Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the States of New
Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
ARTICLE 1.–The style of this Confederacy shall be, "The United States
of America."
ART. II.–Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence,
and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this
Confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress
assembled.
ART. III.–The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of
friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of
their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding
themselves to assist each other against all force offered to, or attacks
made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty,
trade, or any other pretense whatever.
ART. IV.–The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and
intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union, the
free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds, and
fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and
immunities of free citizens in the several States; and the people of
each State shall have free ingress and egress to and from any other
State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce
subject to the same duties, impositions, and restrictions as the
inhabitants thereof respectively; provided that such restrictions shall
not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported into
any State to any other State of which the Owner is an inhabitant;
provided also, that no imposition, duties, or restriction shall be laid
by any State on the property of the United States or either of them. If
any person guilty of, or charged with, treason, felony, or other high
misdemeanor in any State shall flee from justice and be found in any of
the United States, he shall, upon demand of the governor or executive
power of the States from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to
the State having jurisdiction of his offense. Full faith and credit
shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts, and
judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other State.
ART. V.–For the more convenient management of the general interests of
the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner
as the Legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on
the first Monday in November in every year with a power reserved to each
State to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time within the
year, and to send others in their stead for the remainder of the year.
No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by more
than seven members; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate
for more than three years in any term of six years; nor shall any
person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under the
United States for which he, or another for his benefit, receives any
salary, fees, or emolument of any kind. Each State shall maintain its
own delegates in any meeting of the States and while they act as members
of the Committee of the States. In determining questions in the United
States in Congress assembled, each State shall have one vote. Freedom of
speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or questioned in
any court or place out of Congress; and the members of Congress shall be
protected in their persons from arrest and imprisonment during the time
of their going to and from, and attendance on, Congress, except for
treason, felony, or breach of the peace.
ART. VI.–No State, without the consent of the United States, in
Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy
from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance, or treaty with
any king, prince, or state; nor shall any person holding any office of
profit or trust under the United States, or any of them, accept of any
present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from any king,
prince, or foreign state; nor shall the United States, in Congress
assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility.
No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation, or
alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the United
States, in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for
which the same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue.
No State shall lay any imposts or duties which may interfere with any
stipulations in treaties entered into by the United States, in Congress
assembled, with any king, prince, or state, in pursuance of any treaties
already proposed by Congress to the courts of France and Spain.
No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any State, except
such number only as shall be deemed necessary by the United States, in
Congress assembled, for the defense of such State or its trade, nor
shall any body of forces be kept up by any State in time of peace,
except such number only as, in the judgment of the United States, in
Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts
necessary for the defense of such State; but every State shall always
keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and
accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use in
public stores a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a proper
quantity of arms, ammunition, and camp equipage.
No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the United
States, in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded by
enemies, or shall have received certain advice of a resolution being
formed by some nation of Indians to invade such State, and the danger is
so imminent as not to admit of a delay till the United States, in
Congress assembled, can be consulted; nor shall any State grant
commissions to any ships or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or
reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war by the United States,
in Congress assembled, and then only against the kingdom or state, and
the subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and under
such regulations as shall be established by the United States, in
Congress assembled, unless such State be infested by pirates, in which
case vessels of war may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept so
long as the danger shall continue, or until the United States, in
Congress assembled, shall determine otherwise.
ART. VII.–When land forces are raised by any State for the common
defense, all officers of or under the rank of Colonel shall be appointed
by the Legislature of each State respectively by whom such forces shall
be raised, or in such manner as such State shall direct, and all
vacancies shall be filled up by the State which first made the
appointment.
ART. VIII.–All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be
incurred for the common defense, or general welfare, and allowed by the
United States, in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common
treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States in proportion to
the value of all land within each State, granted to, or surveyed for,
any person, as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon
shall be estimated, according to such mode as the United States, in
Congress assembled, shall, from time to time, direct and appoint. The
taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the
authority and direction of the Legislatures of the several States,
within the time agreed upon by the United States, in Congress assembled.
ART. IX.–The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have the sole
and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, except in
the cases mentioned in the sixth Article; of sending and receiving
ambassadors; entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no
treaty of commerce shall be made, whereby the legislative power of the
respective States shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and
duties on foreigners as their own people are subjected to, or from
prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods or
commodities whatever; of establishing rules for deciding, in all cases,
what captures on land and water shall be legal, and in what manner
prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United States
shall be divided or appropriated; of granting letters of marque and
reprisal in times of peace; appointing courts for the trial of piracies
and felonies committed on the high seas; and establishing courts for
receiving and determining finally appeals in all cases of captures;
provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge of any of
the said courts.
The United States, in Congress assembled, shall also be the last resort
on appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting, or that
hereafter may arise between two or more States concerning boundary,
jurisdiction, or any other cause whatever; which authority shall always
be exercised in the manner following: Whenever the legislative or
executive authority, or lawful agent of any State in controversy with
another, shall present a petition to Congress, stating the matter in
question, and praying for a hearing, notice thereof shall be given by
order of Congress to the legislative or executive authority of the other
State in controversy, and a day assigned for the appearance of the
parties by their lawful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint,
by joint consent, commissioners or judges to constitute a court for
hearing and determining the matter in question; but if they cannot
agree, Congress shall name three persons out of each of the United
States, and from the list of such persons each party shall alternately
strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the number shall be
reduced to thirteen; and from that number not less than seven nor more
than nine names, as Congress shall direct, shall, in the presence of
Congress, be drawn out by lot; and the persons whose names shall be so
drawn, or any five of them, shall be commissioners or judges, to hear
and finally determine the controversy, so always as a major part of the
judges who shall hear the cause shall agree in the determination; and if
either party shall neglect to attend at the day appointed, without
showing reasons which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present,
shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate three
persons out of each State, and the secretary of Congress shall strike in
behalf of such party absent or refusing; and the judgment and sentence
of the Court, to be appointed in the manner before prescribed, shall be
final and conclusive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit
to the authority of such Court, or to appear or defend their claim or
cause, the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence or
judgment, which shall in like manner be final and decisive; the judgment
or sentence and other proceedings being in either case transmitted to
Congress, and lodged among the acts of Congress for the security of the
parties concerned; provided, that every commissioner, before he sits in
judgment, shall take an oath, to be administered by one of the judges of
the supreme or superior court of the State where the cause shall be
tried, "well and truly to hear and determine the matter in question,
according to the best of his judgment, without favor, affection, or hope
of reward." Provided, also, that no State shall be deprived of territory
for the benefit of the United States.
All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed under
different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdictions, as they may
respect such lands, and the States which passed such grants are
adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the same time
claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement of
jurisdiction, shall, on the petition of either party to the Congress of
the United States, be finally determined, as near as may be, in the same
manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes respecting
territorial jurisdiction between different States.
The United States, in Congress assembled, shall also have the sole and
exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin
struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective States;
fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the United
States; regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians,
not members of any of the States; provided that the legislative right of
any State, within its own limits, be not infringed or violated;
establishing and regulating post offices from one State to another,
throughout all the United States, and exacting such postage on the
papers passing through the same as may be requisite to defray the
expenses of the said office; appointing all officers of the land forces
in the service of the United States, excepting regimental officers;
appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and commissioning all
officers whatever in the service of the United States; making rules for
the government and regulation of the said land and naval forces, and
directing their operations.
The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have authority to
appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated
"A Committee of the States," and to consist of one delegate from each
State, and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be
necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States under
their direction; to appoint one of their number to preside; provided
that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than
one year in any term of three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of
money to be raised for the service of the United States, and to
appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses; to
borrow money or emit bills on the credit of the United States,
transmitting every half year to the respective States an account of the
sums of money so borrowed or emitted; to build and equip a navy; to
agree upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions from each
State for its quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in
such State, which requisition shall be binding; and thereupon the
Legislature of each State shall appoint the regimental officers, raise
the men, and clothe, arm, and equip them in a soldier-like manner, at
the expense of the United States; and the officers and men so clothed,
armed, and equipped shall march to the place appointed, and within the
time agreed on by the United States, in Congress assembled; but if the
United States, in Congress assembled, shall, on consideration of
circumstances, judge proper that any State should not raise men, or
should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any other State
should raise a greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra
number shall be raised, officered, clothed, armed, and equipped in the
same manner as the quota of such State, unless the Legislature of such
State shall judge that such extra number can not be safely spared out of
the same, in which case they shall raise, officer, clothe, arm, and
equip as many of such extra number as they judge can be safely spared,
and the officers and men so clothed, armed, and equipped shall march to
the place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States,
in Congress assembled.
The United States, in Congress assembled, shall never engage in a war,
nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter
into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the value
thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses necessary for the defense
and welfare of the United States, or any of them, nor emit bills, nor
borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money,
nor agree upon the number of vessels of war to be built or purchased, or
the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander
in chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the same, nor
shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning from day to
day, be determined, unless by the votes of a majority of the United
States, in Congress assembled.
The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any
time within the year, and to any place within the United States, so that
no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of six
months, and shall publish the journal of their proceedings monthly,
except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances, or military
operations as in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays
of the delegates of each State, on any question, shall be entered on the
journal when it is desired by any delegate; and the delegates of a
State, or any of them, at his or their request, shall be furnished with
a transcript of the said journal except such parts as are above
excepted, to lay before the Legislatures of the several States.
ART. X.–The Committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be
authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of
Congress as the United States, in Congress assembled, by the consent of
nine States, shall, from time to time, think expedient to vest them
with; provided that no power be delegated to the said Committee, for the
exercise of which, by the Articles of Confederation, the voice of nine
States in the Congress of the United States assembled is requisite.
ART. XI.–Canada, acceding to this Confederation, and joining in the
measures of the United States shall be admitted into, and entitled to
all the advantages of this Union; but no other colony shall be admitted
into the same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine States.
ART. XII.–All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, and debts
contracted by or under the authority of Congress, before the assembling
of the United States, in pursuance of the present Confederation, shall
be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States, for
payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States and the public
faith are hereby solemnly pledged.
ART. XIII.–Every State shall abide by the determinations of the United
States, in Congress assembled, on all questions which by this
Confederation are submitted to them. And the Articles of this
Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union
shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be
made in any of them, unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress
of the United Stares, and be afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of
every State.
AND WHEREAS it hath pleased the great Governor of the world to incline
the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent in Congress to
approve of, and to authorize us to ratify, the said Articles of
Confederation and perpetual Union, know ye, that we, the undersigned
delegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for that
purpose, do, by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our
respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and
every of the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union, and all
and singular the matters and things therein contained. And we do further
solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents,
that they shall abide by the determinations of the United States, in
Congress assembled, on all questions which by the said Confederation are
submitted to them; and that the Articles thereof shall be inviolably
observed by the States we respectively represent, and that the Union
shall be perpetual. In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands
in Congress. Done at Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, the
ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord 1778, and in the third year
of the Independence of America.