CHAPTER XXI.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

1. Outline. The Constitutions of the United States and of Maryland are both printed in the latter part of this book, and it is very useful for the student to look over them and obtain an idea of their arrangement, before studying their separate provisions. In this way a bird's-eye view of the whole subject will be gained. The Constitution of the United States is divided into seven articles, to which there have been added fifteen amendments. These articles are divided into sections, and the sections are subdivided into paragraphs, all three of which are mentioned when a provision is cited. Thus, we speak of Article I., Section 3, Paragraph 2. The first article deals with the legislative part of the government. We shall see that the framers of the Constitution adopted the views of Montesquieu as to the threefold nature of the powers of government. The first article is divided into ten sections. The first of these states in what body the legislative power shall be placed. The second tells who shall be members of the House of Representatives and how it shall be organized. The third deals with the Senate and with impeachment of public officers. In the fourth are provisions concerning elections to Congress and sessions of that body; in the fifth, provisions concerning the proceedings of Congress;

and in the sixth, provisions concerning the privileges and restrictions of Congressmen. The seventh deals with the method of passing bills, and the eighth with the subjects on which bills can be passed. In the ninth we find restrictions on Congress, and in the tenth corresponding restrictions upon the States. The second article deals with the executive or administrative department. It is divided into four sections. The first of these treats of the qualifications and method of election of the President, the second with his powers, the third with certain of his duties, and the fourth with the removal of civil officers. The third article defines the judicial power, and is divided into three sections. The first of these treats of the courts, the second of the extent of the Federal judicial power, and the third of the special crime of treason. The fourth article contains provisions with reference to the States, and is divided into four sections. The first of these is concerned with the official acts of the States, the second with the individual citizens, the third with new States. and the Congressional power over territories, and the fourth with the guarantees from the Nation to the State. The fifth article prescribes the method of amending the Constitution, and the sixth states the supremacy of the Federal union. The seventh and last article provided for the ratification of the Constitution.

To this document fifteen amendments have been made. The first ten of these are in the nature of a Bill of Rights, the eleventh deals with the jurisdiction of the Federal courts, the twelfth changes the method of electing the President, and the last three abolish slavery, give the negro the suffrage, limit the powers

of the States, punish persons who rebel against the Nation, and emphasize the supremacy of the Federal Government.

2. Amendments. As they recognized that changes would need to be made in their work from time to time, the framers of the Constitution provided two ways for its amendment (Article V.). The first way is for Congress to prepare an Amendment by a twothirds vote of both Houses. The second way is to have the legislature of two-thirds of the several States apply to Congress to call a Constitutional Convention to propose Amendments. The first way is the only one that has been used. The second is only necessary when a large number of amendments are to be proposed and it is intended thoroughly to reconstruct the Constitution. In either case, when Amendments are proposed, they are sent to the States for ratification. The question of ratification is submitted either to the Legislatures, or Conventions especially called for the purpose, according as Congress decides. It has always referred the Amendments to the Legislatures. If the bodies to which the Amendments have been submitted in three-fourths of the States ratify them, the Amendments become a part of the Constitution. Special provision was made that the article concerning the importation of negro slaves and the one prescribing the method of raising a direct tax should not be changed before 1808. A further restriction prevents the change which would deprive any State of its equal vote in the Senate without its consent. In other words, to carry an amendment which would take away a State's equal vote in the Senate, that

State must be one of the three-fourths of the whole number which ratify the amendment.

3. Causes of the Amendments. When the Constitution was submitted to the States for ratification, there was much complaint made against it, because it did not contain a Bill of Rights. Its advocates said none was necessary, for a government of delegated powers could use no rights but such as were conferred on it by the Constitution. It was generally agreed, however, that such an addition could do no harm, and might well be added. So the Congress at its first session prepared twelve amendments, in the nature of a Bill of Rights, chiefly choosing them from the Amendments suggested by the State ratifying Conventions. These were submitted to the States on Sept. 25, 1789, and ten of them, which received sufficient votes for ratification, were declared on Nov. 3, 1791, to be a part of the Constitution. They are restrictions on the National Government and not on the States, and are intended to secure the people from any oppression by the former power.

When the States found an individual could sue a State, which was decided by the Federal Courts as constitutional, they were much dissatisfied. An Amendment to do away with this power was proposed by Congress on March 5, 1794, and declared to be in force on Jan. 8, 1798.

The Presidential election of 1800 had shown that the method of election prescribed by the Constitution was faulty. To remedy it, an amendment was proposed on Dec. 12, 1803, and declared adopted on Sept. 25, 1804.

No more amendments were adopted until after the Civil War, when three were added. The thirteenth amendment, abolishing slavery, was proposed Jan. 30, 1865, and declared in force December 18 of that year. The fourteenth amendment defined citizenship in the United States, limited the power of the States, changed the basis of representation in Congress, punished persons who had been in rebellion, and asserted the supremacy of the United States. It was proposed on June 16, 1866, and declared adopted on July 28, 1868. The fifteenth was the last Constitutional fruit of the Civil War. It granted the suffrage to the negro, was proposed on Feb. 26, 1869, and took effect on March 30, 1870.

4. Difficulty in Adopting Amendments; the Unwritten Constitution. Because of the difficulty in causing Congress to agree on the proposal of Amendments, and in obtaining the ratification of so many States, only a few amendments have been made to the Constitution. Professor Ames, in his work on "Amendments to the Constitution," shows that there were nearly 1750 Amendments introduced into one or the other house of Congress during the first century of the Constitution. Of these only about twenty were passed by Congress, and only fifteen ratified by the States. The small number of amendments has been partly caused by the fact that the Constitution "deals only with the most general elements of government," and "has proved itself so elastic as to adapt itself to new contingencies and circumstances." By the decisions of the Courts and the practice of the government there has grown up a sort