Rosenfeld Susan. Encyclopedia of American Historical Documents

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

stituents, that they shall abide by the determinations of the

United States in Congress assembled, on all questions,

which by the said Confederation are submitted to them.

And that the articles thereof shall be inviolably observed

by the states we respectively represent, and that the Union

shall be perpetual.

Source:

John Scott, ed. Living Documents in American History. New

York: Washington Square Press, 1964–68.

Massachusetts Bill of Rights, 1780

Just prior to and after independence, the former colonies

established constitutions, several of which included bills of

rights. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, for example, influ-

enced Thomas Jefferson’s version of the Declaration of Inde-

pendence. The Massachusetts bill consisted of 30 articles,

which were incorporated into the commonwealth’s constitu-

tion and adopted in 1780. Drafted largely by John Adams, the

document declared that “all men are born free and equal, and

have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights.” It

specified the right of the people to bear arms; to assemble; to

be free of unreasonable searches; to participate in free elec-

tions; to be protected in life, liberty, and property; to obtain

justice freely; and to have a free press. Declaring that “it is the

right as well as the duty of all men . . . to worship the Supreme

Being,” it granted religious freedom to all Christian denomi-

nations.

________________________

_______________________

Art. I. All men are born free and equal, and have certain,

natural, essential, and unalienable rights, among which

may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their

lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and pro-

tecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining

their safety and happiness.

II. It is the right as well as the duty of all men in soci-

ety, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the

Supreme Being, the great creator and preserver of the uni-

verse. And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or

restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshiping

God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dic-

tates of his own conscience; or for his religious profession

or sentiments; provided he doth not disturb the public

peace, or obstruct others in their religious worship.

III. As the happiness of a people, and the good order

and preservation of civil government, essentially depend

upon piety, religion and morality; and as these cannot be

generally diffused through a community, but by the institu-

tion of the public worship of God, and of public instructions

in piety, religion and morality: Therefore, to promote their

happiness, and to secure the good order and preservation

of their government, the people of this Commonwealth

have a right to invest their legislature with power to autho-

rize and require, and the legislature shall, from time to

time, authorize and require, the several towns, parishes,

precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious societies, to

make suitable provision, at their own expence, for the insti-

tution of the public worship of God, and for the support

and maintenance of public protestant teachers of piety, reli-

gion and morality, in all cases where such provision shall not

be made voluntarily. And the people of this Commonwealth

have also a right to, and do, invest their legislature with

authority to enjoin upon all the subjects an attendance

upon the instructions of the public teachers aforesaid, at

stated times and seasons, if there be any on whose instruc-

tions they can conscienciously and conveniently attend.

Provided notwithstanding that the several towns,

parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious

societies, shall, at all times, have the exclusive right of

electing their public teachers, and of contracting with

them for their support and maintenance.

And all monies paid by the subject to the support of

public worship, and of the public teachers aforesaid, shall,

if he require it, be uniformly applied to the support of the

public teacher or teachers of his own religious sect or

denomination, provided there be any on whose instruc-

tions he attends; otherwise it may be paid towards the sup-

port of the teacher or teachers of the parish or precinct in

which the said monies are raised.

And every denomination of christians, demeaning

themselves peaceably, and as good subjects of the Com-

monwealth, shall be equally under the protection of the

law: and no subordination of any one sect or denomination

to another shall ever be established by law.

IV. The people of this Commonwealth have the sole

and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free,

sovereign, and independent state, and do, and forever he

easter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction,

and right, which is not, or may not hereafter, be by them

expresly delegated to the United States of America in

Congress assembled.

V. All power residing originally in the people, and

being derived from them, the several magistrates and offi-

cers of government, vested with authority, whether legisla-

tive, executive, or judicial, are their substitutes and agents,

and are at all times accountable to them.

VI. No man, nor corporation, or association of men,

have any other title to obtain advantages, or particular and

exclusive privileges distinct from those of the community,

than what arises from the consideration of services ren-

dered to the public, and this title being in nature neither

302 ERA 3: Revolution and New Nation

hereditary, nor transmissible to children, or decendents, or

relations by blood, the idea of a man born a magistrate,

lawgiver, or judge, is absurd and unnatural.

VII. Government is instituted for the common good;

for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the

people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of

any one man, family or class of men: therefore the people

alone have an incontestible, unalienable, and indefeasible

right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or

totally change the same, when their protection, safety,

prosperity and happiness require it.

VIII. In order to prevent those, who are vested with

authority, from becoming oppressors, the people have a

right, at such periods and in such manner as they shall

establish by their frame of government, to cause their pub-

lic officers to return to private life; and to fill up vacant

places by certain and regular elections and appointments.

IX. All elections ought to be free; and all the inhabi-

tants of this Commonwealth, having such qualifications as

they shall establish by their frame of government, have an

equal right to elect officers, and to be elected, for public

employments.

X. Each individual of the society has a right to be

protected by it in the enjoyment of his life, liberty and

property, according to standing laws. He is obliged, conse-

quently, to contribute his share to the expence of this pro-

tection; to give his personal service, or an equivalent, when

necessary: but no part of the property of any individual,

can, with justice, be taken from him, or applied to public

uses, without his own consent, or that of the representative

body of the people: In fine, the people of this Common-

wealth are not controulable by any other laws, than those

to which their constitutional representative body have

given their consent. And whenever the public exigencies

require, that the property of any individual should be

appropriated to public uses, he shall receive a reasonable

compensation therefor.

XI. Every subject to the Commonwealth ought to find

a certain remedy, by having recourse to the laws for all

injuries or wrongs which he may receive in his person,

property, or character. He ought to obtain right and justice

freely, and without being obliged to purchase it; com-

pleatly, and without any denial; promptly, and without

delay; conformably to the laws.

XII. No subject shall be held to answer for any crime

or offence, until the same is fully and plainly, substantially

and formally, described to him; or be compelled to accuse,

or furnish evidence against himself. And every subject

shall have a right to produce all proofs that may be favor-

able to him; to meet the witnesses against him face to face;

and to be fully heard in his defence by himself, or his coun-

cil, at his election. And no subject shall be arrested, impris-

oned, despoiled, or deprived of his property, immunities,

or privileges, put out of the protection of the law, exiled, or

deprived of his life, liberty, or estate, but by the judgment

of his peers, or the law of the land.

And the legislature shall not make any law that shall

subject any person to a capital or infamous punishment,

excepting for the government of the army and navy, with-

out trial by jury.

XIII. In criminal prosecutions, the verification of

facts, in the vicinity where they happen,is one of the great-

est securities of the life, liberty, and property of the citizen.

XIV. Every subject has a right to be secure from all

unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his

houses, his papers, and all his possessions. All warrants,

therefore, are contrary to this right, if the cause or founda-

tion of them be not previously supported by oath or affir-

mation; and if the order in the warrant to a civil officer, to

make search in suspected places, or to arrest one or more

suspected persons, or to seize their property, be not

accompanied with a special designation of the persons or

objects of search, arrest, or seizure: and no warrant ought

to be issued but in cases, and with the formalities pre-

scribed by the laws.

XV. In all controversies concerning property, and in all

suits between two or more persons, except in cases in

which it has heretofore been otherways used and prac-

ticed, the parties have a right to a trial by a jury; and this

method of procedure shall be held sacred, unless, in

causes arising on the high feas, and such as relate to

mariners wages, the legislature shall hereafter find it nec-

essary to alter it.

XVI. The liberty of the press is essential to the secu-

rity of freedom in a state; it ought not, therefore, to be

restrained in this Commonwealth.

XVII. The people have a right to keep and to bear

arms for the common defence. And as in time of peace

armies are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be main-

tained without the consent of the legislature; and the mil-

itary power shall always be held in an exact subordination

to the civil authority and be governed by it.

XVIII. A frequent recurrence to the fundamental

principles of the constitution, and a constant adherence to

those of piety, justice, moderation, temperature, industry,

and frugality, are absolutely necessary to preserve the

advantages of liberty, and to maintain a free government:

the people ought, consequently, to have a particular atten-

tion to all those principles, in the choice of their officers

and representatives: and they have a right to require of

their law givers and magistrates, an exact and constant

observance of them, in the formation and execution of

the laws necessary for the good administration of the

Commonwealth.

Formation of the New Government 303

XIX. The people have a right, in an orderly and peace-

able manner, to assemble to consult upon the common

good: give instructions to their representatives; and to

request of the legislative body, by the way of addresses,

petitions, or remonstrances, redress of the wrongs done

them, and of the grievances they suffer.

XX. The power of suspending the laws, or the execu-

tion of the laws, ought never to be exercised but by the leg-

islature, or by authority derived from it, to be exercised in

such particular cases only as the legislature shall expressly

provide for.

XXI. The freedom of deliberation, speech and debate

in either house of the legislature, is so essential to the

rights of the people, that it cannot be the foundation of any

accusation or prosecution, action or complaint, in any

other court or place whatsoever.

XXII. The legislature ought frequently to assemble for

the redress of grievances, for correcting, strengthening,

and confirming the laws and for making new laws, as the

common good may, require.

XXIII. No subsidy, charge, tax, impost, or duties,

ought to be established, fixed, laid, or levied, under any

pretext whatsoever, without the consent of the people, or

their representatives in the legislature.

XXIV. Laws made to punish for actions done before

the existence of such laws, and which have not been

declared crimes by preceding laws, are unjust, oppressive,

and inconsistent with the fundamental principles of a free

government.

XXV. No subject ought, in any case, or in any time to

be declared guilty of treason or felony by the legislature.

XXVI. No magistrate or court of law, shall demand

excessive bail or sureties, impose excessive fines, or inflict

cruel or unusual punishments.

XXVII. In time of peace no soldier ought to be quar-

tered in any house without the consent of the owner; and

in time of war such quarters ought not to be made but by

the civil magistrate, in a manner ordained by the legisla-

ture.

XXVIII. No person can in any case be subjected to

law-martial, or to any penalties or pains, by virtue of that

law, except those employed in the army or navy, and except

the militia in actual service, but by authority of the legisla-

ture.

XXIX. It is essential to the preservation of the rights of

every individual, his life, liberty, property and character,

that there be an impartial interpretation of the laws, and

administration of justice. It is the right of every citizen to

be tried by judges are free, impartial and independents as

the lot of humanity will admit. It is therefore not only the

best policy, but for the security of the rights of the people,

and of every citizen, that the judges of the supreme judi-

cial court should hold their offices as long as they behave

themselves well; and that they should have honorable

salaries ascertained and established by standing laws.

XXX. In the government of this Commonwealth, the

legislative department shall never exercise the executive

and judicial powers, or either of them; the executive shall

never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either

of them; the judicial shall never exercise the legislative and

executive powers, or either of them: to the end it may be a

government of laws and not of men.

See also

VIRGINIA STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

, 1786.

Source:

A Constitution or Frame of Government Agreed Upon by the

Delegates of the People of the State of Massachusetts Bay,

3rd ed. Boston: Benjamin Edes & Sons, 1780. pp. 7–13.

Land Ordinance of 1785

Plan enacted by Congress on May 20, 1785, that outlined a

systematic survey and subdivision of land in the western terri-

tories and provided for clear-cut boundaries and titles. The

land was to be divided into townships, each six miles square,

which would be further subdivided into 36 lots of 640 acres

each. Boundaries were based on meridians of longitude and

parallels of latitude with lines running, wherever possible, due

north and south by due east and west. Land was sold in 640-

acre parcels for one dollar an acre. A proportion of the land

was reserved for the United States government, and one lot in

every township was set aside for public schools. This system

of land disposal remained in effect, with a few changes, until

the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862.

On May 18, 1796, Congress passed its first significant act

to administer public lands in the western territories of the

United States. It established the office of surveyor general and

provided for a rectangular survey system, as in the Land Ordi-

nance of 1785. Lands were to be divided into townships of six

miles square. Half of the townships were to be divided into

sections of 640 acres, the smallest unit available for sale; the

other half of the townships were offered in 5,120-acre blocks.

Lands were to be sold at public auction to the highest bidder,

with a minimum price of two dollars per acre. The buyer was

required to pay in full within a year of purchase. The law was

unsuccessful because the minimum price was high, and the

minimum parcel for sale was large.

________________________

_______________________

Congress assembled. Present as yesterday.

Congress proceeded in the third reading of the Ordi-

nance for ascertaining the mode of disposing of lands in

the western territory, and the same being gone through,

was passed as follows:

304 ERA 3: Revolution and New Nation

An Ordinance for ascertaining the mode of disposing

of Lands in the Western Territory.

Be it ordained by the United States in Congress

assembled, that the territory ceded by individual States to

the United States, which has been purchased of the Indian

inhabitants, shall be disposed of in the following manner:

A surveyor from each state shall be appointed by

Congress, or a committee of the States, who shall take an

Oath for the faithful discharge of his duty, before the

Geographer of the United States, who is hereby empow-

ered and directed to administer the same; and the like oath

shall be administered to each chain carrier, by the surveyor

under whom he acts.

The Geographer, under whose direction the surveyors

shall act, shall occasionally form such regulations for their

conduct, as he shall deem necessary; and shall have

authority to suspend them for misconduct in Office, and

shall make report of the same to Congress, or to the Com-

mittee of the States; and he shall make report in case of

sickness, death, or resignation of any surveyor.

The Surveyors, as they are respectively qualified, shall

proceed to divide the said territory into townships of six

miles square, by lines running due north and south, and

others crossing these at right angles, as near as may be,

unless where the boundaries of the late Indian purchase

may render the same impracticable, and then they shall

depart from this rule no farther than such particular cir-

cumstances may require; and each surveyor shall be

allowed and paid at the rate of two dollars for every mile,

in length, he shall run, including the wages of chain carri-

ers, markers, and every other expense attending the same.

The first line, running north and south as aforesaid, shall

begin on the river Ohio, at a point that shall be found to be

due north from the western termination of a line, which

has been run as the southern boundary of the state of

Pennsylvania; and the first line, running east and west,

shall begin at the same point, and shall extend throughout

the whole territory. Provided, that nothing herein shall be

construed, as fixing the western boundary of the state of

Pennsylvania. The geographer hall designate the town-

ships, or fractional parts of townships, by numbers pro-

gressively from south to north; always beginning each

range with number one; and the ranges shall be distin-

guished by their progressive numbers of the westward.

The first range, extending from the Ohio to the lake Erie,

being marked number one. The Geographer shall person-

ally attend to the running of the first east and west line;

and shall take the latitude of the extremes of the first north

and south line, and of the mouths of the principal rivers.

The lines shall be measured with a chain; shall be

plainly marked by chaps on the trees, and exactly

described on a plat; whereon shall be noted by the sur-

veyor, at their proper distances, all mines, salt springs, salt

licks and mill seats, that shall come to his knowledge, and

all water courses, mountains and other remarkable and

permanent things, over and near which such lines shall

pass, and also the quality of the lands.

The plots of the townships respectively, shall be

marked by subdivisions into lots of one mile square, or 640

acres, in the same direction as the external lines, and num-

bered from 1 to 36; always beginning the succeeding range

of the lots with the number next to that with which the

preceding one concluded. And where, from the causes

before mentioned, only a fractional part of a township shall

be surveyed, the lots, protracted thereon, shall bear the

same numbers as if the township had been entire. And the

surveyors, in running the external lines of the townships,

shall, at the interval of every mile, mark corners for the lots

which are adjacent, always designating the same in a dif-

ferent manner from those of the townships.

The geographer and surveyors shall pay the utmost

attention to the variation of the magnetic needle; and shall

run and note all lines by the true meridian, certifying, with

every plat, what was the variation at the times of running

the lines thereon noted.

As soon as seven ranges of townships, and fractional

part of townships, in the direction from south to north,

shall have been surveyed, the geographer shall transmit

plats thereof to the board of treasury, who shall record the

same, with the report, in well bound books to be kept for

that purpose. And the geographer shall make similar

returns, from time to time, of every seven ranges as they

may be surveyed. The Secretary at War shall have recourse

thereto, and shall take by lot therefrom, a number of town-

ships, and fractional parts of townships, as well from those

to be sold entire as from those to be sold in lots, as will be

equal to one seventh part of the whole of such seven

ranges, as nearly as may be, for the use of the late conti-

nental army; and he shall make a similar draught, from

time to time, until a sufficient quantity is drawn to satisfy

the same, to be applied in manner hereinafter directed.

The board of treasury shall, from time to time, cause the

remaining numbers, as well those to be sold entire, as

those to be sold in lots, to be drawn for, in the name of the

thirteen states respectively, according to the quotas in the

last preceding requisition on all the states; provided, that

in case more land than its proportion is allotted for sale, in

any state, at any distribution, a deduction be made there-

for at the next.

The board of treasury shall transmit a copy of the

original plats, previously noting thereon, the townships,

and fractional parts of townships, which shall have fallen

to the several states, by the distribution aforesaid, to the

Commissioners of the loan office of the several states,

who, after giving notice of not less than two nor more than

six months, by causing advertisements to be posted up at

Formation of the New Government 305

the court houses, or other noted places in every county,

and to be inserted in one newspaper, published in the

state of their residence respectively, shall proceed to sell

the townships, or fractional parts of townships, at public

vendue, in the following manner, viz: The township, or

fractional part of a township, N 1, in the first range, shall

be sold entire; and N 2, in the same range, by lots; and

thus in alternate order through the whole of the first

range. The township, or fractional part of a township, N 1,

in the second range, shall be sold by lots; and N 2, in the

same range, entire; and so in alternate order through the

whole of the second range; and the third range shall be

sold in the same manner as the first, and the fourth in the

same manner as the second, and thus alternately through-

out all the ranges; provided, that none of the lands, within

the said territory, be sold under the price of one dollar the

acre, to be paid in specie, or loan office certificates,

reduced to specie value, by the scale of depreciation, or

certificates of liquidated debts of the United States,

including interest, besides the expense of the survey and

other charges thereon, which are hereby rated at thirty six

dollars the township, in specie, or certificates as aforesaid,

and so in the same proportion for a fractional part of a

township, or of a lot, to be paid at the time of sales; on fail-

ure of which payment, the said lands shall again be

offered for sale.

There shall be reserved for the United States out of

every township, the four lots, being numbered 8, 11, 26,

29, and out of every fractional part of a township, so many

lots of the same numbers as shall be found thereon, for

future sale. There shall be reserved the lot N 16, of every

township, for the maintenance of public schools, within

the said township; also one third part of all gold, silver, lead

and copper mines, to be sold, or otherwise disposed of as

Congress shall hereafter direct.

When any township, or fractional part of a township,

shall have been sold as aforesaid, and the money or certifi-

cates received therefor, the loan officer shall deliver a deed

in the following terms:

The United States of America, to all to whom these

presents shall come, Greeting:

Know ye, That for the consideration of dollars, we

have granted, and hereby do grant and confirm unto the

township, (or fractional part of a township, as the case may

be) numbered in the range excepting therefrom, and

reserving one third part of all gold, silver, lead and copper

mines within the same; and the lots Ns 8, 11, 26 and 29,

for future sale or disposition, and the lot N 16, for the

maintenance of public schools. To have to the said his

heirs and assigns for ever; (or if more than one purchaser,

to the said their heirs and assigns forever as tenants in

Common.) In witness whereof, (A.B.) Commissioner of

the loan office, in the State of hath, in conformity to the

Ordinance passed by the United States in Congress

assembled, the twentieth day of May, in the year of our

Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty five, here-

unto set his hand, and affixed his seal, this day of in the

year of our Lord and of the independence of the United

States of America.

And when any township, or fractional part of a town-

ship, shall be sold by lots as aforesaid, the Commissioner

of the loan office shall deliver a deed therefor in the fol-

lowing form:

The United States of America, to all to whom these

presents shall come, Greeting:

Know ye, That for the consideration of dollars, we

have granted, and hereby do grant and confirm unto the

lot (or lots, as the case may be, in the township or fractional

part of the township, as the case may be) numbered in the

range excepting and reserving one third part of all gold, sil-

ver, lead and copper mines within the same, for future sale

or disposition. To have to the said his heirs and assigns for

ever; (or if more than one purchaser, to the said their heirs

and assigns for ever as tenants in common.) In witness

whereof, (A. B.) Commissioner of the continental loan

office in the state of hath, in conformity to the Ordinance

passed by the United States in Congress assembled, the

twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord 1785, here-

unto set his hand, and affixed his seal, this day of in the

year of our Lord and of the independence of the United

States of America.

Which deeds shall be recorded in proper books, by the

commissioner of the loan office, and shall be certified to

have been recorded, previous to their being delivered to

the purchaser, and shall be good and valid to convey the

lands in the same described.

The commissioners of the loan offices respectively,

shall transmit to the board of treasury every three months,

an account of the townships, fractional parts of townships,

and lots committed to their charge; specifying therein the

names of the persons to whom sold, and the sums of

money or certificates received for the same; and shall

cause all certificates by them received, to be struck

through with a circular punch; and they shall be duly

charged in the books of the treasury, with the amount of

the moneys or certificates, distinguishing the same, by

them received as aforesaid.

If any township, or fractional part of a township or lot,

remains unsold for eighteen months after the plat shall

have been received, by the commissioners of the loan

office, the same shall be returned to the board of treasury,

and shall be sold in such manner as Congress may here-

after direct.

And whereas Congress, by their resolutions of Septem-

ber 16 and 18 in the year 1776, and the 12th of August,

1780, stipulated grants of land to certain officers and sol-

306 ERA 3: Revolution and New Nation

diers of the late continental army, and by the resolution of

the 22d September, 1780, stipulated grants of land to certain

officers in the hospital department of the late continental

army; for complying therefore with such engagements, Be it

ordained, That the secretary at war, from the returns in his

office, or such other sufficient evidence as the nature of the

case may admit, determine who are the objects of the above

resolutions and engagements, and the quantity of land to

which such persons or their representatives are respectively

entitled, and cause the townships, or fractional parts of

townships, hereinbefore reserved for the use of the late con-

tinental army, to be drawn for in such manner as he shall

deem expedient, to answer the purpose of an impartial dis-

tribution. He shall, from time to time, transmit certificates

to the commissioners of the loan offices of the different

states, to the lines of which the military claimants have

respectively belonged, specifying the name and rank of the

party, the terms of his engagement and time of his service,

and the division, brigade, regiment or company to which he

belonged, the quantity of land he is entitled to, and the

township, or fractional part of a township, and range out of

which his portion is to be taken.

The commissioners of the loan offices shall execute

deeds for such undivided proportions in manner and form

herein before-mentioned, varying only in such a degree as

to make the same conformable to the certificate from the

Secretary at War.

Where any military claimants of bounty in lands shall

not have belonged to the line of any particular state, simi-

lar certificates shall be sent to the board of treasury, who

shall execute deeds to the parties for the same.

The Secretary at War, from the proper returns, shall

transmit to the board of treasury, a certificate, specifying

the name and rank of the several claimants of the hospital

department of the late continental army, together with the

quantity of land each claimant is entitled to, and the town-

ship, or fractional part of a township, and range out of

which his portion is to be taken; and thereupon the board

of treasury shall proceed to execute deeds to such

claimants.

The board of treasury, and the commissioners of the

loan offices in the states, shall, within 18 months, return

receipts to the secretary at war, for all deeds which have

been delivered, as also all the original deeds which remain

in their hands for want of applicants, having been first

recorded; which deeds so returned, shall be preserved in

the office, until the parties or their representatives require

the same.

And be it further Ordained, That three townships

adjacent to lake Erie be reserved, to be hereafter disposed

of by Congress, for the use of the officers, men, and oth-

ers, refugees from Canada, and the refugees from Nova

Scotia, who are or may be entitled to grants of land under

resolutions of Congress now existing, or which may here-

after be made respecting them, and for such other pur-

poses as Congress may hereafter direct.

And be it further Ordained, That the towns of

Gnadenhutten, Schoenbrun and Salem, on the Musk-

ingum, and so much of the lands adjoining to the said

towns, with the buildings and improvements thereon, shall

be reserved for the sole use of the Christian Indians, who

were formerly settled there, or the remains of that society,

as may, in the judgment of the Geographer, be sufficient

for them to cultivate.

Saving and reserving always, to all officers and soldiers

entitled to lands on the northwest side of the Ohio, by

donation or bounty from the commonwealth of Virginia,

and to all persons claiming under them, all rights to which

they are so entitled, under the deed of cession executed by

the delegates for the state of Virginia, on the first day of

March, 1784, and the act of Congress accepting the same:

and to the end, that the said rights may be fully and effec-

tually secured, according to the true intent and meaning of

the said deed of cession and act aforesaid, Be it Ordained,

that no part of the land included between the rivers called

little Miami and Sciota, on the northwest side of the river

Ohio, be sold, or in any manner alienated, until there shall

first have been laid off and appropriated for the said Offi-

cers and Soldiers, and persons claiming under them, the

lands they are entitled to, agreeably to the said deed of ces-

sion and act of Congress accepting the same.

Done by the United States in Congress assembled, the

20th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1785, and of our

sovereignty and independence the ninth.

Source:

Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789. Vol. 28,

pp. 375–381.

Virginia Statute of

Religious Liberty, 1786

Thomas Jefferson considered the Virginia Statute for Religious

Liberty one of his main achievements, ranking it second only

to the Declaration of Independence. The statute is one of the

earliest American statements of absolute religious liberty—a

model for the First Amendment to the Constitution—and was

adopted by the state of Virginia on January 16, 1786. It barred

discrimination based on religious belief, outlawed compulsory

church attendance, and ended a tax that was used to support

Anglican Church operations. While Anglican ministers had

largely remained on the British side during the American Rev-

olution 10 years previously, Congregational and Baptist minis-

ters had been very strong supporters of the revolutionaries. As

a result, American sentiment turned against the Anglican

Formation of the New Government 307

Church. The Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) inspired a

growing number of Virginia dissenters to demand the dises-

tablishment of the Anglican Church as soon as the new legis-

lature met. Although majority opinion favored Anglican

disestablishment, no consensus emerged on the separation of

church and state or on eliminating the distinctions between

religions in the United States. Jefferson, returning from

Congress to broaden Virginia’s guarantees of freedom, opened

the debate in the first assembly. Jefferson envisioned a future

where “All men [shall] be free to profess, and by argument

maintain, their opinion in matters of religion.” Although he

drafted the document earlier, he found no appropriate time to

submit it until 1779. Fellow Virginian James Madison champi-

oned Jefferson’s statute, writing that it “extinguished forever

the ambitious hope of making laws for the human mind.”

________________________

_______________________

An Act for Establishing Religious Freedom

I. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; that

all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or

burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget

habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure

from the plan of the Holy author of our religion, who being

Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it

by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do;

that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil

as well as ecclesiastical, who being themselves but fallible

and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the

faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of

thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeav-

ouring to impose them on others, hath established and

maintained false religions over the greatest part of the

world, and through all time; that to compel a man to fur-

nish contributions of money for the propagation of opin-

ions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical; that

even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his

own religious persuasion, is depriving him of the comfort-

able liberty of giving his contributions to the particular

pastor whose morals he would make his pattern, and

whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness,

and is withdrawing from the ministry those temporary

rewards, which proceeding from an approbation of their

personal conduct, are an additional incitement to earnest

and unremitting labours for the instruction of mankind;

that our civil rights have no dependence on our religious

opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geom-

etry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy

the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of

being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he

profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is

depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advan-

tages to which in common with his fellow-citizens he has a

natural right, that it tends only to corrupt the principles of

that religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing with a

monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments, those who

will externally profess and conform to it; that though

indeed these are criminal who do not withstand such

temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait

in their way; that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude

his powers into the field of opinion, and to restrain the pro-

fession or propagation of principles on supposition of their

ill tendency, is a dangerous fallacy, which at once destroys

all religious liberty, because he being of course judge of

that tendency will make his opinions the rule of judgment,

and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as

they shall square with or differ from his own; that it is time

enough for the rightful purposes of civil government, for

its officers to interfere when principles break out into

overt acts against peace and good order; and finally, that

truth is great and will prevail if left to herself, that she is

the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has noth-

ing to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposition

disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and

debate, errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permit-

ted freely to contradict them.

II. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no man

shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious

worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be en-

forced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or

goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious

opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess,

and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of

religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish,

enlarge or affect their civil capacities.

III. And though we well know that this assembly,

elected by the people for the ordinary purposes of legisla-

tion only, have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding

assemblies, constituted with powers equal to our own, and

that therefore to declare this act to be irrevocable would

be of no effect in law; yet as we are free to declare, and do

declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural

rights of mankind, and that if any act shall hereafter be

passed to repeal the present, or to narrow its operation,

such act will be an infringement of natural right.

See also

MASSACHUSETTS BILL OF RIGHTS

, 1780.

Source:

Henry Steele Commager, ed. Documents of American History.

New York: F.S. Crofts & Co., 1934.

Annapolis Convention Address, 1786

Convention on interstate commerce held at Annapolis, Mary-

land in September 1786, and attended by 12 commissioners

308 ERA 3: Revolution and New Nation

from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Vir-

ginia. Dissatisfaction with the Articles of Confederation and

financial difficulties had led Virginia to call for the convention,

but the scanty attendance precluded solutions to the problems.

Instead, the convention report, drafted by Alexander Hamilton,

called for a new convention to be held at Philadelphia in May

1787 to discuss not just problems of interstate commerce but

all matters “necessary to render the Constitution of the Federal

Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union.”

________________________

_______________________

Address of the Annapolis Convention

To the Honorable the Legislatures of Virginia, Delaware

Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

The Commissioners from the said states, respectively

assembled at Annapolis, humbly beg leave to report.

That, pursuant to their several appointments, they met,

at Annapolis in the State of Maryland, on the eleventh day

of September Instant, and having proceeded to a Commu-

nication of their powers; they found, that the States of New

York, Pennsylvania and Virginia had, in substance, and

nearly in the same terms, authorized their respective Com-

missioners “to meet such commissioners as were, or might

be, appointed by the other States in the Union, at such time

and place, as should be agreed upon by the said Commis-

sioners to take into consideration the trade and Commerce

of the United States, to consider how far an uniform system

in their commercial intercourse and regulations might be

necessary to their common interest and permanent har-

mony, and to report to the several States, such an Act, rel-

ative to this great object, as when unanimously ratified by

them would enable the United States in Congress assem-

bled effectually to provide for the same.”

That the State of Delaware, had given similar powers

to their Commissioners, with this difference only that the

Act to be framed in virtue of those powers, is required to

be reported “to the United States in Congress Assembled,

to be agreed to by them, and confirmed by the Legisla-

tures of every State.”

That the State of New Jersey had enlarged the object

of their Appointment, empowering their Commissioners,

“to consider how far an uniform system in their commer-

cial regulations and other important matters, might be

necessary to the common interest and permanent harmony

of the several States,” and to report such an Act on the sub-

ject, as when ratified by them “would enable the United

States in Congress Assembled, effectually to provide for

the exigencies of the Union.”

That appointments of Commissioners have also been

made by the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts,

Rhode Island, and North Carolina, none of whom however

have attended; but that no information has been received

by your Commissioners of any appointments having been

made by the States of Connecticut, Maryland, South Car-

olina, or Georgia.

That the express terms of the powers to your Com-

missioners supposing a deputation from all the States, and

having for object the Trade and Commerce of the United

States, Your Commissioners did not conceive it advisable

to proceed on the business of their mission, under the Cir-

cumstance of so partial and defective a representation.

Deeply impressed however with the magnitude and

importance of the object confided to them on this occa-

sion, your Commissioners cannot forbear to indulge an

expression of their earnest and unanimous wish, that

speedy measures may be taken, to effect a general meet-

ing, of the States, in a future Convention, for the same and

such other purposes, as the situation of public affairs, may

be found to require.

If in expressing this wish, or in intimating any other

sentiment, your Commissioners should seem to exceed the

strict bounds of their appointment, they entertain a full

confidence, that a conduct, dictated by an anxiety for the

welfare, of the United States, will not fail to receive an

indulgent construction.

In this persuasion your Commissioners submit an

opinion, that the Idea of extending the powers of their

Deputies, to other objects, than those of Commerce,

which has been adopted by the State of New Jersey, was an

improvement on the original plan, and will deserve to be

incorporated into that of a future Convention; they are the

more naturally led to this conclusion, as in the course of

their reflections on the subject, they have been induced to

think, that the power of regulating trade is of such com-

prehensive extent, and will enter so far into the general

System of the federal government, that to give it efficacy,

and to obviate questions and doubts concerning its precise

nature and limits, may require a correspondent adjustment

of other parts of the Federal System.

That there are important defects in the system of the

Federal Government is acknowledged by the Acts of all

those States, which have concurred in the present Meet-

ing; That the defects, upon a closer examination, may be

found greater and more numerous, than even these acts

imply, is at least so far probable, from the embarrassments

which characterize the present State of our national

affairs—foreign and domestic, as may reasonably be sup-

posed to merit a deliberate and candid discussion, in some

mode, which will unite the Sentiments and Councils of all

the States. In the choice of the mode your Commissioners

are of opinion, that a Convention of Deputies from the dif-

ferent States, for the special and sole purpose of entering

into this investigation, and digesting a plan for supplying

such defects as may be discovered to exist, will be entitled

to a preference from consideration, which will occur, with-

out being particularized.

Formation of the New Government 309

Your Commissioners decline an enumeration of those

national circumstances on which their opinion respecting

the propriety of a future Convention with more enlarged

powers, is founded; as it would be an useless intrusion of

facts and observations, most of which have been frequently

the subject of public discussion, and none of which can

have escaped the penetration of those to whom they would

in this instance be addressed. They are however of a

nature so serious, as, in the view of your Commissioners to

render the Situation of the United States delicate and crit-

ical, calling for an exertion of the united virtue and wisdom

of all the members of the Confederacy.

Under this impression, Your Commissioners, with the

most respectful deference, beg leave to suggest their unan-

imous conviction, that it may essentially tend to advance

the interests of the union, if the States, by whom they have

been respectively delegated, would themselves concur,

and use their endeavors to procure the concurrence of the

other States, in the appointment of Commissioners, to

meet at Philadelphia on the second Monday in May next,

to take into consideration the situation of the United

States, to devise such further provisions as shall appear to

them necessary to render the constitution of the Federal

Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union; and

to report such an Act for that purpose to the United States

in Congress Assembled, as when agreed to, by them, and

afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of every State

will effectually provide for the same.

Though your Commissioners could not with propriety

address these observations and sentiments to any but the

States they have the honor to Represent, they have never-

theless concluded from motives of respect, to transmit

Copies of this report to the United States in Congress

assembled, and to the executives of the other States.

Source:

Harold C. Syrett, ed. The Papers of Alexander Hamilton. New

York: Columbia University Press, 1961-87.

Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan, 1787

William Paterson submitted the New Jersey Plan to the Con-

stitutional Convention on June 15, 1787. As a representative of

a small state, Paterson aligned with the states’ rights faction at

the convention. In opposition to the Virginia Plan, Paterson’s

proposal called for a unicameral legislature similar to the Arti-

cles of Confederation Congress in which each state would

have equal representation. The plan also included provisions

that would strengthen the national government: Congress

would have the power to tax and to regulate interstate and for-

eign commerce, a federal executive and judiciary branch

would be created, and the treaties and acts of Congress would

be the supreme law in the states.

A committee of 11 set to resolve the differences between

the two plans. Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, both from

Connecticut, reported their compromise to the U.S. Federal

Constitutional Convention on July 5, 1787. The new plan

(sometimes called the Connecticut Compromise) was adopted

by the convention on July 16. In its final form, it provided for a

bicameral legislature with each state’s representation in the

lower house to be proportional to its population (based on the

total white population and three-fifths of the black population),

and each state having equal representation in the upper house.

The Great Compromise largely resolved the differences

among the smaller states, which had favored the New Jersey

Plan of representation by states, and the larger states, whose

interests had been reflected in the Virginia Plan, which wanted

representation by population.

Other participants in the excerpts below are Gunning

Bedford, Delaware; Pierce Butler, South Carolina; Daniel Car-

roll, Maryland; William R. Davie, North Carolina; Benjamin

Franklin, Pennsylvania; Elbridge Gerry, Massachusetts;

Nathaniel Gorham, Massachusetts; Rufus King, Massachusetts;

James Madison, Virginia; Luther Martin, Maryland; George

Mason, Virginia; Gouveneur Morris, Pennsylvania; Charles

Pinckney, South Carolina; Edmund Randolph, Virginia; John

Rutledge, South Carolina; Hugh Williamson, North Carolina;

and James Wilson, Pennsylvania.

________________________

_______________________

Virginia Plan, 1787

1. Resolved that the Articles of Confederation ought to be

so corrected and enlarged as to accomplish the objects

proposed by their institution; namely “common defence,

security of liberty and general welfare.”

2. Resolved therefore that the rights of suffrage in the

National Legislature ought to be proportioned to the Quo-

tas of contribution, or to the number of free inhabitants, as

the one or the other rule may seem best in different cases.

3. Resolved that the National Legislature ought to

consist of two branches.

4. Resolved that the members of the first branch of

the National Legislature ought to be elected by the people

of the several States every for the terms of; to be of the age

of years at least, to receive liberal stipends by which they

may be compensated for the devotion of their time to pub-

lic service, to be ineligible to any office established by a

particular State, or under the authority of the United

States, except those peculiarly belonging to the functions

of the first branch, during the term of service, and for the

space of after its expiration; to be incapable of reelection

for the space of after the expiration of their term of service,

and to be subject to recall.

310 ERA 3: Revolution and New Nation

5. Resolved that the members of the second branch of

the National Legislature ought to be elected by those of

the first, out of a proper number of persons nominated by

the individual Legislatures, to be of the age of years at

least; to hold their offices for a term sufficient to ensure

their independency; to receive liberal stipends by which

they may be compensated for the devotion of their time to

public service; and to be ineligible to any office established

by a particular State, or under the authority of the United

States, except those peculiarly belonging to the functions

of the second branch, during the term of service, and for

the space of after the expiration thereof.

6. Resolved that each branch ought to possess the

right of originating Acts; that the National Legislature

ought to be impowered to enjoy the Legislative Rights

vested in Congress by the Confederation and moreover to

legislate in all cases to which the separate States are

incompetent, or in which the harmony of the United States

may be interrupted by the exercise of individual Legisla-

tion; to negative all laws passed by the several States, con-

travening in the opinion of the National Legislature the

articles of Union; and to call forth the force of the Union

against any member of the Union failing in its duty under

the articles thereof.

7. Resolved that a National Executive be instituted; to

be chosen by the National Legislature for the term of

years; to receive punctually, at stated times, a fixed com-

pensation for the services rendered, in which no increase

or diminution shall be made so as to affect the Magistracy,

existing at the time of the increase or diminution, and to be

ineligible a second time; and that besides a general author-

ity to execute the National laws, it ought to enjoy the Exec-

utive rights vested in Congress by the Confederation.

8. Resolved that the Executive and a convenient num-

ber of the National Judiciary, ought to compose a Council

or revision with authority to examine every act of the

National Legislature before it shall operate, and every act

of a particular Legislature before a Negative thereon shall

be final; and that the dissent of the said Council shall

amount to a rejection, unless the Act of the National Leg-

islature be passed again, or that of a particular Legislature

be again negatived by of the members of each branch.

9. Resolved that a National Judiciary be established to

consist of one or more supreme tribunals, and of inferior

tribunals to be chosen by the National Legislature, to hold

their offices during good behaviour; and to receive punc-

tually at stated times fixed compensation for their services,

in which no increase or diminution shall be made so as to

affect the persons actually in office at the time of such

increase or diminution. That the jurisdiction of the inferior

tribunals shall be to hear and determine in the first

instance, and of the supreme tribunal to hear and deter-

mine in the dernier resort, all piracies and felonies on the

high seas, captures from an enemy; cases in which foreign-

ers or citizens of other States applying to such jurisdictions

may be interested, or which respect the collection of the

National revenue; impeachments of any National officers,

and questions which may involve the national peace and

harmony.

10. Resolved that provision ought to be made for the

admission of States lawfully arising within the limits of the

United States, whether from a voluntary junction of Gov-

ernment and Territory or otherwise, with the consent of a

number of voices in the National legislature less than the

whole.

11. Resolved that a Republican Government and the

territory of each State, except in the instance of a voluntary

junction of Government and territory, ought to be guaran-

teed by the United States to each State.

12. Resolved that provision ought to be made for the

continuance of Congress and their authorities and privi-

leges, until a given day after the reform of the articles of

Union shall be adopted, and for the completion of all their

engagements.

13. Resolved that provision ought to be made for the

amendment of the Articles of Union whensoever it shall

seem necessary, and that the assent of the National Legis-

lature ought not to be required thereto.

14. Resolved that the Legislative Executive and Judi-

ciary powers within the several States ought to be bound

by oath to support the articles of Union.

15. Resolved that the amendments which shall be

offered to the Confederation, by the Convention ought at

a proper time, or times, after the approbation of Congress

to be submitted to an assembly or assemblies of Represen-

tatives, recommended by the several Legislatures to be

expressly chosen by the people, to consider and decide

thereon.

________________________

_______________________

New Jersey Plan, 1787 (The Paterson Plan)

1. Resolved that the Articles of Confederation ought to be

so revised, corrected, and enlarged as to render the federal

Constitution adequate to the exigencies of Government,

and the preservation of the Union.

2. Resolved that in addition to the powers vested in the

United States in Congress, by the present existing articles of

Confederation, they be authorized to pass acts for raising a

revenue, by levying a duty or duties on all goods or mer-

chandizes of foreign growth or manufacture, imported into

any part of the United States, by Stamps on paper, velum or

parchment, and by a postage on all letters or packages pass-

ing through the general post-office, to be applied to such

federal purposes as they shall deem proper and expedient;

Formation of the New Government 311