Government and Law. 



CTXITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Constitution and Government. A 



Congress representing the thirteen original 

 colonies declared their independence of Great 

 Britain July 4, 1776, and thereafter each 

 colony was known as a State. As a result of 

 the war with Great Britain, the latter acknowl- 

 edged the independence of the United States 

 November 30, 1782, and September 3, 1783, 

 a definitive treaty of peace was concluded at 

 Paris. The government of the United States 

 continued under the Congress provided by the 

 Articles of Confederation until March 4, 1789, 

 when a constitution, which had been adopted 

 by representatives of the different States Sep- 

 tember 17, 1787, went into effect. March 4, 

 1789, then, is the date of the inception of 

 the present constitutional government of the 

 American Union. 



Ten amendments were added to the original 

 Constitution December 15, 1791 ; the eleventh 

 amendment, January 8, 1798 ; the twelfth 

 amendment, September 25, 1804 ; the thir- 

 teenth amendment, December 18, 1865 ; the 

 fourteenth amendment, July 28, 1868 ; and 

 the fifteenth amendment, March 30, 1870. 

 Amendments proposed by the Congress must 

 be adopted by three fourths of the States, 

 acting through their legislatures. 



In the table of States hereafter given, the 

 date of the adoption of the original Constitu- 

 tion by each is stated, and also the dates of 

 the admission of States subsequent to that 

 time, there having been thirty-two States 

 admitted since the adoption of the Constitu- 

 tion, the whole number of States now being 

 forty-five. 



By the Constitution, the government of the 

 nation is intrusted to three separate depart- 

 ments, the Executive, the Legislative, and the 

 Judicial. The executive power is vested in a 

 President, who holds his office during the term 

 of four years, and is elected, together with a 

 Vice-President chosen for the same term, in 

 the mode prescribed as follows : " Each State 

 shall appoint, in such manner as the Legisla- 

 ture thereof may direct, a number of electors, 

 equal to the whole number of senators and 

 representatives to which the State may be 

 entitled in the Congress ; but no senator or 

 representative, or person holding an office of 

 trust or profit under the United States, shall be 

 appointed an elector." The practice is that 

 in every State the electors allotted to the State 

 are chosen by direct vote of the citizens on a 

 general ticket, on the system known in France 



as scrutin de liste. The Constitution enacts 

 that " the Congress may determine the time oi 

 choosing the electors, and the day on which 

 they shall give their votes, which day shall be 

 the same throughout the United States " ; and 

 further, that "no person except a natural- 

 born citizen, or a citizen of the United States 

 at the time of the adoption of this Constitu- 

 tion, shall be eligible to the office of President ; 

 neither shall any person be eligible to that 

 office who shall not have attained to the age of 

 thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a 

 resident within the United States." 



Executive. The President is commander- 

 in-chief of the army and navy, and of the 

 militia in the service of the Union. The Vice- 

 President is ex officio President of the Senate ; 

 and, in case of the death or resignation of the 

 President, he becomes the President for the 

 remainder of the term. The elections for 

 President and Vice-President are at present 

 held in all the States on the Tuesday next after 

 the first Monday in November, every four 

 years ; and, on the 4th of March following, the 

 new President-elect assumes office. 



By a law approved January 19, 1886, in case 

 of removal, death, resignation, or inability of 

 both the President and Vice-President, the 

 Secretary of State, and after him, in the order 

 of the establishment of their departments, 

 other members of the Cabinet, shall act as 

 President until the disability of the President 

 is removed, or a President shall be elected. 

 On the death of a Vice-President the duties of 

 the office fall to the President pro tempore of 

 the Senate, who receives the salary of the 

 Vice-President. The party in the majority 

 usually elects a President pro tempore at the 

 beginning of each term of Congress, or reor- 

 ganization of the Senate, who acts as Presi- 

 dent of the Senate whenever the Vice-President 

 is absent. 



The administrative business of the Govern- 

 ment is conducted by eight chief officers, or 

 heads of Departments, denominated " Secre- 

 taries," who constitute what is popularly 

 known as the "Cabinet," although there is 

 no legal or constitutional provision for that 

 designation. The Secretaries are chosen by 

 the President, and commissioned by him after 

 confirmation by the Senate. Each Secretary 

 presides over his particular department, and 

 acts under the immediate authority of the 

 President. Each Secretary receives an annual 

 salary of $8,000, and holds office during the 

 pleasure of the President. The Departments, 



