UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The re public whose organic law is the constitution adopted by the people of the thirteen states which declared their independence of the government of Great Britain on the fourth day of July, 1776.
When they are said to constitute one nation, this must be understood with proper qualifications. Our motto, E pluribus unum, expresses the true nature of that composite body which foreign nations regard and treat with in all their communications with our people. No state can enter into a treaty, nor make a compact with any foreign nation. To foreigners we present a compact unity, an undivided sover eignty. No state can do a national act nor legally commit the faith of the Union.
In our interstate and domestic we are for some purposes one. We are, so far as our con stitution makes us, one, and no further ; and under this we are so far a unity that one state Is not for eign to another. Art. 4, § 2. A constitution, ac cording to the original meaning of the word, is an organic law. It includes the organization of the government, the grant of powers, the distribution of these powers into legislative, executive, and judicial, and the names of the officers by whom these are ex ercised. And with these provisions a constitution, properly so-called, terminates. But ours goes fur ther. It contains restrictions on the powers of the government which it organizes.
The writ of habeas corpus, the great instrument in defence of personal liberty against the encroach ment of the government, shall not be suspended but in case of rebellion or invasion, and when the pub lic safety requires it. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed ; no money shall he drawn from the treasury where 'there is not a regular ap propriation ; no title of nobility shall be granted ; and no person holding office shall receive a present from any foreign government. Art. 1, § 9. 'To these, which are in the original constitution, may be add ed the eleven first amendments. These, as their character clearly shows, had their origin in a jeal ousy of the powers of the general government. All
are designed more effectually to guard the rights of the people, and would properly, together with the restrictions in the original constitution, have a place in a bill of rights. Any act or law of the United States in violation of these, with whatever formality enacted, would be null and void, as an excess of power.
The restrictions on state sovereignty, besides those which relate to foreign nations, are that no state shall coin money, emit bills of credit, make any thing but gold and silver a tender in the payment of debts, pass any bill of attainder or ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. These prohibitions are absolute. In addition to these restrictions, the results of the War of Secession of 1861-1865 caused the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, which lay still further restrictions upon the power of the states, so far as relates to slavery and the regulation of (he right of suffrage. The 13th 'amend ment provides that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to its jurisdiction, and confers power upon congress to enforce this article by appropriate legislation ; the 14th amendment provides that no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privi leges or immunities of citizens of the United States, and defines who shall be so considered ; the 15th amendment specifically provides that the right of Citizens of the United States to vote shall not be de nied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. See CONSTITUTION OF UNITED STATES; FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT.
Without the consent of congress no state shall lay any duties on imports or exports, or any duty on tonnage, or keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, or enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or engage in war unless actually in vaded, or in imminent danger of being so.