The fifteenth amendment was proposed in 1869, and ratified in 1870.

The propositions of amendments have thus far been made by congress, and all ratifications have been made by the state legislatures.

Pertinent Questions.

State four ways in which the constitution may be amended. What temporary limitation was placed upon the power to amend the constitution? What permanent prohibition? How is the English constitution amended? In what case must congress call a convention to propose amendments? Must the convention thus called propose any amendments? Which is the better of the two ways of proposing amendments? When an amendment is proposed by two thirds of both houses of congress, is it necessary to secure the approval of the president? Can a state withdraw its ratification of an amendment? When is an amendment, once proposed, dead? Did it take threefourths of all the states or only three-fourths of the loyal states to ratify the thirteenth amendment? How many of the disloyal states finally ratified it? How is the ratification and consequent validity of any proposed amendment made known?

CHAPTER XXVII.

ARTICLE VI.-MISCELLANEOUS.

Clause 1.-Prior Debts and Engagements.

All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this constitution as under the confederation.

The debts were incurred and the engagements were entered into by the United States, and changing the form of government would not release the country from its obligations. The insertion of this provision how

ever, served as an explicit statement of the purpose of the government to live up to its engagements.

Clause 2.-National Supremacy.

This constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.

This provision settles definitely, and in what would seem to be unmistakable terms, the question of supremacy, about which so much discussion has been carried on. Within its sphere, within the limitations placed upon it by the constitution itself, the national government has the supremacy over any and all state governments.

Clause 3.-Oath of Office.

The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this constitution;1 but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.2

'The first law passed by congress under the constitution was an act prescribing the form of the oath required by the provision above. It is as follows: "I, A. B., do solemnly swear, or affirm (as the case may be), that I will support the constitution of the United States."

2 In all other countries at the time of the adoption of this constitution eligibility to public office was limited to members of the established church of the country. This constitution set the example of abolishing religious tests for public office, and the wisdom of this is so apparent that it has been followed entirely or in part by many of the civilized nations.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

ARTICLE VII.—RATIFICATION OF THIS CONSTITUTION.

The ratification of the conventions of nine states shall be sufficient for the establishment of this constitution between the states so ratifying the same.

Nine states made two-thirds of the entire number. Eleven states ratified the constitution within nine months of the time of its submission to them. As soon as nine states had ratified, congress made arrangements for putting the new form of government into operation.

The mode of ratification herein specified ignored the existence of the articles of confederation, and in specifying this mode the convention disregarded the instructions of the congress which called it. The congress had expressly provided that the work of the convention should be submitted to the congress and the state legislatures for approval. But this provision places the power to ratify in the hands of conventions elected by the people in the several states, which arrangement is in harmony with the opening words of the preamble.

Pertinent Questions.

What is the recognized law of nations in regard to the payment of the debts of a nation when it changes its form of government? If England should become a republic would this rule apply? Does it apply when a territory becomes a state? Were the debts of the confederation paid? How? What was the amount of the debt of the United States at the time of the adoption of the constitution? What is the value of the notes and bonds of the "Confederate States of America"? Why?

Which is sovereign, the nation or the individual states? Where else are there any provisions which teach the__same thing? Why should judges be specially mentioned in VI. 2? What department of the government makes treaties? Are they binding upon the other departments? Upon the several states? Can a state nullify an act of congress? Has any state ever tried to do so?

Why are state officers bound to support the constitution of the United States? Is the requirement to take the "oath of office" a religious test? Why is the choice of oath or affirmation given? What was the iron-clad oath?

Would the ratification of the constitution by nine states have made it binding upon the other four? The articles of confederation required the consent of all the states to any amendment to them; by what right was this constitution adopted against the wishes of Rhode Island and North Carolina? If those two states had persisted in their refusal to ratify the constitution, what would have been their relations to the United States? Justify your answer.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE AMENDMENTS.

We have now considered the constitution about as it was presented to the states for ratification. Judging by our own affection for the noble instrument we would expect to learn that it was ratified promptly and unanimously. But, as a matter of fact, much hard work was required on the part of its friends to secure its ratification. Its every provision had to be explained and

Justified.. Probably the most able exposition was made by Hamilton, Madison and Jay, in a series of papers entitled, "The Federalist."

One of the greatest objections urged against the constitution was that it did not guarantee sufficiently the rights of individuals. It will be remembered in this connection that the principal grievance against England, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, was that personal rights had not been respected; and that, in consequence, the first form of government organized after independence, The Articles of Confederation, gave the general government no power to reach individuals. Experience showed this to have been a mistake, and the constitution authorizes the general government to execute its laws directly, enabling it to hold individuals responsible. On account of this re-enlargement of power, many people honestly feared that the new government might trespass upon personal rights as England had done. And several states at the time of ratifying suggested the propriety of so amending the constitution as to remove these fears.

In accordance with these recommendations, amendments were proposed at the first session of congress. The house of representatives proposed seventeen, to twelve of which the senate agreed. Only ten, however, were ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states. They are, of course, the first ten among those that follow. It was decided by the same congress that the amendments should not be incorporated into the main body of the constitution, but should be appended to it as distinct articles. They have, however, the same force as the original constitution.