2. The seal of the State shall be kept by the Governor or person administering the government, and used by him officially, and shall be called the great seal of the State of New Jersey.

3. All grants and commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the State of New Jersey, sealed with the great seal, signed by the Governor or person administering the government and countersigned by the Secretary of State, and shall run thus: "The State of New Jersey to , greeting." All writs shall be in the name of

the State; and all indictments shall conclude in the following manner, viz.: the peace of this State, the government and dignity of the same."

against

4. This Constitution shall take effect and go into operation on the second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-four.

ARTICLE IX.
AMENDMENTS.

Any specific amendment or amendments to the Constitution, may be proposed in the Senate or General Assembly, and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each of the two Houses, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their journals, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred to the Legislature then next to be chosen, and shall be published, for three months previous to making such choice, in at least one newspaper of each county, if any be published therein; and if in the Legislature next chosen, as aforesaid, such proposed amendment or amendments, or any of them, shall be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each House, then it shall be the duty of the Legislature to submit such proposed amendment or amendments, or such of them as may have been agreed to as aforesaid by the two Legislatures, to the people, in such manner and at such time, at least four months after the adjournment of the Legislature, as the Legislature shall prescribe; and if the people, at a special election to be held for that purpose only, shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments, or any of them, by a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the Legislature voting thereon, such amendment or amendments, so approved and ratified, shall become part of the Constitution; Provided, That if more than one amendment be submitted, they shall be submitted in such manner and form that the people may vote for or against each amendment separately and distinctly; but no amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the people by the Legislature oftener than once in five years.

ARTICLE X.
SCHEDULE.

That no inconvenience may arise from the change in the Constitution of this State, and in order to carry the same into complete operation, it is hereby declared and ordained, that

1. The common law and statute laws now in force not repugnant to this Constitution, shall remain in force until they expire by their own limitation, or be altered or repealed by the Legislature; and all writs, actions, causes of action, prosecution, contracts, claims, and rights of individuals and of bodies corporate, and of the State, and all charters of incorporation, shall continue, and all indictments which shall have been found, or which may hereafter be found, for any crime or offense committed before the adoption of this Constitution, may be proceeded upon as if no change had taken place. The several courts of law and equity, except as herein otherwise provided, shall continue with the like powers and jurisdiction as if this Constitution had not been adopted.

2. All officers now filling any office or appointment, shall continue in the exercise of the duties thereof, according to their respective commissions or appointments, unless, by this Constitution, it is otherwise directed.

3. The present Governor, Chancellor and ordinary or Surrogate-General, and Treasurer, shall continue in office until successors elected or appointed under this Constitution shall be sworn or affirmed into office.

4. In case of the death, resignation, or disability of the present Governor, the person who may be Vice-President of Council at the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall continue in office, and administer the government until a Governor shall have been elected and sworn or affirmed into office under this Constitution.

5. The present Governor, or in case of his death or inability to act, the Vice-President of Council, together with the present members of the Legislative Council and Secretary of State, shall constitute a board of State canvassers, in the manner now provided by law, for the purpose of ascertaining and declaring the result of the next ensuing election for

Governor, members of the House of Representatives, and electors of President and Vice-President.

6. The returns of the votes for Governor, at the said next ensuing election, shall be transmitted to the Secretary of State, the votes counted, and the election declared, in the manner now provided by law in the case of the election of electors of President and Vice-President.

7. The election of clerks and surrogates, in those counties where the term of office of the present incumbent shall expire previous to the general election of eighteen hundred and forty-five, shall be held at the general election next ensuing the adoption of this Constitution; the result of which election shall be ascertained in the manner now provided by law for the election of Sheriffs.

8. The elections for the year eighteen hundred and forty-four shall take place as now provided by law.

9. It shall be the duty of the Governor to fill all vacancies in office happening between the adoption of this Constitution and the first session of the Senate, and not otherwise provided for; and the commissions shall expire at the end of the first session of the Senate, or when successors shall be elected or appointed and qualified.

10. The restriction of the pay of members of the Legislature, after forty days from the commencement of the session, shall not be applied to the first Legislature convened under this Constitutian.

11. Clerks of counties shall be clerks of the inferior courts of common pleas and quarter session of the several counties, and perform the duties, and be subject to the regulations now required of them by law, until otherwise ordained by the Legislature. 12. The Legislature shall pass all laws necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Constitution.

Done in Convention, at the State House in Trenton, on the twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the sixty-eighth.

WILLIAM PATERSON, Secretary.

TH. J. SAUNDERS, Assistant Secretary.

ALEXANDER WURTS,
President of the Convention.

CONSTITUTION OF NORTH CAROLINA. 1776.*

Ar a Congress of the Representatives of the Freemen of the State of North Carolina, assembled at Halifax, on the seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, for the purpose of establishing a Constitution or power of government for the State.

A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS MADE BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FREEMEN OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.

SECTION 1. That all political power is vested in, and derived from, the people only. § 2. That the people of this State ought to have the sole and exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police thereof.

§ 3. That no men, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the community, but in consideration of public services.

§ 4. That the Legislative, Executive and Supreme Judicial powers of government, ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other.

* This State assumed its present Constitution in 1776, and has modified its form of goverment, less than any other in the Union. The amendments of 1835 and 1854, appended to the original Constitution, with the ordinances of a Convention that met at Raleigh on the 2d of October, 1865, and adjourned on the 19th of the same month, embrace all the changes to the present time. North Carolina passed an ordinance of Secession in May, 1861, and repealed the same in October, 1865. In the latter, they declare that the acceptance of the Federal Constitution, by the State, November 21, 1789, and of its amendments, "are now, and at all times since the adoption and ratification thereof, have been in full force and effect, notwithstanding the supposed ordinance of the 20th of May, 1861, declaring the same to be repealed, rescinded and abrogated; and the said supposed ordinance is now, and at all times has beeñ, null and void.”

§ 5. That all powers of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any authority, without consent of the Representatives of the people, is injurious to the rights, and ought not to be exercised.

§ 6. That elections of members to serve as Representatives in General Assembly ought to be free.

§ 7. That in all criminal prosecutions, every man has a right to be informed of the accusation against him, and to confront the accusers and witnesses with other testimony, and shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself.

§ 8. That no freeman shall be put to answer any criminal charge, but by indictment, presentment or impeachment.

§ 9. That no freeman shall be convicted of any crime, but by the unanimous verdict of a jury of good and lawful men, in open court, as heretofore used.

§ 10. That excessive bail should not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel nor unusual punishment inflicted.

§ 11. That general warrants, whereby any officer or messenger may be commanded to search suspected places, without evidence of the fact committed, or to seize any person or persons, not named, whose offenses are not particularly described, and supported by evidence, are dangerous to liberty, and ought not to be granted.

§ 12. That no freeman ought to be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties or privileges, or outlawed or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, or deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by the law of the land.

§ 13. That every freeman restrained of his liberty is entitled to a remedy, to inquire into the lawfulness thereof, and to remove the same, if unlawful; and that such remedy ought not to be denied or delayed.

§ 14. That in all controversies at law, respecting property, the ancient mode of trial by jury is one of the best securities of the rights of the people, and ought to remain sacred and invoilable.

§ 15. That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty; and therefore ought never to be restrained.

§ 16. That the people of this State ought not to be taxed, or made subject to the payment of any impost or duty, without the consent of themselves, or their Representatives in General Assembly freely given.

§17. That the people have a right to bear arms, for the defense of the State; and as standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up; and that the military should be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

§ 18. That the people have a right to assemble together, to consult for the common good, to instruct their Representatives, and to apply to the Legislature for redress of grievances.

§ 19. That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience.

§ 20. That, for redress of grievances, and for amending and strengthening the laws, elections ought to be often held.

§ 21. That a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty.

§ 22. That no hereditary emoluments, privileges or honors ought to be granted or conferred in this State.

§ 23. That perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free State, and ought not to be allowed.

§ 24. That retrospective laws, punishing facts committed before the existence of such laws, and by them only declared criminal, are oppressive, unjust, and incompatible with liberty; wherefore, no ex post facto law ought to be made.

25. The property of the soil, in a free government, being one of the essential rights of the collective body of the people, it is necessary, in order to avoid future disputes, that the limits of the State should be ascertained with precision; and as the former temporary line between North and South Carolina was confirmed, and extended by Commissioners, appointed by the Legislatures of the two States, agreeable to the order of the late king George II. in council, that line, and that only, should be esteemed the southern boundary of this State; that is to say, beginning on the sea-side, at a cedar stake at or near the mouth of Little river (being the southern extremity of Brunswick county), and running from thence a north-west course, through the boundary-house, which stands in thirty-three degrees fifty-six minutes, to thirty-five degrees north latitude; and from thence a west course, so far as is mentioned in the Charter of king Charles II. to the late proprietors of Carolina. Therefore, All the territory, seas,

waters, and harbors, with their appurtenances, lying between the line above described and the southern line of the State of Virginia, which begins on the sea-shore, in thirtysix degrees thirty minutes north latitude, and from thence runs west, agreeable to the said Charter of king Charles, are the right and property of the people of this State, to be held by them in sovereignty; any partial line, without the consent of the Legislature of this State, at any time thereafter directed or laid out, in any wise notwithstanding; Provided always, That this declaration of right shall not prejudice any nation or nations of Indians, from enjoying such hunting grounds as may have been, or hereafter shall be secured to them, by any former or future Legislature of this State; And provided also, That it shall not be construed so as to prevent the establishment of one or more governments westward of this State, by consent of the Legislature; And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall affect the titles or possessions of individuals holding or claiming under the laws heretofore in force, or grants heretofore made by the late king George III. or his predecessors, or the late lords, proprietors, or any of them. December the 17th day, A. D. 1776; read the third time and ratified in open Congress.

JAMES GREEN, Jr., Secretary.

R. CASWELL, President.

THE CONSTITUTION, OR FORM OF GOVERNMENT AGREED TO AND RESOLVED UPON BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FREEMEN OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, ELECTED AND CHOSEN FOR THAT PARTICULAR PURPOSE, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AT HALIFAX, THE EIGHTEENTH DAY OF DECEMBER, IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX.

Whereas, Allegiance and protection are in their nature reciprocal, and the one should of right be refused when the other is withdrawn:

And whereas, George the Third, king of Great Britain, and late sovereign of the British American colonies, hath not only withdrawn from them his protection, but by an act of the British Legislature declared the inhabitants of these States out of the protection of the British crown, and all their property found upon the high seas liable to be seized and confiscated to the uses mentioned in the said act; and the said George the Third has also sent fleets and armies to prosecute a cruel war against them, for the purpose of reducing the inhabitants of the said colonies to a state of abject slavery; in consequence whereof, all government, under the said king, within the said colonies, hath ceased, and a total dissolution of government, in many of them, hath taken place. And whereas, The Continental Congress having considered the premises and other previous violations of the rights of the good people of America, have therefore declared that the thirteen united colonies are, of right, wholly absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, or any other foreign jurisdiction whatsoever; and that the said colonies. now are, and forever shall be, free and independent States.

Wherefore, in our present state, in order to prevent anarchy and confusion, it becomes necessary that government should be establised in this State; therefore, we, the representatives of the freemen of North Carolina, chosen and assembled in Congress for the express purpose of framing a Constitution, under the authority of the people, most conducive to their happiness and prosperity, do declare, that a government for this State shall be established, in manner and form following, to wit:

SECTION 1. That the Legislative authority shall be vested in two distinct branches, both dependent on the people, to wit, a Senate and House of Commons.

§ 2. That the Senate shall be composed of Representatives, [annually]* chosen by ballot, one for each county in the State.

§ 3. That the House of Commons shall be composed of Representatives [annually] chosen by ballot, [two for each county, and one for the towns of Edenton, Newbern. Wilmington, Salisbury, Hillsborough, and Halifax.]

§ 4. That the Senate and House of Commons, assembled for the purpose of legislation, shall be denominated the General Assembly.

§ 5. That each member of the Senate shall have usually resided in the [county] in which he is chosen for one year immediately preceding his election, and for the same time shall have possessed, and continue to possess, in the [county] of which he represents, not less than three hundred acres of land in fee.

§ 6. That each member of the House of Commons shall have usually resided in the county in which he is chosen for one year immediately preceding his election, and for six months shall have possessed, and continue to possess, in the county which he repre

* Material amendments are marked by brackets.

sents, not less than one hundred acres of land in fee, or for the term of his own life. § 7. That all [freemen] of the age of twenty-one years, who have been inhabitants of any one [county] within the State twelve months immediately preceding the day of any election, and posessed of a freehold, within the same [county] of fifty acres of land, for six months next before, and at the day of election, shall be entitled to vote for a member of the Senate.

§ 8. That all [freemen] of the age of twenty-one years, who have been inhabitants of any one [county] within the State twelve months immediately preceding the day of any election, and shall have paid public taxes, shall be entitled to vote for members of the House of Commons, for the county in which he resides.

§ 9. [That all persons possessed of a freehold, in any town in this State, having a right of representation, and also all freemen, who have been inhabitants of any such town twelve months next before, and at the day of election, and shall have paid public taxes, shall be entitled to vote for a member to represent such town in the House of Commons; Provided, always, That this section shall not entitle any inhabitant of such town to vote for members of the House of Commons for the county in which he may reside; nor any freeholder in such county, who resides without or beyond the limits of such town, to vote for a member for said town.]

§ 10. That the Senate and House of Commons, when met, shall each have power to choose a Speaker, and their other officers; be judges of the qualifications and elections of their members; sit upon their own adjournments from day to day; and prepare bills to be passed into laws. The two Houses shall direct writs of election, for supplying intermediate vacancies; and shall also jointly, by ballot, adjourn themselves to any future day and place.

§ 11. That all bills shall be read three times in each House, before they pass into laws, and be signed by the Speakers of both Houses.

§ 12. That every person, who shall be chosen a member of the Senate or House of Commons, or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of his office, shall take an oath to the State; and all officers shall take an oath of office.

§ 13. That the General Assembly shall, by joint ballot of both Houses, appoint Judges of the Supreme Courts of law and equity, Judges of Admirality, and [Attorney-General,] who shall be commissioned by the Governor, and hold their offices during good behavior. § 14. [That the Senate and House of Commons shall have power to appoint the Generals and field officers of the militia, and all officers of the regular army of this State.]

§ 15. [That the Senate and House of Commons, jointly, at their first meeting after each annual election, shall, by ballot, elect a Governor for one year, who shall not be eligible to that office longer than three years, in six successive years.] That no person under thirty years of age, and who has not been a resident in this State above five years, and having, in the State, a freehold in lands and tenements, above the value of one thousand pounds, shall be eligible as a Governor.

§ 16. That the Senate and House of Commons, jointly, at their first meeting, after each [annual] election, shall, by ballot, elect seven persons to be a Council of State for one year; who shall advise the Governor in the execution of his office; and that four members shall be a quorum; their advice and proceedings shall be entered in a journal, to be kept for that purpose only, and signed by the members present; to any part of which any member present may enter his dissent. And such journal shall be laid before the General Assembly when called for by them.

§ 17. That there shall be a seal of this State, which shall be kept by the Governor, and used by him as occasion may require; and shall be called, "the great seal of the State of North Carolina," and shall be affixed to all grants and commissions.

§ 18. The Governor, for the time being, shall be Captain-General and Commander-inChief of the militia; and in the recess of the General Assembly, shall have power, by and with the advice of the Council of State, to embody the militia for the public safety.

§ 19. The Governor, for the time being, shall have power to draw for and apply such sums of money as shall be voted by the General Assembly, for the contingencies of government, and be accountable to them for the same. He also may, by and with the advice of the Council of State, lay embargoes, or prohibit the exportation of any commodity, for any term not exceeding thirty days, at any one time in the recess of the General Assembly; and shall have the power of granting pardons and reprieves, exccpt where the prosecution shall be carried on by the General Assembly, or the law shall otherwise direct; in which case, he may, in the recess, grant a reprieve until the next sitting of