A School History of the United States by John Bach McMaster

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He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with
manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others
to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of
annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise;
the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of
invasion from without, and convulsions 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
officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us in times of peace, standing armies, without the
consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to,
the civil power.

He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to
our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to
their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders
which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States:

[Transcriber's note: This is an excerpt. Please see Project Gutenberg's
complete text.]

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES--1787[1]

[Footnote 1: This reprint of the Constitution exactly follows the text
of that in the Department of State in Washington, save in the spelling
of a few words.]

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.

ARTICLE I

SECTION 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House
of Representatives.

SECTION 2. 1 The House of Representatives shall be composed of members
chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the
electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for
electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.

2 No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State
in which he shall be chosen.

3 Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this Union, according to
their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a
term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all
other persons[2]. The actual enumeration shall be made within three
years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and
within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall
by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for
every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one
representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of
New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight,
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York
six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six,
Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and
Georgia three.

[Footnote 2: The last half of this sentence was superseded by the 13th
and 14th Amendments. (See p.16 following.)]

4 When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies.

5 The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other
officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

SECTION 3. 1 The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof for six
years; and each senator shall have one vote.

2 Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes.
The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the
expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of
the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth
year, so that one third may be chosen every second year; and if
vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the
legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary
appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then
fill such vacancies.

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 that State for which he
shall be chosen.

4 The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

5 The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president
_pro tempore_, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall
exercise the office of President of the United States.

6 The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the
President of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall
preside: and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two
thirds of the members present.

7 Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office
of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party
convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial,
judgment and punishment, according to law.

SECTION 4. 1 The times, places, and manner of holding elections for
senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the
legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or
alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators.

2 The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by
law appoint a different day.

SECTION 5. 1 Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall
constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn
from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of
absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House
may provide.

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 proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment
require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on
any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be
entered on the journal.

4 Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other
place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

[Transcriber's note: This is an excerpt. Please see Project Gutenberg's
complete text.]

STATE CONSTITUTIONS

We have seen (page 155), that in 1776 the Continental Congress advised
the people of the colonies to form governments for themselves, and that
the people of the colonies accordingly adopted constitutions and became
sovereign and independent states. Of the thirteen original state
constitutions, none save that of Massachusetts is now in force, and even
that has been amended. Changes in political ideas, changes in the
conditions of life due to the wonderful progress of our country, have
forced the people to alter, amend, and often remake their state
constitutions.

All our state constitutions now in force divide the powers of government
among three departments,--legislative, executive, and judicial.

_The Legislative Department_--called in some states the Legislature, in
others the General Assembly, and in still others the General Court--
consists in every state of two branches or houses, usually known as the
Senate and House of Representatives. In six states the legislature meets
annually, and in all the rest biennially; the members of both branches
are everywhere elected by the people, and serve from one to four years.
In most states a session of the legislature is limited to a period of
from forty to ninety days. The legislature enacts the laws (which must
not conflict with the Constitution of the United States, the treaties,
the acts of Congress, or the constitution of the state); but the powers
of the two houses are not equal in all the states. In some the House of
Representatives has the sole right to originate bills for the raising
and the expenditure of money, and in some the Senate confirms or rejects
appointments to office made by the Governor.

_The Governor_ is the executive; is elected for a term of years varying
from one to four; and is in duty bound to see that the laws are
enforced. To him, in nearly all the states, are sent the acts of the
legislature to be signed if he approves, or vetoed if he disapproves. In
some states the Governor may veto parts or items of an act and approve
the rest. He is commander in chief of the militia; commissions all
officers whom he appoints; and in most of the states may pardon
criminals.

_The Judicial Branch_ of government is composed of the state courts,
whose judges are appointed, or elected for a long term of years.

These three branches of government--the executive, the legislative, and
the judicial--are distinct and separate, and none can exercise the
powers of the others. No judge can enact a law; no legislature can try a
suit; no executive can perform the duties of a judge or a legislature.

When the thirteen colonies threw off their allegiance to the British
Crown, the government set up by each was supreme within the limits of
the state. Each could coin money, impose duties on goods imported from
abroad or from other states, fix the legal rate of interest, make laws
regulating marriage and divorce and the descent of property, and do
anything else that any supreme government could do.

But when the states united in forming a strong general government by
adopting the Constitution, they did not give up all their powers of
government. They intrusted part of them to the Federal government, and
retained the rest as before. In other words, the people of each state,
instead of continuing to have one government, adopted a double
government, state and Federal, according to the plan laid down in the
Constitution. It is the Federal Constitution that makes the division of
powers between the nation and the separate states. The Constitution, for
instance, gives the Federal government the powers of coining money and
laying import duties, and forbids these powers to the states; but the
rate of interest, marriage and divorce, and the descent of property are
matters not mentioned in the Constitution, and concerning which the
states retain the power to make laws.

In many cases it is hard to decide whether a state has power to do a
certain thing. Whenever the question turns on the interpretation of the
Federal Constitution, it is decided by the United States courts. The
Federal Constitution and the laws and treaties made in accordance with
it are supreme in case of any conflict with a state constitution or law.

The powers of government exercised by the states are more numerous, and
affect the individual citizen in more ways, than those of the nation.
The force of contracts; the relations of employer and employed, husband
and wife, parent and child; the administration of schools; and the
punishment of most crimes, are matters controlled by the state. A much
larger amount of taxes is imposed by the states than by the nation.

_Local Governments._--Moreover, the local government of counties, towns,
and cities is entirely under the control of the state. State
constitutions contain many provisions in regard to this local
government, but the legislature can make laws affecting it more or less
greatly in the various states. In the local government of a city, town,
or county there is to some extent a distribution of powers among
legislative, executive, and judicial officers. The legislative function
is exercised by the city council or board of aldermen, the town trustees
(or by the whole body of voters), and the county board of supervisors or
commissioners; the executive, by the city mayor, the county sheriff, and
other officers; and the judicial, by various city courts, justices of
the peace, and county courts.

_Political Rights and Duties._--The political rights and duties of
citizens depend chiefly on the state constitutions and laws. Elections,
both state and national, are conducted by state officers. The state
prescribes who shall have the right to vote, and the various states
differ greatly in this respect. Congress grants citizenship by a uniform
rule of naturalization; but some states allow aliens to vote (on certain
conditions), and some provide that a naturalized citizen can not vote
until a certain period has elapsed after his naturalization. In some
states women may vote; in some only those men who have certain property
or educational qualifications.

The right to vote is the qualification for holding most offices;
additional qualifications are prescribed for very important offices, in
the Federal and state constitutions. Thus, none but a native may be a
President or Vice President of the United States, nor may a citizen
under thirty years of age be a member of the United States Senate.
Besides voting and office holding, the most important political rights
and duties of citizens are to sit on juries and to serve in the army.
The qualifications of jurors in state courts are prescribed by state
authority, and in national courts by national authority. Congress has
the exclusive power to raise armies, and in the Civil War hundreds of
thousands of citizens came under national authority in connection with
the duty to bear arms. The militia, however, is commanded by state
officers, and in time of peace is under the control of the
separate states.

INDEX

%A%

Abolition, laws;
societies;
opposition to;
Compromise Bill;
issue of Civil War.
Acadia, extent of;
struggle for.
Act, of 1870;
of 1873;
of 1875.
_Adams_.
Adams, Alvin.
Adams, Charles F.
Adams, John, defends soldiers;
Declaration of Independence;
negotiates treaty;
vice president;
president.
Adams, John Quincy, opposes European colonization;
presidential nominee;
president;
opposed to slavery.
Adams, John Q., vice-pres. nominee.
Adams, Samuel.
Adams Express Company.
"Adams men".
"Administration men".
_Alabama_.
Alabama, admitted;
secedes;
readmitted.
Alabama claims.
Alaska, boundaries;
purchased.
Albany, Dutch at;
colonial congress at.
Alexandria.
Algonquins.
Alien and Sedition laws.
Allegheny River, French on.
Allen, Ethan.
Allison amendment.
Amendments to Constitution, ten;
twelfth;
proposed thirteenth;
thirteenth;
fourteenth;
fifteenth.
America, discovery of;
naming of.
American Antislavery Society.
American Fur Trading Company.
American party.
American Republican party;
disappears.
Amherst.
Amnesty, proclamation issued;
political issue.
Anaesthesia discovered.
Anderson, Robert.
Andre, Major John.
Annapolis, Md., founded; riot at;
trade convention at.
Annapolis, Port Royal called.
Annual message.
Anti-Chinese movement.
Anti-Federalists.
Anti-Nebraska men.
Antietam, battle of.
Antimasonic party.
Antislavery movement.
Appomattox Courthouse.
Arbitration, policy;
between England and Venezuela.
Argall, Governor.
_Argus_.
Arizona, territory;
silver interests.
Arkansas, becomes territory;
admitted;
secedes;
Confederates in;
reconstruction;
readmitted.
Army of the Cumberland;
disbanded.
Army of the Potomac, peninsular campaign;
at Gettysburg;
in Wilderness campaign;
disbanded.
Army of Tennessee.
Army of Virginia.
Arnold, Benedict, attacks Quebec;
at Saratoga;
treason of;
in British service.
Articles of Confederation.
Ashburton, Lord.
Assumption of state debts.
Astor, John Jacob.
Astoria founded.
Atchison settled.
Atlanta burned.
Atlantic cable.
Auburn settled.
Aurania settled.
Austin, Moses.
Austin, Stephen.

%B%

Bahama Islands.
Balboa.
Baltimore, founded;
in colonial times;
Congress at;
attacked;
route to the West;
convention at;
insurgents in;
labor congress in.
Baltimore, Lord,
Banks, United States, see National Bank;
state, see State Banks.
Banks, N. P., presidential nominee, in
Civil War,
Bannock City founded,
Barry, John,
Barron, Commander,
Baton Rouge, captured,
Spaniards claim,
"Battle above the Clouds,"
Bean, William,
Bear State republic,
Beauregard, General,
Bell, John,
Belmont,
Belpre settled,
Bemis Heights, battle of,
Bennington, battle of,
Benton, Thomas II., senator,
Bents Fort,
_Berceau_,
Berkeley, Lord,
Berlin Decree,
Bidwell, John,
Bienville, Celoron de,
Big Bottom massacre,
Bills of credit,
Biloxi settled,
Bimetallism,
Birney, James Gillespie, presidential nominee,
abolitionist,
Black, James,
Black Rock burned,
Bladensburg, battle of,
Blaine, James G.,
Blair, Francis P.,
Bland-Allison Silver Bill,
Blockade, of 1814,
Southern,
Blockade runners,
Blue Lodges,
Bonded debt, of 1866,
of 1894,
Bonds, United States,
_Bonhomme Richard_,
Bonneville, Captain,
Boom towns,
Boone, Daniel,
Boonesboro settled,
Booth, John Wilkes, assassinates Lincoln,
Bordentown,
Border states secede,
Boscawen,
_Boston_,
Boston, founded,
in colonial times,
riot,
massacre,
tea party,
Port Bill,
occupied by British,
evacuated,
in 1790,
fire,
Boston Neck,
_Boston Sentinel_,
Boundary, of United States in 1783,
in 1815,
Canadian,
Spanish,
of Alaska,
of Texas,
map showing territorial growth of United States,
_Boxer_,
Braddock, Edward,
Bradford, William,
Bradstreet,
Bragg,
Brandywine, battle of,
Brazil discovered,
Breckinridge, John C., vice president,
presidential candidate,
Breeds Hill, battle of,
Brewster, William,
British, see English.
British Columbia, boundary of,
British Guiana,
Brown, B. Gratz,
Brown, Jacob,
Brown, John,
Brown, Robert,
Brownists,
Brush,
Bryan, William J.,
Buchanan, James, president,
attitude toward seceded states,
Buckner, General Simon B.,
Buell, General,
Buena Vista, battle of,
Buffalo burned,
Bull Run, battles of,
Bunker Hill, battle of,
Bunker Hill Monument,
Burgoyne, John,
Burke P. B.,
Burlingame, Anson,
Burnside, General,
Burr, Aaron,
Business depression of '93,
Butler,
Butler, A. P.,
Butler, Benjamin F.,
Butler, William O.,
Butterfield overland stage.

%C%

Cabinet, first,
Cable, Atlantic,
Cabots,
Cabral,
Calhoun, John C., in War Congress,
vice president,
favors nullification,
on slavery,
on Compromise Bill,
death of,
California, Fremont in,
independent,
slavery in,
gold discoveries,
applies for admission,
settled and admitted,
Pacific Railroad to,
Calverts,
Cambridge settled,
Camden, battle of,
Canada, ceded to British,
boundary of,
fisheries,
Canals,
Canonchet,
Canso attacked,
Cape Ann colony,
Cape Breton,
Cape Cod named,
Cape Fear River settlements,
Captains of industry.
Caribbean Islands.
Carleton, Sir Guy.
Carolinas, settled;
see North and South Carolina.
Carpetbaggers.
Carson, Kit.
Carteret, Sir George.
Cartier, Jacques.
Cass, Lewis.
Castine massacre.
Castle Pinckney.
Catholics in Maryland.
Cayuga Indians.
Cedar Creek, battle of.
Cedar Mountain, battle of.
Celoron de Bienville.
Census, first;
of 1810;
of 1870;
of 1900.
Central Pacific Railroad.
Cerro Gordo, battle of.
Certificates, national.
Chadds Ford, battle of.
Chambers, B. J.
Chambersburg burned.
Champlain.
Chancellorsville, battle of.
Chapultepec, battle of.
Charles I., grants Maryland;
persecutes Puritans;
beheaded.
Charles II., grants Connecticut;
grants Carolina;
grants Pennsylvania.
Charleston, founded;
attacked;
in colonial times;
opposes tea tax;
captured;
nominating convention.
Charleston harbor.
Charlestown, settled.
Charlestown Neck.
Charter colonies.
Charters, of 1606;
of 1609;
of 1629.
Chase, Salmon P.
Chattanooga, battle of.
Cherokee Indians.
Cherry Creek.
Cherry Valley massacre.
_Chesapeake_.
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
Chester.
Chicago, Republican conventions;
in 1832;
in 1840;
labor congress;
convention of '69;
fire;
meat packing;
Bimetallic League.
Chickahominy River.
Chickamauga, battle of.
Chickasaw Indians.
China, disorder in.
Chinese Exclusion acts.
Chinese immigration.
Chippewa, battle of.
Choctaw Indians.
Church of New England.
Churubusco, battle of.
Cincinnati, in 1802;
in 1810;
convention of 1872;
labor congress;
convention of 1876.
Circuit courts.
Civil Rights Bill.
Civil service reform.
Civil War;
cost of;
results of.
Clark, General George Rogers.
Clark, William.
Clay, Henry, speaker;
presidential nominee;
secretary of state;
Compromise Tariff;
Infant School;
Compromise Bill;
death of.
_Clermont_.
Cleveland, population in 1840.
Cleveland, Stephen Grover, president.
Clinton, George.
Clinton, Governor De Witt.
Clinton, Sir Henry, campaigns.
Cobb, Howell.
Cochrane, General John.
Cockburn, Admiral.
Cohoes founded.
Coin at a premium.
Coinage of gold and silver.
Cold Harbor, battle of.
Colfax, Schuyler.
Collins steamship line.
Colonial, life;
forms of government.
Colonies, Spanish;
English;
Dutch;
Swedish.
Colorado, acquired;
a territory;
admitted;
silver interests.
Colt.
_Columbia Centinel_.
Columbia River discovered.
Columbus, Christopher.
Columbus, Ky., evacuated.
Columbus, O., population in 1840;
conventions.
Commerce, in colonial times;
about 1810;
destroyers;
See also Trade.
Committee of Safety.
Compromise, Missouri;
tariff;
of 1850;
of Crittenden.
Compromises in Constitution.
Comptroller of the Currency.
Concord, battle of.
Confederate cruisers.
Confederate States, formed;
during civil war;
capital of;
end of;
military supplies of;
debts and losses of;
congress dissolved.
_Congress_.
Congress, under Articles of Confederation, and see Continental Congress;
reconstruction plan of;
gives land grants;
acts of 1862 and 1863.
Congress, National Labor.
Connecticut, settled;
in colonial times;
Reserve.
Conscription, Confederate.
_Constellation_.
_Constitution_.
Constitution of U.S.,
amendments to, see Amendments.
Printed in Appendix,
Constitutional Union party,
Continental army,
Continental Congress,
Continental debt,
Continental money,
Contract labor,
Contraction policy,
Contreras, battle of,
Conway cabal,
Cooper, Peter,
Corinth,
battle of,
Cornwallis, Lord,
Coronado,
Corporations, rise of,
opposition to,
Cortereal,
Cortes,
Cotton gin,
Cotton industry,
Cotton-seed oil,
Council Bluffs, Mormons at,
Council for New England,
_Coureurs de bois,_
Court of Admiralty,
Courts of U.S. established,
Cowpens, battle of,
Cranfill, J.B.,
Crawford, William H.,
Credit Strengthening Act,
Creek Indians,
Crittenden's Compromise,
Croghan, Major,
Crown Point, founded,
English at,
Cuba,
Culpeper Courthouse,
_Cumberland_,
Cumberland Road,
Cunard steamship line,
Currency, U.S.,
Curtis, Gen. S.R.,
Customs Commissioners.

%D%

Dakota Territory, formed,
population of,
Dallas, George Mifflin,
Dalton, battle of,
Daniel, William,
Davenport, John,
Davie, William K.,
Davis, David,
Davis, Jefferson, president of Confederacy,
capture of,
Dayton, William L.,
De Soto,
Deane, Silas,
Dearborn's expedition,
Debt, national, after the Revolutionary War,
in 1790,
in 1801,
in 1835,
new national,
during Civil War,
in 1866,
in 1887,
in 1894,
Declaration of Independence,
in Vermont,
See Appendix,
Declaration of Rights,
DeKalb,
Delaware, claims in,
sold to Penn,
in colonial times,
slavery in,
Delaware, Lord, 32.
Delaware Indians, 68, 72.
Delegates, territorial, 162, 351 n. 2.
Democratic party,
Democratic Republicans,
Denver, settled,
convention at,
Department of Labor established,
Detroit, settled
surrender of,
Dewey, Commodore,
Dingley Tariff,
Dinwiddie, Governor Robert,
Direct tax,
District courts,
District of Columbia,
slavery in,
Dixon, Jeremiah,
Dole, president of Hawaiian Republic,
Donelson, Andrew Jackson,
Donelson, John,
Dorchester settled,
Dorchester Heights captured,
Douglas, Stephen A., Nebraska Bill,
debates with Lincoln,
elected senator,
presidential nominee,
Dover riot,
Dow, Neal,
_Drake_,
Drake, Sir Francis,
Draper, Dr. John W.,
Dred Scott decision,
Duane, William J.,
Duluth founded,
Duquesne, Marquis,
Durham massacre,
Dutch, possessions,
settlements,
Dutch West India Company.

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