Chapter XXXI: Section IV

The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a
republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against
invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive
(when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.

ARTICLE V.

The congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution, or, on the
application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states,
shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either
case, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of this
constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of
the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the
one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the congress:
Provided, that no amendment, which may be made prior to the year 1808,
shall, in any manner, affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth
section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent,
shall be deprived of its equal suffrages in the senate.

ARTICLE VI.

I. All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the
adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United
States under this Constitution, as under the confederation.

II. This Constitution and the laws of the United States, which shall
be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme
law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby,
anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary
notwithstanding.

III. The senators and representatives before-mentioned, and the
members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and
judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several
states, shall be bound by oath, or affirmation, to support this
Constitution: and no religious test shall ever be required, as a
qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

ARTICLE VII.

The ratification of the conventions of nine states shall be sufficient
for the establishment of this Constitution, between the states so
ratifying the same.

_Done in convention by the consent of the states present, the
seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the
United States of America, the twelfth. In witness whereof, we have
hereunto subscribed our names._

_New Hampshire._—John Langdon, Nicholas Gelman.

_Massachusetts._—Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King.

_Connecticut._—William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman.

_New York._—Alexander Hamilton.

_New Jersey._—William Livingston, David Brearley, William Patterson,
Jonathan Dayton.

_Pennsylvania._—Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris,
George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson,
Gouverneur Morris.

_Delaware._—George Read, Gunning Bedford, jun., John Dickenson,
Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom.

_Maryland._—James M‘Henry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel
Carrol.

_Virginia._—John Blair, James Madison, jun.

_North Carolina._—William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh
Williamson.

_South Carolina._—John Rutledge, Charles C. Pinckney, Charles
Pinckney, Pierce Butler.

_Georgia._—William Few, Abraham Baldwin.

GEORGE WASHINGTON, _President_.

WILLIAM JACKSON, _Secretary_.

Hildreth tells us that, as regards the injunction of secrecy with respect to the proceedings of the convention, it was never removed. At the final adjournment the journal was entrusted to the custody of Washington, by whom it was afterwards deposited in the Department of State. It was first printed by order of Congress in 1818. Yates, one of the members, took short notes, which were printed after his death, in 1821. Still more perfect notes by Madison have been recently published.

The first sitting of congress, after a great deal of discussion respecting the seat of the Federal Government, was settled, on the 13th of September, 1788, to be at New York. The first Wednesday in the following January was appointed for the choice of the presidential electors; the first Wednesday in February for the election of President and Vice-president; and the first Wednesday in that year, being the 4th of March, for the first meeting of congress, for the organisation of the government of the United States under the new constitution.

Washington received the unanimous vote of the electors, and became President-elect; John Adams, having the next highest number, was entitled to the office of Vice-president. To these events we shall, however, return presently; in the meantime other circumstances require our attention. But in order to give a complete view of the constitution of the United States, we will in this place present twelve amendments, which were made at different times; the first ten on the first, the eleventh on the third, and the twelfth on the eighth sitting of congress.

AMENDMENTS.

ARTICLE I.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the rights of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

ARTICLE II.

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be
infringed.

ARTICLE III.

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without
the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be
prescribed by law.

ARTICLE IV.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the
place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

ARTICLE V.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except
in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when
in actual service, in time of war, or public danger; nor shall any
person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of
life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a
witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be
taken for public use without just compensation.

ARTICLE VI.

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 favour, and to have the assistance of counsel for his
defence.

ARTICLE 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 jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of
the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

ARTICLE VIII.

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

ARTICLE IX.

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

ARTICLE 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.

ARTICLE 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.

ARTICLE 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 a number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed;
and if no person have such a 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 vice-president 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-president—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.