pocket catechism on the constitution
TRANSCRIPT
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Catechism
on the
Constitutionof the
United States(First Published in 1828)
Te Pockt
The Liberty Alliance
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he Pocket Catechism on the Constitution
of the United States
Orglly pbl 1828.
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ISBN: 978-1-4675-3923-4
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hat a people living under a ree governmentwhich they have themselves originated shouldbe well acquainted with the instrument which con-tains it, needs not to be proved. Were the system,
indeed, very cumbrous and extensive, running into
minute detail, and hard to be retained in the mem-ory, even this would be no good reason why pains
should not be taken to understand and to imprint it
upon the mind; but when its principles are simple,
its eatures plain and obvious, and its brevity sur-
passing all example, it is certainly a most reprehen-sible negligence to remain in ignorance o it.
Yet how small a portion o the citizens o this
Republic have even a tolerable acquaintance with
their own Constitution? It has appeared to the au-
thor o the ollowing sheets that this culpable wanto acquaintance with what is o such deep inter-
est to us all, is to be traced to the omission o an
PREFACE
S
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Preface
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important part o what ought to be an American
education, viz, the study o the civil institutions oour country. We prize them, it is true, and are quite
enough in the habit o boasting about them: would
it not be well to teach their elements to those whose
best inheritance they are?
Te ollowing work has been prepared with aview to such an experiment. It is written expressly
or the use o boys, and it has been the aim and
eort o the writer to bring down the subject com-
pletely to a level with their capacity to understand
it. Whether he has succeeded the trial must show.
He has purposely avoided all abstruse questions,
and has conned himsel to a simple, common-
sense explanation o each article. It is very possible
some inaccuracies may be discovered; and should
this be the case, they shall be careully corrected,
should the work be so ar approved as to reach an-other edition.
In the meantime he cannot but indulge the
hope, that in laying this little oering upon the al-
tar o our country, he has rendered her an accept-
able service.Arthur J. Stansbury
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Catechism on the Constitution
Question.1. In what country do you live?Answer. In the United States o America.
Q. 2. Why is this country called the United States?
A. Because it is made up o a number o States
which were once separate, but aerwards agreed
to unite together.
Q. 3. What do you mean by a State?
A.I mean any district o country whose people are
all under one government.
Q. 4. Had then the dierent States which united to-
gether, each a government o its own?
A.Yes, but they agreed to put themselves all under
one general government.
Q. 5. Why did they do this?A.Because it would promote their general welfare.
Q. 6. Is some government necessary in every coun-
try?
A. Certainly, without it nobody would be sae; not
only our property, but our lives would be in danger.
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Q. 7. Cannot all the people o a country govern
themselves?A.I every man was perectly virtuous, and knew
what would be best or himsel and others, they
might. But this is ar rom being the case and
thereore the people o every country are and must
be governed.
Q. 8. How is this done?
A.Laws are made which all must obey; whoever
disobeys them is punished.
Q. 9. Who makes these laws?A. Tey are made in dierent ways, under di-
erent governments. In some countries a sin-
gle man makes the laws according to his own plea-
sure.
Q. 10. What is such a government called?
A. A Despotism, or absolute monarchy; and the
person who thus rules is a Despot, or absolute
monarch. In other states, a certain number o per-
sons belonging to ancient or wealthy amilies make
the laws.
Q. 11. What is such a government called?
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A. An Aristocracy or oligarchy. In other cases the
people themselves meet to make the laws. Tis iscalled a pure Democracy.
Q. 12. Must a state be very small where all the peo-
ple can meet in one assembly?
A.Tis orm o government is only suited to a small
city, or rather village, and can never take place in
a state o any extent. One other orm remains; that
is, where the people, too numerous to meet them-
selves, choose certain o their own number to meet
or them. Tis is called a Representative Govern-
ment, because those who meet represent all the
rest. It is also called a Republic.
Q. 13. Which o these ways o governing a nation is
the best?
A.Te last. A country thus ruled is said to be ree, or
to enjoy liberty; but where a single man may make
what laws he pleases, and all the rest must obey
him, the people are no better than slaves.
Q. 14. Why do they obey him?A. Because he has an army o soldiers whom he
pays, and who orce the people to obedience.
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Q. 15. Cannot they raise an army too, and resist
him?A. Tis has sometimes been done, and aer much
bloodshed and conusion, the people have partial-
ly succeeded; but they have more requently ailed,
and then they were more oppressed than beore.
Q. 16. How is this country governed?
A. It is a Republic, and is governed by persons
whom the people choose rom time to time to
make the laws.
Q. 17. Was it always a Republic?A. No. Te states were ormerlyColonies.
Q. 18. What do you mean by Colonies?
A. When a part o the people o a nation remove to
some distant place, where they settle, but still con-
tinue to be governed by the nation rom which they
came out, these new settlements are called Colo-
nies, and the country which governs them is called
the mother country.
Q. 19. By what nation were the American Coloniesgoverned?
A. By Great Britain. Most o the people who rst
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settled this country came rom England, Scotland
or Ireland (which three countries make up GreatBritain), and long aer they had settled here, con-
tinued to be governed by laws most o which were
made in England.
Q. 20. Were these laws good and wise?
A. Many o them were; and or a time the colonies
were perhaps better o than i they had entirely
governed themselves, because, though Great Brit-
ain did rule them, she also gave them protection by
her eets, and did many things or their advantage.
But aerwards very unwise and unjust laws were
made, which threatened to destroy all liberty in the
colonies.
Q. 21. What did the colonies do then?
A. Tey made complaints and reasoned or a long
time with Great Britain, trying to persuade her to
act more justly.
Q. 22. Did Great Britain listen to their complaints
and repeal those bad laws?A. No, but instead sent over ships and soldiers to
orce us to obey them.
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Q. 23. And did we obey?
A. No, the people o the colonies consulted witheach other what was to be done, and at length took
up arms, raised such armies as they could, and
though they had ew soldiers, no experienced o-
cers, and but little money, they carried on a war
against the whole power o Great Britain, andhaving (with aid rom France) orced two Brit-
ish armies to lay down their arms and surrender
themselves prisoners, they at length compelled
Great Britain to acknowledge their independence.
Q. 24. What do you mean by that?
A. I mean that she was compelled to consent that
all those colonies, which had beore been governed
by laws made or them by her, should aer that
have liberty to make laws or themselves, and obeyher no more.
Q. 25. When we speak o this war, what do we call
it?
A. We call it the American Revolution.
Q. 26. What do you mean by a revolution?
A. A revolution means some great change o gov-
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ernment; and we ought ever to remember ours
with ardent gratitude to God or so great a bless-ing, and with lasting love and reverence or those
good, wise, and brave men, who went through such
dangers and suerings that their country might be
ree.
Q. 27. When and where did the war o the revolu-tion begin?
A. At Lexington and Concord, villages near Boston
in Massachusetts, on the 19th o April, 1775.
Q. 28. How long did the struggle continue?A. More than seven years.
Q. 29. When did it end?
A. On the 21st o January, 1783, when a treaty was
signed at Paris acknowledging the independence
o the United States.
Q. 30. Why is the 4th o July kept with such public
rejoicing through all parts o the United States?
A. Because on the 4th o July, 1776, the Colonies
rst declared themselves ree and independent.From that day the independence o the country is
reckoned in all our public proceedings; though it
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was not acknowledged by Great Britain till 1783.
Q. 31. What was the change produced by the Revo-
lution?
A. Te dierent Colonies became each a
ree State, having power to govern itsel in any way
it should think proper.
Q. 32. Had not one state any power over the other?
A. None at all, and the several states might have
remained entirely distinct countries, as much as
France and Spain.
Q. 33. Did they?
A. No. Having been led to unite together to help
each other in the war, they soon began to nd that
it would be much better or each o them that they
should all continue united in its urther prosecu-tion, and accordingly they entered into an agree-
ment (which was called a Conederation) in which
they made some laws which they all agreed to obey;
but aer their independence was obtained, nding
the deects o this plan, they called a Convention inwhich they laid a complete plan or uniting all the
states under one General Governmentthis plan
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is called Te Federal Constitution.
On this great plan, or Constitution, the saetyand happiness o the United States does, under
Almighty God, mainly depend; all our laws are
made by its direction or authority. Whoever goes
contrary to it injures and betrays his country, in-
jures you, injures me, betrays us all, and is deserv-ing o the heaviest punishment. Whoever, on the
contrary, loves and keeps it sacred, is his countrys
riend, secures his own saety, and urthers the
happiness o all around him.
Let every American learn, rom his earliestyears, to love, cherish and obey the Constitu-
tion. Without this he can neither be a great nor a
good citizen; without this his name will never be
engraved with honor in the pages o our history,
nor transmitted, like that o Washington, with
praises and blessings to a late posterity.
Q. 34. You say that in a republic the laws are made
by certain persons whom the people choose or that
purpose: Who makes the laws in our republic?
A. Te laws which concern only one o the statesare made by persons chosen by the people o that
state, and who, when met, are called the Legisla-
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ture, the General Assembly, or the General Court,
o that particular state.Tose, or instance, who make laws which con-
cern only the state o New York, are called the Leg-
islature o the state o New York; those who make
laws which concern only the state o Massachusetts,
are called the General Court o Massachusetts. Butlaws which concern all the states or more states
than one are made by the Congress O Te Unit-
ed States.
Q. 35. But i even the Congress itsel should make a
law which is contrary to the Constitution, must thepeople obey it?
A. No.
Q. 36. Who is to determine whether any law is con-
trary to the Constitution or not, the people them-selves?
A. No, but certain persons whom they have ap-
pointed, called Judges o the Supreme Court o the
United States.
Q. 37. Do the members o the Congress o the UnitedStates all meet together in one assembly, when they
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make the laws?
A.No, they meet in two separate assemblies, one o
which is called Te Senate, and the other is called
Te House o Representatives.
Q. 38. Who chooses the persons who shall be mem-
bers o the House o Representatives?
A. Te people o all the dierent states, because thelaws o Congress concern all the states, and must be
obeyed by all the people o this Republic.
Q. 39. Have boys a right to choose them?
A.No, boys are too young.
Q. 40. Are any other persons unt?
A.Yes.
Q. 41. How is it determined who may and who may
not choose them?A.By the laws o each state. Whoever is allowed
to choose the members o the Legislature o any
state, is also allowed by the Constitution to choose
members o the House o Representatives o the
United States. Some states allow one class o per-sons to choose and other states allow a dierent
class; each state acts as it thinks best. Tis choice is
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called an Election.
Q. 42. How is it conducted?
A. On a day xed beorehand and publicly
known, the people who are to choose, and who
are called voters, meet at certain places called the
Polls. Here persons sit called Inspectors, who have
certain boxes called ballot boxes beore them, andeach person who votes puts into a hole in the top o
these boxes a piece o paper with the names o the
persons whom he chooses written or printed on it.
Tese pieces o paper are aerwards examined
and counted by the Inspectors, who keep a writtenaccount o the names voted or, and the number
o votes given by the people or each. Te persons
having the greatest number o votes are chosen.
Tere are some slight dierences in the mode o
holding elections in the dierent states, but it is thesame in every important particular.
Q. 43. Are the times, places, and manner o holding
these elections xed by Congress?
A.No. Tey have, thus ar, been le to be regulated
by each state or itsel, but Congress may x them
i it thinks t.
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Q. 44. Suppose a dispute should arise concerning an
election, and one person shall declare that he hasbeen airly chosen, while another denies it, and in-
sists that he himsel has been chosen. Who has pow-
er to settle the dispute?
A. A dispute between persons who claim a seat in
the House of Representatives can be determined onlyby the House of Representatives; a dispute between
persons claiming a seat in the Senate can be settled by
the Senate only. Such disputes frequently arise.
Q. 45. When a person is chosen to be a member o
the House o Representatives, how long does he con-tinue so?
A.For two years.
Q. 46. When the two years have expired, may he be
chosen again?A.Yes.
Q. 47. Suppose he dies beore the time is out?
A.Another is chosen in his stead, or the rest o
the time.
Q. 48. How old must a person be beore he can be
chosen a member o the House o Representatives?
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A. wenty-ve years old.
Q. 49. May a person be chosen who has just come
into the United States, and who is a subject o some
other country (that means, who is bound to obey the
laws o some other country)?
A. No. Any person, to be chosen a member o the
House o Representatives, must either have beenborn in the United States, or must have been natu-
ralized seven years beore he is chosen.
Q. 50. Naturalized? What does that mean?
A.A person who was born in another country and
comes to live in this one, is not owned as a citizen
o the United States until he has lived among us a
certain time; and then (aer knowing something
o our laws and customs) has taken a solemn oath
to obey the government. He is then admitted as acitizen o our republic.
Tis is called his naturalization; and when
once naturalized, he is allowed to choose the rul-
ers, and do all other things, the same as i he had
been born among us.
Q. 51. May the people o one State choose a person
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who is an inhabitant o another State to be a mem-
ber o the House o Representatives?A. No, he must live in the State where he is chosen.
Q. 52. How many persons may be chosen by each
State, as members o the House o Representatives?
A. Te number o Representatives o any State is in
proportion to the number o people in that State.At present every orty thousand people send one
Representative; but this has been, and may be, al-
tered, with the increase o the number o people.
Q. 53. Some o the States have large numbers oslaves living in them, and others have many Indians;
are these counted in making up the orty thousand?
A. No, three-hs o the number o slaves is al-
lowed, that is every ve slaves are counted as i
they were three ree persons, those Indians whopay taxes (that is, who pay money or the expenses
o governing and deending us), are counted; those
who do not pay taxes are not counted.
Q. 54. How is it known what number o people each
State contains?A. Certain persons are appointed to count the peo-
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ple and take a written list o them. Such a count-
ing is called a census, and it takes place once inevery ten years. [In the year 1790, the United States
contained 3,929,326; in 1800, 5,309,758; in 1810,
7,239,903; and in 1820, 9,638,166.]
Q. 55. When the members o the House o Represen-
tatives meet to make the laws, are they all equal, ordoes any one preside over them?
A. Tey choose one o their own number, whose
duty it is to preside over them while they are met
to do business, and to see that they proceed in a
regular and orderly manner in doing their publicduty. He is called their Speaker.
Tey also choose a person who is not one o
their own number to keep a written account, rom
day to day, o all that is done by them while as-
sembled. Tat written account is called aJournalothe House o Representatives, and the person who
keeps it is called the Clerk o the House.
Tey also choose another person who is called
their Sergeant-at-Arms, and who may, when so or-
dered by the House, seize any member who dis-obeys the rules, or who is charged by the House
with any crime, and imprison him.
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Tey also choose another person as
their Door Keeper, who is to take care that no per-son be admitted into the hall where the Represen-
tatives are sitting, but such as are permitted by law.
Tese several persons, thus chosen, are called the
Ocers o the House o Representatives, and re-
main in ofce two years.Q. 56. Who chooses the members o the Senate o the
United States?
A. Te Legislature o each State chooses the Sena-
tors or that State.
Q. 57. How many Senators may there be?
A. wo rom each State.
Q. 58. When a citizen is chosen by the Legislature
o his own State to be a member o the Senate o the
United States, how long does he continue such?A. For six years. I he dies beore the expiration o
that time, or resigns his ofce (that is, i he declares
it to be his wish not to be a Senator any longer),
another is appointed in his place.
Q. 59. Are all the Senators chosen at the same time,
as members o the House o Representatives are?
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A. No. Only one-third are chosen at oncetwo
years aerward another third is chosen, and twoyears aer that, another thirdso that every two
years a third part o the Senators go out o ofce;
but the same persons may again be chosen i the
Legislatures who chose them wish to send them
again; i not, they send others in their place.Q. 60. How old must a person be beore he can be
chosen a Senator o the United States?
A. Tirty years old.
Q. 61. Can he be chosen i he has not been born inthe United States?
A. Yes, i he has become a citizen by being natural-
ized, and has been a citizen or nine years.
Q. 62. Can a Senator or one State be chosen by the
Legislature o another State?A. No. Te Legislature o each State must choose
its own Senators, rom persons residing in its own
bounds.
Q. 63. Does the Senate choose a Speaker, as theHouse o Representatives does?
A. No. Te person chosen by the people to be
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Vice President o the United States, is made, by
the Constitution, President o the Senate; his du-ties are like those o the Speaker o the House o
Representatives, except that he is not obliged to
keep order in debate.
Teir other ofcers are the same in all respects,
as those o the House o Representatives, and are
chosen by the Senators in the same manner.
Q. 64. Do the Senators ever sit as Judges?
A. Yes. When any civil ofcer o the United States
(that is, not an ofcer o the army) is guilty o a vio-lation o his public duty, he is accused or charged by
the House o Representatives, and tried by the Sen-
ate. Such an accusation is called an Impeachment.
Q. 65. What do you mean by his being tried by theSenate?
A. Te Senators take a solemn oath that they will
carefully attend to the proof that shall be brought
before them, and according to that proof declare
the accused person innocent or guilty, as the casemay be.
Te House o Representatives appoint some o
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their own members to lay the proo beore the Sen-
ate, and aerwards the accused person lays beorethem the proos in his deense; when both have
been heard, the members o the Senate vote, that
is, each one declares his opinion; and i two-thirds
o all the Senators present declare the accused per-
son to be guilty, he is adjudged guilty; i not, he isdeclared not guilty.
Q. 66. Cannot the Senate, in like manner, im-
peach, that is, solemnly charge an ocer beore the
House o Representatives?
A. No. None can bring an impeachment butthe House o Representatives, and none can try an
impeachment but the Senate.
Q. 67. What is the consequence i the Senate de-
clares an ocer o the United States to be guilty?A. He may be turned out o ofce, and prevented
rom ever again holding any ofce o honor, trust,
or prot, under the United States government.
Q. 68. May he be urther punished?
A. Not by the Senate. He may aerwards be triedbeore a Court o Law, and punished in the same
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manner as any other criminal or oenses against
the law.
Q. 69. May the President o the United States ever be
thus impeached and punished?
A. Yes. In this ree and happy country no man is
so great as to be above the law. Te laws are su-
preme; to them all persons, rom the President othe United States to the poorest and the meanest
beggar, must alike submit.
Tis is our glory. Let every youthul American
exult that he has no master but the law; let him
mark the man who would change this happy stateo things as the enemy o his country; and above all
let him remember that as soon as he himsel breaks
the law, he becomes himsel that enemy.
Whoever violates the law helps to weaken its
orce, and, as ar as he disobeys, does what in himlies to destroy it; but he who honors and obeys the
law strengthens the law, and thereby helps to pre-
serve the reedom and happiness o his country.
In some governments it is held that the king
can do no wrong; here we know no king but thelawno monarch but the Constitution. We hold
that every man may do wrong; that the higher he is
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in ofce, the more reason there is that he be obliged
to answer or his conduct; and that as a great ofcer,i treacherous, is a great criminal, so he ought to be
made to suer a great and exemplary punishment.
Q. 70. How oen does Congress meet?
A. It must meet at least once in every year; but may
meet more oen i necessary.
Q. 71. Is any day xed or its meeting?
A. Yes, the rst Monday in December; but it has
power to alter that to some other xed day. When
Congress ceases to meet, it is said toAdjourn.
Q. 72. Suppose some the members o the Senate, or
some the members o the House o Representatives
do not attend a meeting, can those who do attend
make laws without them?
A. I more than one-hal are present, they have,in most cases, power to do whatever the whole
number could have done. More than one-hal is
called aMajority, less than one-hal is called aMi-
nority. As many as are necessary to do business is
called a Quorum.
Q. 73. Supposing less than one-hal should attend,
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can they do nothing?
A.Yes, but they have power to send or the others
and compel them to attend. I they do not choose
to do this, they have power to adjourn until the
next day (that is, they may separate aer agreeing
to meet the next day); and so they may continue to
do until a quorum is present to do business.Q. 74. Are there any xed rules or doing business
in Congress?
A. Certainly, everything is done by settled rules,
called Rules o Order.
Q. 75. Who settles what these rules shall be?
A. Te rules or the Senate are made by the Sen-
ate; the rules or the House o Representatives are
made by the House o Representatives. Each house
has power to alter its own Rules o Order, or to sus-pend them; that is to say, a particular rule may be
disobeyed or a certain time, aer which it is again
in orce.
Q. 76. Suppose a member reuses to attend, or be-
haves, when he does attend, in a disorderly manner?A. He may be punished in any way the other mem-
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bers think proper.
Q. 77. May he even be expelled rom the House?
Tat is, turned out o it?
A. Yes, but only i two-thirds o all the members
think he deserves it.
Q. 78. You said that the Clerk o the House o Repre-sentatives keeps a written journalo all that is done
in that House. Is a journal kept in like manner by
the Secretary o the Senate?
A. Yes.
Q. 79. Are these journals published? Tat is, printed
and sold?
A. Yes, excepting such parts as either House o
Congress may think proper to keep secret or a
time, when the public good requires it.
Q. 80. Does Congress ever sit in secret?
A. Yes. Whenever they are engaged in business
which will be better or the public good to keep
secret or a time, they close their doors. At other
times, they sit in public, and anyone who can getinto the gallery may see and hear all that is done.
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Q. 81. Does the journal show how each member vot-
ed in every case that came to be considered?A. No. But i one-h o the members present
when any measure is proposed require that the
names o those who voted or and against it be put
down in the journal, it must be done.
Q. 82. Aer Congress has met, may either Houseadjourn (that is, cease to meet) or more than three
days at a time, without the consent o the other
House?
A. No.
Q. 83. Do the two Housesthat is, the Senate and
House o Representativesmeet in the same build-
ing?
A. Yes.
Q. 84. May either House remove to any other place?A. No, not unless the other House removes too.
Q. 85. Do members o Congress receive anything or
doing the business o the public?
A. Teir chie and best reward is the honor oserving their country; but as many o them can-
not aord to leave their own business so oen and
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so long without having the loss in some measure
made up to them, the Constitution says that theyshall be allowed a compensation to be ascertained
by law, and paid out o the reasury o the United
States.
Q. 86. Who xes the rate o compensation (that is,
how much the members shall have)?A. It is xed by Congress.
Q. 87. Ought they to be allowed to x their own
wages?
A.It cannot be avoided; the rate must be xed by
law, and there is none who have power to make law
or this country but the Congress only.
Q. 88. May Members o Congress be arrested (that
is, seized by a sheri or constable) or debts they
owe, while they are attending to their public duty?A. Teir duty is o so much value to us all that
the Constitution will not allow them to be arrested
while going and returning rom their home to the
place where Congress meets, nor while they are at-
tending there, except in three cases.
Q. 89. What are these?
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A. I they have been guilty o treason, elony, or
breach o the peace.
Q. 90. When is a person guilty otreason?
A. When he makes war against the United States
(that is, when he endeavors by orce to overturn
or to resist the Government), or when he helps or
comorts others who are making war against them.[But this must be proved by at least two witnesses,
who have both seen him do some act o treason.
Te crime is punished in any way Congress thinks
t; and they have determined that it shall be pun-
ished by death.]
Q. 91. I a member o Congress, while engaged in
debate (that is, in arguing about any law that is pro-
posed to be made), shall say anything oensive to
another member, may he be sued or it by the otherin a Court o Law?
A. No (lest this should destroy the reedom o
debate, and make the members araid o speak-
ing their thoughts with honesty and plainness in
matters or the public good), a member cannot be
called to account in any other place or anything he
says upon the oor o Congress.
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Q. 92. May members o Congress be appointed to
any civil oce under the United States?A. Not while they continue to be members. I they
are appointed to any ofce and wish to accept the
appointment, they must give up their seats in Con-
gress; nor may they be chosen to be members again
or as long they hold the ofce.Q. 93. Suppose Congress creates a new oce (that
is, appoint some public duty to be done and allow
the person who does it a compensation), or shall in-
crease the pay beore allowed or doing the duties o
any oce that is already established, may any mem-ber o the Congress which did this be appointed to
such oce?
A. No, not until the whole time or which he was
chosen a member shall have expired.
Q. 94. How does Congress proceed in making the
laws?
A. A member usually proposes that some other
members, called a Committee, shall consider wheth-
er it will not be proper to make a law or some par-
ticular matter, which he explains. I a majority o the
members think it will be best to consider the matter,
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they order certain members to do so.
Tese members, or Committee, meet together,and having considered the proposal, determine
whether it is proper to advise the members o the
House to make a law respecting it. I they think it
is, they put down in writing the words o such a
law, as it will be best to make. Tis writing is calleda Bill.
Tey then return to the House, and either in
writing or by word o mouth, declare what they
have done, and state the reasons or it. Such a state-
ment is called a Committees Report.
Te Bill is then read twice. Te member who
rst proposed the matter now urther proposes
(orMoves, as it is called) that the Billbe considered
by all the members. I this is agreed to, the Bill is
then taken under consideration.
Every member has an opportunity to propose
such alterations in it as he pleases, and every mem-
ber may give reasons why such a law ought or ought
not be made. I any alterations are made, the Bill as
altered is written over again and read a third time;
when, aer ull consideration, it is Passed, that is,nally agreed to.
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Q. 95. Is it now a law?
A.By no means. Te Bill thus passed by one House
is then sent to the other House. Tere it is again
considered, and, i the House thinks proper, is ur-
ther altered. It is then returned to the House where
it began.
I this House disapproves o the alterationsmade by the other, it sends the Bill back, that that
House may give up the alterations. I they will not
give them up, then a Committee o Conerence is
appointed (that is, certain members are sent rom
each House to meet together and try to bring the
matter into such a orm that both Houses will
agree to it); i they succeed, and the Houses agree,
the Bill is then engrossed(that is, copied in a air
hand) on parchment, and signed by the President
and Secretary o the Senate, and by the Speaker
and Clerk o the House o Representatives.
Q. 96. Is it now a law?
A. Not yet. Te engrossed Bill is then sent to the
President o the United States or his approba-
tion. I he approves it, he signs and returns it; theBill then is called an Act, and becomes the law o
the land.
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Q. 97. What i he does not approve it?
A.I he does not approve it, he must return the
Bill together with his objections, in writing, to the
House in which it began. Tat House must copy
the whole o these objections into their journal,
and then consider the Bill once more.
When they have done this, i two-thirds o thatHouse shall agree to pass the Bill, they must send
it, together with the Presidents objections, to the
other House. Tere the Bill must, in like manner,
be reconsidered; and i two-thirds o this House
also agree to pass it, it becomes a Law. But in all
such cases, the names o all the members o each
House who voted or and against the Bill must be
put down in the journals.
Q. 98. Suppose the President o the United States
should neglect to sign and return a Bill sent to himby Congress?
A. I he does not sign or return any Bill within ten
days aer it is sent to him (not counting Sundays),
it becomes a Law, unless in that time Congress
shall have ceased to sit.
Q. 99. Is not this a better way o making the laws o
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a country, than either o those we rst considered?
A.It is hard to conceive how greater care could be
taken that no wicked, unjust, oppressive, hasty, or
unwise Law should pass.
Tere is ull time to consider whatever is
proposed; such air opportunity to oppose it, i
wrong, and improve it, i imperect; so many per-sons, and rom so wide a space o country must
agree in approving it, that it is scarcely possible
anything very injurious can be enacted; or, at
least, i it is, that a dierent orm o Government
would have prevented it.
Q. 100. Are there not some evils which attend this
mode?
A. Nothing o human contrivance is wholly ree
rom some deect or another; and, in time o war,
when the public danger is great, and it is needulthat Government should act, not only wisely, but
rapidly; some disadvantage may be ound to arise
rom so deliberate a method o passing every law.
But it is ar better to put up with this, than to lose
the precious blessing o so ree and sae a mode olegislation.
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Q. 101. You have said that no laws can be made or
the United States but by Congress; may Congressmake any laws they please?
A. No. Teir power is limited by the Constitution;
that is, they have no power, but what the Constitu-
tion says they have.
It must always be remembered that the States,when they united to orm the General Government,
had ull power to govern themselves; and that they
gave up only a part o their power, or the general
welare. Whatever power, thereore, is not given by
the Constitution to the General Government, still
belongs either to the State Governments, or to the
people o the United States.
Q. 102. What power is given to Congress by the Con-
stitution?
A. Congress has the power to do the ollowingthings: lay and collect axes, Duties, Imposts, and
Excises.
Q. 103. What do you mean by these dierent terms?
What is a Tax?
A. A ax means a sum o money which the people
are directed to pay to support the Government and
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deense o the Country.
Q. 104. What are Duties?
A. Duties are sums o money, which must be paid
by persons who bring goods o any kind rom an-
other country into the United States, and which
are in proportion to the quantity or value o such
goods. It is paid at certain places called CustomHouses, and is sent rom these to the reasury o
the United States.
Q. 105. What are Imposts?
A.Imposts are sums o money which must be
paid to the Government by persons owning ves-
sels which enter the harbors o the United States,
in proportion to the size o the vessels. An Impost
is a duty on vessels.
Q. 106. What are Excises?A. Excises are sums o money which must be paid
to the Government by persons who make certain
articles within the United States, in proportion to
the quantity or value o the articles manuactured.
Q. 107. What do you mean by laying these, and
what bycollectingthem?
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A. Laying a tax, etc., is determining how much it
shall be; and collecting a tax, etc., is obliging thepeople to pay it.
Q. 108. Could any Government long exist without
this power?
A. No. Every Government must have large sums
o money to use or the public good, and this is theproper way o getting it.
Q. 109. Ought the people to complain o having to
pay taxes and duties?
A.Certainly not, because they all receive the ben-
et. I nobody would pay taxes, nobody could be
deended by armies, eets, or orts; nobody could
be paid or making or or executing the laws. Te
whole country would soon be without law, saety,
or order; and we should all be miserable. Whoev-er, thereore, cheats the Government o its duties,
does in reality cheat himsel and his neighbor, and
acts like the enemy o his country.
Q. 110. May one part o the United States be re-
quired to pay at a greater rate than the rest?A. No, all Duties, Imposts, and Excises must be
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uniorm throughout the United States.
Q. 111. What other power has Congress?
A. o borrow money on the credit o the United
States.
Q. 112. What do you mean by that expression on
the credit o the United States?A. It means that the people o the United States
are bound to pay whatever money Congress bor-
rows or their use. [Such money is called a Loan;
and whoever lends it to the Government, receives
a printed paper, acknowledging that such a sumhas been lent, and promising to pay a smaller sum
yearly, as Interestor the use o it. Such printed cer-
ticates are called Stock; they may be bought and
sold the same as any other article. Whoever holds
them when the interest becomes due may demandand must receive it. I the printed paper promises
to pay six dollars a year or every hundred dollars
borrowed, it is called United States six percent
Stock; i it promises to pay our dollars a year or
every hundred, then it is called United States our
percent Stock.]
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Q. 113. What other power does Congress possess?
A.It may make rules according to which the com-
merce o the citizens o the United States with oth-
er nations (that is, the exchange o our goods or
theirs, or or money, by means o vessels or other
conveyances) shall be carried on. Also the com-
merce o one o the states with another, and that othe dierent states, or o the United States, with the
Indian tribes. [Some persons believe that the pow-
er to regulate commerce among the several states
includes the power to make roads and canals rom
one state to another; others deny this.]
Q. 114. What is the next power given to Congress by
the Constitution?
A. Recollecting what was beore said about natu-
ralization, which means the admitting o a or-
eigner (that is, a native o some other country) tobecome a citizen o the United States, Congress
has power to make one uniorm rule according to
which this shall be done throughout the country. It
may also make uniorm laws or the whole Union
on the subject oBankruptcy.
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Q. 115. What is bankruptcy?
A.When a man has not money or goods enough
to pay his debts, he is bankrupt, and the being in
that situation is bankruptcy. Te object o Laws on
this subject is to compel such a man to give up all
he has to the people he owes, and to x the terms
on which he may be set ree rom the debts he can-not pay.
Q. 116. What else may Congress do?
A. It may coin money (that is, it may mark or stamp
certain pieces o metal in a way which shall make
them pass, in buying and selling, at a set value).It may also x what shall be the value o coin that
has been marked or stamped in any other country,
when it is used in the United States. It may likewise
declare one uniorm size or the weights and mea-
sures used throughout our country.
Q. 117. May any persons who please coin money?
A. No, none but those employed to do so by Con-
gress (they work at a place called the mint).
Q. 118. I any other person shall coin money in hisown name, or shall stamp it so as to resemble that
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coined at the mint, or that which, though coined in
other countries, is allowed to pass as money in theUnited States (called currentcoin) may he be pun-
ished?
A. Yes, it is a crime, called countereiting, and may
be punished in any manner Congress shall appoint.
Q. 119. Suppose they countereit not the money othe United States, but the stock issued by Govern-
ment?
A. Tey are punished the same as i they had coun-
tereited money.
Q. 120. What other power belongs to Congress?
A. Tey may establish Post Ofces and Post
Roads.
Q. 121. What is a Post Ofce?
A. A place where letters carried rom one part othe country to another, at the expense o the Unit-
ed States, are received and delivered.
Q. 122. And what is a Post Road?
A. A road on which the bag containing these let-ters (called the mail) is carried.
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Q. 123. What is meant byestablishingthese?
A.Making a law which directs where the Post O-
ces shall be, and by what roads the mail shall be
carried. Some persons say that it includes the pow-
er to erect buildings or post ofces, and to make
roads where they are wanted; others deny this.
Q. 124. Has Congress any urther powers?A. It may grant what are termed Patent Rights and
Copy Rights.
Q. 125. What does this mean?
A.When a person has ound out some new and
useul contrivance, Congress may give him an
exclusive right to make and sell what he has con-
trived or a certain number o years; during that
time nobody else may make or sell that article
without leave rom the man who contrived it, andi they do they are liable to be punished. Tis is
called a Patent Right. Whoever writes a book may
also have the exclusive right to print and sell it or
a certain time. Tis is called a Copy Right.
Q. 126. Can Congress erectCourts? Tat is, make alaw directing that a judge shall sit at certain places,
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at certain times, beore whom, causes or criminals
shall be tried?A. Yes, it may appoint as many courts as it thinks
t; but they must all be inerior to the great Court
o the country, called the Supreme Court o the
United States.
Q. 127. Can it punish Piracy (that is, robbery com-mitted at sea)?
A. Yes, and all other crimes committed there; it can
also punish oenses against the law o nations.
Q. 128. What do you mean by the law o nations?A. I mean those rules which are agreed upon
among all nations (except those who are savages),
to regulate their conduct towards each other.
Q. 129. Has Congress any other power?
A. Yes, it has one most solemn and important pow-er: the power oDeclaring Warbetween the United
States and any other nation.
Q. 130. When Congress has declared the United
States to be at war with any particular country, canany o the citizens o the United States remain at
peace with that nation?
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A. No. However much they may dislike the war,
or love the nation against whom it is declared, allmust, when required, aid in it, by their money or
their services, and bring it as soon as possible to a
successul end. I they attempt to aid the enemy, or
orcibly hinder the success o the war, they commit
treason.Q. 131. When the United States have cause o com-
plaint against another nation, and yet do not wish
at once to go to war, is there any other measure they
can take to compel that nation to do them justice?
A. Yes. Congress may issue Letters o Marque andReprisal.
Q. 132. What are they?
A. Tey are certain public letters directed to mer-
chants o the United States, who have been injured,and have been reused redress, permitting them
orcibly to take vessels belonging to the oending
nation, sufcient to make up the loss; but this must
be done only according to certain rules, xed by
Congress.
Q. 133. You say Congress may declare war; can they
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raise Armies (that is, can they hire soldiers to ght
or the country)?A. Tey can; and pay, clothe, and eed them, at the
public expense.
Q. 134. Can they make a law, setting apart money
enough at one time, to pay and support the army or
more than two years?A. No, not at one time, lest a wicked Congress
might, by keeping up an army, remain in power
beyond the time or which they were chosen, and
so destroy the liberty o their country.
Q. 135. Why was the time limited to two years?
A. Because every two years a new Congress may
be chosen.
Q. 136. Can Congress in like manner, provide and
maintain a Navy (that is, buy or build ships o war,and hire, clothe, and eed men to navigate and ght
them)?
A. Yes, and make rules to govern both Army and
Navy.
Q. 137. Has the country any other deense to depend
upon other than hired soldiers?
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A. Yes, the people themselveswho are o a proper
age to bear the atigues and hardships o warareobliged to bear arms and deend their country
when need requires. Tey are called theMilitia.
Q. 138. When may they be called out to do this?
A. When they are wanted to enorce the laws, to
overcome any o their ellow citizens who are sooolish and wicked as to rebel against our ree and
excellent orm o government, or to meet and drive
out an enemy who invades (that is, orcibly enters
any part o our Country).
Q. 139. But as the great mass o the people are igno-
rant o the art o war, how is this to be done?
A. Congress has power to provide or their being
taught, by collecting and arranging them in com-
panies and regiments under their own ofcers,supplying them with arms, and causing them to be
properly exercised in their use.
Q. 140. May Congress command them, or are they
to be commanded by their own State Governments?
A. Te President may command so many o themas are employed in the service o the United States;
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the rest are commanded by the States.
Q. 141. Who appoints the Ocers o the Militia?
A. Te State Governments. Tey also train (that is,
exercise and instruct the men), but this must be
done according to rules xed by Congress.
Q. 142. Have you mentioned all the powers o Con-gress?
A. No. Tey have power to make all the laws or a
certain District, not more than ten miles square,
where Congress meets, and where the Chie Of-
cers o Government reside. Tis is called the Seato Government.
Q. 143. Has this District no legislature o its own
choice, as the States have?
A. No.
Q. 144. Is it a part o any State?
A. No. It consists o territory, which the States have
given up, or the express purpose that it might be
the seat o the General Government.
Te territory at present used or this purpose iscalled the District o Columbia, and has been ceded
(that is, given up) by the States o Maryland and
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Virginia, within which it beore lay.
Q. 145. Is there any other place in the United States,
which is thus ruled by Congress alone?
A. Yes, all Forts, Magazines (that is, places where
powder and other things used by an army are laid
up), Arsenals (that is, buildings where arms are
kept), and Dock-yards (that is, places where vesselso war are built), which belong to the United States,
are governed, not by the Legislatures o the States
in which they may be, but by the General Govern-
ment alone.
Q. 146. What other power is conerred by the Con-
stitution upon the Congress o the United States?
A. A very large and general authority: to make all
laws which shall be necessary and proper or car-
rying into execution the oregoing powers (that is,all the powers o which we have been speaking),
and all other powers vested by the Constitution in
the Government o the United States, or in any de-
partment or ofcer thereo.
Tus, or example, when the Constitution says
that Congress may coin money, that gives Con-
gress power to make all the laws necessary to de-
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termine what the coin shall be, how they shall be
marked, o what metal they shall be made, whatshall be their weight, what shall be their value,
where they shall be made, what buildings shall be
erected or the purpose, how many persons shall
be employed, what their duty shall be, what pay
they shall receive, what account they shall keep,what security they shall give, and how they shall be
punished i they neglect their duty.
It is the same with every other power given by
the Constitution; i its execution requires a hun-
dred dierent laws, Congress may pass them all.
Q. 147. May slaves be imported (that is, brought in
to the United States)?
A. No, whoever engages in the slave trade is a pi-
rate.
Q. 148. May slaves be held (that is, owned and made
to work) by citizens o the United States?
A. Yes.
Q. 149. I they escape rom one State into another,
may the State into which they fee set them at lib-erty?
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A. No.
Q. 150. Suppose any American citizen is seized and
put in prison, may he be kept there as long as those
who seized him think t?
A. No, he may get a writ oHabeas Corpus.
Q. 151. What is that?A. It is a command rom court, by which the jailer
is orced to allow the prisoner to be brought beore
a judge, that the cause o his being put in prison
may be examined, in order that i there is no law
to keep him there, he may immediately be set atliberty.
Q. 152. Must this command be given whenever it is
applied or?
A. Yes, except at certain times, when this privilege
is suspended (that is, interrupted or a time, butnot taken away).
Q. 153. When may this right o having a writ o Ha-
beas Corpus, which belongs by the Constitution to
every citizen, be suspended?A. Only in cases o rebellion by our own citizens,
or invasion o the country by an enemy; when the
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public danger is so great as to require persons to be
kept in prison, who might otherwise be set at liber-ty. As soon as this extreme danger is past, the right
o Habeas Corpus must be immediately restored.
Q. 154. Is this a very great and important privilege,
and ought all Americans to guard it with the great-
est care?A. It is one o the greatest rights o a reeman, and
Americans must never surrender itunder any
pretexti they value and would preserve their
liberty.
Q. 155. May a mans children be punished by law or
his oense?
A. In some countries, where a man has been guilty
o treason (that is, making war against the Govern-
ment), a law is passed called a bill o attainder, bywhich his children are prevented rom being heirs
to him or to any other person; and, i he belonged
to what in those countries is called the nobility, and
his children would have belonged to it too, they,
are prevented; nor can they, nor their children, nor
their childrens children, recover this privilege, un-
til an act is passed or that purpose. No such law
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can be made in this country; it is expressly orbid-
den by the Constitution.
Q. 156. May a citizen o the United States be pun-
ished or doing what was not orbidden by any law
when he did it, but was against a law which was
passed aerwards?
A. No. A law that attempts to punish actions thatwere done beore the law was made is called an ex-
post-acto law. Tis also is expressly orbidden by
the Constitution.
Q. 157. When a direct tax is laid (that is, when Con-gress orders that a certain sum o money must be
paid by each citizen) or the public use, what is the
rule by which it is to be collected?
A. Te census, or public counting o the people.
Q. 158. May any money be required to be paid ongoods exported (that is, carried out rom any o the
States)?
A. No.
Q. 159. May any law be passed giving to the ports(that is, the places where vessels arrive and depart
with goods) o one State, a preerence over those o
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another, so that goods coming to some ports shall
have less duties to pay to Government than the samegoods coming to other ports?
A. No.
Q. 160. May vessels coming rom sea with goods
which they wish to deliver in one State, be obliged to
land those goods, or to enter them (that is, give anaccount o them at the Custom House), or to pay the
duties on them in another State?
A. No.
Q. 161. When a vessel leaves the ports o one Statewith goods which she is carrying to sea, can she be
obliged to clear those goods (that is, give an account
o them at the Custom House) in another State?
A. No. Each State may carry on its own commerce
without the intererence o any other State.Q. 162. In what way can the money o the United
States be drawn out o the reasury (that is, the
place where it is kept)?
A. It can be drawn out only by authority o a law
o Congress. Such a law is called anAppropriation.
Q. 163. Must a ull account be kept o all monies
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received into the reasury and paid out o it; and
must this account be published (that is, printed andsold) rom time to time?
A. Yes.
Q. 164. You said that in some countries, some o the
people are called Nobility. What does that mean?
A. Almost all o Europe was once under the pow-er o Rome, and ormed part o what was called
the Roman Empire. Tis Empire was attacked,
overrun, and at last conquered entirely, by a har-
dy set o people who came rom the north in vast
numbers.Tese people were commanded by chies or
kings, and when the countries which they in-
vaded gave up ghting and yielded everything to
the conquerors, the whole o the land was divided
into portions and given by the king to his chie o-cers, who divided it again among their ollowers.
Tese great ofcers were called by various names
or titlesDukes, Earls, Counts, etc.and when
they died, their oldest sons were called by the same
titles, which continued in this manner to descendin certain great and rich amilies.
It is these amilies which are now known in
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most countries o Europe as Nobles, or the Nobil-
ityand they have great privileges over the othercitizens.
Q. 165. Can any amilies be thus distinguished rom
the rest in this Republic?
A. No. No title o nobility can be granted here. Te
only titles among us are those which mark a per-sons grade in the army or navy, or his ofce in the
State.
Q. 166. May any citizen o the United States receive
a title o nobility rom the king, or prince, or govern-ment o any other country?
A. Te Government does not interere with pri-
vate persons; but no person holding any ofce o
prot or trust under the Republic can accept o
either a title, a sum o money as salary, an ofce,or even a present, rom any such prince or govern-
ment, without the express consent o Congress.
Q. 167. Why is this?
A. o guard against any oreign prince gaining in-
uence over those who are in power among us bybribes o any kind. A title would be a better bribe
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to some men than money.
Q. 168. You said that when the states entered into
that agreement by which they set up a General Gov-
ernment over them all, they had each a perect right
to govern themselves as ree, sovereign, and inde-
pendent States, and that they gave up a part o their
power to the General Government, and kept the resto it in their own hands. What are the powers which
they gave up?
A. Te power o making treaties (that is, bargains
or agreements with other nations), alliances (that
is, agreements with some other country, that thetwo shall help each other in something they wish to
accomplish, or in avoiding some common danger),
and conederations (that is, agreements among
several dierent countries, that they shall all join
together in some object or their common benet).None o these acts can now be perormed by any
one o the States separately, but must be done only
or the whole by the General Government.
Q. 169. What other powers did they give up?
A. Te right to grant letters o marque and repri-
sal, the right to coin money (both o these have
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been already explained), the right to emit bills o
credit (that is, to issue printed promises to pay cer-tain sums o money on the credit o the state, the
same as a bank issues bank notes), to make any-
thing but gold and silver a lawul tender in the pay-
ment o debts.
Q. 170. What does that mean?A. When one man owes another and goes to him
and oers him money to the ull amount o his
debt, it is called a tender(or oer). I the money is
such as the law says shall pass, it is a lawultender.
I the man reuses it, he can never sue the other orthat debt, nor is the debtor obliged to pay it.
Now, though money is commonly made o gold
and silver, yet sometimes a Government may make
a law by which certain printed notes are to pass the
same as gold and silver. Aer such a law, that kindo printed notes are a lawul tender to pay debts
with. (Tis kind o paper was issued by Congress
in our revolution.) Te states, by the Constitu-
tion, gave up the power to do this, and now it can
be done only by the General Government.
Q. 171. Did the states give up any other power?
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A. Tey are orbidden by the Constitution, in the
same manner that Congress is, to pass any bill oattainder, or ex-post-acto law, or grant any title
o nobility, nor can they make any law which shall
impair the obligation o contracts.
Q. 172. What does that mean?
A. It means that when a bargain has been made be-tween any two parties, where one agrees and binds
himsel to do some particular thing not then or-
bidden by law, the state in which this agreement,
or contract, was made shall not aerwards make
any law by which the person who thus bound him-sel shall be set ree rom any part o that bargain
without the consent o the other party, with whom
he made the contract.
Q. 173. What else are the states orbidden to do?A. Tey cannot lay any duty on exports or imports.
Q. 174. May they not lay enough duty to pay or the
expenses o collecting the duties laid by Congress?
A. Yes, but no more. I more is received than is
wanted or this use, it must be paid into the rea-sury o the United States.
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Q. 175. May any o the States lay a tonnage duty
(that is, require a sum o money to be paid by everyvessel entering any o the harbors in that State)?A.No.
Q. 176. May they keep soldiers whom they pay, in
time o peace?
A. No.
Q. 177. May they keep ships o war, in time o peace?
A. No.
Q. 178. May one State enter into an agreement with
another State?
A. No.
Q. 179. May they make a treaty or agreement with
any other nation?
A. No.
Q. 180. May they make war?
A. No, not unless an enemy has entered their
bounds, or is in such danger o entering, that there
is no time to wait or the aid o the General Gov-
ernment.
Q. 181. Why did the States give up all these powers?
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A. Because they could be better protected by one
powerul Government ruling over them all united,than they could have been i they had remained
separate. I they would have such a Government,
they must each consent to give up a part o their
own power in order to make it; i the General Gov-
ernment had no power, it would be o no use.Q. 182. Who executes the laws which Congress has
made (that is, who takes care that everybody shall
obey the laws)?
A. Te President o the United States.
Q. 183. Can he make the law?
A. Not at all. Tese two powerso making law,
and executing laware kept entirely separate by
the Constitution: the power that makes the law
cannot execute it, and the power that executesthe law cannot make it. (Te one o these is called
the Legislative, and the other is called the Execu-
tive.)
Q. 184. Is there any advantage in this?
A. Certainly, it is the great saeguard o reedom,because i the one makes oppressive laws, the other
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A. As many as the State has members in both
Houses o Congress.For instance: a state which is entitled to two
Senators and eight members o the House o Rep-
resentatives must appoint ten electors o President;
a state which has two Senators and twenty mem-
bers o the House o Representatives must appointtwenty-two electors.
Q. 189. May any person they please be appointed
an elector?
A. Not every person may. Senators o the United
States, members o the House o Representatives,and all persons who hold any ofce o trust or pro-
it under the United States are incapable o being
electors o the President.
Q. 190. Why?A. For ear any President o the United States
might use improper means to get himsel chosen
again when his time o service should expire. Te
President has requent opportunities to see the
members o Congress and persuade them, and as
he himsel has the appointment o most persons
who hold ofces, he might threaten to remove, or
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promise to keep them in their places, and thus de-
stroy their reedom o election.
Q. 191. How do these electors proceed?
A. Te electors appointed by each state meet in
the States that appointed them and vote by bal-
lot or the President, and or another ofcer called
the Vice President o the United States. Te elec-tors all meet on one and the same day in their sev-
eral statesthe day is xed by Congress.
Q. 192. What do you mean by voting by ballot?
A.When it is wished to conceal the manner in
which each particular person voted, and yet to
know what is the opinion o the greater number o
voters; the voters, instead o speaking their minds,
each put a piece o olded paper into a box. Tese
papers are called ballots, and when all have voted,these ballots are examined and counted.
Q. 193. May both the persons whom the electors o
any state vote or, as President and Vice President,
be natives o that state in which they are voted or?
A. No, only one o them. Te other must be a na-tive o some other state.
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Q. 194. How do they distinguish which o the per-
sons is voted or as President and which as VicePresident?
A. Te ballots are taken separately, on dierent
pieces o paper, and it is besides written on the bal-
lot whether the person is voted or as the one or as
the other. Separate lists are kept in which they putdown the names o all the persons who are voted
or, either as President or as Vice President, and the
number o votes given or each.
Tese lists are signed by the electors, and then
sealed up and sent to the seat o government di-
rected to the President o the Senate. For the great-
er security, two copies are made: one o them is
sent by the mail and another by a messenger, sent
or the express purpose o carrying it.
Q. 195. What does the President o the Senate dowith these lists?
A. He opens them in the presence o the Senate
and the House o Representatives, who are all met
in one hall to be present when the votes are count-
ed. Each House appoints some o its own memberswho unite in a committee and count all the votes.
Te person having the greatest number o votes or
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President is declared to be the President, and he
who has the most votes or Vice President is de-clared Vice President o the United States.
Q. 196. Suppose no one person has a majority (that
is, more than hal) o all the votes or President. Is
the person who has the most votes considered as
chosen?A. No.
Q. 197. What is done in that case?
A. Te House o Representatives immediately pro-
ceed to chooseby ballot, rom those persons, notmore than three, who stand the highest on the list
o votes or Presidentone to be President o the
United States.
Q. 198. Are they bound to choose the person who
has most votes?A. No, they may take either one o those three per-
sons who have the most votes.
Q. 199. Do they vote, on this occasion, in a dierent
manner rom what they do on all other occasions?A. Yes. In choosing the President they vote, not by
single members, but by States (that is, each State
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has one vote only), whether its Representatives are
many or ew, and a majority o the whole numbero States is necessary to a choice.
Q. 200. Must all the States vote?
A. All may vote i they are present and desire it, but
i only two-thirds o the States vote, the election is
good.
Q. 201. Suppose the House o Representatives can-
not, or do not, choose any one, must there be no
President?
A.In that case, the Vice President must perorm
the duty o President.
Q. 202. I neither o the persons voted or by the
electors as Vice President has a majority o all their
votes, what is to be done?
A. Te Senate then chooses one o the two personswho have the most votes. A majority o the whole
number o Senators is necessary to the choice, but
two-thirds o their number is sufcient to vote.
Q. 203. May any person be chosen President o theUnited States?
A. Not every person. None may be chosen unless
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he has been born in the United States, or was a citi-
zen when the Constitution was agreed to, nor cansuch a one be chosen i he is less than thirty-ve
years old, or i he has not resided within the United
States or ourteen years.
Q. 204. May any person be chosen Vice President?
A. No one may be chosen as Vice President who isorbidden by the above rule to be chosen as Presi-
dent.
Q. 205. Suppose the President o the United States
should die, or should be put out o oce, or shouldresign his oce, or should rom any cause be un-
able to do the duties which belong to it, what is to
be done?
A. His duties must then be perormed by the Vice
President.Q. 206. Suppose the same thing should have hap-
pened to the Vice President also?
A. Ten the Congress must declare by law who
shall perorm the duties until another President is
chosen, or until the President is again able to per-orm them himsel.
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Q. 207. Does the President receive anything or his
services?A. Te honor o lling so high and honorable a sta-
tion by the choice o a great and ree people, and
the glory o leaving his name in their history as the
aithul riend and ather o his country, is, o it-
sel, enough to ll the wishes o the most aspiringmind, and no doubt the place would be sought as
eagerly as it now is, though not a dollar should be
given to the man who lls it; but because his sta-
tion exposes him to great expenses, he is allowed a
salary sufcient to meet them.
Q. 208. What is the amount o the Presidents salary
(that is, the sum o money paid him by the United
States every year)?
A. It is at present xed at twenty-ve thousand dol-
lars.
Q. 209. May he receive any other money rom the
United States or rom any one State?
A. No, he is expressly orbidden to receive any oth-
er sum o money than his salary.
Q. 210. Why?
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A. Lest, i any State allowed him money, he might
be led to avor that State more than the others, andlest, i he was suered to receive other sums rom
the United States, he might amass so much money
as should make him a dangerous citizen to a ree
country.
Q. 211. Does the President take any oath beore heenters upon his oce?
A. Yes.
Q. 212. What is an oath?
A.It is a solemn calling upon Godwho knows
the hearts o all men, and will call every man to
account or his conduct in this worldto bear wit-
ness that what a man says is true, or that what he
promises he means to perorm.
Q. 213. What is the Presidents oath o oce?A. It is in these words: I do solemnly swear, that I
will aithully execute the ofce o President o the
United States; and will, to the best o my ability,
preserve, protect, and deend the Constitution o
the United States.
Q. 214. What are the powers which belong to the
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President?
A.He is commander in chie, both o the army and
navy; every ofcer o both, rom the highest to the
lowest, is obliged to obey his orders.
Q. 215. Are the ocers o the militia obliged to obey
them?
A. Yes, whenever the militia are called out in theservice o the United States. (At other times they
are under the command o the Governors o their
own States.)
Q. 216. Has he any other powers?A. Yes, he may grant reprieves and pardons or o-
enses against the United States.
Q. 217. What is a reprieve?
A. When a person has been tried, ound guilty, and
condemned to be punished on a certain day, a re-prieve is a putting o o the punishment to some
other time.
Q. 218. What is apardon?
A. It is the delivering o a condemned person romthe punishment o his oense. A reprieve only de-
lays punishment; a pardon prevents it entirely.
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Q. 219. May the President do this in all cases o o-
enses against the United States?A. In all cases, except cases o impeachment.
Q. 220. What other powers has he?
A. He has a very solemn power: that o making
reaties or the United States with other nations.
Q. 221. Why is this so solemn a power?
A. Because a treaty is the supreme law o the land,
and usually concerns matters o great importance
to us all.
Q. 222. Is nobody joined with the President in this
power? May he make any agreement he thinks t,
with other nations?
A.Tis power is so great and weighty, that the Con-
stitution will not entrust it to one man. Even the
President cannot make a treaty without the con-sent o the Senate o the United States. Nor is it su-
cient that a majority o the Senate agree to it; two-
thirds o all the Senators who are present when the
vote is taken must agree to any treaty beore it is
binding on the United States.
Q. 223. Has the President any other power?
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A. Yes, powers o nomination and appointment.
Q. 224. What do you mean by this?
A. When persons are to be employed to do the du-
ties o certain great public ofces, none can be so
employed but those whom the President rst nom-
inates (that is, proposes to the Senate, and whom
the Senate consent to have employed). When theSenate has given this consent, the persons can-
not act in their ofce till they receive orders to
do so rom the President. Such an order is called
their appointment, and when put in writing it is
called their commission.
Q. 225. What ocers are appointed in this manner?
A. Ambassadors and oreign Ministers (that is,
persons sent by the United States to the Govern-
ment o some other nation, either to prepare somepublic treaty, or to reside there as the representa-
tive o this country), Consuls (that is, persons sent
by this country to reside in the ports o other na-
tions, to protect our commerce by seeing that our
vessels, our sailors, and the property o our mer-
chants are properly treated there, according to the
treaties and laws o both countries), Judges o the
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Supreme Court, and all other ofcers o the United
States, except those who are expressly ordered bythe Constitution to be appointed by some other
person than the President.
Q. 226. May the President appoint any ocer with-
out the consent o the Senate?
A. Yes, i Congress makes a law giving him thepower, but this applies only to inerior ofcers
(that is, such as have other ofcers over them).
Q. 227. May Congress give the appointment o such
ocers to any other than the President?A. Yes, it may give it to the Courts o Law, or to
the Heads o Departments.
Q. 228. What do you mean by the Heads o Depart-
ments?
A. Tis name is given to certain ofcers who havethe chie care under the President o the our great
branches o the Governmentcalled the Executive
Departmentsand who are called the Secretary o
State, the Secretary o the reasury, the Secretary
o War, and the Secretary o the Navy.
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Q. 231. What are the duties o the President?
A.He must rom time to time give inormation to
Congress o the state o the United States.
Q. 232. Does he know what is the state o the nation
better than the members o Congress?
A. Yes, his ofce is such that he has a better op-
portunity o knowing it. Each member o Congressresides only in one State, but the President resides
at a spot in the middle o them all.
It is the duty o all ofcers below him to send
reports o the various aairs in which they are em-
ployed, to one or other o the Heads o Departments,and these lay all the knowledge they thus obtain be-
ore the President or his direction and assistance in
the many and great duties he has to perorm. He is,
thereore, o all other persons, best acquainted with
the general concerns o this nation.
Q. 233. When does he lay this inormation beore
Congress?
A. He makes a very ull statement o it when they
rst meet, in what is usually called the Presidents
Speech; and rom time to time, while the two Hous-
es are met, he sends to each o them messages, in
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which he gives more particular statements than he
could do in his rst general speech.
Q. 234. Suppose Congress wish to know rom the
President something which he has not told them in
his speech or messages, may they call upon him to
communicate it?
A. Yes. I he does not think that the public goodrequires it to be kept secret, he always answers the
call and gives them the knowledge they desire, i
he can do so.
Q. 235. Does he do more than communicate inor-mation to the Congress?
A. Yes, his duty is also to recommend to them such
things as he thinks will be or the advantage o the
country.
Q. 236. Are they obliged to do as he advises?A. No. Tey pay respectul attention to what he
says to them and listen to the reasons he gives in
avor o the measures he recommends, but they are
at ull liberty to ollow their own judgment in all
cases.
Q. 237. Is it to be desired that Congress should al-
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ways comply with the advice o the President?
A.No, because then his advice would, in time, come
to have the authority o a commandit would be
the President and not Congress who made the
laws, and the liberty o the country would be in
the greatest danger. Tere is no more dangerous
despot than one who can make his will obeyed andyet preserve the orms o a ree government. Au-
gustus Caesar ruled the whole Roman Empire with
absolute sway, yet did everything by resolves o the
Senate, as i Rome was ree.
Q. 238. Suppose some very important matter shouldhappen while Congress is not met, can the President
call them together?
A. Yes. He can call either both Houses, or only
one. I any law is to be made, both Houses must be
called; i only a treaty or an appointment is to bemade, the Senate only need be assembled.
Q. 239. Suppose, when both Houses are met, they
should nd themselves unable to agree about the
time at which they will adjourn (that is, cease to
meet). Can the President end the dispute?
A. Yes, by adjourning both Houses.
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Q. 240. In that case, when are they to meet again?
A.At any time the President xes when he ad-
journs them.
Q. 241. What other duty is required o the Presi-
dent?
A. He must receive all ambassadors and oreign
ministers (that is, persons sent by other nations tomake treaties with us, or to reside here as represen-
tatives o their own government).
Q. 242. Has he any other duty?
A.Yes, he has one great, general, and constant duty
or which all this power is put at his command: to
take care that the laws shall be aithully executed
(that is, that whatever Congress orders shall be
done, and that whoever disobeys the laws shall be
punished).Q. 243. May he himsel be punished?
A. We have already seen that every civil ofcer o
the United States may be impeached by the House
o Representatives, tried beore the Senate, and, i
guilty, may be turned out o ofce. Te crimes orwhich this is done are chiey treason and bribery.
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reason, we said, is making war against the Unit-
ed States by endeavoring to resist or overturn thegovernment; bribery means the unlawul taking o