The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Introduction
• Publisher’s Note
• Preface to the First Edition
• Preface to the Edition of 1910
• Note to Edition of 1914
• List of Presidents
• Dates of Some Remarkable Events In the History of the North American Colonies and United States
• Area, Population, and Date of Admission of the States
• Chapter 1: Introductory
• Part I: The National Government
• Chapter 2: The Nation and the States
• Chapter 3: The Origin of the Constitution
• Chapter 4: Nature of the Federal Government
• Chapter 5: The President
• Chapter 6: Presidential Powers and Duties
• Chapter 7: Observations On the Presidency
• Chapter 8: Why Great Men Are Not Chosen Presidents
• Chapter 9: The Cabinet
• Chapter 10: The Senate
• Chapter 11: The Senate As an Executive and Judicial Body
• Chapter 12: The Senate: Its Working and Influence
• Chapter 13: The House of Representatives
• Chapter 14: The House At Work
• Chapter 15: The Committees of Congress
• Chapter 16: Congressional Legislation
• Chapter 17: Congressional Finance
• Chapter 18: The Relations of the Two Houses
• Chapter 19: General Observations On Congress
• Chapter 20: The Relations of Congress to the President 1
• Chapter 21: The Legislature and the Executive
• Chapter 22: The Federal Courts
• Chapter 23: The Courts and the Constitution
• Chapter 24: The Working of the Courts
• Chapter 25: Comparison of the American and European Systems
• Chapter 26: General Observations On the Frame of National Government
• Chapter 27: The Federal System
• Chapter 28: Working Relations of the National and the State Governments
• Chapter 29: Criticism of the Federal System
• Chapter 30: Merits of the Federal System
• Chapter 31: Growth and Development of the Constitution
• Chapter 32: The Amendment of the Constitution
• Chapter 33: The Interpretation of the Constitution
• Chapter 34: The Development of the Constitution By Usage
• Chapter 35: The Results of Constitutional Development
• Part II: The State Governments
• Chapter 36: Nature of the American State
• Chapter 37: State Constitutions
• Chapter 38: The Development of State Constitutions
• Chapter 39: Direct Legislation By the People
• Chapter 40: State Governments: the Legislature
• Chapter 41: The State Executive
• Chapter 42: The State Judiciary
• Chapter 43: State Finance
• Chapter 44: The Working of State Governments
• Chapter 45: Remedies For the Faults of State Governments
• Chapter 46: State Politics
• Chapter 47: The Territories
• Chapter 48: Local Government
• Chapter 49: Observations On Local Government
• Chapter 50: The Government of Cities
• Chapter 51: The Working of City Governments
• Chapter 52: An American View of Municipal Government In the United States
• Appendix: Note to Chapter 3: On Constitutional Conventions
• Note to Chapter 4: What the Federal Constitution Owes to the Constitutions of the Several States
• Note to Chapter 10: Extracts From the Rules of the Senate
• Note (a) to Chapter 16: Private Bills
• Note (b) to Chapter 16: The Lobby
• Note (a) to Chapter 30: Constitution of the Confederate States, 1861–65
• Note (b) to Chapter 30: The Federal Constitution of Canada
• Note to Chapter 33: The Dartmouth College Case
• Articles of Confederation, 1781–88
• Constitution of the United States
• Extracts From the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma 1

Constitution of the United States

Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present,3 the Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth.

In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.

G^oWashington,

Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia.

New Hampshire —John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. Massachusetts —Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. Connecticut —Wm. Saml. Johnson, Roger Sherman. New York —Alexander Hamilton. New Jersey —Wil. Livingston, Wm. Patterson, David Brearley, Jona. Dayton. Pennsylvania —B. Franklin, Thos. Fitzsimons, Thomas Mifflin, Jared Ingersoll, Robt. Morris, James Wilson, Geo. Clymer, Gouv. Morris. Delaware —Geo. Read, Richard Bassett, Gunning Bedford, Jun., Jaco. Broom, John Dickinson. Maryland —James M’Henry, Dan. Carroll, Dan. Jenifer, of St. Thomas. Virginia —John Blair, James Madison, Jun. North Carolina —Wm. Blount, Hugh Williamson, Rich’d. Dobbs Spaight. South Carolina —J. Rutledge, Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Pierce Butler. Georgia —William Few, Abr. Baldwin.

Attest: William Jackson, Secretary.

[1] The clause included in brackets is amended by the Fourteenth Amendment, 2d section.

[2] This clause in brackets has been superseded by the Twelfth Amendment.

[3] Rhode Island was not represented. Several of the delegates had left the Convention before it concluded its labours, and some others who remained refused to sign. In all, 65 delegates had been appointed, 55 attended, 39 signed.

The first ratification was that of Delaware, Dec. 7, 1787; the ninth (bringing the Constitution into force) that of New Hampshire, June 21, 1788; the last, that of Rhode Island, May 29, 1790.

[4] Amendments I-X inclusive were proposed by Congress to the legislatures of the states, Sept. 25, 1789, and ratified 1789–91.

[5] Amendt. XI was proposed by Congress, Sept. 5, 1794, and declared to have been ratified by the legislatures of the three-fourths of the states, Jan. 8, 1798.

[6] Amendt. XII was proposed by Congress, Dec. 12, 1803, and declared to have been ratified, Sept. 25, 1804.

[7] Amendt. XIII was proposed by Congress, Feb. 1, 1865, and declared to have been ratified by 27 of the 36 states, Dec. 18, 1865.

[8] Amendt. XIV was proposed by Congress, June 16, 1866, and declared to have been ratified by 30 of the 36 states, July 28, 1868.

[9] Amendt. XV was proposed by Congress, Feb. 26, 1869, and declared to have been ratified by 29 of the 37 states, March 30, 1870.

[10] Passed July 1909; proclaimed February 25, 1913.

[11] Passed May 1912, in lieu of paragraph one, section 3, article I, of the Constitution and so much of paragraph two of the same Section as relates to the filling of vacancies; proclaimed May 31, 1913.