Key-Notes of American Liberty Part 4

_To all to whom these presents may come, Greeting:_

_Know ye_, That, whereas the Congress of the United States, on the 1st of February last, pa.s.sed a resolution, which is in the words following, namely:

"A resolution submitting to the Legislatures of the several States a proposition to amend the Const.i.tution of the United States."

"_Resolved_, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress a.s.sembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States as an Amendment to the Const.i.tution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid to all intents and purposes as a part of said Const.i.tution, namely:

"'ARTICLE XIII.

"'SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

"'SECTION 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.'"

_And whereas_, It appears from official doc.u.ments on file in this Department, that the Amendment to the Const.i.tution of the United States proposed as aforesaid, has been ratified by the Legislatures of the States of Illinois, Rhode Island, Michigan, Maryland, New York, West Virginia, Maine, Kansas, Ma.s.sachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, Nevada, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Tennessee, Arkansas, Connecticut, New Hamps.h.i.+re, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia, in all 27 States.

_And whereas_, The whole number of States in the United States is 36.

_And whereas_, The before specially named States, whose Legislatures have ratified the said proposed Amendment, const.i.tute three-fourths of the whole number of States in the United States:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, William H. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States, by virtue and in pursuance of the second section of the act of Congress, approved the 20th of April, 1818, ent.i.tled "An act to provide for the publication of the laws of the United States, and for other purposes," do hereby certify that the Amendment aforesaid has become valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the Const.i.tution of the United States.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Department of State to be affixed.

Done at the City of Was.h.i.+ngton, this 18th day of December, in the year of our Lord 1865, and of the Independence of the United States of America the 90th.

WM. H. SEWARD, _Secretary of State_.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.

ADOPTED BY CONGRESS JUNE 13TH, 1866, AND WHEN RATIFIED BY TWO-THIRDS OF THE LEGISLATURES BECOMES A PART OF THE CONSt.i.tUTION.

The joint resolution as pa.s.sed is as follows:

_Resolved_, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress a.s.sembled, (two-thirds of both Houses concurring), That the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as an amendment to the Const.i.tution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid as part of the Const.i.tution, namely:

ARTICLE--.

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

-- 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons, excluding Indians not taxed. But whenever the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President, representatives in Congress, executive and judicial officers, or members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being 21 years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for partic.i.p.ation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens 21 years of age in such State.

-- 3. That no person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Const.i.tution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disabilities.

-- 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States or any State shall a.s.sume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emanc.i.p.ation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.

-- 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

THE ORDINANCE OF 1787.

_Pa.s.sed by Congress previous to the Adoption of the New Const.i.tution, and subsequently adopted by Congress, Aug. 7, 1789, ent.i.tled, "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States north-west of the River Ohio."_

(All the Articles of this ordinance, previous to Article VI., relate to the organization and powers of the government of the territory, the following section being all that relates to slavery.)

ARTICLE VI.

There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service, as aforesaid.

Done by the United States in Congress a.s.sembled the thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of the sovereignty and Independence the twelfth.

WILLIAM GRAYSON, _Chairman_.

CHARLES THOMPSON, _Secretary_.

THE FUGITIVE SLAVE BILL OF 1793.

ADOPTED FEBRUARY 12, 1793.

_An Act respecting Fugitives from Justice, and Persons escaping from the Service of their Masters._

_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress a.s.sembled_, That whenever the executive authority of any State in the Union, or of either of the territories north-west or south of the River Ohio, shall demand any person, as a fugitive from justice, of the executive authority of any such State or Territory to which such person shall have fled, and shall, moreover, produce the copy of an indictment found, or an affidavit made before a magistrate of any State or Territory as aforesaid, charging the person so demanded with having committed treason, felony, or other crime, certified as authentic by the governor or chief magistrate of the State or Territory from whence the person so charged fled, it shall be the duty of the executive authority of the State or Territory to which such person shall have fled, to cause him or her to be arrested and secured, and notice of the arrest to be given to the executive authority making such demand, or to the agent of such authority appointed to receive the fugitive, and to cause the fugitive to be delivered to such agent when he shall appear. But if no such agent shall appear within six months from the time of the arrest, the prisoner may be discharged. And all costs or expenses incurred in the apprehending, securing, and transmitting such fugitive to the State or Territory making such demand, shall be paid by such State or Territory.

_And be it further enacted_, That any agent appointed as aforesaid, who shall receive the fugitive into his custody, shall be empowered to transport him or her to the State or Territory from which he or she shall have fled. And if any person or persons shall by force set at liberty or rescue the fugitive from such agent while transporting as aforesaid, the person or persons so offending shall, on conviction, be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding one year.

_And be it also enacted_, That when a person held to labor in any of the United States, or in either of the Territories on the north-west or south of the River Ohio, under the laws thereof, shall escape into any other of the said States or Territory, the person to whom such labor or service may be due, his agent or attorney, is hereby empowered to seize or arrest such fugitive from labor, and to take him or her before any judge of the Circuit or District Courts of the United States, residing or being within the State, or before any magistrate of a county, city, or town corporate, wherein such seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon proof to the satisfaction of such judge or magistrate, either by oral testimony or affidavit taken before, and certified by, a magistrate of any such State or Territory, that the person so seized or arrested doth, under the laws of the State or Territory from which he or she fled, owe services or labor to the person claiming him or her, it shall be the duty of such judge or magistrate to give a certificate thereof to such claimant, his agent or attorney, which shall be sufficient warrant for removing the said fugitive from labor to the State or Territory from which he or she fled.

_And he it further enacted_, That any person who shall knowingly and willingly obstruct or hinder such claimant, his agent or attorney, in so seizing or arresting such fugitive from labor, or shall rescue such fugitive from such claimant, his agent or attorney, when so arrested pursuant to the authority herein given or declared, or shall harbor or conceal such person after notice that he or she was a fugitive from labor as aforesaid, shall, for either of the said offences, forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars. Which penalty may be recovered by and for the benefit of such claimant, by action of debt, in any court proper to try the same; saving, moreover, to the person claiming such labor or service, his right of action for or on account of the said injuries, or either of them.

THE FUGITIVE SLAVE BILL OF 1850.

SIGNED SEPTEMBER 18, 1850.

_An Act to amend, and supplementary to the Act ent.i.tled "An Act respecting Fugitives from Justice, and Persons escaping from the Service of their Masters," approved February twelfth, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three._