they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connexion between them, and the State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1776. The Congress agreed to A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, to be signed by the members from the several States, which will be found in this volume. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1776. Resolved, That in all continental commissions, and other instruments, where, heretofore, the words "United Colonies" have been used, the style be altered, for the future, to the UNITED States. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1777. The Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union of the United States of America were agreed to by the Delegates of the thirteen original States in Congress assembled, subject to the ratification of the Legislatures of the several States. These articles were ratified by 8 States on the 9th July, 1778. The ratification was therefore completed on the 1st March, 1781,* the articles being dated the 9th July, 1778, and this completed the bond of union of the thirteen original States, whose delegates assembled in Congress continued to legislate and execute the powers of the United States under the Articles of Confederation until the 4th March, 1789, when, by their resolution of the 13th September, 1788, the Constitution of the United States, also adopted and ratified by the people of the said original States, went into operation, Vide the notes under "Ohio" for the cause of the delay on the part of Maryand to ratify the Articles of Confederation until March 1, 1781. forming thereby a more perfect UNION OF THE PEOPLE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The thirteen original States that formed and confirmed the Union by the adoption of the Constitution, are as follows: NEW HAMPSHIRE. Embraced under the charters of Massachusetts, and continued under the same jurisdiction until September 18, 1679, when a separate charter and government was granted. A Constitution was formed on January 5, 1776, which was altered in 1784, and was further altered and amended on February 13, 1792. This State ratified the Constitution of the United States, June 21, 1788. MASSACHUSETTS. Settled under compacts of the emigrants of November 3, 1620, and chartered on March 4, 1629; also chartered January 13, 1630; an explanatory charter granted August 20, 1726, and more completely chartered on October 7, 1731; formed a Constitution on March 2, 1780, which was altered and amended on November 3, 1820. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, February 6, 1788. RHODE ISLAND. Embraced under the charters of Massachusetts, and continued under the same jurisdiction until July 8, 1662, when a separate charter was granted, which continued in force until a Constitution was formed in September, 1842. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, May 29, 1790. CONNECTICUT. Embraced under the charters of Massachusetts, and continued under the same jurisdiction until April 23, 1662, when a separate charter was granted, which continued in force until a Constitution was formed on September 15, 1818. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, January 9, 1788. NEW YORK. Granted to Duke of York, March 20, 1664; April 26, 1664; June 24, 1664. Newly patented on February 9, 1674; formed a Constitution on April 20, 1777, which was amended on October 27, 1801, and further amended November 10, 1821. A new Constitution was formed in 1846. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, July 26, 1788. NEW JERSEY. Held under same grants as New York; separated into East and West Jersey on March 3. 1677. The government surrendered to the Crown in 1702, and so continued until the formation of a Constitution on July 2, 1776. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, December 18, 1787. PENNSYLVANIA. Chartered on February 28, 1681; formed a Constitution on September 28, 1776; amended, &c., on September 2, 1790. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, December 12, 1787. DELAWARE. Embraced in the charter, and continued under the government of Pennsyl vania until the formation of a Constitution on September 20, 1776; a new Constitution formed on June 12, 1792. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, December 7, 1787. MARYLAND. Chartered on June 20, 1632; formed a Constitution August 14, 1776, which was amended in 1795 and 1799, and further amended in November, 1812. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, April 28, 1788. VIRGINIA. Chartered April 10, 1606, May 23, 1609, and March 12, 1612; formed a Constitution on July 5, 1776; amended January 15, 1830. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, June 26, 1788. NORTH CAROLINA. Chartered in March 20, 1663, and June 30, 1665; formed a Constitution, December 19, 1776, which was amended in 1835. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, November 21, 1789. SOUTH CAROLINA. Embraced in the charters of Carolina or North Carolina, from which it was separated in 1729; formed a Constitution March 26, 1776, which was amended on March 19, 1778, and June 3, 1790. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, May 23, 1788. GEORGIA. Chartered on June 9, 1732; formed a Constitution on February 5, 1777, a second in 1785, and a third on May 30, 1798. Ratified the Constitution of the United States, January 2, 1788. The privilege of becoming members of the American Union by the mere ratification of the Constitution, was reserved to those States alone that were parties to the previous confederation and the compact or convention by which the Constitution was formed. The ratification of nine States being sufficient for the establishinent of the Constitution; and, it having been ratified by eleven States, it was determined by Congress, on the 13th September, 1788, under the resolutions of the convention, that the Constitution had been established, and that it should go into operation on the first Wednesday (4th day) of March, 1789.—It therefore appears that two of the States did not ratify the Constitution until after its establishment, yet they were not treated as new States, requiring particular forms of admission, but their Senators and Representatives, as provided for in the 2d sect. 1st art. of the Constitution, were admitted in Congress upon the presentation of their authenticated forms of ratification. It was considered neces sary, however, that the laws of the United States passed previous to their accession should be extended to them by special acts. The Union having been thus completed, and its Constitution and government established, the United States under the 3d section of the 4th article of the Constitution reserved to themselves, in Congress assembled, the right and the power to admit new States, by declaring that "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union;" and, as the 4th section of the same article requires, that "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of government," it has in practice been deemed a pre-requisite that the people proposing to form a new State be authorized by law to form a Constitution, to be submitted to Congress, to enable that body to judge of its Republican character, before proceeding to exercise that high and sovereign power of admitting a distinct community of people to the inestimable rights, privileges, and immunities, secured by the organization of a State government, and upon an equal footing, in all respects whatsoever, with those States that jointly achieved the independence of the country, and which, together with those that have become members of the Union since that eventful period, have borne the hardships, trials, and difficulties, both internal and external, through which the nation has passed, and which have secured the stability, power, and happiness of the country. The Constitution of the United States declares, that "new States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or 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." Upon this clause, James Madison, in the "Federalist,” makes the following remarks:— “In the articles of Confederation, no provision is found on this important subject. Canada was to be admitted of right, on her joining in the measures of the United States; and the other colonies, by which were evidently meant, the other British Colonies, at the discretion of nine States. The eventual establishment of new States seems to have been overlooked by the compilers of that instrument. We have seen the inconvenience of this omission, and the assumption of power into which Congress have been led by it. With great propriety, therefore, has the new system supplied the defect. The general precaution, that no new State shall be formed without the concurrence of the Federal authority, and that of the States concerned, is consonant to the principles which ought to govern such transactions. The particular precaution against the erection of new States, by the partition of a State without its consent, quiets the jealousy of the larger States; as that of the smaller is quieted by a like precaution, against a junction of States without their consent." The Constitution also declares that "the Congress shall have power to dispose of, and 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." Under this clause, Congress exercises the power of creating territorial governments, which in process of time, by the increase of population and other concurrent causes, apply, on behalf of the people, for authority to form constitutions and state governments, with a view to admission into the Union, at a future period, and it is for the Congress of the United States in the exercise of their high constitutional powers, and under the solemn responsibilities imposed upon them as guardians of the rights and the welfare of the whole Union, to judge of the expediency and the time of admitting the people who may have become inhabitants of such territories, to all the peculiar and inestimable rights, privileges, and immunities of the |