ardy 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.

VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

VII. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact, tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined, in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

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

IX. The enumeration, in the constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it, to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

XI. The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.

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XII. The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for president and vice-president, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as president, and, in distinct ballots, the person voted for as vice-president; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as president, and of all persons voted for as vice-president, and of the number of votes for each; which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 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 for president shall be the president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed: and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as president, the house of representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the president; but in choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice; and if the house of representatives shall not choose a president, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the vice-president shall act as president, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the president.

The person having the greatest number of votes as vicepresident shall be the vice-president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the senate shall choose the vice-pres

ident; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.

But no person, constitutionally ineligible to the office of president, shall be eligible to that of vice-president of the United States.

XIII. SECT. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. SECT. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

XIV. SECT. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

SECT. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states, according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for president and vice-president of the United States, representatives in congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crimes, the basis of representation shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the

whole number of such citizens, twenty-one years of age, in such state.

SECT. 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of president or vice-president, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a two thirds vote of each house remove such disability.

SECT. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for the payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States, nor any state, shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. SECT. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of this article.

XV. SECT. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

SECT. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

[NOTE. The Articles of Confederation between the thirteen United States of America were agreed upon by delegates from the states, in Congress assembled, on the 15th of November, 1777, and were finally ratified by all the states, March 1st, 1781. On the 21st of February, 1787, the Congress of the Confederation recommended

that a Convention of Delegates, to be appointed by the states, be held for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. In accordance with this recommendation, delegates from the several states met together at Philadelphia, Monday, May 14th, 1787, and organized by choosing George Washington as their President. On the 17th of September, the Convention finally agreed to a proposed form of Constitution, which was transmitted to the Congress of the Confederation. By that body copies were transmitted to the several states, and the Constitution was ratified by Conventions therein in the following order :

Eleven states having ratified the Constitution, Congress proceeded to make all proper preparations for carrying it into effect. The first Wednesday of January, 1789, was appointed as the time for choosing electors, the first Wednesday in February as the day on which they should vote for President and Vice-President, and the first Wednesday of March as the day on which the new Congress should assemble together. The members of the two houses of the new Congress met at New York at the time appointed, March 4th, 1789. A quorum of the House of Representatives did not appear until the 1st of April, when a Speaker and a Clerk were chosen. A quorum of the Senate did not appear until April 6th, when a President pro tempore was chosen, for the purpose of counting the votes for President and Vice-President. On the same day, in presence of both houses, the returns of votes from the sev eral states were opened and counted. George Washington was declared elected President, and John Adams Vice-President. The Senate then elected a President pro tempore, and a Secretary, and both houses, being organized, proceeded to transact public business. On the 21st of April the Vice-President assumed his seat as President of the Senate, and on Thursday, April 30th, George Washington was inaugurated President. The Constitution was ratified soon afterwards by the two remaining states; by North Carolina, November 21st, 1789, and by Rhode Island, May 29th, 1790.