by relinquishes and cedes to the State of Georgia, all the right, title, and claim, which the said State of South Carolina hath to the government, sovereignty, and jurisdiction, in and over the same, and also the right of pre-emption of the soil from the native Indians, and all other the estate, property, and claim, which the State of South Carolina hath in or to the said land. ART. 4. The State of Georgia shall not hereafter claim any lands to the northward or northeast ward of the boundary above established; but hereby relinquishes and cedes to the State of South Carolina, all the right, title, and claim, which the said State of Georgia hath to the government, sovereignty, and jurisdiction, in and over the same; and also the right of pre-emption of the soil from the native Indians, and all other of the estate, property, and claim, which the State of Georgia hath in or to the said lands. A general assembly was ordered in 1755. A convention assembled at Savannah, October 1, 1776, in conformity with the recommendations of the Continental Congress, and proceeded to organize a State government. They passed a constitution, which was unanimously adopted February 5, 1777. A second constitution was framed by a convention which met at Augusta November 4, 1788, but it was not ratified until January 4, 1789, and by a convention elected for that purpose, which met at Augusta. In the mean time, viz, on January 2, 1788, she had adopted the Constitution of the United States, and thereby was admitted into the Union The State of Georgia became the successor to the Crown and to the ownership and disposition of unappropriated and unoccupied public lands therein. Those lying to the west of her present western boundary she ceded to the United States April 24, 1802, and they now constitute portions of the States of Alabama and Mississippi. AUTHORITIES UNDER THIS CHAPTER. For list of names of all governors (proprietary, crown, and state) of the thirteen colonies and States, see "Lanman's Biographical Annals of Civil Government of United States," pages 569-571. Bancroft's History of the United States, vols. 1 to 10. Charters and Constitutions of the United States; edited by Ben. Perley Poore. Wheeler's History of North Carolina. Land Laws of the United States; compiled by Albert Gallatin, 1810-'17. Land Laws of the United States; compiled by Mathew St. Clair Clarke, 1827. Lord's History of the United States. Laws of the United States; Brown & Duane's edition, vol. 1. Statutes at Large of the United States; Little, Brown & Co., publishers. Story on the Constitution. Hickey's Constitution of the United States; Alex. Cumming's revision. Palfrey's History of New England. CHAPTER III. ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND CESSIONS OF LANDS THERETO BY SEVERAL STATES OF THE UNION. CESSIONS FROM MARCH 1, 1781, TO APRIL 24, 1802. The preceding chapter states the title of Great Britain to the territory and lands held by the Crown and by the several colonies in America, under and by virtue of grants and charters from the British Government. By this chapter will be shown the process of formation of the Government of the United States and how the colonies of England in America became free and independent States by Declaration of Independence, subsequently recognized and confirmed by the Government of Great Britain in the definitive treaty of peace with the United States, September 3, 1783, at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War; how the colonies became the United States of America under an act of confederation, and afterwards adopted a Constitution making a more perfect union and a more permanent form of national government under an organic law. The States, July 4, 1776, becoming successors to the colonies and crown rights to unappropriated or crown lands lying to the westward of their, at that time, recognized western boundaries, the States possessing such lands severally transferred them by deeds of cession to the United States, to be disposed of for the benefit of all the people, forming the first of the public domain. PRELIMINARY STEPS TOWARD UNION OF THE COLONIES. In 1643, the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven formed a league which existed for forty years under regular form and with a congress of delegates. A congress of governors and commissioners of colonies was held at Albany, N. Y., in 1722, and a congress of colonial commissioners from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennyslvania and Maryland, met in Albany, N. Y., in 1754. They resolved that a union of the colonies was absolutely necessary for their protection and preservation. A plan was proposed, but not adopted, for a federal government. October 7, 1765, delegates from nine colonies assembled in a congress at New York City, and considered and adopted a "Declaration of Rights" on the question of taxation, stating in unmistakable terms that the American colonists, as Englishmen, could not and would not consent to be taxed but by their own representatives. Taxation involves the highest attribute of sovereignty, and the colonists were considering the subject in reference to their own rights and privileges. On the 5th of September, 1774, delegates from eleven of the colonies met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia. They adopted addresses to the King, to the English nation, 56 and also to the people of Canada, together with a resolution recommending the suspension of commercial intercourse with Great Britain until the wrongs of the colonies should be redressed. By the "association" then formed, delegates from the same were given authority to consult and act for the common welfare. "Consultation by authority of communities, formed into a compact in reference to subjects relating to the common good, involves the idea of sovereignty, and is a practical exercise of its power." On the 10th of May, 1775, the second Colonial Congress of delegates from thirteen colonies assembled in Philadelphia, according to recommendations of the first, and among the things done by the delegates was to give their reasons for an appeal to arms and to vote to raise twenty thousand men and the means to support them, upon an equitable basis between the thirteen colonies respectively. On Tuesday, July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia Resolved, 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 a committee was raised to draft a Declaration of Independence. On Thursday, July 4, 1776, in the State-house at Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, Congress adopted "a Declaration of Independence by the Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, to be signed by the members from the several States," which was signed by fifty-six members. From the first meeting of the league in 1643 to the final act at Philadelphia, July 4, 1776, was one hundred and thirty years-a period of constant struggle and clash with the British Crown. The Congress of 1776 passed a resolution recommending certain States to call conventions of the people to establish a form of government, viz, New Hampshire, Virginia, and South Carolina. On Monday, September 9, 1776, Congress Resolved, That in all continental commissions, and other instruments, where, heretofore, the words "United Colonies" have been used, the style be altered, for the future, to the United States. ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. On Saturday, November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation and perpetual union of the United States of America were adopted by the delegates of the thirteen original States in Congress assembled, subject to the ratification of the respective States. These articles were ratified by eight States on July 9, 1778, viz, by New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina, by their delegates in Congress; by one State on July 21, 1778, viz, North Carolina; by one State on July 24, 1778, viz, Georgia; by one State on November 26, 1778, viz, New Jersey; by one State on February 22, 1779, viz, Delaware (Mr. J. Dickinson and Mr. Van Dyke signed the articles for Delaware May 5, 1779, and Mr. McKean signed them for her February 22, 1779, at which time he produced a power authorizing him so to do); by one State on March 1, 1781, viz, Maryland. The ratification was completed March 1, 1781, by the action of Maryland. Congress, under these articles, exercised full powers of Government until March 4, 1789, a period of eight years, and until the Constitution went into operation and su perseded the Articles of Confederation. The defects of the government under the Confederation were so glaring, and its system so unequal and inefficient in its operation, that amendment or change was demanded, and a series of movements looking to this end began in Congress on Saturday, February 3, 1781, and running through several years, ended Saturday, September 13, 1788. MEETING OF COMMISSIONERS AT ANNAPOLIS. At the suggestion of the legislature of Virginia, under a resolution offered by James Madison, and adopted January 21, 1783, inviting all the States to send commissioners to meet at some place to be agreed upon "to take into consideration the trade of the United States, to examine the relative situation and trade of the said States, and to consider how far a uniform system, in their commercial regulations may be necessary to their common interest and their permanent harmony," a convention was called which met at Annapolis, Md., Monday, September 11, 1786. Four States besides Virginia were represented in said convention, viz, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. On Thursday, September 14, 1786, the convention heard read a draft reported from a committee, drawn by Alexander Hamilton, a delegate from New York, which it adopted and signed. The convention then adjourned without date. Accompanying the report referred to was a resolution recommending the calling of "a general convention of all the States, to meet at Philadelphia in May, 1787, to take into consideration the situation of the United States, and to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the Constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union." This resolution, with the report or address of the convention, was sent to the governors of all the States for adoption or rejection. John Dickinson, of Delaware, presented it to Congress, which took it into consideration on the 21st of February, 1787. THE CONSTITUTION. A committee, Mr. Dane, chairman, reported to Congress upon the Annapolis report and memorial, and recommended the calling of a constitutional convention and the sending of delegates by the legislatures of all the States to the same, to be held at Philadelphia on the second Monday of May, 1787, under the following resolution, viz: Resolved, That in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient, that, on the second Monday in May next, a convention of delegates, who shall have been appointed by the several States, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, and reporting to Congress and the several legislatures, such alterations and provisions therein, as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the States, render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government, and the preservation of the Union. Adopted February 21, 1787. THE CONVENTION TO FORM THE CONSTITUTION. May 25, 1737, seven States being present by their delegates at Philadelphia, Pa., the convention was organized by the election of George Washington, a delegate from Virginia, as president, and the sessions began. On Monday, September 17, 1787, the Constitution was engrossed and signed by all the members present save three. The president of the convention transmitted it to Congress (sitting at Philadelphia, Pa.), with a communication stating how the proposed government should be put in operation under the Constitution when adopted by the votes of nine States. ACTION OF CONGRESS ON THE SAME, SEPTEMBER 28, 1787. Congress having received the report of the convention lately assembled in Philadelphia Resolved unanimously, That the said report, with the resolutions and letter accompanying the same, be transmitted to the several legislatures, in order to be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each State by the people thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the convention, made and provided in that case. RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. The States respectively called conventions, and the Constitution having been submitted to them, was ratified, as follows: State of Delaware, December 7, 1787. State of Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787. State of New Jersey, December 18, 1787. State of Georgia, January 2, 1788. State of Connecticut, January 9, 1788. State of Massachusetts, February 6, 1788. State of New Hampshire, June 21, 1788. State of New York, July 26, 1788. North Carolina ratified November 21, 1789, and Rhode Island May 29, 1790. More than nine States having ratified the Constitution, Congress, at New York, on the 13th of September, 1789, declared the same ratified. CONGRESS PROCEEDS TO ORGANIZE THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE CONSTITUTION, SEPTEMBER 13, 1789. On the question to agree to the following proposition, it was resolved in the affirmative by the unanimous votes of nine States, viz, of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia: Whereas the convention assembled in Philadelphia, pursuant to the resolution of Congress of the 21st of February, 1787, did, on the 17th of September in the same year, report to the United States in Congress assembled, a Constitution for the people of the United States; whereupon, Congress, on the 28th of the same September, did resolve unanimously, "That the said report, with the resolutions and letter accompanying the same, be transmitted to the several legislatures, in order to be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each State by the people thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the convention made and provided in that case:" and whereas the Constitution so reported by the convention, and by Congress transmitted to the several legislatures, has been ratified in the manner therein declared to be sufficient for the establishment of the same, and such ratifications duly authenticated have been received by Congress, and are filed in the office of the secretary; therefore, Resolved, That the first Wednesday in January next, be the day for appointing electors in the several States, which before the said day shall have ratified the said Constitution; that the first Wednesday in February next, be the day for the electors to assemble in their respective States, and vote for a President, and that the first Wednesday in March next, be the time, and the present seat of Congress the place, for commencing proceedings under the said Constitution. THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT GOES INTO OPERATION UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. The election for electors was held on the day appointed, and at the city of New York, March 4, 1789, a meeting of Congress was held, but no quorum was present in the Senate until April 6th following, upon which day the electoral vote was counted, and George Washington, of Virginia, and John Adams, of Massachusetts, were declared to be duly elected, respectively, President and Vice-President of the United States. On April 21, 1789, John Adams was inaugurated Vice-President, and on April 30, 1789, George Washington was inaugurated President of the United States. THE UNITED STATES BECOMES SUCCESSOR TO THE UNAPPROPRIATED CROWN LANDS BY TREATY AND CESSION. The Government thus organized became proprietor or lord paramount of the public domain, receiving, as the successor of the Confederation, public lands held by it under cessions from New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut (partial), and South |