by jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offences, where the proof shall be evident, or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate, and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land, and should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with, or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud previously formed.

ART. III. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government, and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and in their property, rights, and liberty, they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall, from time to time, be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.

ART. IV. The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States, in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts, contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by Congress, according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied

by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within the time agreed upon by the United States, in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those districts, or new States, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States, in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary, for securing the title in such soil, to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands, the property of the United States; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other States that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor.

ART. V. There shall be formed in the said territory, not less than three, nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession, and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: the western State in the said territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due north, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada; and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle States shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash, from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line; provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of these three States shall be subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such State shall

be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States, in all respects whatever; and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State government; provided the constitution and government, so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles; and, so far as can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.

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

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby, repealed, and declared null and void.

Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the 13th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of their sovereignty and independence the 12th.

CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.

NEW STATES

ADMITTED INTO THE UNION SINCE THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

VERMONT.

The

The territory of this State was originally claimed as belonging to New Hampshire, and a large portion of the land was granted by the colonial governors of that jurisdiction. It was also claimed as being a part of the colony of New York, and on that account, it was never admitted as a member of the old confederation. people, however, never submitted to the authority of New York, and resolutely maintained their independence until the 4th of March, 1791, when, with the assent of that State, Vermont was admitted into the Union, by an act of Congress passed on the 18th of February preceding, under her constitution adopted in 1777.

KENTUCKY.

This State originally formed the western portion of the State of Virginia. It was admitted into the Union on the 1st of June, 1792, by virtue of an act of Congress, passed Feb. 4th, 1791.

TENNESSEE.

This State was formed of territory which had been ceded to the United States in 1789, and organized as a territory by act of May 26, 1790. It was admitted into the Union, June 1, 1796.

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OHIO

Was a part of the territory ceded to the United States by the States of Virginia and Connecticut, in 1783-4. It constituted a part of the North-west territory, organized under the Ordinance of 1787, and was organized into a separate jurisdiction by act of Congress of May 7, 1800. It became a member of the Union on the 29th of November, 1802, having formed a constitution in compliance with an enabling act, of 30th April of that year.

LOUISIANA.

This State was formed out of a portion of the territory purchased from France in 1803. It was provided with a territorial organization, by the act of 26th March, 1804, under the name of the territory of Orleans. By act of February 20, 1811, it was authorized to form a State constitution, and was admitted by act of 8th April, 1812.

INDIANA.

The second State formed out of the North-west territory, was admitted into the Union by act of Congress of Dec. 11, 1816, having formed its constitution by authority of an act passed April 19, of that year.

MISSISSIPPI.

This State was formed out of territory ceded to the United States by the State of South Carolina, in 1787, and by Georgia in 1802. It was provided with a territorial organization, by acts of 7th April, 1798, May 10, 1800, and March 27, 1804. It was admitted into the Union by act of Dec. 10, 1817, having formed its constitution by authority of the act of March 1st of that year.

ILLINOIS.

The third State formed out of the North-west territory, was admitted into the Union by aet of Dec. 3, 1818, having formed a constitution under an act of April 18, of that year.