| WE, the PEOPLE
of the UNITED
STATES, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defence, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves
and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
ARTICLE I.
Sect. 1. ALL legislative powers, herein grated, shall
be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall
consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Sect. 2. The House of Representatives shall be
composed of Members chosen every second year by all the
people of the several States, and the Electors in each
State shall have the qualifications requisite for
Electors of the most numerous branch of the State
Legislature.
No person shall be a Representative who shall not have
attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven
years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not,
when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he
shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct taxes shall be appointed
among the several States which may be included within
this Union, according to the respective numbers, which
shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free
persons, including those bound to service for a term of
years, and excluding Indians not taxes, three fifths of
all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made
within three years after the first meeting of the
Congress of the United States, and within every
subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they
shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall
not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State
shall have at least one Representative; and until such
enumeration shall be made, the State of New-Hampshire
shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight,
Rhode-Island and Providence Plantation one, Connecticut
five, New-York six, New-Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight,
Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North-Carolina
five, South-Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any
State, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs
of election to fill such vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall choose their
Speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power
of impeachment.
Sect. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be
composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the
Legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator
shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in
consequence of the first election, they shall be divided
as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the
Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the
expiration of the second year, of the second class at the
expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at
the expiration of the sixth year; so that one third may
be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen, by
resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the
Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make
temporary appointments until the next meeting of the
Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have
attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years
a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he
shall be chosen.
The Vice-President of the United States shall be
President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless
they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also
a President pro tempore, in a the absence of the
Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of
President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole power to try all
impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall
by on oath or affirmation. When the President of the
United State is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside;
and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence
of two thirds of the members present.
Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend
further than to removal from office, and disqualification
to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit,
under the United States; but the party convicted shall
nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.
Sect. 4. The times, places and manner, of holding
elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be
prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but
the Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter such
regulations, except as to the place of choosing Senators.
he Congress shall assemble at least once in every
year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in
December, unless they shall by law appoint a different
day.
Sect. 5. Each House shall be the judge of the
elections, returns and qualification, of its own members,
and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do
business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to
day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of
absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties,
as each House may provide.
Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings,
punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the
concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.
Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings,
and from time to time publish the same, excepting such
parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the
yeas and nays of the members of either House on any
question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those
present, be entered on the journal.
Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall,
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than
three days, nor to any other place than that in which the
two Houses shall be sitting.
Sect. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall
receive a compensation for their services, to be
ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the
United States. They shall in all cases, except treason,
felony and breach of peace, be privileged from arrest
during their attendance at the session of their
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the
same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they
shall not be questioned in any other place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time
for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil
office under the authority of the United States, which
shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased, during such time; and no person
holding any officer under the United States shall be a
member of either House, during his continuance in office.
Sect. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate
in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may
propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the House of
Representatives and the Senates shall, before it become a
law, be presented to the President of the United States;
if he approve; he shall sign it; but if not, he shall
return it, with his objections, to that House in which it
shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at
large on 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, and the names of the persons voting for
and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of
each House respectively. If any bill shall not be
returned by the President within ten 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 Congress by their adjournment prevent its
return, in which case it shall not be a law.
Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence
of the Senate and House of Representatives may be
necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be
presented to the President of the United States; and
before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by
him, or being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by
two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives,
according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the
case of a bill.
Sect. 8. The Congress shall have power To lay and
collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the
debts and provide for the common defence and general
welfare of the United States; but all duties; imposts and
excises, shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among
the several States, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout
the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the
securities and current coin of the United States;
To establish post-offices and post-roads;
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by
securing for limited times to authors and inventors the
exclusive right to their respective writings and
discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed
on the high seas and offences against the law of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marquee and reprisal,
and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of
money to that use shall be for a longer term than two
years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the
land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute
the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel
invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the
militia, and for governing such part of them as may be
employed in the service of the United States, reserving
to the States respectively the appointment of the
officers, and the authority of training the militia
according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases
whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles
square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government
of the United States, and to exercise like authority over
all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of
the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of
forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful
buildings;--and,
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all
other powers vested by this Constitution in the
government of the United States, or in any department or
officer thereof.
Sect. 9. The migration or importation of such persons
as any of the States now existing shall think proper to
admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to
the year one thousand eight hundred and eight; but a tax
or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding
ten dollars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not
be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or
invasion the public safety may require it.
No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be
passed.
No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid,
unless in proportion to the senses or enumeration herein
before directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from
any State. No preference shall be given by any regulation
of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over
those of another: Nor shall vessels bound to or from one
State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties, in
another.
No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in
consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular
statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of
all public money shall be published from time to time.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United
States: And no person holding any office of profit or
trust under them shall, without the consent of the
Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office or
title, or any kind whatever from any King, Prince, or
foreign State.
Sect. 10. No State shall enter into any treaty,
alliance or confederation; grant letters of marquee and
reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any
thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of
debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or
law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any
title of nobility.
No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay
any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what
may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection
laws; and the new produce of all duties and imposts, laid
by any State, on imports or exports, shall be for the use
of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws
shall be subject to the revision and control of the
Congress. No State shall, without the consent of
Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships
of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or
compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such
imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
ARTICLE II.
Sec. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a
President of the United States of America. He shall hold
his office during the term of four years, and, together
with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be
elected as follows.
Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the
Legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors,
equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives
to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but
no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office
of trust or profit under the United States, shall be
appointed an Elector.
The Electors shall meet in their respective States,
and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least
shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with
themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons
voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which
list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to
the seat of the government of the United States, directed
to the President of the Senate. The President of the
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes
shall then be counted. The person having the greatest
number of votes shall be the President, if such number be
a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and
if there be more than one who have such majority, and
have an equal number of votes, then the House of
Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of
them for President; and if no person have a majority,
then from the five highest on the list the said House
shall in like manner choose a President. But in choosing
the President the votes shall be taken by States, the
representation from each State having one vote; a quorum
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members
from two thirds of the States, and a majority of all the
States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case,
after the choice of the President, the person having the
greatest number of votes of the Electors, shall be the
Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more
who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them
by ballot the Vice-President.
The Congress may determine the time of choosing the
Electors, and the day on which they shall give their
votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United
States.
No person, except a natural born citizen, or a citizen
of the United States at the time of the adoption of this
Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of
President; neither shall any person be eligible to that
office, who shall not have attained to the age of
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident
within the United States.
In case of the removal of the President from office,
or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge
the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall
devolve on the Vice-President; and the Congress may by
law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation,
or inability, both of the President and Vice-President,
declaring what officer shall then act as President, and
such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability
be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his
services a compensation, which shall neither be increased
nor diminished during the period for which he shall have
been elected, and he shall not receive within that period
any other emolument from the United States, or any of
them.
Before he enter on the execution of his office, he
shall take the following oath or affirmation:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will
faithfully execute the office of President of the United
States; and will, to the best of my ability, preserve,
protect and defend, the Constitution of the United
States."
Sect. 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of
the army and navy of the United States, and of the
militia of the several states, when called into the
actual service of the United States; he may require the
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of
the executive departments, upon any subject relating to
the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have
power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against
the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two
thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall
nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers,
and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other
offices of the United States, whose appointments are not
herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be
established by law. But the Congress may by law vest the
appointment of such inferior officers as they think
proper in the President alone, in the courts of law, or
in the heads of departments.
The President shall have power to fill up all
vacancies that may happen during the recess of the
Senate, by granting commissions, which shall expire at
the end of their next session.
Sect. 3. He shall from time to time give to the
Congress information of the state of the Union, and
recommend to their consideration such measures as he
shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on
extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either
of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with
respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them
to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive
Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take
care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall
commission all the officers of the United States.
Sect. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil
officers of the United States, shall be removed from
office, on impeachment for and conviction of treason,
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE III.
Sect. 1. The judicial power of the United States shall
be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such Inferior
Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and
establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and Inferior
Courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior;
and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a
compensation, which shall not be diminished during their
continuance in office.
Sect. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases
in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the
laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which
shall be made, under their authority; to all cases
affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers, and
Consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime
jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States
shall be a party; to controversies between two or more
States, between a State and citizen of another State,
between citizens of different States, between citizens of
the same State claiming lands under grants of different
States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and
foreign States, citizens or subjects.
In all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public
Ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall
be party, the Supreme Court shall have original
jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned,
the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both
as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such
regulations as the Congress shall make.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases of
impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be
held in the State where the said crimes shall have been
committed; but when not committed within any State, the
trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress
may by law have directed.
Sect. 3. Treason, against the United States, shall
consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering
to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person
shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of
two witnesses to the same overt act, or on concession
in
open court.
The Congress shall have power to declare the
punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall
work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during
the life of the person attainted.
ARTICLE IV.
Sect. 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each
State to the public acts, records and judicial
proceedings, of every other State. And the Congress may
by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts,
records and proceedings, shall be proved, and the effect
thereof.
Sect. 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled
to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the
several states.
A person, charged in any State with treason, felony,
or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found
in another State, shall, on demand of the executive
authority of the State form which he fled, be delivered
up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the
crime.
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.
Sect. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress
into this Union; but no new State shall be formed to
erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor
any State be formed by the junction of two or more
States, or parts of States, without the consent of the
Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the
Congress.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of an make
all needful rules and regulations, respecting the
territory or other property belonging to the United
States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so
construed, as to prejudice any claims of the United
States, or of any particular State.
Sect. 4. The United States shall guarantee, to every
State in this Union, a republican form of government, and
shall protect each of them against invasion; and, on
application of the Legislature, or of the Executive,
(when the Legislature cannot be convened) against
domestic violence.
ARTICLE V.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall
deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this
Constitution; or, on the application of the Legislatures
of two thirds of the several States, shall call a
Convention, for proposing amendments; which, in either
case, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as
part of this Constitution, when ratified by the
Legislature of three fourths of the several States, or by
conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the
other mode of ratification may be proposed by the
Congress: Provided, that no amendment which may be made
prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight
shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses,
in the ninth section of the first article; and that no
State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its
equal suffrage in the Senate.
ARTICLE VI.
All debts contracted, and engagements entered into,
before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as
valid against the United States under this Constitution,
as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States
which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all
treaties made, or which shall be made, under the
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law
of the land; and the Judges in every State, shall be
bound thereby; any thing in the constitution or laws of
any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and
the members of the several State Legislatures, and all
executive and judicial officers, both of the United
States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath
or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification
to any office, or public trust, under the United States.
ARTICLE VII.
The ratification of the Conventions of Nine States
shall be sufficient for the establishment of this
constitution, between the States so ratifying the same.
Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the
States present, the seventeenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and
eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof, we
have hereunto subscribed our names.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, President, (and Deputy from
Virginia.
New-Hampshire. John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman.
Massachusetts. Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King.
Connecticut. William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman.
New-York. Alexander Hamilton.
New-Jersey. William Livingston, David Brearley, William
Paterson, Jonathan Dayton.
Pennsylvania. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert
Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared
Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris.
Delaware. George Read, Gunning Bedford, jun. John
Dickenson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom.
Maryland. James M'Henry, Daniel of St. Tho. Jenifer,
Daniel Carrol.
Virginia. John Blair, James Madison, jun.
North-Carolina. William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight,
Hugh Williamson.
South-Carolina. John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler.
Georgia. William Few, Abraham Baldwin.
Attest, .......... WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary.
IN CONVENTION, Monday, September 17th, 1787.
PRESENT,
The States of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Mr. Hamilton from New-York, New-Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
North-Carolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia.
Resolved,
THAT the preceding Constitution be laid before the
United States in Congress assembled, and that it is the
opinion of this Convention, that it should afterwards be
submitted to a Convention of Delegates, chosen in each
State by the People thereof, under the recommendation of
its Legislature, for their assent and ratification; and
that each Convention assenting to and ratifying the same,
should give notice thereof to the United States in
Congress assembled.
Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Convention,
That as soon as the Conventions of Nine States shall have
ratified this Constitution, the United States in Congress
assembled should fix a day on which Electors should be
appointed by the States which shall have ratified the
same, and a day on which the Electors should assemble to
vote for the President, and the time and place for
commencing proceedings under this Constitution: That
after such publication the Electors should be appointed,
and the Senators and Representatives elected: That the
Electors should meet on the day fixed for the election of
the President, and should transmit their votes,
certified, signed, sealed and directed, as the
Constitution requires, to the Secretary of the United
States in congress assembled: That the Senators and
Representatives should convene at the time and place
assigned: That the Senators should appoint a President of
the Senate, for the sole purpose of receiving, opening
and counting the votes for President; and that, after he
shall be chose, the Congress, together with the
President, should without delay proceed to execute this
Constitution.
By the unanimous order of the Convention,
GEORGE WASHINGTON, President.
.......... WILLIAM JACKSON, Sec'ry.
In Convention, Sept 17, 1787.
SIR,
WE have now the honor to submit to the consideration
of the United States in Congress in Congress assembled,
that Constitution which has appeared to us the most advisable.
The friends of our country have long seen and desired,
that the power of making war, peace and treaties, that of
levying money and regulating commerce, and the
correspondent executive and judicial authorities, should
be fully and effectually vested in the general government
of the Union; but the impropriety of delegating such
extensive trust to one body of men is evident.--Hence
results the necessity of a different organization.
It is obviously impracticable, in the federal
government of these States, to secure all rights of
independent sovereignty to each, and yet provide for the
interest and safety of all. Individuals entering into
society must give up a share of liberty to preserve the
rest. The magnitude of the sacrifice must depend as well
on situation and circumstance, as on the object to be
obtained. It is at all times difficult to draw with
precision the line between those rights which must be
surrendered, and those which may be reserved, and on the
present occasion this difficulty was increased by a
difference among the several states as to their
situation, extent, habits and particular interests.
In all our deliberations on this subject, we kept
steadily in our view that which appears to us the
greatest interest of every true American, the
consolidation of our Union, in which are involved our
prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our national
existence. This important consideration, seriously and
deeply impressed on our minds, led each State in the
Convention to be less rigid on points of inferior
magnitude, than might have been otherwise expected; and
thus the constitution, which we now present, is the
result of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference
and concession which the peculiarity of our political
situation rendered indispensable.
That it will meet the full and entire approbation of
every State is not perhaps to be expected, but each will
doubtless consider, that had her interests been alone
consulted, the consequences might have been particularly
disagreeable or injurious to others; that it is liable to
as few exceptions as could reasonably have been expected,
we hope and believe; that it may promote the lasting
welfare of that country so dear to us all, and secure her
freedom and happiness, is our most ardent wish.
With great respect, we have the honor to be, Sir,
your Excellency's most obedient and humble Servants,
GEORGE WASHINGTON, President.
By unanimous Order of the Convention.
His Excellency the President of Congress.
UNITED STATES in Congress Assembled.
Friday, September 28, 1787.
Present, New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia,
North-Carolina, South-Carolina and Georgia, and from
Maryland Mr. Ross. Congress having received the report of
the Convention lately assembled in Philadelphia,
Resolved, unanimously, That the said report, with the
resolutions and letter accompanying the same, be
transmitted to the several Legislatures, in order to be
submitted to a Convention of Delegates, chosen in each
State by the People thereof, in conformity to the
resolves of the Convention made and provided in that
case.
CHARLES THOMSON, Sec'ry.
State of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations.
In GENERAL ASSEMBLY, October Session, 1787.
IT is Voted and Resolved, That the Report of the
Convention, lately held at Philadelphia, proposing a new
Constitution for the United States of America, be printed
as soon as may be: That the following Number of Copies be
sent to the several Town-Clerks in the State, to be
distributed among the Inhabitants, that the Freemen may
have an Opportunity of forming their Sentiments of the
said proposed Constitution, to wit: For Newport 10,
Portsmouth 25, Middletown 15, New-Shoreham 15, Jamestown
16, Tiverton 40, Little-Compton 36, Providence 10,
Smithfield 75, Scituate 55, Foster 55, Glocester 60,
Cumberland 40, Cranston 50, Johnston 30, North-Providence
20, Westerly 31, North-Kingstown 50, South-Kingstown 100,
Charlestown 25, Richmond 25, Exeter 31, Hopkinton 30,
Bristol 20, Warren 10, Barrington 10, Warwick 56,
East-Greenwich 25, West-Greenwich 22, and Coventry 30.
A true Copy:
Witness, HENRY WARD, Sec'ry.
PROVIDENCE: Printed by JOHN CARTER. |
