Articles of Confederation
To all to whom these Presents shallcome, we, the undersigned, Delegates of the States affixed to our Names, sendgreeting: Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America in Congressassembled, did on the fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord onethousand seven hundred and seventy seven, and in the second year of theIndependence of America, agree to certain articles of Confederation andperpetual Union between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay, RhodeIsland and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, andGeorgia, in the words following, viz. Articles of Confederation and perpetualUnion between the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode Island andProvidence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Article I. The stile of this confederacy shall be, "The United States ofAmerica."
Article II. Each State retains itssovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, andright, which is not by this confederation, expressly delegated to the UnitedStates, in Congress assembled.
Article III. The said States herebyseverally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for theircommon defence, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and generalwelfare, binding them-selves to assist each other against all force offered to,or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty,trade, or any other pretence whatever.
Article IV. The better to secure andperpetuate mutual friendship and intercourse among the people of the differentStates in this union, the free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers,vagabonds, and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to allprivileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States; and thepeople of each State shall have free ingress and regress to and from any otherState, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce, subjectto the same duties, impositions, and restrictions, as the inhabitants thereofrespectively; provided that such restrictions shall not extend so far as toprevent the removal of property imported into any State, to any other State, ofwhich the owner is an inhabitant; provided also, that no imposition, duties, orrestriction, shall be laid by any State on the property of the United States,or either of them.
If any person guilty of, or charged with,treason, felony, or other high misdemeanor in any State, shall flee fromjustice, and be found in any of the united States, he shall, upon demand of thegovernor or executive power of the State from which he fled, be delivered up,and re-moved to the State having jurisdiction of his offence.
Full faith and credit shall be given, in each ofthese States, to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts andmagistrates of every other State.
Article V. For the more convenientmanagement of the general interests of the united States, delegates shall beannually appointed in such manner as the legislature of each State shalldirect, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year,with a power reserved to each State to recall its delegates, or any of them, atany time within the year, and to send others in their stead, for the remainderof the year.
No State shall be represented in Congress byless than two, nor by more than Seven Members; and no person shall be capableof being delegate for more than three years, in any term of Six years; norshall any person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under theunited States, for which he, or another for his benefit, receives any salary,fees, or emolument of any kind.
Each State shall maintain its own delegates in ameeting of the States, and while they act as members of the committee of theStates.
In determining questions in the united States inCongress assembled, each State shall have one vote.
Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shallnot be impeached or questioned in any Court or place out of Congress; and themembers of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests andimprisonments during the time of their going to and from, and attendance on,Congress, except for treason, felony or breach of the peace.
Article VI. No State, without theconsent of the united States, in congress assembled, shall send any embassy to,or receive any embassy from, or enter into any conferrence, agreement,alliance, or treaty, with any King, prince or State; nor shall any personholding any office of profit or trust under the united States, or any of them,accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, fromany king, prince, or foreign State; nor shall the united States, in congressassembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility.
No two or more States shall enter into anytreaty, confederation, or alliance whatever, between them, without the consentof the united States, in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposesfor which the same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue.
No State shall lay any imposts or duties, whichmay interfere with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by the unitedStates, in congress assembled, with any king, prince, or State, in pursuance ofany treaties already proposed by congress to the courts of France and Spain.
No vessels of war shall be kept up in time ofpeace, by any State, except such number only as shall be deemed necessary bythe united States, in congress assembled, for the defence of such State, or itstrade; nor shall any body of forces be kept up, by any State, in time of peace,except such number only as, in the judgment of the united States, in congressassembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for thedefence of such State; but every State shall always keep up a well-regulatedand disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accounted, and shall provideand constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due number offield-pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition, and campequipage.
No State shall engage in any war without theconsent of the united States, in congress assembled, unless such State beactually invaded by enemies, or shall have received certain advice of aresolution being formed by some nation of Indians to invade such State, and thedanger is so imminent as not to admit of a delay till the united States, incongress assembled, can be consulted; nor shall any State grant commissions toany ships or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, except it beafter a declaration of war by the united States, in congress assembled, andthen only against the kingdom or State, and the subjects thereof, against whichwar has been so declared, and under such regulations as shall be established bythe united States, in congress assembled, unless such State be infested bypirates, in which case vessels of war may be fitted out for that occasion, andkept so long as the danger shall continue, or until the united States, incongress assembled, shall determine otherwise.
Article VII. When land forces areraised by any State, for the common defence, all officers of or under the rankof colonel, shall be appointed by the legislature of each State respectively bywhom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such State shall direct,and all vacancies shall be filled up by the State which first made appointment.
Article VIII. All charges of war, andall other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or generalwelfare, and allowed by the united States, in congress assembled, shall bedefrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the severalStates, in proportion to the value of all land within each State, granted to,or surveyed for, any person, as such land and the buildings andimprovements thereon shall be estimated, according to such mode as the unitedStates, in congress assembled, shall, from time to time, direct and appoint.The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authorityand direction of the legislatures of the several States, within the time agreedupon by the united States, in congress assembled.
Article IX. The united States, incongress assembled, shall have the sole and exclusive right and power ofdetermining on peace and war, except in the cases mentioned in the sixthArticle, of sending and receiving ambassadors; entering into treaties andalliances, provided that no treaty of commerce shall be made, whereby thelegislative power of the respective States shall be restrained from imposingsuch imposts and duties on foreigners, as their own people are subjected to, orfrom prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods orcommodities whatsoever; of establishing rules for de-ciding, in all cases, whatcaptures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner prizes taken byland or naval forces in the service of the united Sates, shall be divided orappropriated; of granting letters of marque and reprisal in times of peace; appointing courts for the trial of piracies and felonies committed on the highseas; and establishing courts; for receiving and determine-ing finally appealsin all cases of captures; provided that no member of congress shall beappointed a judge of any of the said courts.
The united States, in congress assembled, shallalso be the last resort on appeal, in all disputes and differences nowsubsisting, or that hereafter may arise between two or more States concerningboundary, jurisdiction, or any other cause whatever; which authority shallalways be exercised in the manner following. Whenever the legislative orexecutive authority, or lawful agent of any State in controversy with another,shall present a petition to congress, stating the matter in question, andpraying for a hearing, notice thereof shall be given, by order of congress, tothe legislative or executive authority of the other State in con- troversy, anda day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their lawful agents, whoshall then be directed to appoint, by joint consent, commissioners or judges toconstitute a court for hearing and determining the matter in question: but ifthey cannot agree, congress shall name three persons out of each of the unitedStates, and from the list of such persons each party shall alternately strikeout one, the petitioners beginning, until the number shall be reduced tothirteen; and from that number not less than seven, nor more than nine names,as congress shall direct, shall, in the presence of congress, be drawn out bylot, and the persons whose names shall be so drawn, or any five of them, shallbe commissioners or judges, to hear and finally determine the controversy, soalways as a major part of the judges, who shall hear the cause, shall agree inthe determi-nation: and if either party shall neglect to attend at the day appointed,without showing reasons which congress shall judge sufficient, or beingpresent, shall refuse to strike, the congress shall proceed to nominate threepersons out of each State, and the secretary of congress shall strike in behalfof such party absent or refusing; and the judgment and sentence of the court,to be appointed in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and conclusive;and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the authority of suchcourt, or to appear or defend their claim or cause, the court shallnevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence, or judgment, which shall in likemanner be final and decisive; the judgment or sentence and other proceedingsbeing in either case transmitted to congress, and lodged among the acts of congress,for the security of the parties con-cerned: provided that every commissioner,before he sits in judgment, shall take an oath to be administered by one of thejudges of the Supreme or Superior court of the State where the cause shall betried, "well and truly to hear and determine the matter in question, accordingto the best of his judgment, without favour, affection, or hope of reward: "Provided,also, that no State shall be deprived of territory for the benefit of theunited States.
All controversies concerning the private rightof soil claimed under different grants of two or more States, whosejurisdictions as they may respect such lands, and the States which passed suchgrants are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the same timeclaimed to have originated ante-cedent to such settlement of jurisdiction,shall, on the petition of either party to the congress of the united States, befinally determined, as near as may be, in the same manner as is beforeprescribed for deciding disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction betweendifferent States.
The united States, in congress assembled, shallalso have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy andvalue of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respectiveStates fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the unitedStates; regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians, notmembers of any of the States; provided that the legislative right of any State,within its own limits, be not in-fringed or violated; establishing andregulating post-offices from one State to another, throughout all the UnitedStates, and exacting such postage on the papers passing through the same, asmay be requisite to defray the expenses of the said office; appointing allofficers of the land forces in the service of the united States, exceptingregimental officers; appointing all the officers of the naval forces, andcommissioning all officers whatever in the service of the united States; makingrules for the government and regulation of the said land and naval forces, anddirecting their operations.
The united States, in congress assembled, shallhave authority to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of congress, to bedenominated, "A Committee of the States," and to consist of one delegate fromeach State; and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may benecessary for managing the general affairs of the united States under theirdirection; to appoint one of their number to preside; provided that no personbe allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year in any termof three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of money to be raised for theservice of the united States, and to appropriate and apply the same fordefraying the public expenses; to borrow money or emit bills on the credit ofthe united States, transmitting every half year to the respective States anaccount of the sums of money so borrowed or emitted; to build and equip a navy;to agree upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions from eachState for its quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in suchState, which requi-sition shall be binding; and thereupon the Legislature ofeach State shall appoint the regimental officers, raise the men, and clothe,arm, and equip them, in a soldier-like manner, at the expense of the unitedStates; and the officers and men so clothed, armed, and equipped, shall marchto the place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the united States, incongress assembled; but if the united States, in congress assembled, shall, onconsideration of circumstances, judge proper that any State should not raisemen, or should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any other Stateshould raise a greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra numbershall be raised, officered, clothed, armed, and equipped in the same manner asthe quota of such State, unless the Legislature of such State shall judge thatsuch extra number cannot be safely spared out of the same, in which case theyshall raise, officer, clothe, arm, and equip, as many of such extra number asthey judge can be safely spared. And the officers and men so clothed, armed,and equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within the time agreed onby the united States in congress assembled.
The united States, in congress assembled, shallnever engage in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time ofpeace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulatethe value thereof nor ascertain the sums and expenses necessary for the defenceand welfare of the united States, or any of them, nor emit bills, nor borrowmoney on the credit of the united States, nor appropriate money, nor agree uponthe number of vessels of war to be built or purchased, or the number of land orsea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander in chief of the army or navy,unless nine States assent to the same, nor shall a question on any other point,except for adjourning from day to day, be determined, unless by the votes of amajority of the united States in congress assembled.
The congress of the united States shall havepower to adjourn to any time within the year, and to any place within theunited States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration thanthe space of six months, and shall publish the journal of their proceedingsmonthly, except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances, or militaryoperations, as in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of thedelegates of each State, on any question, shall be entered on the journal, whenit is desired by any delegate; and the delegates of a State, or any of them, athis or their request, shall be furnished with a transcript of the said journal,except such parts as are above excepted, to lay before the legislatures of theseveral States.
Article X. The committee of theStates, or any nine of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess ofcongress, such of the powers of congress as the united States, in congressassembled, by the consent of nine States, shall, from time to time, thinkexpedient to vest them with; provided that no power be delegated to the saidcommittee, for the exercise of which, by the articles of con-federation, thevoice of nine States, in the congress of the united States assembled, isrequisite.
Article XI. Canada acceding to thisconfederation, and joining in the measures of the united States, shall beadmitted into, and entitled to all the advantages of this union: but no othercolony shall be admitted into the same, unless such admission be agreed to bynine States.
Article XII. All bills of creditemitted, monies borrowed, and debts contracted by or under the authority ofcongress, before the assembling of the united States, in pursuance of thepresent confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against theunited States, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States andthe public faith are hereby solemnly pledged.
Article XIII. Every State shall abideby the determinations of the united States, in congress assembled, on allquestions which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the articlesof this confederation shall be inviol-ably observed by every State, and theUnion shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter bemade in any of them, unless such alteration be agreed to in a congress of theunited States, and be afterwards con-firmed by the legislatures of every State.
And Whereas it hath pleased the Great Governorof the World to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectivelyrepresent in congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the saidarticles of confederation and perpetual union, Know Ye, that we, the undersigneddelegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for that purpose,do, by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our respectiveconstituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the saidarticles of confederation and perpetual union, and all and singular the mattersand things therein contained. And we do further solemnly plight and engage thefaith of our respective constituents, that they shall abide by thedeterminations of the united States, in congress assembled, on all questionswhich by the said confederation are submitted to them; and that the articlesthereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we respectively represent,and that the Union shall be perpetual. In witness whereof, we have hereunto setour hands, in Congress. Done at Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, theninth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred andseventy eight, and in the third year of the Independence of America.
