David
Fri December 20, 2002 8:01am
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U.S. Navy Ensign Jeff Pal
U.S. Navy Ensign Jeff Palmer and Royal Navy Leading Seaman Robbie Burns work together to lower a side-scanning sonar "towfish" into the waters off Naval Station, Pascagoula. Ens. Palmer is a member of the Naval Oceanographic Office's Fleet Survey Team (FST) and Seaman Burns is a member of the Royal Navy's Mobile Survey Team. Operating the side-scan recorder is U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Frank Schenk, and the coxswain is Leading Seaman Phil Briggs. The two teams are working together to conduct hydrographic survey operations in the harbor of Naval Station Pascagoula. The survey became necessary when ships began reporting depths varying from chart indications. Since its creation in 2000, the U.S. Navy's FST has recently completed similar work in Gaeta Bay and Brindisi, Italy; Apra Harbor, Guam; Kuwait City; and off the coast of Ingleside, Texas. U.S. Navy photo by Stacey Byington.
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David
Fri December 20, 2002 4:27pm
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One of the daily duties o
One of the daily duties of a Quartermaster aboard USS Antietam is to plot a fix of the ship's position on the chart at certain times to maintain an accurate account of their transit at sea. The Antietam is part of the USS Carl Vinson Battle Group, deployed in support Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy Photo by Lieutenant Commander Bob Meeker.
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David
Fri December 20, 2002 9:47pm
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An AH-1W
An AH-1W ?Cobra? Attack Helicopter from Marine Helicopter Attack/Light Squadron Three Six Nine (HMA/L 369) is off loaded from the HSV WestPac Express. The WestPac Express is a chartered Military Sealift Command ship that has provided extensive logistics support to Exercise Cobra Gold 2002. Cobra Gold 2002 is the 21st U.S. Pacific Command exercise conducted in Thailand demonstrating the ability of U.S. Forces to deploy rapidly and conduct Joint-Combined Operations with the Thai and Singapore Armed Forces. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer?s Mate 2nd Class Jennifer A. Smith.
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David
Fri December 20, 2002 9:47pm
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Chief Warrant Officer Gen
Chief Warrant Officer Gene Rose, Operations Officer for the Motor Vehicle (MV) WestPac Express, explains the functions of the ship. The MV WestPac Express is a chartered Military Sealift Command ship that arrived in Thailand to transport U.S. Marines taking part in exercise ?Cobra Gold? 2002. Cobra Gold 2002 is the 21st, U.S. Pacific Command exercise conducted in Thailand, and is designed to demonstrate the ability of U.S. Forces to deploy rapidly and conduct Joint-Combined Operations with the Thai and Singapore Armed Forces. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer?s Mate 2nd Class Jennifer A. Smith.
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David
Sat January 3, 2004 10:15pm
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BMP-1 APC
Function: Soviet Union's first tracked Armored Personnel Carrier.
Description: The BMP-1 is a tracked, amphibious, fully enclosed armored personnel carrier armed with a 73mm smoothbore cannon, one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun and the AT-3 SAGGER antitank guided missile (ATGM). The BMP-1 represents a significant improvement over the wheeled BTR series in all aspects, including mobility, firepower, and survivability. Fielded in 1966, the BMP-1 has been modified to serve as a common chassis for a number of additional vehicle types. No longer in production, the BMP-1 has been surpassed by the BMP-2 and 3 in both service in the Russian army as well as export abroad.
General Characteristics, BMP-1 Armored Personnel Carrier
Transmission:
Manual with five forward gears and one reverse
Engine:
6 cylinder diesel engine producing 290 horsepower
Length:
22 feet (6.7 meters)
Width:
9 feet (2.74 meters)
Height:
7 feet (2.13 meters)
Combat Weight:
14 tons
Cruising Range:
372 miles (600 kilometers)
Speed:
Maximum: 40 mph (65 kph), or 45 mph (70 kph) for limited periods
Cross Country: 28 mph (45 kph)
Obstacle Crossing:
Trench: 8.2 feet (2.5 meters)
Slope: 31 degrees
Crew:
Three: driver, gunner and commander (who serves as squad leader when the the infantry squad dismounts)
Armament:
Main: 73mm 2A20 smoothbore cannon
Secondary: One AT-3 SAGGER ATGM, one 7.62mm PKT coaxial machine gun
Ammunition:
40 73mm cannon rounds (fin stabilized HEAT only)
2,000 7.62mm machine gun rounds
Introduction Date:
1966
Variants:
BMP-A: Also known as the Model 1966, this was the original version of the BMP. It has a shorter bow compared to its successor, the BMP-1 and does not have a Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) protection system.
BMP-1: Also known as the Model 1976 this was the base production model from which all variants were designed.
BMP-1K: The command variant of the BMP-1. It differed from the BMP-1 in that it carried additional communications equipment and had the rifle firing ports welded shut. In addition the troop compartment was redesigned to accommodate folding tables and map charts. Can be used as a battalion level command vehicle.
BMP-1P: The AT-3 SAGGER ATGM has been replaced by the AT-4 SPIGOT ATGM. Additionally, smoke grenade launchers have been mounted on the turret rear.
BMP-1PK: Command variant of the BMP-1P. Similar to the BMP-1K, it has additional communications equipment and has been modified to serve as a command vehicle. BMP-R: Also known as the BRM, BRM-1 and BMP M1976, this variant serves as a cavalry recon vehicle. The turret is larger and has had ATGM launcher removed. The back deck of the hull has been redesigned with two smaller hatches rather than the four large ones found on the BMP-1.
BRM-1K: Also known as the BMP M1976/2 this variant is based off of the BRM-1 with the PSNR-5K (NATO designation TALL MIKE) battlefield surveillance radar mounted in the rear section of the turret. Also included in the vehicle's sensor package are the DKRM-1 laser rangefinder, ARRS-1 location device, IMP mine detector and 1PN33B night vision devices. For navigation the BRM-1K uses the TNA-1, IG11N gyro-compass and the 1T25 survey device.
BMP KShM: Also known as the BMP M1978 it is a heavily modified BMP-1K with additional communications gear and a telescoping radio antenna for increased transmission range.
BMP-SON: Also known as the PRP-3, this is a BMP-1 modified to serve as an artillery reconnaissance and fire support vehicle. The turret has been redesigned to include two forward opening crew hatches equipped with observation periscopes as well as a large spotting optics. A large telescoping optical device is mounted on the left rear corner of the turret. The 73mm gun has been removed and replaced by a 7.62mm machine gun. Mounted on the rear of the vehicle is the SMALL FRED (NATO designation) battlefield surveillance radar. As with the command variants, the BMP-SON has an augmented communications package. The BMP-SON has a crew of 5.
PRP-4: This is essentially an upgraded and improved version of the PRP-3 (BMP-SON). Externally, the only difference is an additional fairing on the right side of the turret.
IRM: Amphibious Engineer Reconnaissance Vehicle. Based on the BMP-1, it uses the BMP-1 engine and suspension in a new hull design. Designed to perform specialized engineer missions such as mine detection and river bottom reconnaissance the IRM has two retractable mine detection devices mounted low on the bow and rapidly deployable snorkel. The IRM is propelled through the water via two shrouded propellers.
BMP-PPO: A heavily modified BMP-1 designed to serve as a mobile training center. The turret has been removed and eight roof mounted cupolas each equipped with a TNPO-170 and type MK-4 observation device, have been installed for trainees under instruction.
OT-90: Czechoslovakian version of the BMP-1. The turret has been replaced with the standard Czechoslovakian APC turret, equipped with a 14.5mm machine gun and a 7.62mm machine gun, found on the OT-64 8x8 wheeled APC.
BVP-1: Czechoslovakian produced BMP-1.
DP-90: Maintenance/recovery version of the OT-90.
MP-31: Air defense version of the BMP-KShM mobile command post.
MU-90: Mine laying version of the OT-90. The turret has been removed and the opening covered by sheet steel.
SVO: Mine clearing version of the BMP-1. The turret has been removed and a hedgehog type launcher has been installed in the troop compartment.
VPV: Maintenance/recovery version of the BMP-1. The turret and troop hatches have been removed and a crane has been installed on the roof of the troop compartment.
VP-90: Reconnaissance version of the OT-90. Similar to the BMP-R in all other respects.
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David
Sat January 3, 2004 10:35pm
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T-AK - LASH Type Cargo Sh
Function: The lighterage aboard ships are assigned to Military Sealift Command's Prepositioning Program. SS Green Valley, SS Green Harbour, SS Austral Rainbow and MV Jeb Stuart are all stationed out of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
History: The Green Valley was chartered by MSC in 1992. Central Gulf Lines owns and operates the Green Valley. The Austral Rainbow and Green Harbour are also owned and operated by Central Gulf Lines. The Austral Rainbow was first acquired by MSC in 1987 and has had severed successive charters with MSC. The Green Harbour was acquired in 1985. The Jeb Stuart is owned and operated by Waterman Steamship Company under contract to MSC. The Jeb Stuart was chartered in 1992.
Description: The LASH ships are capable of carrying both barges and containers. All four ships are self-sustaining, meaning they are capable of unloading themselves in areas without developed harbor infrastructure.
General Characteristics, Green Valley Class
Builders:
Avondale Shipyards
Power Plant:
Three Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 580 psi (40.8 kg/cm2); 8250F (4400C); one De Laval turbine (Westinghouse in TAFS 6); 22,000 hp (16.4MW) sustained; one shaft
Length, Overall:
820 feet (249.94 meters)
Beam:
100 feet (30.48 meters)
Displacement:
46,152 long tons (46,892.65 metric tons) full load
Speed:
16 knots (18.41 mph, 29.63 kph)
Crew:
24 civilians
General Characteristics, Austral Rainbow Class
Builders:
Avondale Shipyards
Power Plant:
Two combustion engineering boilers; 1,100 psi; two De Val turbines; 32,000 hp; one shaft
Length, Overall:
820 feet (249.94 meters)
Beam:
100 feet (30.48 meters)
Displacement:
39,277 long tons (39,907.32 metric tons) full load
Speed:
16 knots (18.41 mph, 29.63 kph)
Crew:
24 civilians
General Characteristics, Jeb Stuart Class
Builders:
Sumitomo Shipbuilding
Power Plant:
One Sulzer 9RND90 diesel; 26,000 horsepower
Length, Overall:
857 feet (261.21 meters)
Beam:
106 feet (32.31 meters)
Displacement:
66,629 long tons (67,698.27 metric tons) full load
Speed:
16 knots (18.41 mph, 29.63 kph)
Cargo Capacity:
1,191,683 cubic feet
Crew:
24 civilians
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David
Sat January 3, 2004 10:35pm
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TAK - Container Ships
Function: Container ships are part of Military Sealift Command's Prepositioning Program. The MV Capt. Steven L. Bennett is prepositioned in the Western Mediterranean Sea and carries U.S. Air Force cargo. The MV LTC Calvin P. Titus and the MV SP5 Eric G. Gibson are located in Saipan and carry U.S. Army support equipment and supplies. The newest container ship MV Maj. Bernard F. Fisher joined the MSC fleet in September 1999 and was officially named on October 15, 1999.
History: The MV Capt. Steven L. Bennett was built in 1984 by Samsung Shipbuilding. The MV Maj. Bernard F. Fisher and MV Capt. Steven L. Bennett are owned and operated by Sealift, Inc. and are under charter to Military Sealift Command. The MV LTC Calvin P. Titus and MV SP5 Eric G. Gibson were completed in 1985 by Odense Steel Shipyard. The original Titus and Gibson were chartered in 1995 by MSC. They were replaced in the summer of 1999 by the present Titus and Gibson, which are owned and operated by Osprey-Acomarit Ship Management.
Description: The MV Capt. Steven L. Bennett, MV LTC Calvin P. Titus, MV SP5 Eric G. Gibson and MV Maj. Bernard F. Fisher are self-sustaining, meaning they have cranes which allow them to load and off-load themselves. This is an asset in ports with primitive, undeveloped or battle-damaged harbors.
General Characteristics, Capt. Steven L. Bennett
Builders:
Samsung Shipbuilding
Power Plant:
One diesel, one shaft
Length, Overall:
687 feet (209.40 meters)
Beam:
99.7 feet (30.39 meters)
Displacement:
53,727.26 long tons (54,589.48 metric tons) full load
Speed:
16.5 knots (18.99 mph, 30.56 kph)
Crew:
26 civilians
General Characteristics, LTC Calvin P. Titus Class
Builders:
Odense Steel Shipyard, Odense, Denmark
Power Plant:
23,030 SHP Sulzer, Model 7RTA76; one shaft
Length, Overall:
652 feet (198.73 meters)
Beam:
105 feet (32 meters)
Displacement:
48,000 long tons (14,000 metric tons) full load
Speed:
19 knots (maximum speed)
Crew:
25 civilians
Ships:
MV LTC Calvin P. Titus (T-AK 5089)
MV SP5 Eric G. Gibson (T-AK 5091)
MV Maj. Bernard F. Fisher (T-AK 4396)
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David
Sat January 3, 2004 10:35pm
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T-AK - Maritime Prepositi
Function: The 13 Maritime Prepositioning Ships are part of Military Sealift Command's Prepositioning Program. They preposition U.S. Marine Corps vehicles, equipment and ammunition throughout the world.
History: The Cpl. Louis J. Hauge, Jr. Class is the original class of MPS ships chartered by Military Sealift Command. The five ships are Maersk Line ships converted by Bethlehem Steel. During conversion, the ships gained an additional 157 feet amidships and a helicopter landing pad, among other additions. The Sgt. Matej Kocak Class, the second class of MPS ships chartered by MSC, also gained 157 feet amidships and a helicopter landing platform after conversion. These ships, delivered to MSC in the mid-1980s, are National Steel and Shipbuilding, San Diego, conversion ships owned and operated by Waterman Steamship Corp. The 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo Class ships are new construction ships delivered to MSC in the mid-1980s from General Dynamics, Quincy, Mass. They are owned and operated by American Overseas Marine.
Description: The MPS ships are assigned to three Maritime Prepositioning Ship squadrons located in the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean at Diego Garcia and the Western Pacific at Guam and Saipan. The MPS ships in each squadron have sufficient equipment, supplies and ammunition to support a Marine Corps Air Ground Task Force for 30 days. The MPS ships are self-sustaining, having cranes which enable them to unload their own cargo.
General Characteristics, Cpl. Louis J. Hauge, Jr. Class
Builders:
Odense Staalskibsvaerft A/S, Lindo
Power Plant:
One Sulzer 7RND76M diesel; 16,800 horsepower; one shaft; bow thruster
Length, Overall:
755 feet (230.12 meters)
Beam:
90 feet (27.43 meters)
Displacement:
46,552 long tons (47,299.07 metric tons) full load
Speed:
17.5 knots (20.14 mph, 32.41 kph)
Crew:
32 civilians, 10 technicians
Ships:
MV Cpl. Louis J. Hauge, Jr. (ex-MV Estelle Maersk) (T-AK 3000)
MV PFC William B. Baugh (ex-MV Eleo Maersk) (T-AK 3001)
MV PFC James Anderson, Jr. (ex-MV Emma Maersk) (T-AK 3002)
MV 1st Lt. Alex Bonnyman (ex-MV Emilie Maersk) (T-AK 3003)
MV Pvt. Franklin J. Phillips (ex-Pvt. Harry Fisher, ex-MV Evelyn Maersk) (T-AK 3004)
General Characteristics, Sgt. Matej Kocak Class
Builders:
Pennsylvania SB Company, Chester, PA
Power Plant:
Two boilers; two GE turbines; 30,000 horsepower; one shaft
Length, Overall:
821 feet (250.24 meters)
Beam:
105.6 feet (32.19 meters)
Displacement:
48,754 long tons (49,536.41 metric tons) full load
Speed:
20 knots (23.02 mph, 37.05 kph)
Cargo Capacity:
Containers, 532; ro-ro, 152,236 square feet; JP-5 bbls, 20,290; DF-2 bbls, 12,355; Mogas bbls, 3,717; stable water, 2,189; cranes, two twin 50 ton and 1-30 ton gantry
Helicopters:
Platform Only
Crew:
34 civilians, 10 technicians
Ships:
MV Sgt. Matej Kocak (Ex-SS John B. Waterman) (T-AK 3005)
MV PFC Eugene A. Obregon (ex-SS Thomas Heywood) (T-AK 3006)
MV Maj. Stephen W. Pless (ex-SS Charles Carroll) (T-AK 3007)
General Characteristics, 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo Class
Builders:
General Dynamics, Quincy
Power Plant:
Two Stork-Wartsilia Werkspoor 16TM410 diesels; 27,000 horsepower sustained; one shaft, bow thruster; 1,000 horsepower
Length, Overall:
675.2 feet (205.80 meters)
Beam:
105.5 feet (32.16 meters)
Displacement:
44,330 long tons (45,041.41 metric tons) full load
Speed:
18 knots (20.71 mph, 33.33 kph)
Cargo Capacity:
Containers, 530; ro-ro, 152,185 square feet; JP-5 bbles, 20,776; DF-2 bbls, 13,334; Mogas bbls, 4,880; stable water, 2,357; cranes, one single and two twin 39 ton
Helicopters:
Platform Only
Crew:
38 civilians, 10 technicians
Ships:
MV 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo (T-AK 3008)
MV PFC Dewayne T. Williams (T-AK 3009)
MV 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez (T-AK 3010)
MV 1st Lt. Jack Lummus (T-AK 3011)
MV Sgt. William R. Button (T-AK 3012)
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David
Sat January 3, 2004 10:35pm
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T-AKF - MV American Cormo
Function: The MV American Cormorant, stationed at Diego Garcia, is part of Military Sealift Command?s Prepositioning Program. The ship carries Army watercraft.
History: The American Cormorant was built in 1974 by Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstads AB and named Ferncarrier. In 1982, American Cormorant was converted and acquired in 1985 for time charter by MSC.
Description: The MV American Cormorant is a semi-submersible float-on/float-off ship, the only one in the US Flag Merchant Fleet. The ship has the ability to submerge its cargo deck to load and discharge its floating cargo of Army watercraft. Her submersible capacity allows her to lift exceptionally heavy loads.
General Characteristics, American Cormorant Class
Builders:
Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstads AB
Power Plant:
One Eriksberg/Burmeister and Wain 10K8EF diesel; 19,900 hp; one shaft; two thrusters; 3,000 horsepower
Length, Overall:
738 feet (224.94 meters)
Beam:
135 feet (41.15 meters)
Displacement:
69,555 long tons (70,671.23 metric tons) full load
Speed:
14 knots (16.11 mph, 25.93 kph)
Crew:
21 civilians
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David
Sat January 3, 2004 11:51pm
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T-AGS Survey Ships
Function: Military Sealift Command's Special Missions program supports worldwide oceanographic programs with ships which perform acoustical, biological, physical and geophysical surveys. Ships such as USNS Silas Bent (TAGS 26), USNS Kane (TAGS 27) and USNS Bowditch (TAGS 62) gather data which provides much of the military's information on the ocean environment. Oceanographic and hydrographic survey ships are used to study the world's oceans. The collected data helps to improve technology in undersea warfare and enemy ship detection. The oceanographic and hydrographic survey ships' multibeam, wide-angle precision sonar systems make it possible to continuously chart a broad strip of ocean floor. Two oceanographic ships survey the sea bottom and collect hydrographic data, charting three-fourths of the world's coastlines. USNS John McDonnell (TAGS 51) and USNS Littlehales (TAGS 52) make it easier for navigators to find their way along well-traveled and not-so-familiar shipping routes.
History: The USNS John McDonnell (TAGS 51) was laid down Aug. 3, 1989, and the USNS Littlehales (TAGS 52) on Oct. 25, 1989. The McDonnell launched Aug. 15, 1980, the Littlehales on Feb. 14, 1991. The contract for the Pathfinder class of surveying ships was awarded in January 1991 for two ships with an option for a third which was taken up May 29, 1992. A fourth ship was ordered in Oct. 1994 with an option for two more. A fifth ship was ordered Jan. 15, 1997.
Description: The Silas Bent class of surveying ships were designed specifically for surveying operations. They have a bow propulsion unit for precise maneuverability and station keeping. The John McDonnell class of survey ships carries 34-foot survey launches for data collection in coastal regions with depths between 10 and 600 m and in deep water to 4,000 m. A small diesel is used for propulsion at towing speeds of up to 6 knots. SIMRAD high-frequency active hull-mounted and side scan sonars are carried. The Pathfinder class of survey ships have three multipurpose cranes and five winches plus a variety of oceanographic equipment including multibeam echo-sounders, towed sonars and expendable sensors.
General Characteristics, Silas Bent Class
Builders:
American SB Co., Lorain/Christy Corp, Sturgeon Bay, WI
Power Plant:
Diesel-electric; two Alco diesel generators; one Westinghouse/GE motor; 3,600 horsepower (2.69 MW); one shaft; cp prop; bow thruster; 350 horsepower (261 kW)
Length, Overall:
285.3 feet (86.96 meters)
Beam:
48 feet (14.63 meters)
Displacement:
2,550 to 2,843 long tons (2,590.92 to 2,888.62 metric tons) full load
Speed:
15 knots when towing
Crew:
31 civilians (12 officers) plus 28 scientists
Ships:
USNS Silas Bent (T-AGS 26)
USNS Kane (T-AGS 27)
General Characteristics, John McDonnell Class
Builders:
Halter Marine Moss Point, MS
Power Plant:
One GM EMD 12-645E6 diesel; 2,500 horsepower (1.9 MW) sustained; one auxiliary diesel; 230 horsepower (172kW); one shaft
Length, Overall:
208 feet (63.40 meters)
Beam:
45 feet (13.72 meters)
Displacement:
2,054 long tons (2,086.96 metric tons) full load
Speed:
12 knots (13.8 mph, 22.22 kph)
Crew:
22 civilians plus 11 scientists
Ships:
USNS John McDonnell (T-AGS 51)
USNS Littlehales (T-AGS 52)
General Characteristics, Pathfinder Class
Builders:
Halter Marine Moss Point, MS
Power Plant:
Diesel-electric; four EMD/Baylor diesel generators; 11, 425 horsepower (8.52 MW); two GE CDF 1944 motors; 8,000 horsepower (5.96 MW) sustained; 6,000 horsepower (4.48 MW); two Lips Z drives; bow thruster, 1,500 horsepower (1.19 MW)
Length, Overall:
328.5 feet (100.13 meters)
Beam:
58 feet (17.68 meters)
Displacement:
4,762 long tons (4,838.42 metric tons) full load
Speed:
16 knots (18.4 mph, 29.63 kph)
Crew:
28 civilians plus 27 scientists
Ships:
USNS Pathfinder (T-AGS 60)
USNS Sumner (T-AGS 61)
USNS Bowditch (T-AGS 62)
USNS Henson (T-AGS 63)
USNS Bruce C. Heezen (T-AGS 64)
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David
Wed August 3, 2005 12:50pm
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Far West
Chartered by the Government for the campaign of 1876, the Far West performed important service in transporting troops, supplies, and dispatches. With Reno's wounded on board, the boat steamed from the mouth of the Bighorn to Bismark, 710 miles, in 54 hours?a record unsurpassed in steamboating on the Upper Missouri.
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David
Fri August 5, 2005 8:17am
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Black Hawk War Military O
Black Hawk War Military Organization Chart
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David
Fri August 26, 2005 1:22pm
Rating: 10
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Declaration of Independen
Declaration of Independence (1776) (The official, signed Declaration of Independence)
Although the section of the Lee Resolution dealing with independence was not adopted until July 2, Congress appointed on June 10 a committee of five to draft a statement of independence for the colonies. The committee included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman, with the actual writing delegated to Jefferson.
Jefferson drafted the statement between June 11 and 28, submitted drafts to Adams and Franklin who made some changes, and then presented the draft to the Congress following the July 2nd adoption of the independence section of the Lee Resolution. The congressional revision process took all of July 3rd and most of July 4th. Finally, in the afternoon of July 4th, the Declaration was adopted.
Under the supervision of the Jefferson committee, the approved Declaration was printed on July 5th and a copy was attached to the "rough journal of the Continental Congress for July 4th." These printed copies, bearing only the names of John Hancock, President, and Charles Thomson, secretary, were distributed to state assemblies, conventions, committees of safety, and commanding officers of the Continental troops.
On July 19th, Congress ordered that the Declaration be engrossed on parchment with a new title, "the unanimous declaration of the thirteen united states of America," and "that the same, when engrossed, be signed by every member of Congress." Engrossing is the process of copying an official document in a large hand. The engrosser of the Declaration was probably Timothy Matlock, an assistant to Charles Thomson, secretary to the Congress.
On August 2nd John Hancock, the President of the Congress, signed the engrossed copy with a bold signature. The other delegates, following custom, signed beginning at the right with the signatures arranged by states from northernmost New Hampshire to southernmost Georgia. Although all delegates were not present on August 2nd, 56 delegates eventually signed the document. Late signers were Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean, and Matthew Thornton, who was unable to place his signature with the other New Hampshire delegates due to a lack of space. Some delegates, including Robert R. Livingston of New York, a member of the drafting committee, never signed the Declaration.
Transcript:
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
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The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton
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David
Fri August 26, 2005 1:23pm
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Declaration of Independen
Declaration of Independence (1776) (The Dunlap Broadside: a printed version of the Declaration that was publicly distributed after the original was created)
Although the section of the Lee Resolution dealing with independence was not adopted until July 2, Congress appointed on June 10 a committee of five to draft a statement of independence for the colonies. The committee included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman, with the actual writing delegated to Jefferson.
Jefferson drafted the statement between June 11 and 28, submitted drafts to Adams and Franklin who made some changes, and then presented the draft to the Congress following the July 2nd adoption of the independence section of the Lee Resolution. The congressional revision process took all of July 3rd and most of July 4th. Finally, in the afternoon of July 4th, the Declaration was adopted.
Under the supervision of the Jefferson committee, the approved Declaration was printed on July 5th and a copy was attached to the "rough journal of the Continental Congress for July 4th." These printed copies, bearing only the names of John Hancock, President, and Charles Thomson, secretary, were distributed to state assemblies, conventions, committees of safety, and commanding officers of the Continental troops.
On July 19th, Congress ordered that the Declaration be engrossed on parchment with a new title, "the unanimous declaration of the thirteen united states of America," and "that the same, when engrossed, be signed by every member of Congress." Engrossing is the process of copying an official document in a large hand. The engrosser of the Declaration was probably Timothy Matlock, an assistant to Charles Thomson, secretary to the Congress.
On August 2nd John Hancock, the President of the Congress, signed the engrossed copy with a bold signature. The other delegates, following custom, signed beginning at the right with the signatures arranged by states from northernmost New Hampshire to southernmost Georgia. Although all delegates were not present on August 2nd, 56 delegates eventually signed the document. Late signers were Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean, and Matthew Thornton, who was unable to place his signature with the other New Hampshire delegates due to a lack of space. Some delegates, including Robert R. Livingston of New York, a member of the drafting committee, never signed the Declaration.
Transcript:
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
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The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton
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David
Tue August 30, 2005 12:41pm
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Northwest Ordinance (1787
Northwest Ordinance (1787)
The Northwest Ordinance, adopted July 13, 1787, by the Second Continental Congress, chartered a government for the Northwest Territory, provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the territory, and listed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory. Following the principles outlined by Thomas Jefferson in the Ordinance of 1784, the authors of the Northwest Ordinance (probably Nathan Dane and Rufus King) spelled out a plan that was subsequently used as the country expanded to the Pacific.
The following three principal provisions were ordained in the document: (1) a division of the Northwest Territory into "not less than three nor more than five States"; (2) a three-stage method for admitting a new state to the Union?with a congressionally appointed governor, secretary, and three judges to rule in the first phase; an elected assembly and one nonvoting delegate to Congress to be elected in the second phase, when the population of the territory reached "five thousand free male inhabitants of full age"; and a state constitution to be drafted and membership to the Union to be requested in the third phase when the population reached 60,000; and (3) a bill of rights protecting religious freedom, the right to a writ of habeas corpus, the benefit of trial by jury, and other individual rights. In addition the ordinance encouraged education and forbade slavery.
Transcript of Northwest Ordinance (1787)
An Ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio.
Section 1. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary government, be one district, subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.
Sec 2. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates, both of resident and nonresident proprietors in the said territory, dying intestate, shall descent to, and be distributed among their children, and the descendants of a deceased child, in equal parts; the descendants of a deceased child or grandchild to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among them: And where there shall be no children or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin in equal degree; and among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased parents' share; and there shall in no case be a distinction between kindred of the whole and half blood; saving, in all cases, to the widow of the intestate her third part of the real estate for life, and one third part of the personal estate; and this law relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her in whom the estate may be (being of full age), and attested by three witnesses; and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed and delivered by the person being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved, and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts, and registers shall be appointed for that purpose; and personal property may be transferred by delivery; saving, however to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, St. Vincents and the neighboring villages who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance, of property.
Sec. 3. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be appointed from time to time by Congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for the term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress; he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein in 1,000 acres of land, while in the exercise of his office.
Sec. 4. There shall be appointed from time to time by Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein in 500 acres of land, while in the exercise of his office. It shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive department, and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings, every six months, to the Secretary of Congress: There shall also be appointed a court to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have each therein a freehold estate in 500 acres of land while in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions shall continue in force during good behavior.
Sec. 5. The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district such laws of the original States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress from time to time: which laws shall be in force in the district until the organization of the General Assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress; but afterwards the Legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
Sec. 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be commander in chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress.
Sec. 7. Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers in each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same: After the general assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties of the magistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated and defined by the said assembly; but all magistrates and other civil officers not herein otherwise directed, shall during the continuance of this temporary government, be appointed by the governor.
Sec. 8. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed from time to time as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties and townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the legislature.
Sec. 9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of full age in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect a representative from their counties or townships to represent them in the general assembly: Provided, That, for every five hundred free male inhabitants, there shall be one representative, and so on progressively with the number of free male inhabitants shall the right of representation increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to twenty five; after which, the number and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the legislature: Provided, That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the same; Provided, also, That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the states, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two years residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative.
Sec. 10. The representatives thus elected, shall serve for the term of two years; and, in case of the death of a representative, or removal from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for which he was a member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term.
Sec. 11. The general assembly or legislature shall consist of the governor, legislative council, and a house of representatives. The Legislative Council shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress; any three of whom to be a quorum: and the members of the Council shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit: As soon as representatives shall be elected, the Governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet together; and, when met, they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names to Congress; five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; and, whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death or removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress; one of whom congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of the term. And every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time of service of the members of council, the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress; five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members of the council five years, unless sooner removed. And the governor, legislative council, and house of representatives, shall have authority to make laws in all cases, for the good government of the district, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for his assent; but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of any force without his assent. The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the general assembly, when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient.
Sec. 12. The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity and of office; the governor before the president of congress, and all other officers before the Governor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and house assembled in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating but not voting during this temporary government.
Sec. 13. And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory: to provide also for the establishment of States, and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal councils on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest:
Sec. 14. It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original States and the people and States in the said territory and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to wit:
Art. 1. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory.
Art. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature; and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land; and, should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud, previously formed.
Art. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall from time to time be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
Art. 4. The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this Confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by Congress according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those districts or new States, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and, in no case, shall nonresident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other States that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor.
Art. 5. There shall be formed in the said territory, not less than three nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession, and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: The western State in the said territory, shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and Wabash Rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due North, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada; and, by the said territorial line, to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line, drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami, to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line: Provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of these three States shall be subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And, whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State government: Provided, the constitution and government so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles; and, so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.
Art. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.
Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions of the 23rd of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby repealed and declared null and void.
Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the 13th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of their soveriegnty and independence the twelfth.
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