PREAMBLE We, the people of the State of Alabama, by our representatives in convention assembled; in order to establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure to ourselves and to our posterity the rights of life, liberty, and property; invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following constitution and form of government for the State of Alabama—that is to say: Article I: DECLARATION OF RIGHTS That the general, great, and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognized and established, we declare— Section 1. That no man, and no set of men, are entitled to exclusive separate public emoluments or privileges, but in consideration of public services. Sec. 2. That all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit; and that, therefore, they have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish their form of government, in such manner as they may deen expedient. Sec. 3. That no person within this State shall, upon any pretence whatever, be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in the manner most agreeable to his own conscience; nor be hurt, molested, or restrained in his religious profession, sentiments, or persuasions, provided he does not disturb others in their religious worship. Sec. 4. That no religion shall be established by law; that no preference shall be given by law to any religious sect, society, denomination, or mode of worship; that no one shall be compelled by law to attend any place of worship, nor to pay any tithes, taxes, or other rate, for building or repairing any place of worship, or for maintaining any minister or ministry; that no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this State; and that the civil rights, privileges, and capacities of any citizen shall not be in any manner affected by his religious principles. Sec. 5. That every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. Sec. 6. That the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions, from unreasonable seizures or searches; and that no warrant shall issue to search any place, or to seize any person or thing, without describing them as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation. Sec. 7. That in all criminal prosecutions, the accused has a right to be heard by himself and counsel, to demand the nature and cause of the accusation, to have a copy thereof, to be confronted by the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and, in all prosecutions by indictment or information, a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district in which the offence was committed; and that he shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself, nor be deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by due course of law. Sec. 8. That no person shall be accused, arrested, or detained, except in cases ascertained by law, and according to the forms which the same has prescribed; and that no person shall be punished, but by virtue of a law established and promulgated prior to the offence, and legally applied. Sec. 9. That no person shall, for any indictable offence, be proceeded against criminally by information; except in cases arising in the land and naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service, or, by leave of the court, for oppression or misdemeanor in office: Provided, That in cases of petit larceny, assault, assault and battery, affray, unlawful assemblies, vagrancy, and other misdemeanors, the general assembly may by law dispense with a grand jury, and authorize such prosecutions before justices of the peace, or such other inferior courts as may be by law established; and the proceedings in such cases shall be regulated by law. Sec. 10. That no person shall, for the same offence, be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb. Sec. 11. That no person shall be debarred from prosecuting or defending, before any tribunal in this State, by himself or counsel, any civil cause to which he is a party. Sec. 12. That the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate. Sec. 13. That in prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the official conduct of officers or men in public capacity, or when the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence; and that in all indictments for libels, the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court. Sec. 14. That all courts shall be open; and that every person, for any injury done him, in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have a remedy by due course of law, and right and justice administered, without sale, denial, or delay. Sec. 15. That suits may be brought against the State, in such manner, and in such courts, as may be by law provided. Sec. 16. That excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel punishments be inflicted. Sec. 17. That all persons shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offences, when the proof is evident, or the presumption great; and that excessive bail shall not, in any case, be required. Sec. 18. That the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it. Sec. 19. That treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, or adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort; and that no person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or his own confession in open court. Sec. 20. That no person shall be attainted of treason by the General Assembly; and that no conviction shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture of estate. Sec. 21. That the estates of suicides shall descend, or vest, as in cases of natural death; and that, if any person shall be killed by casualty, there shall be no forfeiture by reason thereof. Sec. 22. That the person of a debtor, when there is not a strong presumption of fraud, shall not be detained in prison, after delivering up his estate, for the benefit of his creditors, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. Sec. 23. That no power of suspending laws shall be exercised, except by the General Assembly, or by its authority. Sec. 24. That no ex post facto law, nor any law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall be made. Sec. 25. That private property shall not be taken or applied for public use, unless just compensation be made therefor; nor shall private property be taken for private use, or for the use of corporations other than municipal, without the consent of the owner; Provided, however, That laws may be made securing to persons or corporations the right of way over the lands of other persons or corporations, and, for works of internal improvement, the right to establish depots, stations, and turn-outs; but just compensation shall, in such cases, be first made to the owner. Sec. 26. That the citizens have a right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble together for their common good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances, or other proper purposes, by petition, address, or remonstrance. Sec. 27. That every citizen has a right to bear arms in defence of himself and the State. Sec. 28. That no person, who conscientiously scruples to bear arms, shall be compelled to do so, but may pay an equivalent for personal service. Sec. 29. That no standing army shall be kept up, without the consent of the General Assembly; and in that case, no appropriation for its support shall be for a longer term than one year; and that the military shall, in all cases, and at all times, be in strict subordination to the civil power. Sec. 30. That 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. Sec. 31. That no title of nobility, or hereditary distinction, privilege, honor, or emolument, shall ever be granted or conferred in this State; and that no office shall be created, the appointment of which shall be for a longer term than during good behavior. Sec. 32. That emigration from this State shall not be prohibited, and that no citizen shall be exiled. Sec. 33. That temporary absence from the State shall not cause a forfeiture of residence once obtained. Sec. 34. That hereafter there shall be in this State neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, otherwise than for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. Sec. 35. That the right of suffrage shall be protected by laws regulating elections, and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence from power, bribery, tumult, or other improper conduct. Sec. 36. This enumeration of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people; and to guard against any encroachment on the rights hereby retained, or any transgression of any of the high powers by this constitution delegated, we declare, that everything in this article is excepted out of the general powers of government, and shall forever remain inviolate, and that all laws contrary thereto, or to the following provisions, shall be void. Article II: STATE BOUNDARIES AND COUNTIES Section 1. The boundaries of this State are established and declared to be as follows—that is to say: Beginning at the point where the thirty-first degree of north latitude crosses the Perdido River; thence east, to the western boundary-line of the State of Georgia; thence along said line, to the southern boundary-line of the State of Tennessee; thence west, along the southern boundary-line of the State of Tennessee, crossing the Tennessee River, and on to the second intersection of said river by said line; thence up said river to the mouth of Big Bear Creek; thence by a direct line to the northwest corner of Washington County in this State, as originally formed; thence southerly, along the line of the State of Mississippi, to the Gulf of Mexico; thence easterly, including all islands within six leagues of the shore, to the Perdido River; and thence up the said river, to the beginning. Sec. 2. The General Assembly may, by a vote of two-thirds of both branches thereof, arrange and designate boundaries for the several counties of this State, which boundaries shall not be altered except by a like vote; but no new county shall be hereafter formed of less extent than six hundred square miles, nor shall any existing county be reduced to a less extent than six hundred square miles; and no county shall be formed not containing a sufficient number of inhabitants to entitle it to one representative under the existing ratio of representation, nor unless the counties from which it is taken shall be left with the required number entitling them to separate representation. Article III: DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS OF GOVERNMENT Section 1. The powers of the government of the State of Alabama shall be divided into three distinct departments, each of which shall be confided to a separate body of magistracy—to wit: those which are legislative to one, those which are executive to another, and those which are judicial to another. Sec. 2. No person, or collection of persons, being of one of those departments, shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or permitted. Article IV: LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT Section 1. The legislative power of this State shall be vested in two distinct branches, the one to be styled the “Senate,” and the other the “House of Representatives,” and both together the “General Assembly of the State of Alabama.” Sec. 2. All laws shall be passed by original bill; and their style shall be, “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Alabama in General Assembly convened.” Each law shall embrace but one subject, which shall be described in the title; and no law, or any section of any law, shall be revised or amended by reference only to its title and number, but the law or section revised or amended shall itself be set forth at full length. Sec. 3. Members of both houses of the General Assembly shall be chosen by the qualified electors; and the regulations for holding such elections shall, as to time, place, and manner, be the same for each house, and shall be prescribed by law. After the special election to be held on the first Monday in November, 1865, such elections shall, until otherwise directed by law, take place on the first Monday in August. Sec. 4. No person who holds any lucrative office under the United States, or under this State, or under any other State or government (except postmasters, officers in the militia, to whose office no annual salary is attached, justices of the peace, members of the court of county commissioners, notaries public, and commissioners of deeds, excepted;) no person who has been convicted of having given or offered any bribe to procure his election; no person who has been convicted of bribery, forgery, perjury, or other high crime or misdemeanor which may be by law declared to disqualify him; and no person who has been a collector or holder of public moneys, and has failed to account for and pay over into the treasury all sums for which he may be by law accountable, shall be eligible to the General Assembly. Sec. 5. Representatives shall be chosen for the term of two years; and no person shall be a representative who is not a white man, twenty-one years of age, a citizen of the United States, and who has not been an inhabitant of this State for the two years next preceding the election, and for the last year thereof a resident of the county for which he is chosen. Sec. 6. The house of representatives shall consist of not more than one hundred members, who shall be apportioned by the General Assembly among the several counties of the State according to the number of white inhabitants in them respectively; and, to this end, the general assembly shall cause an enumeration of all the inhabitants of the State to be made in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and again in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and every ten years thereafter, and shall make an apportionment of the representatives among the several counties at the first regular session after each enumeration; which apportionment, when made, shall not be subject to alteration, until after the next census shall have been taken; Provided, That each county shall be entitled to at least one representative; Provided further, That where two or more adjoining counties shall each have a residuum or fraction over and above the ratio then fixed by law, which fractions, when added together, equal or exceed that ratio, in that case, the county having the largest fraction shall be entitled to one additional representative. Sec. 7. The whole number of senators shall be not less than one-fourth, nor more than one-third of the whole number of representatives; and it shall be the duty of the General Assembly, at its first session after the making of each enumeration, as provided by the last preceding section, to fix by law the number of senators, and to divide the State into as many senatorial districts as there are senators; which districts shall be as nearly equal to each other as may be in the number of white inhabitants, and each shall be entitled to one senator, and no more. Provided, That, in the formation of said districts, no county shall be divided, and no two or more counties, which are separated entirely by a county belonging to another district, shall be joined into one district; And provided further, That the senatorial districts, when formed, shall not be changed until after the next census shall have been taken. Sec. 8. No person shall be a senator, who is not a white man, at least twenty-seven years of age, a citizen of the United States, and who has not been an inhabitant of this State for two years next preceding the election, and for the last year thereof a resident in the district for which he is chosen. Sec. 9. Senators shall be chosen for the term of four years; yet, at the first general election after each new apportionment, elections shall be held anew in all the senatorial districts; and the senators elected, when convened at the next ensuing session of the General Assembly, shall be divided by lot into two classes, as nearly equal to each other as may be; the seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of two years, and those of the second class at the expiration of four years from the day of election, so that (except as above provided) one-half of the senators may be chosen biennially. Sec. 10. The General Assembly shall meet annually, on such day as may be by law prescribed; and shall not remain in session longer than thirty days, unless by a vote of two-thirds of each house. Sec. 11. At the first regular or called session after each general election for representatives, the senate shall choose a president and its other officers, and the house of representatives shall choose a speaker and its other officers; and the officers so chosen shall be entitled to hold their respective offices until the next general election for representatives. Each house shall judge of the qualifications, elections and returns of its own members; but a contested election shall be determined in such manner as may be by law provided. Sec. 12. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as each house may provide. Sec. 13. Each house may determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish members for disorderly behavior, and, with the consent of two-thirds, expel a member, but not a second time for the same offense; and shall have all other powers necessary for a branch of the legislature of a free and independent State. Sec. 14. Each house may, during the session, punish by imprisonment any person, not a member, for disrespectful or disorderly behavior in its presence, or for obstructing any of its proceedings; Provided, That such imprisonment shall not, at any one time, exceed forty-eight hours. Sec. 15. Each house shall keep a journal of its own proceedings, and cause the same to be published immediately after its adjournment, excepting such parts as in its judgment, may require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house, on any question, shall, at the desire of any two members present, be entered on the journals. Any member of either house shall have leave to dissent from, and protest against, any act or resolution which he may think injurious to the public or to an individual, and have the reasons of his dissent entered on the journals. Sec. 16. The doors of each house shall be open, except on such occasions as, in the opinion of the house, may require secrecy. Sec. 17. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which they may be sitting. Sec. 18. Bills may originate in either house, and be amended, altered, or rejected by the other; but no bill shall have the force of a law, until it be read in each house on three several days, and free discussion thereon be allowed; unless, in case of urgency, four-fifths of the house in which the bill may be depending shall deem it expedient to dispense with this rule; and every bill, having passed both houses, shall be signed by the speaker and president of the respective houses; Provided, That all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but may be amended or rejected by the senate as other bills. Sec. 19. In all elections by the General Assembly, the members shall vote viva voce, and the votes shall be entered on the journals. Sec. 20. No senator or representative shall, during the term for which he was elected, be elected or appointed to any civil office of profit under this State, except such offices as may be filled by elections by the people. Sec. 21. Senators and representatives shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest, during the session of the General Assembly, and in going to and returning from the same, allowing one day for every twenty miles such member may reside from the place at which the General Assembly is convened; nor shall any member be liable to answer for anything spoken in debate in either house, in any court or place elsewhere. Sec. 22. Each member of the General Assembly shall receive from the public treasury such compensation for his services as may be fixed by law; but no increase of compensation shall take effect during the session at which such increase shall have been made. Sec. 23. When vacancies happen in either house, the governor, or the person exercising the power of governor for the time being, shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. Sec. 24. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of preferring impeachments; all impeachments shall be tried by the senate; the senators, when sitting for that purpose, shall be on oath or affirmation; and no person shall be convicted under an impeachment, without the concurrence of two-thirds of the senators present. Sec. 25. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass such laws as may be necessary and proper to decide differences by arbitrators, to be appointed by the parties, who may choose that summary mode of adjustment. Sec. 26. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to frame and adopt a penal code, founded on principles of reformation. Sec. 27. It shall also be the duty of the General Assembly, within five years after the adoption of this constitution, and within every subsequent period of ten years, to make provision by law for the revision, digesting, and promulgation of all the public statutes of this State, both civil and criminal. Sec. 28. The General Assembly shall have power to pass such penal laws as they may deem expedient to suppress the evil practice of duelling, extending to disqualification to hold office. Sec. 29. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to regulate by law the cases in which deductions shall be made from the salaries of public officers, for neglect of duty in their official capacities, and the amount of such deductions. Sec. 30. Divorces from the bonds of matrimony shall not be granted, but in the cases by law provided for, and by suit in chancery; but decrees in chancery for divorce shall be final, unless appealed from, in the manner prescribed by law, within three months from the date of the enrolment thereof. Sec. 31. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly, at its next session, and from time to time thereafter as it may deem proper, to enact laws prohibiting the intermarriage of white persons with negroes, or with persons of mixed blood, declaring such marriages null and void ab initio, and making the parties to any such marriage subject to criminal prosecutions, with such penalties as may be by law prescribed. Sec. 32. The General Assembly shall make provision by law for obtaining correct knowledge of the several objects proper for improvement in relation to the roads and navigable waters in this State, and for making a systematic and economical application of the means appropriated to those objects. Sec. 33. The General Assembly shall, from time to time, enact necessary and proper laws for the encouragement of schools and the means of education; shall take proper measures to preserve from waste or damage such lands as have been or may be granted by the United States for the use of schools in each township in this State, and apply the funds which may be raised from such lands in strict conformity with the object of such grant; shall take like measures for the improvement of such lands as have been or may hereafter be granted by the United States to this State for the support of a seminary of learning; and the money which may be raised from such lands, by rent, lease, or sale, or from any other quarter, for the purpose aforesaid, shall be and forever remain a fund for the exclusive support of a State university for the promotion of the arts, literature, and the sciences; and it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide by law effectual means for the improvement and permanent security of the funds of such institution. Sec. 34. Not more than one bank shall be established, nor more than one bank charter be renewed, at any one session of the General Assembly; nor shall any bank be established, nor any bank charter be renewed, without the concurrence of two-thirds of each house of the General Assembly, and in conformity with the following rules—that is to say: Rule 1. The stockholders shall be respectively liable for the debts of the bank in proportion to the amount of their stock. Rule 2. The remedy for the collection of debts shall be reciprocal for and against the bank. Rule 3. No bank shall commence operations, until one-half of the capital stock subscribed for be actually paid in gold and silver; which amount shall, in no case, be less than one hundred thousand dollars. Rule 4. If any bank shall neglect or refuse to pay, on demand, any bill, note, or obligation issued by the corporation, according to the promise therein expressed, the holder of such bill, note, or obligation, shall be entitled to receive and recover interest thereon until paid, or until specie payments are resumed by the bank, at the rate of twelve per centum per annum from the date of such demand; unless the General Assembly shall, by a vote of two-thirds of each house thereof, sanction such suspension of specie payments. Rule 5. Whenever any bank suspends specie payments, its charter is thereby forfeited; unless such suspension shall be sanctioned and legalized, at the next session of the General Assembly, by a vote of two-thirds of each house thereof. Sec. 35. The General Assembly shall provide by law for organizing and disciplining the militia of this State, in such manner as they may deem expedient, not incompatible with the Constitution and laws of the United States; shall fix the rank of all staff officers, and prescribe the manner in which all officers shall be appointed or elected: Provided, That no other officers than adjutants-general and quarter-masters-general shall be appointed by the General Assembly: And provided further, That major-generals shall appoint their aides and all division and staff officers, brigadier-generals shall appoint their aides and all other brigade staff officers, and colonels shall appoint their regimental staff officers. Sec. 36. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly, at its next session, and from time to time thereafter, to enact such laws as will protect the freedmen of this State in the full enjoyment of all their rights of person and property, and guard them and the State against any evils that may arise from their sudden emancipation. Sec. 37. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in pursuance of an appropriation made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public moneys shall be published annually, in such manner as may be by law directed. Sec. 38. No special law shall be enacted for the benefit of individuals or corporations, in cases which are provided for by a general law, or where the relief sought can be given by any court of this State. Sec. 39. All lands liable to taxation in this State, shall be taxed in proportion to their value. Sec. 40. No power to levy taxes shall be delegated to individuals or private corporations. Sec. 41. The general assembly shall not borrow or raise money on the credit of the State, (except for purposes of military defence against actual or threatened invasion, rebellion, or insurrection,) without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each house; nor shall the debts or liabilities of any corporation, person, or persons, or other State, be guaranteed, nor any money, credit, or other thing, be loaned or given away, except by a like concurrence of each house; and the votes shall in each case, be taken by yeas and nays, and be entered on the journals. Sec. 42. In the event of the annexation of any foreign territory to this State, the general assembly shall enact laws, extending to the inhabitants of the acquired territory all the rights and privileges which may be required by the terms of the acquisition; anything in this constitution to the contrary notwithstanding. Article V: EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT Section 1. The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled the governor of the State of Alabama. Sec. 2. The governor shall be elected by the qualified electors, at the time and places at which they shall respectively vote for representatives. Sec. 3. The returns of every election for governor shall be sealed up, and transmitted to the seat of government, directed to the speaker of the house of representatives, who shall, during the first week of the session, open and publish them in the presence of both houses of the general assembly. The person having the highest number of votes shall be governor; but, if two or more shall be equal and highest in votes, one of them shall be chosen governor by the joint vote of both houses. Contested elections for governor shall be determined by both houses of the general assembly, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. Sec. 4. The governor shall hold his office for the term of two years from the time of his installation, and until his successor shall be qualified, but shall not be eligible for more than four years in any term of six years; he shall be at least thirty years of age, a native citizen of the United States, and shall have resided in this State at least four years next preceding the day of his election. Sec. 5. He shall, at stated times, receive a compensation for his services, which shall not be either increased or diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected. Sec. 6. He shall always reside, during the session of the General Assembly, at the place where their session may be held, and at other times wherever, in their opinion, the public good may require. Sec. 7. He shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of this State, and of the militia thereof, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States; and when acting in the service of the United States, the General Assembly shall fix his rank. Sec. 8. He shall have power to call forth the militia to execute the laws of the State, to suppress insurrections, and to repel invasions; and shall appoint his aides-de-camp. Sec. 9. He may require from the secretary of state, the comptroller of public accounts, and the state treasurer, information in writing on any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices. Sec. 10. He may, by proclamation, on extraordinary occasions, convene the general assembly at the seat of government, or at a different place, if, since their last adjournment, that shall have become dangerous, from an enemy, or from contagious disorders; and in case of disagreement between the two houses, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he may think proper, not beyond the day of the next annual meeting of the General Assembly. Sec. 11. He shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly information of the state of the government, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem expedient. Sec. 12. He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed. Sec. 13. In all criminal and penal cases, except those of treason and impeachment, he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons, and to remit fines and forfeitures, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by law; and in cases of treason, he shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to grant reprieves and pardons, and, in the recess of the senate, he may respite the sentence until the end of the next session of the General Assembly. Sec. 14. There shall be a great seal of the State, which shall be kept and used by the governor officially; and the seal now in use shall continue to be the great seal of the State, until another shall have been adopted by the general assembly. Sec. 15. Vacancies that may happen in offices, the appointment of which is vested in the general assembly, shall, during the recess of the General Assembly, be filled by the governer, by granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of the next session. Sec. 16. Every bill which shall have passed both houses of the General Assembly, shall be presented to the governor: if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which it originated, who shall enter the objections at large upon the journals, and proceed to reconsider it; if, after such reconsideration, a majority of the whole number elected to that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, with the objections, to the other house, by whom it shall likewise be reconsidered, and, if approved by a majority of the whole number elected to that house, it shall become a law; but, in such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for or against the bill shall be entered on the journals of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within five days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it; unless the general assembly, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. Sec. 17. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of both houses may be necessary, (except on questions of adjournment, and for bringing on elections by the two houses,) shall be presented to the governor, and, before it shall take effect, be approved by him, or, being disapproved, shall be repassed by both houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. Sec. 18. No person shall, at one and the same time, hold the office of governor, and any other office or commission, civil or military, either under this State, the United States, or any other State or government. Sec. 19. In case of the impeachment of the governor, his removal from office, death, refusal to qualify, resignation, or absence from the State, the president of the senate shall exercise all the power and authority appertaining to the office of governor, until the time appointed by the constitution for the election of governor shall arrive (unless the General Assembly shall provide by law for the election of a governor to fill such vacancy,) or until the governor who is absent or impeached shall return or be acquitted; and if, during such vacancy in the office of governor, the president of the senate shall be impeached, removed from office, refuse to qualify, die, resign, or be absent from the State, the speaker of the house of representatives shall, in like manner, administer the government. Sec. 20. The president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives shall, during the time they respectively administer the government, receive the same compensation which the governor would have received if he had been employed in the duties of his office. Article VI: JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT Section 1. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in one supreme court, circuit courts to be held in each county of the State, and such inferior courts of law and equity, to consist of not more than five members, as the General Assembly may, from time to time, direct, ordain and establish. Sec. 2. Except in cases otherwise directed in this constitution, the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction only, which shall be co-extensive with the State, under such restrictions and regulations, not repugnant to this constitution, as may from time to time be prescribed by law; Provided, That said court shall have power to issue writs of injunction, mandamus, quo warranto, habeas corpus, and such other remedial and original writs as may be necessary to give it a general superintendence and control of inferior jurisdiction. Sec. 3. The supreme court shall be held at the seat of government; but if that shall have become dangerous, from an enemy or from disease, may adjourn to a different place. Sec. 4. The State shall be divided into convenient circuits, each of which shall contain not less than three, nor more than six counties; and for each circuit there shall be appointed a judge, who shall, after his appointment, reside in the circuit for which he may be appointed. Sec. 5. The circuit court shall have original jurisdiction in all matters, civil and criminal, within this State, not otherwise excepted in this constitution; but in civil cases only where the matter or sum in controversy exceeds fifty dollars. Sec. 6. A circuit court shall be held in each county in the State, at least twice in every year; and the judges of the several circuits may hold courts for each other when they deem it expedient, and shall do so when directed by law. Sec. 7. The General Assembly shall have power to establish a court or courts of chancery, with original and appellate equity jurisdiction; Provided, That the judges of the several circuit courts shall have power to issue writs of injunction, returnable into the courts of chancery. Sec. 8. The General Assembly shall have power to establish, in each county within this State, a court of probate, for the granting of letters testamentary, and of administration, and for orphans’ business. Sec. 9. A competent number of justices of the peace shall be appointed in and for each county, in such mode, and for such term of office as the general assembly may by law direct; whose jurisdiction, in civil cases, shall be limited to causes in which the amount in controversy shall not exceed one hundred dollars; and in all cases tried by a justice of the peace, the right of appeal shall be secured under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by law. Sec. 10. The judges of the supreme court, circuit courts, and courts of chancery, shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall be fixed by law, and which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office; but they shall receive no fees or perquisites of office, nor hold any office of profit or trust, under this State, the United States, or any other power. Sec. 11. Judges of the supreme court, and chancellors, shall be elected by a joint vote of both houses of the General Assembly; judges of the circuit and probate courts, and of such other inferior courts as may be by law established, shall be elected by the qualified electors of the respective counties, cities, or districts, for which such courts may be established. Elections of judges by the people shall be held on the first Monday in May, or such other day as may be by law prescribed, not within a less period than two months of the day fixed by law for the election of governor, members of the General Assembly, or members of Congress. Vacancies in the office of circuit judge, probate judge, or judge of any other inferior court established by law, shall be filled by the governor; and the person appointed by him shall hold office until the next election day by law appointed for the election of judges, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified. Sec. 12. The judges of the several courts of this State shall hold their offices for the term of six years; and the right of any judge to hold his office for the full term hereby prescribed, shall not be affected by any change hereafter made by law in any circuit or district, or in the mode or time of election; but for any wilful neglect of duty, or any other reasonable cause, which shall not be a sufficient ground of impeachment, the governor shall remove any judge, on the address of two-thirds of each house of the general assembly; Provided, That the cause or causes, for which said removal may be required, shall be stated at length in such address, and entered on the journals of each house; And, provided further, That the judge intended to be removed shall be notified of such cause or causes, and shall be admitted to a hearing in his own defence, before any vote for such address; and in all such cases, the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays, and be entered on the journals of each house respectively. Sec. 13. No person who shall have arrived at the age of seventy years, shall be appointed or elected to, or shall continue in, the office of judge in this State. Sec. 14. The judges of the supreme court shall, by virtue of their offices, be conservators of the peace throughout the State; as also the judges of the circuit courts within their respective circuits, and the judges of the inferior courts within their respective counties. Sec. 15. Clerks of the circuit courts, and of such inferior courts as may be by law established, shall be elected by the qualified electors in each county, for the term of four years; and may be removed from office, for such causes, and in such manner, as may be by law prescribed. Vacancies in the office of clerk shall be filled by the judge of the court, and the person so appointed shall hold office until the next general election, and until his successor is elected and qualified; Provided, That the general assembly shall have power to annex the duties of clerk to the office of judge of any inferior court by law established. Sec. 16. The style of all process shall be, The State of Alabama; and all prosecutions shall be carried on in the name and by the authority of the State of Alabama, and shall conclude “against the peace and dignity of the same.” Article VII: STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS Section 1. A secretary of state, a comptroller of public accounts, and a State treasurer, shall be elected by a joint vote of both houses of the general assembly, each of whom shall continue in office during the term of two years, shall perform all the duties that may be required of him by law, and receive such compensation as may be by law provided. Sec. 2. An attorney-general, and as many solicitors as there are judicial circuits in the State, shall be elected by a joint vote of both houses of the general assembly, each of whom shall hold his office for the term of four years, shall perform all the duties that may be required of him by law, and shall receive such compensation for his services as may be by law provided, which shall not be diminished during his continuance in office. Sec. 3. A sheriff shall be elected in each county, by the qualified electors thereof, who shall hold his office for the term of three years, unless sooner removed, and shall not be eligible to serve, either as principal or deputy, for any two successive terms. Vacancies in the office of sheriff shall be filled by the governor, as in other cases; and the person so appointed shall continue in office until the next general election in the county for sheriff as by law provided. Sec. 4. No member of Congress, nor any person who holds any office of profit or trust under the United States, (except postmasters,) or any other State or government; nor any person who shall have been convicted of having given or offered any bribe to procure his election or appointment; nor any person who shall have been convicted of bribery, forgery, perjury, or other high crime or misdemeanor which may be by law declared to disqualify him,—shall be eligible to any office of profit or trust under this State. Sec. 5. All commissions shall be in the name, and by the authority of the State of Alabama; shall be sealed with the great seal of the State, signed by the governor, and attested by the secretary of state. Sec. 6. All civil officers of this State, legislative, executive, and judicial, before they enter upon the execution of the duties of their respective offices, shall take the following oath: “I solemnly swear,” (or affirm, as the case may be,) “that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the State of Alabama, so long as I continue a citizen thereof; and that I will faithfully discharge, to the best of my abilities, the duties of the office of ———; So help me God.” Sec. 7. All civil officers of the State, whether elected by the people, or by the general assembly, or appointed by the governor, shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office; but judgment in such cases shall not extend further than removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit, under the State; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, and punishment according to law. Article VIII: ELECTIONS BY THE PEOPLE Section 1. Every white male person, of the age of twenty-one years and upward, who shall be a citizen of the United States, and shall have resided in this State one year next preceding the election, and the last three months thereof in the county in which he offers to vote, shall be deemed a qualified elector; Provided, That no soldier, seaman, or marine, in the Regular Army or Navy of the United States, and no person who shall have been convicted of bribery, forgery, perjury, or other high crime or misdemeanor which may be by law declared to disqualify him, shall be entitled to vote at any election in this State. Sec. 2. In all elections by the people, the electors shall vote by ballot, until otherwise directed by law. Sec. 3. Except in cases of treason, felony, or breach of the peace, electors shall be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections, and in going to and returning from the same. Sec. 4. Returns of elections for all civil officers elected by the people, who are to be commissioned by the governor, and also for members of the General Assembly, shall be made to the secretary of state. Article IX: AMENDMENT AND REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION Section 1. The General Assembly may, whenever two-thirds of each house shall deem it necessary, propose amendments to this constitution; which proposed amendments shall be duly published in print, (in such manner as the General Assembly may direct,) at least three months before the next general election for representatives, for the consideration of the people; and it shall be the duty of the several returning officers, at the next ensuing general election for representatives, to open a poll for the vote of the qualified electors on the proposed amendments, and to make a return of said vote to the secretary of state; and if it shall thereupon appear that a majority of all qualified electors of the State, who voted for representatives, voted in favor of the proposed amendments, and two-thirds of each house of the next General Assembly, before another election, shall ratify said amendments, each house voting by yeas and nays, said amendments shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as parts of this constitution; Provided, That said proposed amendments shall, at each of said sessions of the General Assembly, have been read three times, on three several days, in each house. Sec. 2. After the expiration of twelve months from the adoption of this constitution, no convention shall be held, for the purpose of altering or amending the constitution of this State, unless the question of convention or no convention shall be first submitted to a vote of the qualified electors of the State, and approved by a majority of the electors voting at said election. Adopted by the convention, by the unanimous vote of all the delegates present, at the State capitol, in the city of Montgomery, on this, the thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of the Independence of the United States the ninetieth year. Benj. Fitzpatrick, President of Convention. Attest: Wm. H. Ogbourne, Sec’y of Convention. Source: The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and other Organic Laws of the States and Territories now or heretofore forming the United States of America, compiled and edited by Francis Newton Thorpe (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1909). Vol. I United States-Alabama-District of Columbia. https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/thorpe-the-federal-and-state-constitutions-vol-i-united-states-alabama-district-of-columbia#lf1514-01_head_228

(DAYTON, OHIO, AUGUST 7, 1865) To my old Master, Colonel P. H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee. Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jordon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance. I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get $25 a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy (the folks call her Mrs. Anderson), and the children, Milly, Jane, and Grundy, go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, “Them colored people were slaves” down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again. As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At $25 a month for me, and $2 a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to $11,680. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor’s visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire. In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve and die, if it come to that, than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits. From your old servant, Jordon Anderson P.S.— Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me. Source: https://www.facinghistory.org/reconstruction-era/letter-jourdon-anderson-freedman-writes-former-master

Fellow citizens of the United States: In compliance with a custom as old as the government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly, and to take, in your presence, the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, to be taken by the President "before he enters on the execution of his office." I do not consider it necessary, at present, for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety, or excitement. Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States, that by the accession of a Republican Administration, their property, and their peace, and personal security, are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this, and many similar declarations, and had never recanted them. And more than this, they placed in the platform, for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves, and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read: "Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes." I now reiterate these sentiments: and in doing so, I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible, that the property, peace and security of no section are to be in anywise endangered by the now incoming Administration. I add too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause — as cheerfully to one section, as to another. There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its provisions: "No person held to service or labor in one State under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it, for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves; and the intention of the law-giver is the law. All members of Congress swear their support to the whole constitution — to this provision as much as to any other. To the proposition then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause, "shall be delivered up," their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not, with nearly equal unanimity, frame and pass a law, by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath? There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by state authority; but surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him, or to others, by which authority it is done. And should any one, in any case, be content that his oath shall go unkept, on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept? Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so that a free man be not, in any case, surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well, at the same time, to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guaranties that "The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States?" I take the official oath to-day, with no mental reservations, and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws, by any hypercritical rules. And while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest, that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to, and abide by, all those acts which stand unrepealed, than to violate any of them, trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional. It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our national Constitution. During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens, have, in succession, administered the executive branch of the government. They have conducted it through many perils; and, generally, with great success. Yet, with all this scope for precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years, under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Federal Union heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted. I hold, that in contemplation of universal law, and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper, ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our national Constitution, and the Union will endure forever — it being impossible to destroy it, except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself. Again, if the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade, by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it — break it, so to speak; but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it? Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that, in legal contemplation, the Union is perpetual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774.. It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 1778. And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution, was "to form a more perfect union." But if destruction of the Union, by one, or by a part only, of the States, be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity. It follows from these views that no State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union, — that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void; and that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances. I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; and, to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part; and I shall perform it, so far as practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means, or, in some authoritative manner, direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend, and maintain itself. In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national authority. The power confided to me, will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property, and places belonging to the government, and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion — no using of force against, or among the people anywhere. Where hostility to the United States, in any interior locality, shall be so great and so universal, as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people for that object. While the strict legal right may exist in the government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable with all, that I deem it better to forego, for the time, the uses of such offices. The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union. So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and reflection. The course here indicated will be followed, unless current events, and experience, shall show a modification, or change, to be proper; and in every case and exigency, my best discretion will be exercised, according to circumstances actually existing, and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of the national troubles, and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections. That there are persons in one section, or another who seek to destroy the Union at all events, and are glad of any pretext to do it, I will neither affirm or deny; but if there be such, I need address no word to them. To those, however, who really love the Union, may I not speak? Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step, while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from, have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to, are greater than all the real ones you fly from? Will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake? All profess to be content in the Union, if all constitutional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right, plainly written in the Constitution, has been denied? I think not. Happily the human mind is so constituted, that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If, by the mere force of numbers, a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution — certainly would, if such right were a vital one. But such is not our case. All the vital rights of minorities, and of individuals, are so plainly assured to them, by affirmations and negations guaranties and prohibitions in the Constitution, that controversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may occur in practical administration. No foresight can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable length contain express provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authority? The Constitution does not expressly say. May Congress prohibit slavery in the territories? The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in the territories? The Constitution does not expressly say. From questions of this class spring all our constitutional controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and minorities. If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the government must cease. There is no other alternative; for continuing the government, is acquiescence on one side or the other. If a minority, in such case, will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which, in turn, will divide and ruin them; for a minority of their own will secede from them, whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority. For instance, why may not any portion of a new confederacy, a year or two hence, arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to secede from it. All who cherish disunion sentiments, are now being educated to the exact temper of doing this. Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new Union, as to produce harmony only, and prevent renewed secession? Plainly, the central idea of secession, is the essence of anarchy. A majority, held in restraint by constitutional checks, and limitations, and always changing easily, with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it, does of necessity, fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible; the rule of a minority as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that rejecting the majority principle, anarchy, or despotism in some form, is all that is left. I do not forget the position assumed by some, that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court; nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding in any case upon the parties to a suit, as to the object of that suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and consideration, in all parallel cases, by all other departments of the government. And while it is obviously possible that such decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect following it, being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be over-ruled, and never become a precedent for other cases, can better be borne than could the evils of a different practice. At the same time the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the government, upon vital questions, affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made, in ordinary litigation between parties, in personal actions, the people will have ceased, to be their own rulers, having, to that extent, practically resigned their government, into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Nor is there, in this view, any assault upon the court, or the judges. It is a duty, from which they may not shrink, to decide cases properly brought before them; and it is no fault of theirs, if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes. One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute. The fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade, are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured; and it would be worse in both cases after the separation of the sections, than before. The foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived without restriction, in one section; while fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all, by the other. Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence, and beyond the reach of each other; but the different parts of our country cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them, Is it possible then to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory, after separation than before? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens, than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as to terms of intercourse, are again upon you. This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember, or overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the fact that many worthy, and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the national constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favor, rather than oppose, a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. I will venture to add that, to me, the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject, propositions, originated by others, not especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such, as they would wish to either accept or refuse. I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution — which amendment, however, I have not seen, has passed Congress, to the effect that the federal government, shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amendments, so far as to say that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express, and irrevocable. The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix terms for the separation of the States. The people themselves can do this also if they choose; but the executive, as such, has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the present government, as it came to his hands, and to transmit it, unimpaired by him, to his successor. Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better, or equal hope, in the world? In our present differences, is either party without faith of being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of nations, with his eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth, and that justice, will surely prevail, by the judgment of this great tribunal, the American people. By the frame of the government under which we live, this same people have wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief; and have, with equal wisdom, provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals. While the people retain their virtue, and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government, in the short space of four years. My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well, upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied, still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; while the new administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied, hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty. In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict, without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect and defend" it. I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. Source: https://www.ushistory.org/documents/lincoln1.htm

Head Quarters District of Texas Galveston Texas June 19th 1865. General Orders      No. 3.           The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.                The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.           By order of Major General Granger                     F.W. Emery                     Major A.A. Genl. Source: https://www.archives.gov/news/articles/juneteenth-original-document

April 17, 1865: By Andrew Johnson GENTLEMEN: I must be permitted to say that I have been almost overwhelmed by the announcement of the sad event which has so recently occurred. I feel incompetent to perform duties so important and responsible as those which have been so unexpectedly thrown upon me. As to an indication of any policy which may be pursued by me in the administration of the Government, I have to say that that must be left for development as the Administration progresses. The message or declaration must be made by the acts as they transpire. The only assurance that I can now give of the future is reference to the past. The course which I have taken in the past in connection with this rebellion must be regarded as a guaranty of the future. My past public life, which has been long and laborious, has been founded, as I in good conscience believe, upon a great principle of right, which lies at the basis of all things. The best energies of my life have been spent in endeavoring to establish and perpetuate the principles of free government, and I believe that the Government in passing through its present perils will settle down upon principles consonant with popular rights more permanent and enduring than heretofore. I must be permitted to say, if I understand the feelings of my own heart, that I have long labored to ameliorate and elevate the condition of the great mass of the American people. Toil and an honest advocacy of the great principles of free government have been my lot. Duties have been mine; consequences are God's. This has been the foundation of my political creed, and I feel that in the end the Government will triumph and that these great principles will be permanently established. In conclusion, gentlemen, let me say that I want your encouragement and countenance. I shall ask and rely upon you and others in carrying the Government through its present perils. I feel in making this request that it will be heartily responded to by you and all other patriots and lovers of the rights and interests of a free people. Source: https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/april-17-1865-message-following-death-abraham-lincoln

April 11, 1865 We meet this evening, not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the surrender of the principal insurgent army, give hope of a righteous and speedy peace whose joyous expression can not be restrained. In the midst of this, however, He from whom all blessings flow, must not be forgotten. A call for a national thanksgiving is being prepared, and will be duly promulgated. Nor must those whose harder part gives us the cause of rejoicing, be overlooked. Their honors must not be parcelled out with others. I myself was near the front, and had the high pleasure of transmitting much of the good news to you; but no part of the honor, for plan or execution, is mine. To Gen. Grant, his skilful officers, and brave men, all belongs. The gallant Navy stood ready, but was not in reach to take active part. By these recent successes the re-inauguration of the national authority -- reconstruction -- which has had a large share of thought from the first, is pressed much more closely upon our attention. It is fraught with great difficulty. Unlike a case of a war between independent nations, there is no authorized organ for us to treat with. No one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man. We simply must begin with, and mould from, disorganized and discordant elements. Nor is it a small additional embarrassment that we, the loyal people, differ among ourselves as to the mode, manner, and means of reconstruction. As a general rule, I abstain from reading the reports of attacks upon myself, wishing not to be provoked by that to which I can not properly offer an answer. In spite of this precaution, however, it comes to my knowledge that I am much censured for some supposed agency in setting up, and seeking to sustain, the new State government of Louisiana. In this I have done just so much as, and no more than, the public knows. In the Annual Message of Dec. 1863 and accompanying Proclamation, I presented a plan of re-construction (as the phrase goes) which, I promised, if adopted by any State, should be acceptable to, and sustained by, the Executive government of the nation. I distinctly stated that this was not the only plan which might possibly be acceptable; and I also distinctly protested that the Executive claimed no right to say when, or whether members should be admitted to seats in Congress from such States. This plan was, in advance, submitted to the then Cabinet, and distinctly approved by every member of it. One of them suggested that I should then, and in that connection, apply the Emancipation Proclamation to the theretofore excepted parts of Virginia and Louisiana; that I should drop the suggestion about apprenticeship for freed-people, and that I should omit the protest against my own power, in regard to the admission of members to Congress; but even he approved every part and parcel of the plan which has since been employed or touched by the action of Louisiana. The new constitution of Louisiana, declaring emancipation for the whole State, practically applies the Proclamation to the part previously excepted. It does not adopt apprenticeship for freed-people; and it is silent, as it could not well be otherwise, about the admission of members to Congress. So that, as it applies to Louisiana, every member of the Cabinet fully approved the plan. The message went to Congress, and I received many commendations of the plan, written and verbal; and not a single objection to it, from any professed emancipationist, came to my knowledge, until after the news reached Washington that the people of Louisiana had begun to move in accordance with it. From about July 1862, I had corresponded with different persons, supposed to be interested, seeking a reconstruction of a State government for Louisiana. When the message of 1863, with the plan before mentioned, reached New-Orleans, Gen. Banks wrote me that he was confident the people, with his military co-operation, would reconstruct, substantially on that plan. I wrote him, and some of them to try it; they tried it, and the result is known. Such only has been my agency in getting up the Louisiana government. As to sustaining it, my promise is out, as before stated. But, as bad promises are better broken than kept, I shall treat this as a bad promise, and break it, whenever I shall be convinced that keeping it is adverse to the public interest. But I have not yet been so convinced. I have been shown a letter on this subject, supposed to be an able one, in which the writer expresses regret that my mind has not seemed to be definitely fixed on the question whether the seceding States, so called, are in the Union or out of it. It would perhaps, add astonishment to his regret, were he to learn that since I have found professed Union men endeavoring to make that question, I have purposely forborne any public expression upon it. As appears to me that question has not been, nor yet is, a practically material one, and that any discussion of it, while it thus remains practically immaterial, could have no effect other than the mischievous one of dividing our friends. As yet, whatever it may hereafter become, that question is bad, as the basis of a controversy, and good for nothing at all--a merely pernicious abstraction. We all agree that the seceded States, so called, are out of their proper relation with the Union; and that the sole object of the government, civil and military, in regard to those States is to again get them into that proper practical relation. I believe it is not only possible, but in fact, easier to do this, without deciding, or even considering, whether these States have ever been out of the Union, than with it. Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly immaterial whether they had ever been abroad. Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restoring the proper practical relations between these States and the Union; and each forever after, innocently indulge his own opinion whether, in doing the acts, he brought the States from without, into the Union, or only gave them proper assistance, they never having been out of it. The amount of constituency, so to speak, on which the new Louisiana government rests, would be more satisfactory to all, if it contained fifty, thirty, or even twenty thousand, instead of only about twelve thousand, as it does. It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elective franchise is not given to the colored man. I would myself prefer that it were now conferred on the very intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as soldiers. Still the question is not whether the Louisiana government, as it stands, is quite all that is desirable. The question is, "Will it be wiser to take it as it is, and help to improve it; or to reject, and disperse it?" "Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining, or by discarding her new State government?" Some twelve thousand voters in the heretofore slave-state of Louisiana have sworn allegiance to the Union, assumed to be the rightful political power of the State, held elections, organized a State government, adopted a free-state constitution, giving the benefit of public schools equally to black and white, and empowering the Legislature to confer the elective franchise upon the colored man. Their Legislature has already voted to ratify the constitutional amendment recently passed by Congress, abolishing slavery throughout the nation. These twelve thousand persons are thus fully committed to the Union, and to perpetual freedom in the state--committed to the very things, and nearly all the things the nation wants--and they ask the nations recognition and it's assistance to make good their committal. Now, if we reject, and spurn them, we do our utmost to disorganize and disperse them. We in effect say to the white men "You are worthless, or worse--we will neither help you, nor be helped by you." To the blacks we say "This cup of liberty which these, your old masters, hold to your lips, we will dash from you, and leave you to the chances of gathering the spilled and scattered contents in some vague and undefined when, where, and how." If this course, discouraging and paralyzing both white and black, has any tendency to bring Louisiana into proper practical relations with the Union, I have, so far, been unable to perceive it. If, on the contrary, we recognize, and sustain the new government of Louisiana the converse of all this is made true. We encourage the hearts, and nerve the arms of the twelve thousand to adhere to their work, and argue for it, and proselyte for it, and fight for it, and feed it, and grow it, and ripen it to a complete success. The colored man too, in seeing all united for him, is inspired with vigilance, and energy, and daring, to the same end. Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps toward it, than by running backward over them? Concede that the new government of Louisiana is only to what it should be as the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it? Again, if we reject Louisiana, we also reject one vote in favor of the proposed amendment to the national Constitution. To meet this proposition, it has been argued that no more than three fourths of those States which have not attempted secession are necessary to validly ratify the amendment. I do not commit myself against this, further than to say that such a ratification would be questionable, and sure to be persistently questioned; while a ratification by three-fourths of all the States would be unquestioned and unquestionable. I repeat the question, "Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State Government? What has been said of Louisiana will apply generally to other States. And yet so great peculiarities pertain to each state, and such important and sudden changes occur in the same state; and withal, so new and unprecedented is the whole case, that no exclusive, and inflexible plan can be safely prescribed as to details and colatterals [sic]. Such exclusive, and inflexible plan, would surely become a new entanglement. Important principles may, and must, be inflexible. In the present "situation" as the phrase goes, it may be my duty to make some new announcement to the people of the South. I am considering, and shall not fail to act, when satisfied that action will be proper. Source: http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/last.htm

13th Amendment 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.

Legation of the United States London, 28th January, 1865 Sir: I am directed to inform you that the address of the Central Council of your Association, which was duly transmitted through this Legation to the President of the United [States], has been received by him. So far as the sentiments expressed by it are personal, they are accepted by him with a sincere and anxious desire that he may be able to prove himself not unworthy of the confidence which has been recently extended to him by his fellow citizens and by so many of the friends of humanity and progress throughout the world. The Government of the United States has a clear consciousness that its policy neither is nor could be reactionary, but at the same time it adheres to the course which it adopted at the beginning, of abstaining everywhere from propagandism and unlawful intervention. It strives to do equal and exact justice to all states and to all men and it relies upon the beneficial results of that effort for support at home and for respect and good will throughout the world. Nations do not exist for themselves alone, but to promote the welfare and happiness of mankind by benevolent intercourse and example. It is in this relation that the United States regard their cause in the present conflict with slavery, maintaining insurgence as the cause of human nature, and they derive new encouragements to persevere from the testimony of the workingmen of Europe that the national attitude is favored with their enlightened approval and earnest sympathies. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Charles Francis Adams Source: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/iwma/documents/1864/lincoln-letter.htm

Presented to U.S. Ambassador Charles Francis Adams January 28, 1865 Written: by Marx between November 22 & 29, 1864, and included in the Minutes of the General Council on 29th November 1864; Sir: We congratulate the American people upon your re-election by a large majority. If resistance to the Slave Power was the reserved watchword of your first election, the triumphant war cry of your re-election is Death to Slavery. From the commencement of the titanic American strife the workingmen of Europe felt instinctively that the star-spangled banner carried the destiny of their class. The contest for the territories which opened the dire epopee, was it not to decide whether the virgin soil of immense tracts should be wedded to the labor of the emigrant or prostituted by the tramp of the slave driver? When an oligarchy of 300,000 slaveholders dared to inscribe, for the first time in the annals of the world, "slavery" on the banner of Armed Revolt, when on the very spots where hardly a century ago the idea of one great Democratic Republic had first sprung up, whence the first Declaration of the Rights of Man was issued, and the first impulse given to the European revolution of the eighteenth century; when on those very spots counterrevolution, with systematic thoroughness, gloried in rescinding "the ideas entertained at the time of the formation of the old constitution", and maintained slavery to be "a beneficent institution", indeed, the old solution of the great problem of "the relation of capital to labor", and cynically proclaimed property in man "the cornerstone of the new edifice" — then the working classes of Europe understood at once, even before the fanatic partisanship of the upper classes for the Confederate gentry had given its dismal warning, that the slaveholders' rebellion was to sound the tocsin for a general holy crusade of property against labor, and that for the men of labor, with their hopes for the future, even their past conquests were at stake in that tremendous conflict on the other side of the Atlantic. Everywhere they bore therefore patiently the hardships imposed upon them by the cotton crisis, opposed enthusiastically the proslavery intervention of their betters — and, from most parts of Europe, contributed their quota of blood to the good cause. While the workingmen, the true political powers of the North, allowed slavery to defile their own republic, while before the Negro, mastered and sold without his concurrence, they boasted it the highest prerogative of the white-skinned laborer to sell himself and choose his own master, they were unable to attain the true freedom of labor, or to support their European brethren in their struggle for emancipation; but this barrier to progress has been swept off by the red sea of civil war. The workingmen of Europe feel sure that, as the American War of Independence initiated a new era of ascendancy for the middle class, so the American Antislavery War will do for the working classes. They consider it an earnest of the epoch to come that it fell to the lot of Abraham Lincoln, the single-minded son of the working class, to lead his country through the matchless struggle for the rescue of an enchained race and the reconstruction of a social world. Signed on behalf of the International Workingmen's Association, the Central Council: Longmaid, Worley, Whitlock, Fox, Blackmore, Hartwell, Pidgeon, Lucraft, Weston, Dell, Nieass, Shaw, Lake, Buckley, Osbourne, Howell, Carter, Wheeler, Stainsby, Morgan, Grossmith, Dick, Denoual, Jourdain, Morrissot, Leroux, Bordage, Bocquet, Talandier, Dupont, L.Wolff, Aldovrandi, Lama, Solustri, Nusperli, Eccarius, Wolff, Lessner, Pfander, Lochner, Kaub, Bolleter, Rybczinski, Hansen, Schantzenbach, Smales, Cornelius, Petersen, Otto, Bagnagatti, Setacci; George Odger, President of the Council; P.V. Lubez, Corresponding Secretary for France; Karl Marx, Corresponding Secretary for Germany; G.P. Fontana, Corresponding Secretary for Italy; J.E. Holtorp, Corresponding Secretary for Poland; H.F. Jung, Corresponding Secretary for Switzerland; William R. Cremer, Honorary General Secretary. Source: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/iwma/documents/1864/lincoln-letter.htm

Lincoln’s Fourth Annual Message to Congress December 06, 1864 Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Again the blessings of health and abundant harvests claim our profoundest gratitude to Almighty God. The condition of our foreign affairs is reasonably satisfactory. Mexico continues to be a theater of civil war. While our political relations with that country have undergone no change, we have at the same time strictly maintained neutrality between the belligerents. At the request of the States of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, a competent engineer has been authorized to make a survey of the river San Juan and the port of San Juan. It is a source of much satisfaction that the difficulties which for a moment excited some political apprehensions and caused a closing of the interoceanic transit route have been amicably adjusted, and that there is a good prospect that the route will soon be reopened with an increase of capacity and adaptation. We could not exaggerate either the commercial or the political importance of that great improvement. It would be doing injustice to an important South American State not to acknowledge the directness, frankness, and cordiality with which the United States of Colombia have entered into intimate relations with this Government. A claims convention has been constituted to complete the unfinished work of the one which closed its session in 1861. The new liberal constitution of Venezuela having gone into effect with the universal acquiescence of the people, the Government under it has been recognized and diplomatic intercourse with it has opened in a cordial and friendly spirit. The long-deferred Aves Island claim has been satisfactorily paid and discharged. Mutual payments have been made of the claims awarded by the late joint commission for the settlement of claims between the United States and Peru. An earnest and cordial friendship continues to exist between the two countries, and such efforts as were in my power have been used to remove misunderstanding and avert a threatened war between Peru and Spain. Our relations are of the most friendly nature with Chile, the Argentine Republic, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, San Salvador, and Hayti. During the past year no differences of any kind have arisen with any of those Republics, and, on the other hand, their sympathies with the United States are constantly expressed with cordiality and earnestness. The claim arising from the seizure of the cargo of the brig Macedonian in 1821 has been paid in full by the Government of Chile. Civil war continues in the Spanish part of San Domingo, apparently without prospect of an early close. Official correspondence has been freely opened with Liberia, and it gives us a pleasing view of social and political progress in that Republic. It may be expected to derive new vigor from American influence, improved by the rapid disappearance of slavery in the United States. I solicit your authority to furnish to the Republic a gunboat at moderate cost, to be reimbursed to the United States by installments. Such a vessel is needed for the safety of that State against the native African races, and in Liberian hands it would be more effective in arresting the African slave trade than a squadron in our own hands. The possession of the least organized naval force would stimulate a generous ambition in the Republic, and the confidence which we should manifest by furnishing it would win forbearance and favor toward the colony from all civilized nations. The proposed overland telegraph between America and Europe, by the way of Behrings Straits and Asiatic Russia, which was sanctioned by Congress at the last session, has been undertaken, under very favorable circumstances, by an association of American citizens, with the cordial good will and support as well of this Government as of those of Great Britain and Russia. Assurances have been received from most of the South American States of their high appreciation of the enterprise and their readiness to cooperate in constructing lines tributary to that world-encircling communication. I learn with much satisfaction that the noble design of a telegraphic communication between the eastern coast of America and Great Britain has been renewed, with full expectation of its early accomplishment. Thus it is hoped that with the return of domestic peace the country will be able to resume with energy and advantage its former high career of commerce and civilization. Our very popular and estimable representative in Egypt died in April last. An unpleasant altercation which arose between the temporary incumbent of the office and the Government of the Pasha resulted in a suspension of intercourse. The evil was promptly corrected on the arrival of the successor in the consulate, and our relations with Egypt, as well as our relations with the Barbary Powers, are entirely satisfactory. The rebellion which has so long been flagrant in China has at last been suppressed, with the cooperating good offices of this Government and of the other Western commercial States. The judicial consular establishment there has become very difficult and onerous, and it will need legislative revision to adapt it to the extension of our commerce and to the more intimate intercourse which has been instituted with the Government and people of that vast Empire. China seems to be accepting with hearty good will the conventional laws which regulate commercial and social intercourse among the Western nations. Owing to the peculiar situation of Japan and the anomalous form of its Government, the action of that Empire in performing treaty stipulations is inconstant and capricious. Nevertheless, good progress has been effected by the Western powers, moving with enlightened concert. Our own pecuniary claims have been allowed or put in course of settlement, and the inland sea has been reopened to commerce. There is reason also to believe that these proceedings have increased rather than diminished the friendship of Japan toward the United States. The ports of Norfolk, Fernandina, and Pensacola have been opened by proclamation. It is hoped that foreign merchants will now consider whether it is not safer and more profitable to themselves, as well as just to the United States, to resort to these and other open ports than it is to pursue, through many hazards and at vast cost, a contraband trade with other ports which are closed, if not by actual military occupation, at least by a lawful and effective blockade. For myself, I have no doubt of the power and duty of the Executive, under the law of nations, to exclude enemies of the human race from an asylum in the United States. If Congress should think that proceedings in such cases lack the authority of law, or ought to be further regulated by it, I recommend that provision be made for effectually preventing foreign slave traders from acquiring domicile and facilities for their criminal occupation in our country. It is possible that if it were new and open question the maritime powers, with the lights they now enjoy, would not concede the privileges of a naval belligerent to the insurgents of the United States, destitute, as they are, and always have been, equally of ships of war and of ports and harbors. Disloyal emissaries have been neither less assiduous nor more successful during the last year than they were before that time in their efforts under favor of that privilege, to embroil our country in foreign wars. The desire and determination of the governments of the maritime states to defeat that design are believed to be as sincere as and can not be more earnest than our own. Nevertheless, unforeseen political difficulties have arisen, especially in Brazilian and British ports and on the northern boundary of the United States, which have required, and are likely to continue to require, the practice of constant vigilance and a just and conciliatory spirit on the part of the United States, as well as of the nations concerned and their governments. Commissioners have been appointed under the treaty with Great Britain on the adjustment of the claims of the Hudsons Bay and Pugets Sound Agricultural Companies, in Oregon, and are now proceeding to the execution of the trust assigned to them. In view of the insecurity of life and property in the region adjacent to the Canadian border, by reason of recent assaults and depredations committed by inimical and desperate persons who are harbored there, it has been thought proper to give notice that after the expiration of six months, the period conditionally stipulated in the existing arrangement with Great Britain, the United States must hold themselves at liberty to increase their naval armament upon the Lakes if they shall find that proceeding necessary. The condition of the border will necessarily come into consideration in connection with the question of continuing or modifying the rights of transit from Canada through the United States, as well as the regulation of imposts, which were temporarily established by the reciprocity treaty of the 5th June, 1854. I desire, however, to be understood while making this statement that the colonial authorities of Canada are not deemed to be intentionally unjust or unfriendly toward the United States, but, on the contrary, there is every reason to expect that, with the approval of the Imperial Government, they will take the necessary measures to prevent new incursions across the border. The act passed at the last session for the encouragement of immigration has so far as was possible been put into operation. It seems to need amendment which will enable the officers of the Government to prevent the practice of frauds against the immigrants while on their way and on their arrival in the ports, so as to secure them here a free choice of avocations and places of settlement. A liberal disposition toward this great national policy is manifested by most of the European States, and ought to be reciprocated on our part by giving the immigrants effective national protection. I regard our immigrants as one of the principal replenishing streams which are appointed by Providence to repair the ravages of internal war and its wastes of national strength and health. All that is necessary is to secure the flow of that stream in its present fullness, and to that end the Government must in every way make it manifest that it neither needs nor designs to impose involuntary military service upon those who come from other lands to cast their lot in our country. The financial affairs of the Government have been successfully administered during the last year. The legislation of the last session of Congress has beneficially affected the revenues, although sufficient time has not yet elapsed to experience the full effect of several of the provisions of the acts of Congress imposing increased taxation. The receipts during the year from all sources, upon the basis of warrants signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, including loans and the balance in the Treasury on the 1st day of July, 1863, were $1,394,796,007.62, and the aggregate disbursements, upon the same basis, were $1,298,056,101.89, leaving a balance in the Treasury, as shown by warrants, of $96,739,905.73. Deduct from these amounts the amount of the principal of the public debt redeemed and the amount of issues in substitution therefor, and the actual cash operations of the Treasury were: Receipts, $884,076,646.57; disbursements, $865,234,087.86; which leaves a cash balance in the Treasury of $18,842,558.71. Of the receipts there were derived from customs $102,316,152.99, from lands $588,333.29. from direct taxes $475,648.96, from internal revenue $109,741,134.10, from miscellaneous sources $47,511,448.10, and from loans applied to actual expenditures, including former balance, $623,443,929.13. There were disbursed for the civil service $27,505,599.46, for pensions and Indians $7,517,930.97, for the War Department $690,791,842.97, for the Navy Department $85,733,292.77, for interest on the public debt $53,685,421.69, making an aggregate of $865,234,087.86 and leaving a balance in the Treasury of $18,842,558.71, as before stated. For the actual receipts and disbursements for the first quarter and the estimated receipts and disbursements for the three remaining quarters of the current fiscal year, and the general operations of the Treasury in detail, I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury. I concur with him in the opinion that the proportion of moneys required to meet the expenses consequent upon the war derived from taxation should be still further increased; and I earnestly invite your attention to this subject, to the end that there may be such additional legislation as shall be required to meet the just expectations of the Secretary. The public debt on the 1st day of July last, as appears by the books of the Treasury, amounted to $1,740,690,489.49. Probably, should the war continue for another year, that amount may be increased by not far from five hundred millions. Held, as it is, for the most part by our own people, it has become a substantial branch of national, though private, property. For obvious reasons the more nearly this property can be distributed among all the people the better. To favor such general distribution, greater inducements to become owners might, perhaps, with good effect and without injury be presented to persons of limited means. With this view I suggest whether it might not be both competent and expedient for Congress to provide that a limited amount of some future issue of public securities might be held by any bona fide purchaser exempt from taxation and from seizure for debt, under such restrictions and limitations as might be necessary to guard against abuse of so important a privilege. This would enable every prudent person to set aside a small annuity against a possible day of want. Privileges like these would render the possession of such securities to the amount limited most desirable to every person of small means who might be able to save enough for the purpose. The great advantage of citizens being creditors as well as debtors with relation to the public debt is obvious. Men readily perceive that they can not be much oppressed by a debt which they owe to themselves. The public debt on the 1st day of July last, although somewhat exceeding the estimate of the Secretary of the Treasury made to Congress at the commencement of the last session, falls short of the estimate of that officer made in the preceding December as to its probable amount at the beginning of this year by the sum of $3,995,097.31. This fact exhibits a satisfactory condition and conduct of the operations of the Treasury. The national banking system is proving to be acceptable to capitalists and to the people. On the 25th day of November 584 national banks had been organized, a considerable number of which were conversions from State banks. Changes from State systems to the national system are rapidly taking place, and it is hoped that very soon there will be in the United States no banks of issue not authorized by Congress and no bank-note circulation not secured by the Government. That the Government and the people will derive great benefit from this change in the banking systems of the country can hardly be questioned. The national system will create a reliable and permanent influence in support of the national credit and protect the people against losses in the use of paper money. Whether or not any further legislation is advisable for the suppression of State-bank issues it will be for Congress to determine. It seems quite clear that the Treasury can not be satisfactorily conducted unless the Government can exercise a restraining power over the bank-note circulation of the country. The report of the Secretary of War and the accompanying documents will detail the campaigns of the armies in the field since the date of the last annual message, and also the operations of the several administrative bureaus of the War Department during the last year. It will also specify the measures deemed essential for the national defense and to keep up and supply the requisite military force. The report of the Secretary of the Navy presents a comprehensive and satisfactory exhibit of the affairs of that Department and of the naval service. It is a subject of congratulation and laudable pride to our countrymen that a Navy of such vast proportions has been organized in so brief a period and conducted with so much efficiency and success. The general exhibit of the Navy, including vessels under construction on the 1st of December, 1864, shows a total of 671 vessels, carrying 4,610 guns, and of 510,396 tons, being an actual increase during the year, over and above all losses by shipwreck or in battle, of 83 vessels, 167 guns, and 42,427 tons. The total number of men at this time in the naval service, including officers, is about 51,000. There have been captured by the Navy during the year 324 vessels, and the whole number of naval captures since hostilities commenced is 1,379, of which 267 are steamers. The gross proceeds arising from the sale of condemned prize property thus far reported amount to $14,396,250.51. A large amount of such proceeds is still under adjudication and yet to be reported. The total expenditure of the Navy Department of every description, including the cost of the immense squadrons that have been called into existence from the 4th of March, 1861, to the 1st of November, 1864, is $238,647,262.35. Your favorable consideration is invited to the various recommendations of the Secretary of the Navy, especially in regard to a navy-yard and suitable establishment for the construction and repair of iron vessels and the machinery and armature for our ships, to which reference was made in my last annual message. Your attention is also invited to the views expressed in the report in relation to the legislation of Congress at its last session in respect to prize on our inland waters. I cordially concur in the recommendation of the Secretary as to the propriety of creating the new rank of vice-admiral in our naval service. Your attention is invited to the report of the Postmaster-General for a detailed account of the operations and financial condition of the Post-Office Department. The postal revenues for the year ending June 30, 1864, amounted to $12,438,253.78 and the expenditures to $12,644,786.20, the excess of expenditures over receipts being $206,652.42. The views presented by the Postmaster-General on the subject of special grants by the Government in aid of the establishment of new lines of ocean mail steamships and the policy he recommends for the development of increased commercial intercourse with adjacent and neighboring countries should receive the careful consideration of Congress. It is of noteworthy interest that the steady expansion of population, improvement, and governmental institutions over the new and unoccupied portions of our country have scarcely been checked, much less impeded or destroyed, by our great civil war, which at first glance would seem to have absorbed almost the entire energies of the nation. The organization and admission of the State of Nevada has been completed in conformity with law, and thus our excellent system is firmly established in the mountains, which once seemed a barren and uninhabitable waste between the Atlantic States and those which have grown up on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The Territories of the Union are generally in a condition of prosperity and rapid growth. Idaho and Montana, by reason of their great distance and the interruption of communication with them by Indian hostilities, have been only partially organized; but it is understood that these difficulties are about to disappear, which will permit their governments, like those of the others, to go into speedy and full operation. As intimately connected with and promotive of this material growth of the nation, I ask the attention of Congress to the valuable information and important recommendations relating to the public lands, Indian affairs, the Pacific Railroad, and mineral discoveries contained in the report of the Secretary of the Interior which is herewith transmitted, and which report also embraces the subjects of patents, pensions, and other topics of public interest pertaining to his Department. The quantity of public land disposed of during the five quarters ending on the 30th of September last was 4,221,342 acres, of which 1,538,614 acres were entered under the homestead law. The remainder was located with military land warrants, agricultural scrip certified to States for railroads, and sold for cash. The cash received from sales and location fees was $1,019,446. The income from sales during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1864, was $678,007.21, against $136,077.95 received during the preceding year. The aggregate number of acres surveyed during the year has been equal to the quantity disposed of, and there is open to settlement about 133,000,000 acres of surveyed land. The great enterprise of connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific States by railways and telegraph lines has been entered upon with a vigor that gives assurance of success, notwithstanding the embarrassments arising from the prevailing high prices of materials and labor. The route of the main line of the road has been definitely located for 100 miles westward from the initial point at Omaha City, Nebr., and a preliminary location of the Pacific Railroad of California has been made from Sacramento eastward to the great bend of the Truckee River in Nevada. Numerous discoveries of gold, silver, and cinnabar mines have been added to the many heretofore known, and the country occupied by the Sierra Nevada and Rocky mountains and the subordinate ranges now teems with enterprising labor, which is richly remunerative. It is believed that the product of the mines of precious metals in that region has during the year reached, if not exceeded, one hundred millions in value. It was recommended in my last annual message that our Indian system be remodeled. Congress at its last session, acting upon the recommendation, did provide for reorganizing the system in California, and it is believed that under the present organization the management of the Indians there will be attended with reasonable success. Much yet remains to be done to provide for the proper government of the Indians in other parts of the country, to render it secure for the advancing set-tier, and to provide for the welfare of the Indian. The Secretary reiterates his recommendations, and to them the attention of Congress is invited. The liberal provisions made by Congress for paying pensions to invalid soldiers and sailors of the Republic and to the widows, orphans, and dependent mothers of those who have fallen in battle or died of disease contracted or of wounds received in the service of their country have been diligently administered. There have been added to the pension rolls during the year ending the 30th day of June last the names of 16,770 invalid soldiers and of 271 disabled seamen, making the present number of army invalid pensioners 22,767 and of navy invalid pensioners 712. Of widows, orphans, and mothers 22,198 have been placed on the army pension rolls and 248 on the navy rolls. The present number of army pensioners of this class is 25,433 and of navy pensioners 793. At the beginning of the year the number of Revolutionary pensioners was 1,430. Only 12 of them were soldiers, of whom 7 have since died. The remainder are those who under the law receive pensions because of relationship to Revolutionary soldiers. During the year ending the 30th of June, 1864, $4,504,616.92 have been paid to pensioners of all classes. I cheerfully commend to your continued patronage the benevolent institutions of the District of Columbia which have hitherto been established or fostered by Congress, and respectfully refer for information concerning them and in relation to the Washington Aqueduct, the Capitol, and other matters of local interest to the report of the Secretary. The Agricultural Department, under the supervision of its present energetic and faithful head, is rapidly commending itself to the great and vital interest it was created to advance It is peculiarly the people's Department, in which they feel more directly concerned than in any other. I commend it to the continued attention and fostering care of Congress. The war continues. Since the last annual message all the important lines and positions then occupied by our forces have been maintained and our arms have steadily advanced, thus liberating the regions left in rear, so that Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and parts of other States have again produced reasonably fair crops. The most remarkable feature in the military operations of the year is General Sherman's attempted march of 300 miles directly through the insurgent region. It tends to show a great increase of our relative strength that our General in Chief should feel able to confront and hold in check every active force of the enemy, and yet to detach a well-appointed large army to move on such an expedition. The result not yet being known, conjecture in regard to it is not here indulged. Important movements have also occurred during the year to the effect of molding society for durability in the Union. Although short of complete success, it is much in the fight direction that 12,000 citizens in each of the States of Arkansas and Louisiana have organized loyal State governments, with free constitutions, and are earnestly struggling to maintain and administer them. The movements in the same direction, more extensive though less definite, in Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee should not be overlooked. But Maryland presents the example of complete success. Maryland is secure to liberty and union for all the future. The genius of rebellion will no more claim Maryland. Like another foul spirit being driven out, it may seek to tear her, but it will woo her no-more. At the last session of Congress a proposed amendment of the Constitution abolishing slavery throughout the United States passed the Senate, but failed for lack of the requisite two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives. Although the present is the same Congress and nearly the same members, and without questioning the wisdom or patriotism of those who stood in opposition, I venture to recommend the reconsideration and passage of the measure at the present session. Of course the abstract question is not changed; but an [see APP Note] intervening election shows almost certainly that the next Congress will pass the measure if this does not. Hence there is only a question of time as to when the proposed amendment will go to the States for their action. And as it is to so go at all events, may we not agree that the sooner the better? It is not claimed that the election has imposed a duty on members to change their views or their votes any further than, as an additional element to be considered, their judgment may be affected by it. It is the voice of the people now for the first time heard upon the question. In a great national crisis like ours unanimity of action among those seeking a common end is very desirable--almost indispensable. And yet no approach to such unanimity is attainable unless some deference shall be paid to the will of the majority simply because it is the will of the majority. In this case the common end is the maintenance of the Union, and among the means to secure that end such will, through the election, is most dearly declared in favor of such constitutional amendment. The most reliable indication of public purpose in this country is derived through our popular elections. Judging by the recent canvass and its result, the purpose of the people within the loyal States to maintain the integrity of the Union was never more firm nor more nearly unanimous than now. The extraordinary calmness and good order with which the millions of voters met and mingled at the polls give strong assurance of this. Not only all those who supported the Union ticket, so called, but a great majority of the opposing party also may be fairly claimed to entertain and to be actuated by the same purpose. It is an unanswerable argument to this effect that no candidate for any office [see APP Note] whatever, high or low, has ventured to seek votes on the avowal that he was for giving up the Union. There have been much impugning of motives and much heated controversy as to the proper means and best mode of advancing the Union cause, but on the distinct issue of Union or no Union the politicians have shown their instinctive knowledge that there is no diversity among the people. In affording the people the fair opportunity of showing one to another and to the world this firmness and unanimity of purpose, the election has been of vast value to the national cause. The election has exhibited another tact not less valuable to be known--the fact that we do not approach exhaustion in the most important branch of national resources, that of living men. While it is melancholy to reflect that the war has filled so many graves and carried mourning to so many hearts, it is some relief to know that, compared with the surviving, the fallen have been so few. While corps and divisions and brigades and regiments have formed and fought and dwindled and gone out of existence, a great majority of the men who composed them are still living. The same is true of the naval service. The election returns prove this. So many voters could not else be found. The States regularly holding elections, both now and four years ago, to wit, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, east 3,982,011 votes now, against 3,870,222 cast then, showing an aggregate now of 3,982,011. To this is to be added 33,762 cast now in the new States of Kansas and Nevada, which States did not vote in 1860, thus swelling the aggregate to 4,015,773 and the net increase during the three years and a half of war to 145,551. A table is appended showing particulars. To this again should be added the number of all soldiers in the field from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Indiana, Illinois, and California, who by the laws of those States could not vote away from their homes, and which number can not be less than 90,000. Nor yet is this all. The number in organized Territories is triple now what it was four years ago, while thousands, white and black, join us as the national arms press back the insurgent lines. So much is shown, affirmatively and negatively, by the election. It is not material to inquire how the increase has been produced or to show that it would have been greater but for the war, which is probably true. The important fact remains demonstrated that we have more men now than we had when the war began; that we are not exhausted nor in process of exhaustion; that we are gaining strength and may if need be maintain the contest indefinitely. This as to men. Material resources are now more complete and abundant than ever. The national resources, then, are unexhausted, and, as we believe, inexhaustible. The public purpose to reestablish and maintain the national authority is unchanged, and, as we believe, unchangeable. The manner of continuing the effort remains to choose. On careful consideration of all the evidence accessible it seems to me that no attempt at negotiation with the insurgent leader could result in any good. He would accept nothing short of severance of the Union, precisely what we will not and can not give. His declarations to this effect are explicit and oft repeated. He does not attempt to deceive us. He affords us no excuse to deceive ourselves. He can not voluntarily reaccept the Union; we can not voluntarily yield it. Between him and us the issue is distinct, simple, and inflexible. It is an issue which can only be tried by war and decided by victory. If we yield, we are beaten; if the Southern people fail him, he is beaten. Either way it would be the victory and defeat following war. What is true, however, of him who heads the insurgent cause is not necessarily true of those who follow. Although he can not reaccept the Union, they can. Some of them, we know, already desire peace and reunion. The number of such may increase. They can at any moment have peace simply by laying down their arms and submitting to the national authority under the Constitution. After [see APP Note] so much the Government could not, if it would, maintain war against them. The loyal people would not sustain or allow it. If questions should remain, we would adjust them by the peaceful means of legislation, conference, courts, and votes, operating only in constitutional and lawful channels. Some certain, and other possible, questions are and would be beyond the Executive power to adjust; as, for instance, the admission of members into Congress and whatever might require the appropriation of money. The Executive power itself would be greatly diminished by the cessation of actual war. Pardons and remissions of forfeitures, however, would still be within Executive control. In what spirit and temper this control would be exercised can be fairly judged of by the past. A year ago general pardon and amnesty, upon specified terms, were offered to all except certain designated classes, and it was at the same time made known that the excepted classes were still within contemplation of special clemency. During the year many availed themselves of the general provision, and many more would, only that the signs of bad faith in some led to such precautionary measures as rendered the practical process less easy and certain. During the same time also special pardons have been granted to individuals of the excepted classes, and no voluntary application has been denied. Thus practically the door has been for a full year open to all except such as were not in condition to make free choice; that is, such as were in custody or under constraint. It is still so open to all. But the time may come, probably will come, when public duty shall demand that it be closed and that in lieu more rigorous measures than heretofore shall be adopted. In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to the national authority on the part of the insurgents as the only indispensable condition to ending the war on the part of the Government, I retract nothing heretofore said as to slavery. I repeat the declaration made a year a ago, that "while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation or by any of the acts of Congress." If the people should, by whatever mode or means, make it an Executive duty to reenslave such persons, another, and not I, must be their instrument to perform it. In stating a single condition of peace I mean simply to say that the war will cease on the part of the Government whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who began it.   State 1860 1864 California 118,840 110,000* Connecticut 77,246 86,616 Delaware 16,039 16,924 Illinois 339,693 348,235 Indiana 272,143 280,645 Iowa 128,331 143,331 Kentucky 146,216 91,300* Maine 97,918 115,141 Maryland 92,502 72,703 Massachusetts 169,533 175,487 Michigan 154,747 162,413 Minnesota 34,799 42,534 Missouri 165,538 90,000* New Hampshire 65,953 69,111 New Jersey 121,125 128,680 New York 675,156 730,664 Ohio 42,441 470,745 Oregon 14,410 14,410+ Pennsylvania 476,442 572,697 Rhode Island 19,931 22,187 Vermont 42,844 55,811 West Virginia 46,195 33,874 Wisconsin 152,180 148,513     3,870,222 3,982,011     Kansas   17,234 Nevada   16,528         33,762     3,982,011     Total   4,015,773     3,870,222     Net Increase   145,551 *nearly +estimated ABRAHAM LINCOLN Source: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/fourth-annual-message-8

(13 Stat. 85, Chap. 95, was passed on May 26, 1864) Territory of Montana established. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all that part of the territory of the United States included within the limits, to wit: Commencing at a point formed by the intersection of the twenty-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington with the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; thence due west on said forty-fifth degree of latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the thirty-fourth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence due south along said thirty-fourth degree of longitude to its intersection with the forty-fourth degree and thirty minutes of north latitude; thence due west along said forty-fourth degree and thirty minutes of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the crest of the Rocky Mountains; thence following the crest of the Rocky Mountains northward till its intersection with the Bitter Root Mountains; thence northward along the crest of said Bitter Root Mountains to its intersection with the thirty-ninth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence along said thirty-ninth degree of longitude northward to the boundary line of the British possessions; thence eastward along said boundary line to the twenty-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington; thence southward along said twenty-seventh degree of longitude to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, created into a temporary government by the name of the Territory of Montana: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to inhibit the government of the United States from dividing said territory or changing its boundaries in such manner and at such time as congress shall deem convenient and proper, or from attaching any portion of said territory to any other state or territory of the United States: Provided, further, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to impair the rights of person or property now pertaining to the Indians in said territory so long as such rights shall remain unextinguished by treaty between the United States and such Indians, or to include any territory which, by treaty with any Indian tribes, is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be included within the territorial limits or jurisdiction of any state or territory; but all such territory shall be excepted out of the boundaries, and constitute no part of the Territory of Montana, until said tribe shall signify their assent to the President of the United States to be included within said territory, or to affect the authority of the government of the United States to make any regulations respecting such Indians, their lands, property, or other rights, by treaty, law, or otherwise, which it would have been competent for the government to make if this act had never passed. Executive. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the executive power and authority in and over said Territory of Montana shall be vested in a governor, who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States. The governor shall reside within said territory, and shall be commander-in-chief of the militia and superintendent of Indian affairs thereof. He may grant pardons and respites for offences against the laws of said territory, and reprieve for offences against the laws of the United States until the decision of the President of the United States can be made known thereon; he shall commission all officers who shall be appointed to office under the laws of the said territory, and shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Secretary. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That there shall be a secretary of said territory, who shall reside therein and hold his office for four years unless sooner removed by the President of the United States; he shall record and preserve all laws and proceedings of the legislative assembly hereinafter constituted, and all the acts and proceedings of the governor in his executive department; he shall transmit one copy of the laws and journals of the legislative assembly within thirty days after the end of each session, and one copy of the executive proceedings and official correspondence semi-annually, on the first days of January and July in each year, to the President of the United States, and two copies of the laws to the president of the senate and to the speaker of the house of representatives, for the use of congress. And in case of the death, removal, resignation, or absence of the governor from the territory, the secretary shall be, and he is hereby, authorized and required to execute and perform all the powers and duties of the governor during such vacancy or absence, or until another governor shall be duly appointed and qualified to fill such vacancy. Legislative power. Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the legislative power and authority of said territory shall be vested in the governor and a legislative assembly. The legislative assembly shall consist of a council and house of representatives. The council shall consist of seven members having the qualifications of voters, as hereinafter prescribed, whose term of service shall continue two years. The house of representatives shall, at its first session, consist of thirteen members, possessing the same qualifications as prescribed for the members of the council, and whose term of service shall continue one year. The number of representatives may be increased by the legislative assembly, from time to time, to twenty-six, in proportion to the increase of qualified voters; and the council, in like manner, to thirteen. An apportionment shall be made, as nearly equal as practicable, among the several counties or districts for the election of the council and representatives, giving to each section of the territory representation in the ratio of its qualified voters as nearly as may be. And the members of the council and of the house of representatives shall reside in, and be inhabitants of, the district or county or counties for which they may be elected respectively. Previous to the first election the governor shall cause a census or enumeration of the inhabitants and qualified voters of the several counties and districts of the territory to be taken by such persons and in such mode as the governor shall designate and appoint, and the person so appointed shall receive a reasonable compensation therefor. And the first election shall be held at such time and places, and be conducted in such manner, both as to the persons who shall superintend such election and the returns thereof, as the governor shall appoint and direct; and he shall at the same time declare the number of members of the council and house of representatives to which each of the counties or districts shall be entitled under this act The persons having the highest number of legal votes in each of said council districts, respectively, for members of the council, shall be declared by the governor to be duly elected to the council; and the persons having the highest number of legal votes for the house of representatives in each of said representative districts, respectively, shall be declared by the governor to be duly elected members of said house: Provided, That in case two or more persons voted for shall have an equal number of votes, and in case a vacancy shall otherwise occur in either branch of the legislative assembly, the governor shall order a new election. And the persons thus elected to the legislative assembly shall meet at such place and on such day as the governor shall appoint; but thereafter the time, place, and manner of holding and conducting all elections by the people, and the apportioning the representation in the several counties or districts to the council and house of representatives, according to the number of qualified voters, shall be prescribed by law, as well as the day of the commencement of the regular sessions of the legislative assembly: Provided, That no session in any one year shall exceed the term of forty days, except the first session, which may continue sixty days. Voters at first election. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That all citizens of the United States, and those who have declared their intentions to become such, and who are otherwise described and qualified under the fifth section of the act of congress providing for a temporary government for the territory of Idaho, approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be entitled to vote at said first election, and shall be eligible to any office within the said territory; but the qualifications of voters, and of holding office, at all subsequent elections, shall be such as shall be prescribed by the legislative assembly. Extent and limits of legislative power. Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the legislative power of the territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation consistent with the constitution of the United States and the provisions of this act; but no law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the soil; no tax shall be imposed upon the property of the United States, nor shall the lands or other property of non-residents be taxed higher than the lands or other property of residents. Every bill which shall have passed the council and house of representatives of the said territory shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor of the territory. If he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which it originated, who shall enter the objections at large upon their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and, if approved by two thirds of that house it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, to be entered on the journal of each house, respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within three days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the assembly, by adjournment, prevent its return; in which case it shall not be a law: Provided, That whereas slavery is prohibited in said territory by act of congress of June nineteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize or permit its existence therein. Township, district, and county officers. Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That all township, district and county officers, not herein otherwise provided for, shall be appointed or elected, as the case may be, in such manner as shall be provided by the governor and legislative assembly of the Territory of Montana. The governor shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the legislative council, appoint all officers not herein otherwise provided for and in the first instance the governor alone may appoint all said officers, who shall hold their offices until the end of the first session of the legislative assembly, and shall lay off the necessary districts for members of the council and house of representatives, and all other officers. Members of assembly not to hold certain offices. Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That no member of the legislative assembly shall hold or be appointed to any office which shall have been created, or the salary or emoluments of which shall have been increased while he was a member, during the term for which he was elected, and for one year after the expiration of such term; but this restriction shall not be applicable to members of the first legislative assembly. And no person holding a commission or appointment under the United States, except postmasters, shall be a member of the legislative assembly, or shall hold any office under the government of said territory. Judicial power. Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the judicial power of said territory shall be vested in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts, and in justices of the peace. The supreme court shall consist of a chief-justice and two associate justices, any two of whom shall constitute a quorum, and who shall hold a term at the seat of government of said territory annually; and they shall hold their offices during the period of four years, and until their successors shall be appointed and qualified. The said territory shall be divided into three judicial districts, and a district court shall be held in each of said districts by one of the justices of the supreme court at such times and places as may be prescribed by law; and the said judges shall, after their appointments, respectively, reside in the districts which shall be assigned them. The jurisdiction of the several courts herein provided for, both appellate and original, and that of the probate courts and of justices of the peace, shall be limited by law: Provided, That justices of the peace shall not have jurisdiction of any matter in controversy when the title of land may be in dispute, or where the debt or sum claimed shall exceed one hundred dollars; and the said supreme and district courts, respectively, shall possess chancery as well as common-law jurisdiction. Each district court, or the judge thereof, shall appoint its clerk, who shall also be the register in chancery, and shall keep his office at the place where the court may be held. Writs of error, bills of exceptions, and appeals, shall be allowed in all cases from the final decisions of said district courts to the supreme court, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law. The supreme court, or the justices thereof, shall appoint its own clerk; and every clerk shall hold his office at the pleasure of the court for which he shall have been appointed. Writs of error and appeals from the final decisions of said supreme court shall be allowed, and may be taken to the supreme court of the United States, in the same manner and under the same regulations as from the circuit courts of the United States, where the value of the property, or the amount in controversy, to be ascertained by the oath or affirmation of either party, or other competent witnesses, shall exceed one thousand dollars, except that a writ of error or appeal shall be allowed to the supreme court of the United States from the decision of the said supreme court created by this act, or of any judge thereof, or of the district courts created by this act, or of any judge thereof, upon any writs of habeas corpus involving the question of personal freedom. And each of the said district courts shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction, in all cases arising under the constitution and laws of the United States, as is vested in the circuit and district courts of the United States; and the first six days of every term of said courts, or so much thereof as shall be necessary, shall be appropriated to the trial of causes arising under the said constitution and laws; and writs of error and appeal in all such cases shall be made to the supreme court of said territory the same as in other cases. The said clerks shall receive, in all such cases, the same fees which the clerks of the district courts of Washington Territory now receive for similar services. Attorney--Marshal--Surveyor-general. Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That there shall be appointed an attorney for said territory, who shall continue in office four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States, and who shall receive the same fees and salary as the attorney of the United States for the present Territory of Washington. There shall also be a marshal for the territory appointed, who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States, and who shall execute all processes issuing from the said courts when exercising their jurisdiction as circuit and district courts of the United States. He shall perform the duties, be subject to the same regulations and penalties, and be entitled to the same fees as the marshal of the district court of the United States for the present Territory of Washington, and shall, in addition, be paid two hundred dollars annually as a compensation for extra services. There shall also be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a surveyor-general for said territory, who shall locate his office at such place as the Secretary of the Interior shall from time to time direct, and whose duties, powers, obligations, responsibilities, compensation, and allowances for clerk-hire, office-rent, fuel, and incidental expenses, shall be the same as those of the surveyor-general of New Mexico, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and such instructions as he may from time to time deem it advisable to give. Certain officers to be appointed by the President. Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That the governor, secretary, chief justice, and associate justices, attorney, and marshal shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The governor and secretary to be appointed as aforesaid shall, before they act as such, respectively, take an oath or affirmation before the district judge, or some justice of the peace in the limits of said territory, duly authorized to administer oaths and affirmations by the laws now in force therein, or before the chief justice or some associate justice of the supreme court of the United States, to support the constitution of the United States, and faithfully to discharge the duties of their respective offices; which said oaths, when so taken, shall be certified by the person by whom the same shall have been taken; and such certificates shall be received and recorded by the said secretary among the executive proceedings; and the chief justice and associate justices, and all civil officers in said territory, before they act as such, shall take a like oath or affirmation before the said governor or secretary, or some judge or justice of the peace of the territory who may be duly commissioned and qualified, or before the chief justice or some associate justice of the supreme court of the United States, which said oath or affirmation shall be certified and transmitted by the person taking the same to the secretary, to be by him recorded as aforesaid; and afterwards the like oath or affirmation shall be taken, certified, and recorded in such manner and form as may be prescribed by law. And any person who has heretofore been appointed chief justice or associate justice of the Territory of Idaho, who has not yet taken the oath of office, as prescribed by the act organizing said territory, may take said oath or affirmation before the chief justice or some associate justice of the supreme court of the United States. The governor shall receive an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars; the chief justice and associate justices shall receive an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars; the secretary shall receive an annual salary of two thousand dollars. The said salaries shall be paid quarter-yearly from the dates of the respective appointments at the treasury of the United States; but no payment shall be made until said officers shall have entered upon the duties of their respective appointments. The members of the legislative assembly shall be entitled to receive four dollars each per day during their attendance at the sessions thereof, and four dollars each for every twenty miles travel in going to and returning from said sessions, estimated according to the nearest usually traveled route; and an additional allowance of four dollars per day shall be paid to the presiding officer of each house for each day he shall so preside. And a chief clerk, one assistant clerk, one engrossing and one enrolling clerk, a sergeant-at-arms, and doorkeeper may be chosen for each house; and the chief clerk shall receive four dollars per day, and the said other officers three dollars per day during the session of the legislative assembly; but no other officers shall be paid by the United States: Provided, That there shall be but one session of the legislative assembly annually, unless on an extraordinary occasion, the governor shall think proper to call the legislative assembly together. There shall be appropriated annually the usual sum, to be expended by the governor, to defray the contingent expenses of the territory, including the salary of the clerk of the executive department. And there shall also be appropriated annually a sufficient sum, to be expended by the secretary of the territory, and upon an estimate to be made by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, to defray the expenses of the legislative assembly, the printing of the laws, and other incidental expenses. And the governor and secretary of the territory shall, in the disbursement of all moneys entrusted to them, be governed solely by the instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, and shall semi-annually account to the said secretary for the manner in which the aforesaid moneys shall have been expended; and no expenditure shall be made by said legislative assembly for objects not specially authorized by the acts of congress making the appropriations, nor beyond the sums thus appropriated for such objects. First session of assembly. Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the legislative assembly of the Territory of Montana shall hold its first session at such time and place in said territory as the governor thereof shall appoint and direct; and at said first session, or as soon thereafter as they shall deem expedient, the governor and legislative assembly shall proceed to locate and establish the seat of government for said territory at such place as they may deem eligible: Provided, That the seat of government fixed by the governor and legislative assembly shall not be at any time changed except by an act of the said assembly duly passed, and which shall be approved, after due notice, at the first general election thereafter, by a majority of the legal votes cast on that question. Delegate in congress. Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That a delegate to the house of representatives of the United States, to serve for the term of two years, who shall be a citizen of the United States, may be elected by the voters qualified to elect members of the legislative assembly, who shall be entitled to the same rights and privileges as are exercised and enjoyed by the delegates from the several other territories of the United States to the said house of representatives; but the delegate first elected shall hold his seat only during the term of the congress to which he shall be elected. The first election shall be held at such time and places, and be conducted in such manner, as the governor shall appoint and direct; and at all subsequent elections the time and places, and manner of holding the elections, shall be prescribed by law. The person having the greatest number of legal votes shall be declared by the governor to be duly elected, and a certificate thereof shall be given accordingly. That the constitution and all laws of the United States which are not locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect within the said Territory of Montana as elsewhere within the United States. School lands. Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That when the lands in the said territory shall be surveyed under the direction of the government of the United States, preparatory to bringing the same into market, sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in each township in said territory shall be, and the same are hereby, reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools in said territory and in the states and territories hereafter to be erected out of the same. Judicial districts. Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That, until otherwise provided by law, the governor of said territory may define the judicial districts of said territory, and assign the judges who may be appointed for said territory to the several districts, and also appoint the times and places for holding courts in the several counties or subdivisions in each of said judicial districts, by proclamation to be issued by him; but the legislative assembly, at their first or any subsequent session, may organize, alter, or modify such judicial districts, and assign the judges, and alter the times and places of holding the courts, as to them shall seem proper and convenient. Disbursing officers to give security. Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That all officers to be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for the Territory of Montana, who by virtue of the provisions of any law now existing, or which may be enacted by congress, are required to give security for moneys that may be entrusted with them for disbursement, shall give such security at such time and in such manner as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe. Treaties with Indians to be observed. Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That all treaties, laws, and other engagements made by the government of the United States with the Indian tribes inhabiting the territory embraced within the provisions of this act, shall be faithfully and rigidly observed, anything contained in this act to the contrary notwithstanding; and that the existing agencies and superintendencies of said Indians be continued, with the same powers and duties which are now prescribed by law, except that the President of the United States may, at his discretion, change the location of the office of said agencies or superintendents. Portion of Territory of Idaho made part of Dakota. Sec. 18. And be it further enacted, That, until Congress shall otherwise direct, all that part of the Territory of Idaho included within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing at a point formed by the intersection of the thirty-third degree of longitude west from Washington with the forty-first degree of north latitude; thence along said thirty-third degree of longitude to the crest of the Rocky Mountains; thence northward along the said crest of the Rocky Mountains to its intersection with the forty-fourth degree and thirty minutes of north latitude; thence eastward along said forty-fourth degree thirty minutes north latitude to the thirty-fourth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence northward along said thirty-fourth degree of longitude to its intersection with the forty-fifth degree north latitude; thence eastward along said forty-fifth degree of north latitude to its intersection with the twenty-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington; thence south along said twenty-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington to the forty-first degree north latitude; thence west along said forty-first degree of latitude to the place of beginning, shall be, and is hereby, incorporated temporarily into and made part of the Territory of Dakota. APPROVED May 26, 1864. Source: https://codes.findlaw.com/mt/organic-act-territory-of-montana/mt-code-ann-sect-organic-act.html

ACT OF CONGRESS ENABLING THE PEOPLE OF NEVADA TO FORM A CONSTITUTION AND STATE GOVERNMENT An Act to enable the People of Nevada to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the Admission of such State into the Union on an equal Footing with the original States.  Section 1. Authorization for formation of state. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the inhabitants of that portion of the territory of Nevada included in the boundaries hereinafter designated be, and they are hereby, authorized to form for themselves, out of said territory, a state government, with the name aforesaid, which said state, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union upon an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatsoever.  Sec. 2. Boundaries of state. And be it further enacted, That the said state of Nevada shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing at a point formed by the intersection of the thirty-eighth degree of longitude west from Washington with the thirty-seventh degree of north latitude; thence due west along said thirty-seventh degree of north latitude to the eastern boundary line of the state of California; thence in a northwesterly direction along the said eastern boundary line of the state of California to the forty-third degree of longitude west from Washington; thence north along said forty-third degree of west longitude and said eastern boundary line of the state of California to the forty second degree of north latitude; thence due east along the said forty-second degree of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the aforesaid thirty-eighth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence due south down said thirty-eighth degree of west longitude to the place of beginning.  Sec. 3. Constitutional convention: Qualified electors. And be it further enacted, That all persons qualified by law to vote for representatives to the general assembly of said territory, at the date of the passage of this act shall be qualified to be elected, and they are authorized to vote for and choose representatives to form a convention, under such rules and regulations as the governor of said territory may prescribe; and also to vote upon the acceptance or rejection of such constitution as may be formed by said convention, under such rules and regulations as the said convention may prescribe; and if any of said citizens are enlisted in the army of the United States, and are still within said territory, they shall be permitted to vote at their place of rendezvous; and [if] any are absent from said territory, by reason of their enlistment in the army of the United States, they shall be permitted to vote at their place of service, under the rules and regulations in each case to be prescribed as aforesaid; and the aforesaid representatives to form the aforesaid convention shall be apportioned among the several counties in said territory in proportion to the population as near as may be; and said apportionment shall be made for said territory by the governor, United States district-attorney, and chief justice thereof, or any two of them; and the governor of said territory shall, by proclamation on or before the first Monday of May next, order an election of the representatives as aforesaid to be held on the first Monday in June thereafter throughout the territory, and such election shall be conducted in the same manner as is prescribed by the laws of said territory regulating elections therein for members of the house of representatives, and the number of members to said convention shall be the same as now constitute both branches of the legislature of the aforesaid territory. Sec. 4. Authorization to form constitution and state government; limitations. And be it further enacted, That the members of the convention, thus elected, shall meet at the capital of said territory on the first Monday in July next, and, after organization, shall declare, on behalf of the people of said territory, that they adopt the constitution of the United States. Whereupon the said convention shall be, and it is hereby, authorized to form a constitution and state government for said territory: Provided, That the constitution, when formed, shall be republican, and not repugnant to the constitution of the United States, and the principles of the Declaration of Independence: And provided further, That said convention shall provide, by an ordinance irrevocable, without the consent of the United States and the people of said state:— First. That there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said state, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. Second. That perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured, and no inhabitant of said state shall ever be molested in person or property on account of his or her mode of religious worship. Third. That the people inhabiting said territory do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lying within said territory, and that the same shall be and remain at the sole and entire disposition of the United States; and that the lands belonging to citizens of the United States residing without the said state shall never be taxed higher than the land belonging to the residents thereof; and that no taxes shall be imposed by said state on lands or property therein belonging to, or which may hereafter be purchased by, the United States. Sec. 5. Constitution to be submitted to popular vote. And be it further enacted, That in case a constitution and state government shall be formed for the people of said territory of Nevada, in compliance with the provisions of this act, that said convention forming the same shall provide by ordinance for submitting said constitution to the people of said state for their ratification or rejection at an election to be held on the first Wednesday of September, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, at such places and under such regulations as may be prescribed therein, at which election the lawful voters of said new state shall vote directly for or against the proposed constitution, and the returns of said election shall be made to the acting governor of the territory, who, with the United States district-attorney and chief justice of said territory, or any two of them, shall canvass the same, and if a majority of legal votes shall be cast for said constitution in said proposed state, the said acting governor shall certify the same to the President of the United States, together with a copy of said constitution and ordinances; whereupon it shall be the duty of the President of the United States to issue his proclamation declaring the state admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, without any further action whatever on the part of congress. [Amended in 1864. See 13 United States Statutes at Large (1864), p. 85. (Chap. XCIV.—An Act to amend an Act entitled “An Act to enable the People of Nevada to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the Admission of such State into the Union on an equal Footing with the original States.”)] Sec. 6. Representation in House of Representatives of the United States. And be it further enacted, That until the next general census shall be taken said state of Nevada shall be entitled to one representative in the house of representatives of the United States, which representative, together with the governor and state and other officers provided for in said constitution, may be elected on the same day a vote is taken for or against the proposed constitution and state government. Sec. 7. Grant of public lands for support of common schools. And be it further enacted, That sections numbers sixteen and thirty-six, in every township, and where such sections have been sold or otherwise disposed of by any act of congress, other lands equivalent thereto in legal subdivisions of not less than one quarter-section, and as contiguous as may be, shall be, and are hereby, granted to said state for the support of common schools. Grant of 16th and 36th sections to state in section 7 of act enabling people to form state was grant in praesenti, in nature of float, taking effect upon specific tracts of land as soon as tracts were surveyed, but not before. Any such sections pre-empted prior to survey did not pass to state, but other equivalent lands were granted in lieu thereof. Sec. 8. Grant of lands to state for erecting public buildings. And be it further enacted, That provided the state of Nevada shall be admitted into the Union, in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this act, that twenty entire sections of the unappropriated public lands within said state, to be selected and located by direction of the legislature thereof, on or before the first day of January, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, shall be, and they are hereby, granted, in legal subdivisions of not less than one hundred and sixty acres, to said state, for the purpose of erecting public buildings at the capital of said state, for legislative and judicial purposes, in such manner as the legislature shall prescribe. Sec. 9. Grant of lands to state for erecting state prison. And be it further enacted, That twenty other entire sections of land, as aforesaid, to be selected and located as aforesaid, in legal subdivisions, as aforesaid, shall be, and they are hereby, granted to said state for the purpose of erecting a suitable building for a penitentiary or state prison in the manner aforesaid. Sec. 10. Five percent of subsequent sales of public lands by United States to be paid to state for public roads and irrigation. And be it further enacted, That five percentum of the proceeds of the sales of all public lands lying within said state, which shall be sold by the United States subsequent to the admission of said state into the Union, after deducting all the expenses incident to the same, shall be paid to the said state for the purpose of making and improving public roads, constructing ditches or canals, to effect a general system of irrigation of the agricultural land in the state, as the legislature shall direct. Sec. 11. Applicability of laws of United States after admission; state to constitute one federal judicial district. And be it further enacted, That from and after the admission of the said state of Nevada into the Union, in pursuance of this act, the laws of the United States, not locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect within the said state as elsewhere within the United States, and said state shall constitute one judicial district, and be called the district of Nevada. Approved, March 21, 1864. Source: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Division/Research/Library/Documents/HistDocs/1864Act.pdf