458
Defending the Constitution
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 of voting during this temporary government.
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:
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:
Article the first. 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.
Article the second. 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, 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.