presented to the President of the United 
 States for approval. 
 
 1. 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. 
 
 2. Every bill which shall have passed the 
 house of representatives and the senate, shall, be- 
 fore it become a law, be presented to the presi- 
 dent of the United States ; if he approve, he 
 shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with 
 his objections, to that house in which it shall 
 have originated, who shall enter the objections at 
 large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider 
 it. If after such reconsideration, two thirds of 
 that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be 
 sent, together with the objections, to the other 
 house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, 
 and if approved by two thirds of that house, it 
 shall become a law. But in all such cases the 
 votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas 
 
UNITED STATES. 1ft 
 
 and nays, and the names of the persons voting for 
 and against the hill, shall be entered on the jour- 
 nal of each house respectively. If any bill shall 
 not be returned by the president within ten days, 
 (Sundays excepted,) after it shall have been pre- 
 sented to him, the same shall be a law, in like 
 manner as if he had signed it, unless the congress 
 by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which 
 case it shall not be a law. 
 
 3. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which 
 the concurrence of the senate and house of repre- 
 sentatives may be necessary, (except on a ques- 
 tion of adjournment,) shall be presented to the 
 president of the United States ; and before the 
 same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, 
 or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed 
 by two thirds of the senate and house of repre- 
 sentatives, according to the rules and limitations 
 prescribed in the case of a bill. 
 
 Section VIII. — Congress to l^y Taxes ; Borrow Mon- 
 ey ; Regelate Commerce, Naturalization, Bankrupt- 
 cies, Coin, Weights, and Measures ; Punish Counii-r 
 felting ; Create Post-Offices ; Promote Science ; Con- 
 stitute Courts ; Punish Piraces \ Declare War ; liaise 
 Armies ; INIaintain a Navy ; Organize the Militia ; 
 have Legislation over certain Places. 
 
 1. The congress shall have power to lay and 
 collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay 
 the debts and provide for the common defence 
 and general welfare of the United States ; but all 
 duties, imposts, and excises, shall be uniform 
 throughout the United States ; 
 
 2. To borrow money on the credit of the 
 United States ; i 
 
16 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, 
 and among the several states, and with the In- 
 dian tribes ; 
 
 4. To establish a uniform rule of naturaliza- 
 tion, and uniform laws on the subject of bank- 
 ruptcies throughout the United States ; 
 
 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, 
 and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of 
 weights and measures ; 
 
 6. To provide for the punishment of counter- 
 feiting the securities and current coin of the 
 United States ; 
 
 7. To establish post-offices, and post-roads ; 
 
 8. To promote the progi-ess of science and 
 useful arts, by securing for limited times to au- 
 thors and inventors, the exclusive right to their 
 respective writings and discoveries ; 
 
 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the su- 
 preme court ; 
 
 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies 
 committed on the high seas, and offences against 
 the law of nations ; 
 
 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque 
 and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures 
 on land and water ; 
 
 12. To raise and support armies, but no appro- 
 priation of money to that use shall be for a longer 
 term than two years ; 
 
 13. To provide and maintain a navy ; 
 
 14. To make rules for the government and 
 regulation of the land and naval forces ; 
 
 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to 
 execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrec- 
 tions, and repel invasions ; 
 
UNITED STATES. . 17 
 
 16. To provide for ovfranizing-, arminf^, and 
 disciplining- the militia, and for aovernino^ snch 
 part of them as may be employed in the service 
 of the United States, reservmg- to the states re- 
 sj)ectively, the appointment of the officers, and 
 the authority of trainin£T the militia according- to 
 the discii>line prescribed by congress. 
 
 17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all 
 cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceed- 
 ing ten miles square) as may, by cession of par- 
 ticular states, and the acceptance of congress, 
 become the seat of the government of the United 
 States, and to exercise like authority over all 
 places purchased by the consent of the legislature 
 of the state in which the same shall be, for the 
 erection efforts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, 
 and other needful buildings : — And 
 
 18. To make all laws which shall be neces 
 sary 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 IX. — Importation of persons after ISOS. Ha- 
 beas Corpus. Attainder. Tax. No exportation duty. 
 No preference in Commerce or Tonnage. Money, 
 how drawn. No Titles to he granted. 
 
 1. The migration or importation of such per- 
 sons as any of the states now existing shall think 
 proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the 
 congress prior to the year one thousand eight 
 hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be im- 
 posed on such importation, not exceeding ten dol- 
 lars for each person. 
 
 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus 
 
 2 
 
18 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of 
 rebellion or invasion, the public safety may re- 
 quire it. 
 
 3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law 
 shall be passed. 
 
 4. No capitation, or other direct tax, shall be 
 laid, unless in proportion to the census or enume- 
 ration herein before directed to be taken. 
 
 5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles ex- 
 ported from any state. 
 
 6. No preference shall be given by any regu- 
 lation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one 
 state over those of another ; nor shall vessels 
 bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to enter, 
 clear, or pay duties in another. 
 
 7. No money shall be drawn from the trea- 
 sury, 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. 
 
 8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the 
 United States : and no person holding any office 
 of profit or trust under them, shall, without the 
 consent of the congress, accept of any present, 
 emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, 
 from any king, prince, or foreign state. 
 
 Section X. — States not to make Treaties, lay ImpostS; 
 or Duty on Tonnage, &c. 
 
 1. No state shall enter into any treaty, alli- 
 ance, 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 
 
UNITED STATES. 19 
 
 ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation 
 of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 
 
 2. No state shall, without the consent of the 
 congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or 
 exports, except what may bo 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. 
 
 3. No state shall, without the consent of con- 
 gress, 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 actu- 
 ally invaded, or in such imminent danger as will 
 not admit of delay. 
 
 ARTICXE II. 
 
 Section I.— Executive Power. Electors, how appointed. 
 Process of Election. Q,ualifications of the President 
 of the United States. Vice President may olFiciate. 
 Compensation. Oath. 
 
 1. The executive power shall be vested in a 
 president of the United States of America. He 
 shall hold his office during the term of four years, 
 and, together with the vice-president, chosen for 
 the same term, be elected as follows : — 
 
 2. Each state shall appoint, in such manner as 
 the legislature thereof may direct, a number of 
 electors, equal to the whole number of senators 
 and representatives to which the state may be en- 
 titled in ihe congress ; but no senator or represen- 
 
20 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 tative, or person holding an office of trust or profit 
 under the United States, shall be appointed an 
 elector. 
 
 3. * [The electors shall meet in their respec- 
 tive states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of 
 whom one at least sliall 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 
 num.ber of votes for each ; which list they shall 
 sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 
 the government of the United States, directed to 
 the president of the senate. The president of the 
 senate shall, in the presence of the senate and 
 house of representatives, open all the certificates, 
 and the votes shall then be counted. The person 
 having the greatest number of votes shall be the 
 president, if such number be a majority of the 
 whole number of electors appointed ; and if there 
 be more than one who have such majority, and 
 have an equal number of votes, then the house of 
 representatives shall immediately choose, by bal- 
 lot, one of them for president ; and if no person 
 have a majority, then from the five highest on the 
 list, the said house shall, in like manner, choose 
 the president. But in choosing the president, the 
 votes shall be taken by states, the representation 
 from each state having one vote ; a quorum for 
 this purpose shall consist of a member or mem- 
 bers 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, 
 
 ■ * This Section was amended in 1803. See 14th Arti- 
 cle of Amendments, p. 31. 
 
UNITED STATES. 31 
 
 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.] 
 
 4. The congress may determine the time of 
 choosing the electors, and the day on which they 
 shall give their votes ; which day shall be the 
 same throughout the United States. 
 
 5. No person, except a natural born citizen, or 
 a citizen of the United States at the time ot* 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 at- 
 tained to the age of thirty-five years, and been 
 fourteen years a resident within the United States. 
 
 6. In case of 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. 
 
 7. The president shall, at stated times, receive 
 for his services a compensation, which shall be 
 neither increased nor diminished during the pe- 
 riod 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. 
 
 8. Before he enter on the execution of his 
 
23 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 office, he shall take the following oath or aiTir 
 mation : — 
 
 9. " I do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will 
 faithfully execute the office of president of the 
 United States, and will to the best of my ability 
 preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of 
 the United States." 
 
 Section II. — Powers of the President. Make Treaties. 
 Appoint Officers. Vacancies in office. 
 
 1. The president shall be commander-in-chief 
 of the army and navy of the United States, and 
 of the militia of the several states, when called 
 into the actual service of the United States ; he 
 may require the opinion, in writing, of the prin- 
 cipal officer in each of the executive departments, 
 upon any subject relating to the duties of their re- 
 spective offices, and he shall have power to grant 
 reprieves and pardons for offences against the 
 United States, except in cases of impeachment. 
 
 2. He shall have power, by, and with, the ad- 
 vice and consent of the senate, to make treaties, 
 provided two thirds of the senators present con- 
 cur ; and he shall nominate, and by, and with, 
 the advice and consent of the senate, shall ap- 
 point ambassadors, other public ministers and con- 
 suls, judges of the supreme court, and all other 
 offices of the United States, whose appointments 
 are not herein otherwise provided for, and which 
 shall be established by law : but the congress 
 may by law vest the appointment of such inferior 
 officers, as they think proper, in the president 
 alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of de- 
 partments. 
 
UMITKD STATCS. 23 
 
 3. The president shall have power to fill up 
 all vacancies that may happen durincr the recess 
 of the senate, hy granting commissions wliich 
 shall expire at the end of their next session. 
 
 Section III.— Duties of the President of the United 
 Slates. 
 
 1. He shall from time to time give to the con- 
 gress information of the state of the Union, and 
 recommend to their consideration such measnres 
 as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may 
 on extraordinary occasions, conveue both houses, 
 or either of them, and, in case of disagreement be- 
 tween them, with respect to the time of adjourn- 
 miMit, 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 IV.— OfTicers removable by Impeachment. 
 
 1. The president, vice-president, and all civil 
 officers of the United States, shall be removed 
 from office on impeachment for, and conviction 
 of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and mis- 
 demeanors. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 Section I.— Judicial Powers and Tenure of Judges. 
 
 1. The judicial power of the United States, shall 
 be vested in one supreme court, and in such infe- 
 rior courts as the congress may from time to time 
 ordain and estal)lish.~ The judges, both of the 
 supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their of- 
 
24 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 fices during good behavior, and shall, at stated 
 times, receive for their services, a compensation, 
 which shall not be diminished during their con- 
 tinuance in office. 
 
 Section IT. — Extension of Judicial Power. Supreme 
 Court Jurisdiction. Trials by Jury. 
 
 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases 
 in law and equity, arising under this constitution, 
 the laws of the United States, and the treaties 
 made, or which shall be made, under their au- 
 thority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other 
 public ministers, and consuls; to all cases of 
 admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to contro- 
 versies to which the United States shall be a 
 party ; to controversies between two or more 
 states — between a state and citizens of another 
 state — between citizens of different states — be- 
 tween citizens of the same state claiming land? 
 under grants of different states — and between \ 
 state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, 
 citizens, or subjects. 
 
 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other 
 public ministers, and consuls, and those in which 
 a state shall be a party, the supreme court shall 
 have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases 
 before mentioned, the supreme court shall have 
 appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, 
 with such exceptions, and under such regulations, 
 as the congress shall make. 
 
 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of 
 impeachment, shall be by jury ; and such trial 
 shall be held in the state where the said crimes 
 shall have been committed ; but when not com- 
 
UNITED STATia. 25 
 
 mitted within any state, the trial shall be at sach 
 pla/;e or places as the congress may by law have 
 directed. 
 
 Sectio:s ni. — Treason, 
 
 1. Treason against the United States, ahall 
 consist only in levying' war against them, or in 
 Oiinering to their enemies, giving' them aid and 
 comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason 
 unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the 
 same overt act, or on confession in open court. 
 
 2. The conoresa shall have power to declare 
 the r. - " " n, but no attainder of 
 trea.-. on of blood, or forfeit- 
 ures, »,.^,...>u ■. .....^ ,.. . ..i.^; of the person attainted. 
 
 ARTICLE rV'. 
 
 Sectiott L — Acts of States Accredited. 
 1 . Fall faith and credit shall be si^en in each 
 state to the public acts, records, and judicial pro- 
 reedings of every other state. And the conaresa 
 may by general laws prescribe the manner in 
 which such acts, records, and proceedings ahall 
 be proved, and the effect thereof. 
 
 Sectio^t n. — Citizens' Privilerres. Persona charged 
 with Crime.s fleeing. 
 
 1. The citizens of each state shall be entitled 
 to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the 
 several states. 
 
 2. A person charged in any state with treason, 
 felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, 
 and be found in another state, shall, on demand 
 of the executive aathority of the state from which 
 he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the 
 state having' jurisdiction of the crime. 
 
26 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 3. No person held to service or labor in one 
 state, under the laws thereof, escaping into an- 
 other, shall, in consequence of any law or regula- 
 tion therein, be discharged from such service or 
 labor, but shall be delivered up, on claim of the 
 party to whom such service or labor may be due. 
 
 Section III. — New States. Territories. 
 
 1. New states may be admitted by the congress 
 into this Union ; but no new state shall be formed 
 or erected within the jurisdiction of any other 
 state, nor any state be formed by the junction of 
 two or more states, or parts of the states, without 
 the consent of the legislatures of states con- 
 cerned, as well as of the congress. 
 
 2. The congress shall have power to dispose 
 of, and make all needful rules and regulations re- 
 specting the territory or other property belonging 
 to the United States ; and nothing in this consti- 
 tution shall be so construed as to prejudice any 
 claims of the United States, or of any particular 
 state. 
 
 Section IV. — States protected. 
 
 1. The United States shall guarantee to every 
 state in this union a republican form of govern- 
 ment, and sliall protect each of them against in- 
 vasion ; and on application of the legislature, (or 
 of the executive, wdien the legislature cannot be 
 convened,) against domestic violence. 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 
 Amendments, how attained. 
 1. The congress, whenever two thirds of both 
 houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose 
 
UNITED STATES, V- 
 
 amendments to this constitution, or on the appli- 
 cation of the legislatures of two thirds of the 
 several states, shall call a convention for propos- 
 ing amendments, which in either case shall be 
 valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this 
 constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of 
 three fourths of the several states, or by conven- 
 tions in three fourthj thereof, as the one or the 
 other mode of ratification may be proposed by the 
 congress ; provided that no amendment which 
 may be made prior to the year one thousand eight 
 hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect the 
 first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the 
 first article ; and that no state, without its con- 
 sent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the 
 senate. 
 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 
 Debts prior to the adoption of the Constitution. Trea- 
 ties, law of the laud. Oath or affirmation to mem- 
 bers. 
 
 1. All debts contracted and engagements en- 
 tered into, before the adoption of this constitution, 
 shall be as valid against the United States under 
 this constitution, as under the confederation. 
 
 2. This constitution, and the laws of the United 
 States, which shall be made in pursuance there- 
 of; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, 
 under the authority of the United Slates, shall bo 
 the supreme law of the land ; and the judo^es in 
 every state shall be bound thereby, anything in 
 the constitution or laws of any state to the con- 
 trary notwithstanding. 
 
 3. The senators and representatives before 
 mentioned, and the members of the severnl state 
 legislatui-es, and all executive and judicial olfi- 
 
38 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 cers, both of the United States and of the several 
 states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to 
 support this constitution : but no religious test 
 shall ever be required as a qualification to any 
 office or public trust under the United States. 
 
 ARTICLE YII. 
 
 Ratification. 
 1. The ratification of the conventions of nine 
 states, shall be sufficient for the establishment of 
 this constitution between the states so ratifying 
 the same. 
 
 Done in convention, by the xinanimous consent of the 
 states ■present, the seventeenth day of September, in the 
 year of oitr Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
 eighty seven, and of the independence of the United 
 States of America, the twelfth. In witness whereof, 
 ice have 'lereunto subscribed our names. 
 
 GEO. WASHINGTON, 
 President and Deputy from Vir^nia. 
 New Hampshire. Pennsylvania. 
 
 John Langdon, Benjamin Frankhn, 
 
 Nicholas Gilman. Thomas Blifflin, 
 
 Massachusetts. Eobert IMorris, 
 
 Nathaniel Gorham, George Clymer, 
 
 Rufus King. Thomas Fitzsimons, 
 
 Connecticut. Tared Ingersoll, 
 
 William Samuel Johnson, James Wilson, 
 
 Roger Sherman. Gouverneur jMorris. 
 
 New York. Delaware. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton, George Reed, 
 
 New Jersey. Gunning Bedford, jun. 
 
 William Livingston, John Dickinson, 
 
 David Brearly, Richard Bassett, 
 
 William Patterson, Jacob Broom, 
 ''onathan Dayton, 
 
UNITED STATES. 29 
 
 Maryland. Hugh "Williamson. 
 James M' Henry, South Carolina. 
 
 Daniel of St. Tho. Jenifer, John Rutledge, 
 
 Daniel Carroll. Charles C. Pinckney, 
 
 Virginia. Charles Pinckney, 
 
 John Blair, Pierce Butler. 
 James Madison, jun. Georgia. 
 
 North Carolina. William Few, 
 
 William Blount, Abraham Baldwin. 
 Richard Dobbs Spaight, 
 
 Attest : WILLIAM JACKSON, Sec. 
 
 AMENDMENTS. 
 
 Articles in addition to, and amendment of, the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States of America, proposed by 
 Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the seve- 
 ral States, pursuant to the fifth article of the original 
 Constitution. 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 Religion. Press. Speech. Right of Petition. 
 Congress shall make no new law respecting an 
 establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free ex- 
 ercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, 
 or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably 
 to assemble, and to petition the government for a re- 
 dress of grievances. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 Right to bear Arms. 
 A well-regulated militia being necessary to the se- 
 curity of a free state, the right of the people to keep 
 and bear arms, shall not be infringed. 
 ARTICLE III. 
 No Soldier to be billeted. 
 No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in 
 any house without the consent of the owner, nor in 
 time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 
 
so CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 Unreasonable Searches prohibited. 
 
 The right of the people to be secure in their per 
 sons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasona- 
 ble searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; and 
 no Avarrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, 
 supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly 
 describing the place to be searched, and the persons 
 or things to be seized. 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 
 Proceeding in Criminal Cases. Person and Property 
 
 sacred. 
 
 No person shall be held to answer for a capital or 
 otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment 
 or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising 
 in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in 
 actual service, in time of war or pubUc danger ; nor 
 shall any person be subject, for the same offence, to 
 be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be 
 compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against 
 himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, 
 without due process of law ; nor shall private property 
 be taken for public use without just compensation. 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 Mode of Trial in Criminal Cases. 
 
 In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall en- 
 joy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an im- 
 partial jury of the state and district wherein the crime 
 shall have been committed, which district shall have 
 been previously ascertained by law; and to be in- 
 formed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to 
 oe confronted v/ith the witnesses against him ; to have 
 compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his fa- 
 vor ; and to have the assistance of counsel for his 
 defence. ARTICLE VII. 
 
 Mode of Trial in Civil Cases. 
 
 In suits at com'ncta Law. where the value in con- 
 
UNITED STATES. 31 
 
 troversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of 
 trial by jury shall be preserved ; and no fact tried by 
 a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court 
 of the United States, than according to the rules of 
 the common law. 
 
 ARTICLE VIII. 
 Bail. Fine. Punishments. 
 Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive 
 fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments 
 inflicted. 
 
 ARTICLE IX. 
 Rights. 
 The enumeration in the constitution of certain 
 rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage 
 others retained by the people. 
 
 ARTICLE X. 
 Powers reserved to the People. 
 The powers not delegated to the United States by 
 the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are 
 reserved to the states respectively or to the people. 
 ARTICLE XI. 
 Limitation of Judicial Power. 
 The judicial power of the United States shall not 
 be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity 
 commenced or prosecuted against one of the United 
 States, by citizens of another state, or by citizens or 
 subjects of any foreign state. 
 
 ARTICLE XII. 
 Manner of electing President and Vice-President. 
 1. The electors shall meet in their respective States, 
 and vote by ballot for president and vice-president, 
 one of whom at least, shall not be an inhabitant of 
 the same state with themselves ; they shall name in 
 their ballots the person voted for as president, and in 
 distinct ballots the ])erson voted lor as vice-president, 
 and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voict] 
 for as president, and of all persons vt»ted Ibr as vice- 
 
33 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 president, and of the number of votes for each ; which 
 lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, 
 to the seat of the government of the United States, di- 
 rected to the president of the senate ; the president of 
 the senate shall, in presence of the senate and house 
 of representatives, open all the certificates, and the 
 votes shall then be counted ; the person having the 
 greatest number of votes for president shall be the 
 president, if such number be a majority of the whole 
 number of electors appointed ; and if no person have 
 such majority, then, from the persons having the 
 highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of 
 those voted for as president, the house of representa- 
 tives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the presi- 
 dent. 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 of two thirds of the 
 states, and a majority of all the states shall be neces- 
 sary to a choice. And if the house of representatives 
 shall not choose a president whenever the right of 
 choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day 
 of March next following, then the vice-president shall 
 act as president, as in the case of the death or other 
 constitutional disability of the president. 
 
 2 The person having the greatest number of votes 
 as vice-president shall be the vice-president, if such 
 number be a majority of the whole number of elec- 
 tors appointed ; and if no person have a majoritj'-, 
 then, from the two highest numbers on the list, the 
 senate shall choose the vice-president ; a quorum for 
 the purpose shall consist of two thirds ai" the whole 
 number of senators, and a majority of the whole 
 number shall be necessary to a choice. 
 
 3. But no person constitutionally inelegible to the 
 office of president, shall be eligible to that of vice- 
 Dre?ident of the United States. 
 
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 1. George "Washiugtori; 
 
 of Va., 
 
 from 
 
 1789 to 1797, 8 
 
 2. John Adams, 
 
 " Mass. 
 
 J <i 
 
 1797 " 1801, 4 
 
 3. Thomas Jefferson, 
 
 " Va., 
 
 
 1801 " 1809, 8 
 
 4. James Madison, 
 
 " Va., 
 
 
 1809 " 1817, 8 
 
 5 James Monroe, 
 
 " Va., 
 
 
 1817 " 1825, 8 
 
 6. John Q. Adams, 
 
 " Mass. 
 
 J " 
 
 1825 " 1829, 4 
 
 7. Andrew Jackson 
 
 " Tenn 
 
 J 
 
 1829 " 1837, 8 
 
 8. Martin Van Euren, 
 
 '' N. Y 
 
 
 1837 " 1841, 4 
 
 9. AYilliam H. Harrison 
 
 ," Ohio, 
 
 
 1841. Died April, 
 
 4, 1841, and was succeeded by Vice President 
 John Tj-ler, of Va., from 1841 to 1845, 4 
 
 10. James K. Polk, " Tenn., " 1845 '' 1849, 4 
 
 11. Zachary Taylor, "La., " 1849. Died July 
 
 9, 1850, and was succeeded by Vice President 
 Millard Fillmore, of N. Y., to 1853, 4 
 
 12. Franklin Pierce, of N. H., from 1853 
 
 Reckoning to 1857, the /rees^afra have the officelS years, 
 8 months and 25 days, — salaries $4G8,402, — while the 
 slave states have the office 49 years, 3 months and 5 days, 
 — salaries $1,231,597. And this is about the average 
 amount of office and money bestowed on the North, with 
 13,400,000 freemen, and the South with 6,400,000 free- 
 men, in the other principal departments. 
 
 South Carolina has C representatives in Congress, 
 while New Hampshire, with a free population greater by 
 34,000 has only 3 ; and Virginia has 13, while Massa- 
 chusetts, with a free population greater by 45,000, has 
 only 11 ; and Mississippi has 5, while Wisconsin, with 
 about 10,000 greater free population, has only 3. 
 
 The slave states, on the same basis of representation aa 
 the free, are entitled to only G5 representatives in Con- 
 gress ; yet they have 90 ; i. e. 25 extra. 
 

 UNITED 
 
 STATES. 
 
 Frke States. 
 
 Sq. Miles. 
 
 Census op 1850. 
 
 Maine, 
 
 31,766 
 
 583,169 
 
 New Hampsliire, 
 
 , 9,280 
 
 317,976 
 
 Vermont, 
 
 10,212 
 
 314,120 
 
 Massachusetts, 
 
 7,800 
 
 994,514 
 
 Rhode Ishxnd, 
 
 1,300 
 
 147,545 
 
 Connecticut, 
 
 4,674 
 
 370,792 
 
 New York, 
 
 46,000 
 
 3,097,394 
 
 New Jersey, 
 
 8,320 
 
 489,555 
 
 Pennsylvania, 
 
 46,000 
 
 2,311,785 
 
 Ohio, 
 
 40,000 
 
 1,980,329 
 
 Indiana, 
 
 33,800 
 
 988,416 
 
 Illinois, 
 
 55,400 
 
 851,470 
 
 Michigan, 
 
 50,243 
 
 397,654 
 
 Wisconsin, 
 
 53,924 
 
 305,391 
 
 Iowa, 
 
 50,900 
 
 192,214 
 
 California, 
 
 155,980 
 
 92,597 
 
 
 611,599 
 
 13,434,921 
 
 Slave States. 
 
 
 
 Delaware, 
 
 2,120 
 
 91,532 
 
 Maryland, 
 
 11,124 
 
 583,034 
 
 Virginia, 
 
 61,352 
 
 1,421,661 
 
 North Carolina, 
 
 50,700 
 
 869,039 
 
 South Carolina, 
 
 30,000 
 
 668,507 
 
 Georgia, 
 
 58,000 
 
 906,185 
 
 Florida, 
 
 59,300 
 
 87,445 
 
 Alabama, 
 
 50,700 
 
 771,623 
 
 Mississippi, 
 
 47,200 
 
 606,526 
 
 Tennessee, 
 
 45,600 
 
 1,002,717 
 
 Kentucky, 
 
 38,000 
 
 982,405 
 
 Missouri, 
 
 67,400 
 
 682,044 
 
 Arkansas, 
 
 52,200 
 
 • 209,897 
 
 Louisiana, 
 
 43,000 
 
 517,102 
 
 Texas, 
 
 325,500 
 
 212,592 
 
 942,196 
 
 9,612,369 of these 90 
 3,204,313 are slaves. 144 
 6,408,056 free. 234 
 
Territories. 
 
 Kansas, 
 
 Indian, s. of Ka. 
 
 Nebraska, 
 
 Minnesota, 
 
 Washington, 
 
 Oregon, 
 
 Utah, 
 
 New Mexico, 
 
 Mesilla, 
 
 Columbia dist.; 
 
 Total, 
 
 Sq. Miles. 
 124,800 
 71,000 
 335,800 
 160,000' 
 123,000 ^ 
 185,000 5 
 269,200 
 210,000 
 78,000 
 60 
 
 1,562,860 
 3,116,655 
 
 Cesscs of 1850. 
 170,000, Indians. 
 
 6,077 
 
 12,093 
 
 11,380 
 61,547 
 10,000, mostly Indians 
 
 51,687 . ,. . 
 
 C Indians not 
 
 143,734 ^ reckoned 
 23,190,074 
 
 N B The above shows that the free states (not inclucl- 
 in^ California, whose political power is ever on the side 
 rf°slavery), having a population of 13,432,324, have only 
 455 619 square miles ; while the slave states, having a 
 fi'e'popula ion of about 6,400,000, have 9-^2,196 square 
 miles This gives in the free states 29^, and m the slave 
 states about 6i, free persons to the square mile. 
 
 A great reason why the slave-holders are so tenacioxis 
 of slavery i« that it gives them great political poTver, 
 :nd enables them, by 'the aid of their allies to cn^^ 
 the north, and to use the purse and sword of th« °atum 
 for their own purposes ; that is, to make war for acquir- 
 ing territc'y st^H mor'eto extend slavery and increase 
 their own power. To show their unequal power, take a 
 re^^esentatFve district in South Carolina having a fr^e 
 population of 5,800 of whom 500, are ^f ?-^t°^^%^' ^^^l^^! 
 each 300 slaves and 5 members of ^^eir own fami ics 
 making 150,000, and 3,000 whites equal to 1^000 and 
 2,800 Son-slWe-holders, of whom 400 are voters Of the 
 500 slave-holders, 200 are women and /^^^o^"^' ^^f J^^ 
 are voters, making in the district 700 voters who elect a 
 representative to°Congress, and wield as jnuch power m 
 national matters as a district in 5^^!,,^^^^^,^ CaS 
 93,423 people, and 14,000 voters So .00 ^^^^^h Oaiolma 
 voters equal 14,000 New England voters ; that i., - 
 equals 20. 
 
SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 1st. A thorough knowledge of the Constitution is im 
 portaut to every citizen. Without it, no one can wisely 
 choose men duly fitted for office. 
 
 2d. Common men are competent to understand the con- 
 stitution. They "ordained and established" it ; and 
 surely common men are able to know what they meant 
 in all its parts. 
 
 3d. They meant just what they said ; no more, no less. 
 
 4th. They were consistent. After plainly declaring 
 their purposes as to "union," "justice," "the general 
 welfare," and " the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
 our posterity," they did nothing contrary to these ends. 
 So no part must be so construed as to conflict with these 
 ends. 
 
 oth. The constitution being the basis of ^national law, 
 its terras must be taken in the sense usual in other legal 
 instruments. Thus, in Art. I., See. 2, IT 3, the term 
 " free " is to be taken in its political sense ; that is, en- 
 dowed with franchises ; and not, as it often means, unre- 
 strained. Being used here as in other political papers, 
 it distinguishes citizens from foreigners or aliens. Thus, 
 a, citizen is counted as one, but an alien as three-fifths 
 of one. 
 
 So the phrases, "held to service," — Art. 4, Sec. 2, 
 IT 3, and "bound to service," — Art. 1, Sec. 2, IT 3, are 
 legal phrases, and used in the same sense as in deeds, 
 both meaning the same, and are applied to the very 
 same persons; namely, those "bound" and "held" by 
 contract signed by themselves or their legal guardians, 
 and stating the consideration and time ; that is, the term 
 of years for which they are thus "bound " and "held ; " 
 and these phrases cannot be applied to others without 
 manifest wrong, as well as outrage, to the laws of lan- 
 guage and the rules of law. The "bound to service" 
 were the same as the " held to service," and were all free 
 persons, as indented apprentices, indented servants, re- 
 demptioners, and others bound by contract, not slaves, who 
 are not "bound" at all, but kept as ■property, and in the 
 words of South Carolina, " deemed chattels personal to all 
 intents and purposes. " »» y| ^ 
 
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