Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2009
(Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)


111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1385 EH

AN ACT
Sponsor: Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] (introduced 3/9/2009)  
To extend Federal recognition to the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe--Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe, Inc., the Monacan Indian Nation, and the Nansemond Indian Tribe.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

…
TITLE I--CHICKAHOMINY INDIAN TRIBE
SEC. 101. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) in 1607, when the English settlers set shore along the Virginia coastline, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe was 1 of about 30 tribes that received them;
(2) in 1614, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe entered into a treaty with Sir Thomas Dale, Governor of the Jamestown Colony, under which--
(A) the Chickahominy Indian Tribe agreed to provide 2 bushels of corn per man and send warriors to protect the English; and
(B) Sir Thomas Dale agreed in return to allow the Tribe to continue to practice its own tribal governance;
(3) in 1646, a treaty was signed which forced the Chickahominy from their homeland to the area around the York Mattaponi River in present-day King William County, leading to the formation of a reservation;
(4) in 1677, following Bacon's Rebellion, the Queen of Pamunkey signed the Treaty of Middle Plantation on behalf of the Chickahominy;
(5) in 1702, the Chickahominy were forced from their reservation, which caused the loss of a land base;
(6) in 1711, the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg established a grammar school for Indians called Brafferton College;
(7) a Chickahominy child was 1 of the first Indians to attend Brafferton College;
(8) in 1750, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe began to migrate from King William County back to the area around the Chickahominy River in New Kent and Charles City Counties;
(9) in 1793, a Baptist missionary named Bradby took refuge with the Chickahominy and took a Chickahominy woman as his wife;
(10) in 1831, the names of the ancestors of the modern-day Chickahominy Indian Tribe began to appear in the Charles City County census records;
(11) in 1901, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe formed Samaria Baptist Church;
(12) from 1901 to 1935, Chickahominy men were assessed a tribal tax so that their children could receive an education;
(13) the Tribe used the proceeds from the tax to build the first Samaria Indian School, buy supplies, and pay a teacher's salary;
(14) in 1919, C. Lee Moore, Auditor of Public Accounts for Virginia, told Chickahominy Chief O.W. Adkins that he had instructed the Commissioner of Revenue for Charles City County to record Chickahominy tribal members on the county tax rolls as Indian, and not as white or colored;
(15) during the period of 1920 through 1930, various Governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia wrote letters of introduction for Chickahominy Chiefs who had official business with Federal agencies in Washington, DC;
(16) in 1934, Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins wrote to John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, requesting money to acquire land for the Chickahominy Indian Tribe's use, to build school, medical, and library facilities and to buy tractors, implements, and seed;
(17) in 1934, John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, wrote to Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins, informing him that Congress had passed the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as the `Indian Reorganization Act') (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.), but had not made the appropriation to fund the Act;
(18) in 1942, Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins wrote to John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, asking for help in getting the proper racial designation on Selective Service records for Chickahominy soldiers;
(19) in 1943, John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, asked Douglas S. Freeman, editor of the Richmond News-Leader newspaper of Richmond, Virginia, to help Virginia Indians obtain proper racial designation on birth records;
(20) Collier stated that his office could not officially intervene because it had no responsibility for the Virginia Indians, `as a matter largely of historical accident', but was `interested in them as descendants of the original inhabitants of the region';
(21) in 1948, the Veterans' Education Committee of the Virginia State Board of Education approved Samaria Indian School to provide training to veterans;
(22) that school was established and run by the Chickahominy Indian Tribe;
(23) in 1950, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe purchased and donated to the Charles City County School Board land to be used to build a modern school for students of the Chickahominy and other Virginia Indian tribes;
(24) the Samaria Indian School included students in grades 1 through 8;
(25) in 1961, Senator Sam Ervin, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, requested Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins to provide assistance in analyzing the status of the constitutional rights of Indians `in your area';
(26) in 1967, the Charles City County school board closed Samaria Indian School and converted the school to a countywide primary school as a step toward full school integration of Indian and non-Indian students;
(27) in 1972, the Charles City County school board began receiving funds under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 458aa et seq.) on behalf of Chickahominy students, which funding is provided as of the date of enactment of this Act under title V of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 458aaa et seq.);
(28) in 1974, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe bought land and built a tribal center using monthly pledges from tribal members to finance the transactions;
(29) in 1983, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe was granted recognition as an Indian tribe by the Commonwealth of Virginia, along with 5 other Indian tribes; and
(30) in 1985, Governor Gerald Baliles was the special guest at an intertribal Thanksgiving Day dinner hosted by the Chickahominy Indian Tribe.

SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of the Interior.
(2) TRIBAL MEMBER- The term `tribal member' means--
(A) an individual who is an enrolled member of the Tribe as of the date of enactment of this Act; and
(B) an individual who has been placed on the membership rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this title.
(3) TRIBE- The term `Tribe' means the Chickahominy Indian Tribe.

SEC. 103. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.
(a) Federal Recognition-
(1) IN GENERAL- Federal recognition is extended to the Tribe.
(2) APPLICABILITY OF LAWS- All laws (including regulations) of the United States of general applicability to Indians or nations, Indian tribes, or bands of Indians (including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.)) that are not inconsistent with this title shall be applicable to the Tribe and tribal members.
(b) Federal Services and Benefits-
(1) IN GENERAL- On and after the date of enactment of this Act, the Tribe and tribal members shall be eligible for all services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to federally recognized Indian tribes without regard to the existence of a reservation for the Tribe.
(2) SERVICE AREA- For the purpose of the delivery of Federal services to tribal members, the service area of the Tribe shall be considered to be the area comprised of New Kent County, James City County, Charles City County, and Henrico County, Virginia.

SEC. 104. MEMBERSHIP; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.
The membership roll and governing documents of the Tribe shall be the most recent membership roll and governing documents, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to the Secretary before the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 105. GOVERNING BODY.
The governing body of the Tribe shall be--
(1) the governing body of the Tribe in place as of the date of enactment of this Act; or
(2) any subsequent governing body elected in accordance with the election procedures specified in the governing documents of the Tribe.

SEC. 106. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE.
(a) In General- Upon the request of the Tribe, the Secretary of the Interior--
(1) shall take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any land held in fee by the Tribe that was acquired by the Tribe on or before January 1, 2007, if such lands are located within the boundaries of New Kent County, James City County, Charles City County, or Henrico County, Virginia; and
(2) may take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any land held in fee by the Tribe, if such lands are located within the boundaries of New Kent County, James City County, Charles City County, or Henrico County, Virginia.
(b) Deadline for Determination- The Secretary shall make a final written determination not later than three years of the date which the Tribe submits a request for land to be taken into trust under subsection (a)(2) and shall immediately make that determination available to the Tribe.
(c) Reservation Status- Any land taken into trust for the benefit of the Tribe pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon request of the Tribe, be considered part of the reservation of the Tribe.
(d) Gaming- The Tribe may not conduct gaming activities as a matter of claimed inherent authority or under the authority of any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) or under any regulations thereunder promulgated by the Secretary or the National Indian Gaming Commission.

SEC. 107. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND WATER RIGHTS.
Nothing in this title expands, reduces, or affects in any manner any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water rights of the Tribe and members of the Tribe.

SEC. 108. JURISDICTION OF COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA.
(a) In General- The Commonwealth of Virginia shall exercise jurisdiction over--
(1) all criminal offenses that are committed on; and
(2) all civil actions that arise on,
lands located within the Commonwealth of Virginia that are owned by, or held in trust by the United States for, the Tribe.
(b) Acceptance of State Jurisdiction by Secretary- The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept on behalf of the United States, after consulting with the Attorney General of the United States, all or any portion of the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Virginia described in subsection (a) upon verification by the Secretary of a certification by a tribe that it possesses the capacity to reassume such jurisdiction.

What Criteria Must Be Met for Federal Recognition of Tribal Status?

Testimony of Theresa Rosier Counselor to the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs U.S. Department of the Interior at the Hearing Before the Committee on Government Reform U.S. House of Representatives on the Federal Acknowledgment Process

May 5, 2004

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. My name is Theresa Rosier and I am the Counselor to the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs. I am pleased to be here today to speak on behalf of the Department of the Interior about the Federal acknowledgment process, recent improvements to this process, and other potential improvements that can be made to promote clarity, transparency and efficiency in acknowledgment decisions. I understand this issue is of importance to this Committee. On April 22, 2004, H.R. 4213 was introduced and cosponsored by Mr. Shays. That bill would codify the criteria established at 25 C.F.R. Part 83, and repeal certain exemptions for former federal officers and employees representing Indian tribes.

The Federal acknowledgment regulations, known as Procedures for Establishing that an American Indian Group Exists as an Indian Tribe, [25 C.F.R. Part 83], govern the Department’s administrative process for determining which groups are Indian tribes within the meaning of Federal law. The Department’s regulations are intended to apply to groups that can establish a substantially continuous tribal existence and, which have functioned as autonomous entities throughout history until the present. See 25 C.F.R. Sections 83.3(a) and 83.7. When the Department acknowledges an Indian tribe, it is acknowledging that an inherent sovereign continues to exist. The Department is not granting sovereign status or powers to the group, nor creating a tribe made up of Indian descendants.

Under the Department’s regulations, in order to meet this standard, petitioning groups must demonstrate that they meet each of seven mandatory criteria. The petitioner must:
(1) Demonstrate that it has been identified as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1900;
(2) Show that a predominant portion of the petitioning group comprises a distinct community and has existed as a community from historical times until the present;
(3) Demonstrate that it has maintained political influence or authority over its members as an autonomous entity from historical times until the present;
(4) Provide a copy of the group’s present governing document including its membership criteria;
(5) Demonstrate that its membership consists of individuals who descend from the historical Indian tribe or from historical Indian tribes that combined and functioned as a single autonomous political entity and provide a current membership list;
(6) Show that the membership of the petitioning group is composed principally of persons who are not members of any acknowledged North American Indian tribe; and
(7) Demonstrate that neither the petitioner nor its members are the subject of congressional legislation that has expressly terminated or forbidden the Federal relationship.

A criterion is considered met if the available evidence establishes a reasonable likelihood of the validity of the facts relating to that criterion.

For the past few years, Congress has considered legislation almost annually to modify the criteria for groups seeking acknowledgment as Indian tribes or to remove the process altogether from the Department. Although the Department supports the current Federal acknowledgement criteria, we do recognize that improvements could be made to encourage more timely decisions and increased transparency. Generally, the Department is supportive of legislation that maintains the criteria established by 25 C.F.R. Part 83 and that promotes increased integrity, transparency and time sensitivity to the federal recognition process.

The Federal acknowledgement process is implemented by the Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA), formerly the Branch of Acknowledgment and Research. OFA is staffed with a director, a secretary, three anthropologists, three genealogists, and three historians. There is a high volume of work within this office. The current workload consists of nine petitions on active consideration and 13 fully documented petitions that are ready, waiting for active consideration. The administrative records for some completed petitions have been in excess of 30,000 pages. There are 213 groups that have submitted only letters of intent or partial documentation. These groups are not ready for evaluation and require technical assistance. Two final determinations representing three petitioners are under review at the Interior Board of Indian Appeals in response to requests for reconsideration. In addition, there are currently four lawsuits directly involving Federal acknowledgment or the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) related to Federal acknowledgment.

Recent Improvements in the Federal Recognition Process

In November of 2001, the General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report entitled Indian Issues:

Improvements Needed in the Federal Recognition Process. The two primary findings made by the GAO in this report are that the Federal acknowledgement decision making process is not transparent nor is it equipped to respond in a timely manner. In response to the GAO report, the Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs implemented a Strategic Plan to provide strategies to communicate a clearer understanding of the basis used in making federal recognition decisions, and to improve the responsiveness of this process. As illustrated below, many of the strategies developed in the Strategic Plan have been implemented and completed.

1. In response to the GAO report, all technical assistance review letters, proposed findings, final determinations, and reconsidered petitions have been electronically scanned and indexed and are now available on CD-ROM. This CD-ROM has been made available to the general public. Immediate and user-friendly access to all prior decisions enhances both transparency and consistency in the decision making process. We are hopeful that interested parties will have access to this information via Internet once the BIA is able to access it.

2. Additional resources have enabled the OFA to fill two professional staff vacancies. The addition of these new staff members resulted in the formation of three functioning teams composed of one professional from each of the three disciplines. With three teams, the OFA has increased its ability to review petitions and their accompanying documentation in a more time sensitive manner.

3. OFA has also hired two sets of independent contractors to assist in administrative functions. The first set of contractors includes two FOIA specialists/records managers. The second set of contractors includes three research assistants who work with a computer database system, scanning and indexing the documents to help expedite the professional research staff’s evaluation of a case. Both sets of contractors assist in making the process more accessible to petitioners and interested parties, while increasing the productivity of the OFA researchers by freeing them from many administrative duties.

4. Implementation of the Federal Acknowledgment Information Resource (FAIR) system, a computer database system that provides on-screen access to all the documents in the administrative record of a case has made a significant positive impact in the efficiency of the OFA. The FAIR system scans all submitted documentation and then the data is extracted, linked, and indexed to create a searchable administrative record. This system allows the OFA researchers to have immediate access to the records and allows them to make more efficient use of their time. This system also allows petitioning groups and interested parties, such as States and local governments, to have the record on CD-ROM and thus have on screen access to the administrative record and to any data entries made by the OFA researchers. We anticipate that the next generation of scanning for FAIR will allow electronic redaction of privacy information from the documents, which will save the Department a tremendous amount of time otherwise spent photocopying cases for interested parties or FOIA requests.

Another significant improvement made to the Federal acknowledgement process as the realignment of the OFA. Effective July 27, 2003, the staff of the Branch of Acknowledgement of Research were realigned and renamed. OFA now reports directly to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs. Previously, the Branch of Acknowledgement and Research reported through the Office of Tribal Services and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs. This realignment eliminated two layers of review and now provides more direct and efficient policy guidance.

Due to these above mentioned improvements made to the federal recognition process, OFA was able to assist the Department in completing 14 major decisions regarding Federal acknowledgment since January 2001. During this time, OFA completed six proposed findings, six final determinations, and two reconsidered final determinations.

Other Improvements to the Federal Acknowledgement Process

On April 1, 2004, Secretary Norton requested that Indian Affairs review the Strategic Plan and ensure that all the appropriate steps were being taken to implement the strategies developed in the plan. As discussed above, the Department has completed many of the action items identified in the strategic plan. We plan to have all the remaining tasks (that are within the control of the Department) completed by this fall. We do recognize however, that some tasks will take longer to implement because they may require congressional action, regulatory amendments, or access to the Internet.

In addition, we are planning to formalize an already internal policy of the Assistant Secretary’s office that prohibits federal acknowledgement decision-makers from having contact and communications with a petitioner or interested party within 60 days of an acknowledgment decision. Formalization of this policy will ensure that all parties are made aware of this 60 day period and that the integrity of the process is protected.

Conclusion

The Department believes that the acknowledgment of the existence of an Indian tribe is a serious decision for the Federal Government. It is of the utmost importance that thorough and deliberate evaluations occur before the Department acknowledges a group’s tribal status, which carries significant immunities and privileges, or denies a group Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe.

When the Department acknowledges an Indian tribe, it recognizes an inherent sovereign that has existed continuously from historic times to the present. These decisions have significant impacts on the petitioning group as well as on the surrounding community. Therefore, these decisions must be based on a thorough evaluation of the evidence using standards generally accepted by the professional disciplines involved with the process. The process must be open, transparent, and timely.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify about the Federal acknowledgment process. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

1 day (90—minute class)

SOL Skills
GOVT.1a
GOVT.1c
GOVT.1d
GOVT.1g

SOL Content
GOVT8.e
GOVT.9c
GOVT.9e
GOVT.11e

The students will:

• Examine primary sources and distinguish between relevant and irrelevant facts.
• Compare and contrast the reaction of members of a community to desegregation.
• Explain how individuals, interests groups, and the media influence public policy.

Activities

Activity 1

To provide students with historical background about the events leading up to the Floyd County struggle over desegregation and to put the remaining activities in context, have students review the U.S. National Archives website. The website provides information regarding a 1947 NAACP lawsuit in Pulaski County called Mahatma Corbin v. County School Board of Pulaski County.

While students are reviewing the website, have them complete Handout #1: School Desegregation in Pulaski County, Virginia. If time constraints exist, reviewing the website and completing the handout can be assigned the class period before as homework.

As a class, discuss student responses to Handout #1.  During the class discussion, the teacher should emphasize the following:

1. The central complaint of the appellant was the lack of equal facilities and the distance African American students in Southwest Virginia were required to travel to attend Christiansburg Institute.
2. The Corbin case was one of the last “equalization” lawsuits. Following the Corbin case, the NAACP focused on desegregation itself as the only way to guarantee complete protection of 14th Amendment rights to full citizenship.
3. The significance of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision requiring the desegregation of public schools across the country and Virginia’s Massive Resistance program.

To help teachers prepare to facilitate the class discussion, the Virginia Center for Digital History website Television News and the Civil Rights Era 1950–1970 is an excellent resource of glossary terms and the historical background on this period of time in Virginia.

Activity 2

After introducing the topic of school desegregation, teachers should distribute Handout #2: What Were the Newspapers Saying? Along with the handout, give students two different color highlighters. Working in pairs, students will highlight important facts and participants, and write two unanswered questions for each article.

Group Discussion

To organize and conduct a group discussion, complete the following steps:

1. Write three columns on the board labeled facts, participants, and questions.
2. Ask students what they believe are the five most important facts presented in the first article and record their responses on the board.
3. Ask the class to decide which five facts are the most important. Asking students to negotiate a shorter list from the longer one generated in discussion will allow a second, more critical, examination of the article.
4. Next, ask students to identify participants in the article and record their responses on the board.
5. As part of the discussion, ask students about the role of each participant in the events described in the article.
6. Finally, ask students what questions they had about each article and record the questions on the board for discussion.

Repeat the above steps for the remaining two articles.

Handout #3: Group Discussion Sample Responses provides sample charts for the teacher that identifies possible responses from students and results from the group discussion.

Background

Present this historical information to enhance group knowledge and discussion.

Southwest Virginia did not have the same racial composition as the eastern part of the state. The region was known as the “white belt” with only a 10-percent African American population. On May 19, 1954, two days after the Brown decision, a Roanoke Times article noted that Buchanan County was the “only county in Virginia unaffected by the Supreme Court” because it had “no Negroes among its 36,000 residents.” In the same article, the staff writer boasted that Buchanan’s school superintendent was “in an enviable position when compared to the problems other school administrators face in the future.” Believing the region was an exception to other parts of the state, a 1954 Southwest Times editorial reported, “In Pulaski, with excellent race relations and with our citizens of all nationalities and creeds working and living together in harmony we see no major problem.” The idea that Floyd County was “vulnerable” to an NAACP petition to desegregate its schools illustrates the region’s continued perception of itself as exceptional in its race relations.

Southwest Virginia was home to one of the premier African American schools in the country, the Christiansburg Institute. Located in Montgomery County, Christiansburg Institute was established in 1866 after the Civil War by Friends’ Freedmen’s Association to help educate newly freed slaves.  In 1895, Booker T. Washington became the school’s superintendent and modeled Christiansburg Institute after his own industrial trade school, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute now known as Tuskegee University. After the 1947 lawsuit, Corbin v. County School Board of Pulaski County, cited inequalities in the education of black and white students in the region, Christiansburg Institute received funding from the surrounding counties that opted to support the African American school in their region rather than desegregate or build their own separate school. In 1959, a Roanoke Times article noted that “the usual academic and vocational courses found in any high school are taught at the institute. There are also courses in cosmetology and barbering, rarities in other Southwest Virginia high schools.” Southwest Virginians believed they were upholding their obligation to black students by providing a fine education at Christiansburg Institute.

The goals and course that Massive Resistance in Virginia hoped to pursue depended on the ability of the media to successfully present its arguments to a diverse audience across the state, and outside its borders. This challenge of reaching a wide audience should not have posed a significant problem because the state’s Democratic political machine was dominated by its senior senator, Harry Byrd, and he controlled the media. Southwest Virginia, however, presented a challenge because it was less culturally or politically loyal to the Byrd machine. The newspapers in Southwest Virginia did not uniformly support Byrd and were independent in criticizing policies handed down from the state capital in Richmond. The Floyd County articles again illustrate the independence of reporting in what was considered by many strictly a “local issue.”

Conclusion

Following analysis of the three articles and group discussion, students should conclude that the issue of desegregation in Floyd County in 1959 is a case study in the challenge of civil rights in a democracy. While the question of desegregation involved only 14 African American students, those students were guaranteed the right to a free and public education by law. Christiansburg Institute was a good school, but it did not provide an equal opportunity for African American children in Southwest Virginia and the distance the school was located from many homes made it a burden to students.

The question of public education hits at the heart of what democratic institutions rely on to ensure an educated electorate. Public schools rely on state funding and therefore must to some degree abide by state policies, but they are also important to local administrations such as the Board of Supervisors, School Board, and PTA. The media also play an important role in reporting matters of local and state concern to their audiences. In the second article, students will learn that reporters took great journalistic pride in digging deeper into the issues for more information about the source of the petitions.

In total, the three articles reveal that in the matter of public school policy there are many participants. It intersects state and local administrations, involves parent and students, and even relies on the media to present views and comments from public and private citizens.

Differentiation

To adapt this lesson for both advanced and remedial students, teachers should use the link to the Virginia Center for Digital History website Television News and the Civil Rights Era 1950-1970.  Click on Films and Summaries, then click on 1959, and play the following three movie clips from Roanoke based WDBJ 7 television:

• Clip 1: NAACP Attorney Lawson Comments on Plans to Integrate SW VA Counties
• Clip 2: Delegate Joseph Poff Comments on Segregation Suit
• Clip 3: Teacher and student Floyd County comments on integration

Remedial students should be asked to comment on what they hear and see in the video clips and use the group chart to organize their discussion about the role of both state and local officials in deciding the question of desegregation in Floyd County.

Advanced students should use their knowledge from the newspaper articles to compare to what they see and hear in the television interviews. Teachers should challenge students to ask which form of journalism is more democratic, print or television? To supplement a discussion of the role of the media in the Civil Rights Movement, have advanced students read an online article, Television News and the Civil Rights Struggle, by William G. Thomas III. This article is linked from the Television News and the Civil Rights Era website under Essays and Interpretations.

Sarah Taylor

Salem City Schools

The Constitution: Amendments 11­27
Constitutional Amendments 1­10 make up what is known as The Bill of Rights.
Amendments 11­27 are listed below.
AMENDMENT XI
Passed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified February 7, 1795.
Note: Article III, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 11.
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity,
commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens
or Subjects of any Foreign State.
AMENDMENT XII
Passed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified June 15, 1804.
Note: A portion of Article II, section 1 of the Constitution was superseded by the 12th amendment.
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice­President,
one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in
their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice­
President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons
voted for as Vice­President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify,
and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the
Senate; ­­ the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; ­­ The person having the greatest number
of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of
Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest
numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives
shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be
taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall
consist of a member or members from two­thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be
necessary to a choice. [And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the
right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice­
President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.
­­]* The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice­President, shall be the Vice­President, if
such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a
majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice­President; a
quorum for the purpose shall consist of two­thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of
the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office
of President shall be eligible to that of Vice­President of the United States.
*Superseded by section 3 of the 20th amendment.
AMENDMENT XIII
Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.
Note: A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.
Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XIV
Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.
Note: Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment.
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens
of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive
any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers,
counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to
vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice­President of the United States,
Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the
Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty­one years of
age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or
other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of
such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty­one years of age in such
State.
Section 3.
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice­President,
or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously
taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any
State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the
United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort
to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two­thirds of each House, remove such
disability.
Section 4.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for
payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be
questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation
incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or
emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
*Changed by section 1 of the 26th amendment.
AMENDMENT XV
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or
by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude­­
Section 2.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XVI
Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.
Note: Article I, section 9, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 16.
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived,
without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
AMENDMENT XVII
Passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.
Note: Article I, section 3, of the Constitution was modified by the 17th amendment.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the
people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have
the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such
State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may
empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by
election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before
it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
AMENDMENT XVIII
Passed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified January 16, 1919. Repealed by amendment 21.
Section 1.
After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of
intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United
States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2.
The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution
by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the
date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XIX
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or
by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XX
Passed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933.
Note: Article I, section 4, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of this amendment. In addition,
a portion of the 12th amendment was superseded by section 3.
Section 1.
The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the
terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such
terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then
begin.
Section 2.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d
day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3.
If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died,
the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the
time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the
Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may
by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President shall have qualified,
declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected,
and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section 4.
The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House
of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them,
and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President
whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section 5.
Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution
by the legislatures of three­fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its
submission.
AMENDMENT XXI
Passed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.
Section 1.
The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2.
The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States for
delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution
by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of
the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XXII
Passed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified February 27, 1951.
Section 1.
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held
the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other
person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once. But this Article
shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by
Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as
President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of
President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 2.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution
by the legislatures of three­fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its
submission to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XXIII
Passed by Congress June 16, 1960. Ratified March 29, 1961.
Section 1.
The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as
Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and
Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event
more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they
shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors
appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the
twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXIV
Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice
President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress,
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or
other tax.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXV
Passed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified February 10, 1967.
Note: Article II, section 1, of the Constitution was affected by the 25th amendment.
Section 1.
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President
shall become President.
Section 2.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice
President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3.
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of
his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties
shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4.
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive
departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro
tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall
immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of
the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers
and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the
executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days
to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their
written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.
Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty­eight hours for that purpose if not
in session. If the Congress, within twenty­one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if
Congress is not in session, within twenty­one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines
by two­thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the
President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
AMENDMENT XXVI
Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.
Note: Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th amendment.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXVII
Originally proposed . Ratified May 7, 1992.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect,
until an election of representatives shall have intervened.

Constitution of Virginia, 1902


ARTICLE I - BILL OF RIGHTS

ARTICLE II - ELECTIVE FRANCHISE AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR OFFICE

ARTICLE III - DIVISION OF POWERS

ARTICLE IV - LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

ARTICLE V - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT

ARTICLE VI - JUDICIARY DEPARTMENT

ARTICLE VII - ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT OF COUNTIES

ARTICLE VIII - ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT OF CITIES AND TOWNS

ARTICLE IX - EDUCATION AND PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

ARTICLE X - AGRICULTURE AND IMMIGRATION

ARTICLE XI - PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND PRISONS

ARTICLE XII - CORPORATIONS

ARTICLE XIII - TAXATION AND FINANCE

ARTICLE XIV - MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS - HOMESTEAD AND OTHER

EXEMPTIONS

ARTICLE XV - FUTURE CHANGES IN THE CONSTITUTION


Whereas, pursuant to an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, approved March the fifth, in
the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred, the question, "shall there be a convention to revise the
Constitution and amend the same?" was, submitted, to the electors of the State of Virginia,
qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly, at an election held throughout the
State on the fourth Thursday in May, in the year nineteen hundred, at which election a majority
of the electors so qualified voting at said, election did, decide in favor of a convention for such
purpose; and,

Whereas, the General Assembly at its next session did provide by law for the election of
delegates to such convention, in pursuance whereof the members of this Convention were
elected by the good people of Virginia, to meet in convention for such purpose.

We, therefore, the people of Virginia, so assembled in Convention through our representatives,
with gratitude to God for His past favors, and invoking His blessings upon, the result of our
deliberations, do ordain and establish the, following revised and amended Constitution for the
government of the Commonwealth:


ARTICLE I

BILL OF RIGHTS.

A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, made by the representatives of the good people of Virginia
assembled in full and free Convention; which rights do pertain to them and their posterity, as
the Basis and Foundation of Government.

Section 1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent
rights of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot., by any compact, deprive
or divest their posterity, namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring
and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

Section 2. That all power is vested in, and, consequently derived. from, the people; that
magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them.

Section 3. That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection
and security of the people, nation or community; of all the various modes and forms of
government, that is best,

Virginia Constitution of 1776

June 29, 1776

THE CONSTITUTION OR FORM OF G0VERNMENT, AGREED TO AND RESOLVED UPON BY THE DELEGATES AND REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SEVERAL COUNTIES AND CORPORATIONS OF VIRGINIA

Whereas George the third, King of Great Britain and Ireland, and elector of Hanover, heretofore intrusted with the exercise of the kingly office in this government, hath endeavoured to prevent, the same into a detestable and insupportable tyranny, by putting his negative on laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good:

By denying his Governors permission to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation for his assent, and, when so suspended neglecting to attend to them for many years:

By refusing to pass certain other laws, unless the persons to be benefited by them would relinquish the inestimable right of representation in the legislature:

By dissolving legislative Assemblies repeatedly and continually, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions of the rights of the people:

When dissolved, by refusing to call others for a long space of time, thereby leaving the political system without any legislative head:

By endeavouring to prevent the population of our country, and, for that purpose, obstructing, the laws for the naturalization of foreigners:

By keeping among us, in times of peace, standing armies and ships of war:

By effecting to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power:

By combining with others to subject us to a foreign jurisdiction, giving his assent to their pretended acts of legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offences:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever:

By plundering our seas, ravaging our coasts, burning our towns, and destroying the lives of our people:

By inciting insurrections of our fellow subjects, with the allurements of forfeiture and confiscation:

By prompting our negroes to rise in arms against us, those very negroes whom, by an inhuman use of his negative, he hath refused us permission to exclude by law:

By endeavoring 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 of existence:

By transporting, at this time, a large army of foreign mercenaries, to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy unworthy the head of a civilized nation:

By answering our repeated petitions for redress with a repetition of injuries: And finally, by abandoning the helm of government and declaring us out of his allegiance and protection.

By which several acts of misrule, the government of this country, as formerly exercised under the crown of Great Britain, is TOTALLY DISSOLVED.

We therefore, the delegates and representatives of the good people of Virginia, having maturely considered the premises, and viewing with great concern the deplorable conditions to which this once happy country must be reduced, unless some regular, adequate mode of civil polity is speedily adopted, and in compliance with a recommendation of the General Congress, do ordain and declare the future form of government of Virginia to be as followeth:

The legislative, executive, and judiciary department, shall be separate and distinct, so that neither exercise the powers properly belonging to the other: nor shall any person exercise the powers of more than one of them, at the same time; except that the Justices of the County Courts shall be eligible to either House of Assembly.

The legislative shall be formed of two distinct branches, who, together, shall be a complete Legislature. They shall meet once, or oftener, every year, and shall be called, The General Assembly of Virginia. One of these shall be called, The House of Delegates, and consist of two Representatives, to be chosen for each county, and for the district of West-Augusta, annually, of such men as actually reside in, and are freeholders of the same, or duly qualified according to law, and also of one Delegate or Representative, to be chosen annually for the city of Williamsburgh, and one for the borough of Norfolk, and a Representative for each of such other cities and boroughs, as may hereafter be allowed particular representation by the legislature; but when any city or borough shall so decrease, as that the number of persons, having right of suffrage therein, shall have been for the space of seven years successively, less than half the number of voters in some one county in Virginia, such city or borough thenceforward shall cease to send a Delegate or Representative to the Assembly.

The other shall be called The Senate, and consist of twenty-four members, of whom thirteen shall constitute a House to proceed on business; for whose election, the different counties shall be divided into twenty-four districts; and each county of the respective district, at the time of the election of its Delegates, shall vote for one Senator, who is actually a resident and freeholder within the district, or duly qualified according to law, and is upwards of twenty-five years of age; and the Sheriffs of each county, within five days at farthest, after the last county election in the district, shall meet at some convenient place, and from the poll, so taken in their respective counties, return, as a Senator, the man who shall have the greatest number of votes in the whole district. To keep up this Assembly by rotation, the districts shall be equally divided into four classes and numbered by lot. At the end of one year after the general election, the six members, elected by the first division, shall be displaced, and the vacancies thereby occasioned supplied from such class or division, by new election, in the manner aforesaid. This rotation shall be applied to each division, according to its number, and continued in due order annually.

The right of suffrage in the election of members for both Houses shall remain as exercised at present; and each House shall choose its own Speaker, appoint its own officers, settle its own rules of proceeding, and direct writs of election, for the supplying intermediate vacancies.

All laws shall originate in the House of Delegates, to be approved of or rejected by the Senate, or to be amended, with consent of the House of Delegates; except money-bills, which in no instance shall be altered by the Senate, but wholly approved or rejected.

A Governor, or chief magistrate, shall be chosen annually by joint ballot of both Houses (to be taken in each House respectively) deposited in the conference room; the boxes examined jointly by a committee of each House, and the numbers severally reported to them, that the appointments may be entered (which shall be the mode of taking the joint ballot of both Houses, in all cases) who shall not continue in that office longer than three years successively, nor be eligible, until the expiration of four years after he shall have been out of that office. An adequate, but moderate salary shall be settled on him, during his continuance in office; and he shall, with the advice of a Council of State, exercise the executive powers of government, according to the laws of this Commonwealth; and shall not, under any pretence, exercise any power or prerogative, by virtue of any law, statute or custom of England. But he shall, with the advice of the Council of State, have the power of granting reprieves or pardons, except where the prosecution shall have been carried on by the House of Delegates, or the law shall otherwise particularly direct; in which cases, no reprieve or pardon shall be granted, but by resolve of the House of Delegates.

Either House of the General Assembly may adjourn themselves respectively. The Governor shall not prorogue or adjourn the Assembly, during their sitting, nor dissolve them at any time; but he shall, if necessary, either by advice of the Council of State, or on application of a majority of the House of Delegates, call them before the time to which they shall stand prorogued or adjourned.

A Privy Council, or Council of State, consisting of eight members, shall be chosen, by joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly, either from their own members or the people at large, to assist in the administration of government. They shall annually choose, out of their own members, a President, who, in case of death, inability, or absence of the Governor from the government, shall act as Lieutenant-Governor. Four members shall be sufficient to act, and their advice and proceedings shall be entered on record, and signed by the members present, (to any part whereof, any member may enter his dissent) to be laid before the General Assembly, when called for by them. This Council may appoint their own Clerk, who shall have a salary settled by law, and take an oath of secrecy, in such matters as he shall be directed by the board to conceal. A sum of money, appropriated to that purpose, shall be divided annually among the members, in proportion to their attendance; and they shall be incapable, during their continuance in office, of sitting in either House of Assembly. Two members shall be removed, by joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly, at the end of every three years, and be ineligible for the three next years. Those vacancies, as well as those occasioned by death or incapacity, shall be supplied by new elections, in the same manner.

The Delegates for Virginia to the Continental Congress shall be chosen annually, or superseded in the mean time, by joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly.

The present militia officers shall be continued, and vacancies supplied by appointment of the Governor, with the advice of the Privy-Council, on recommendations from the respective County Courts; but the Governor and Council shall have a power of suspending any officer, and ordering a Court Martial, on complaint of misbehaviour or inability, or to supply vacancies of officers, happening when in actual service.

The Governor may embody the militia, with the advice of the Privy Council; and when embodied, shall alone have the direction of the militia, under the laws of the country.

The two Houses of Assembly shall, by joint ballot, appoint Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and General Court, Judges in Chancery, Judges of Admiralty, Secretary, and the Attorney-General, to be commissioned by the Governor , and continue in office during good behaviour. In case of death, incapacity, or resignation, the Governor, with the advice of the Privy Council, shall appoint persons to succeed in office, to be approved or displaced by both Houses. These officers shall have fixed and adequate salaries, and, together with all others, holding lucrative offices, and all ministers of the gospel, of every denomination, be incapable of being elected members of either House of Assembly or the Privy Council.

The Governor, with the advice of the Privy Council, shall appoint Justices of the Peace for the counties; and in case of vacancies, or a necessity of increasing the number hereafter, such appointments to be made upon the recommendation of the respective County Courts. The present acting Secretary in Virginia, and Clerks of all the County Courts, shall continue in office. In case of vacancies, either by death, incapacity, or resignation, a Secretary shall be appointed, as before directed; and the Clerks, by the respective Courts. The present and future Clerks shall hold their offices during good behaviour, to be judged of, and determined in the General Court. The Sheriffs and Coroners shall be nominated by the respective Courts, approved by the Governor, with the advice of the Privy Council, and commissioned by the Governor. The Justices shall appoint Constables; and all fees of the aforesaid officers be regulated by law.

The Governor, when he is out of office, and others, offending against the State, either by mal-administration, corruption, or other means, by which the safety of the State may be endangered, shall be impeachable by the House of Delegates. Such impeachment to be prosecuted by the Attorney-General, or such other person or persons, as the House may appoint in the General Court, according to the laws of the land. If found guilty, he or they shall be either forever disabled to hold any office under government, or be removed from such office pro tempore, or subjected to such pains or penalties as the laws shall direct.

If all or any of the Judges of the General Court should on good grounds (to be judged of by the House of Delegates) be accused of any of the crimes or offences above mentioned, such House of Delegates may, in like manner, impeach the Judge or Judges so accused, to be prosecuted in the Court of Appeals; and he or they, if found guilty, shall be punished in the same manner as is prescribed in the preceding clause.

Commissions and grants shall run, "In the name of the Commonwealth of Virginia," and bear test by the Governor, with the seal of the Commonwealth annexed. Writs shall run in the same manner, and bear test by the Clerks of the several Courts. Indictments shall conclude, "Against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth." A Treasurer shall be appointed annually, by joint ballot of both Houses.

All escheats, penalties, and forfeitures, heretofore going to the King, shall go to the Commonwealth, save only such as the Legislature may abolish, or otherwise provide for.

The territories, contained within the Charters, erecting the Colonies of Maryland, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, are hereby ceded, released, and forever confirmed, to the people of these Colonies respectively, with all the rights of property, jurisdiction and government, and all other rights whatsoever, which might, at any time heretofore, have been claimed by Virginia, except the free navigation and use of the rivers Patomaque and Pokomoke, with the property of the Virginia shores and strands, bordering on either of the said rivers, and all improvements, which have been, or shall be made thereon. The western and northern extent of Virginia shall, in all other respects, stand as fixed by the Charter of King James I. in the year one thousand six hundred and nine, and by the public treaty of peace between the Courts of Britain and France, in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three; unless by act of this Legislature, one or more governments be established westward of the Alleghany mountains. And no purchases of lands shall be made of the Indian natives, but on behalf of the public, by authority of the General Assembly.

In order to introduce this government, the Representatives of the people met in the convention shall choose a Governor and Privy Council, also such other officers directed to be chosen by both Houses as may be judged necessary to be immediately appointed. The Senate to be first chosen by the people, to continue until the last day of March next, and the other officers until the end of the succeeding session of Assembly. In case of vacancies, the Speaker of either House shall issue writs for new elections.

http://classroom.monticello.org/

Thomas Jefferson Foundation

2009-04-22

The Monticello Classroom offers extensive information about Thomas Jefferson, Virginia history, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and other important aspects surrounding the founding of the United States. The website also allows visitors to log in and create projects, design lesson plans, or do homework. It also features fun information, such as why Thomas Jefferson is on the nickel, and how to make ice cream the colonial way.

monticello.jpg

Liz Moore

George Mason University

http://www.publicagenda.org/

Public Agenda

2009-04-22

This website provides a wealth of up-to-date coverage of current issues, from America's role in the international community to Social Security. A large section for educators includes resources for teachers, students, parents, and leaders. Topics such as the rising cost of college tuition are particularly relevant for those involved in education. While there are limited resources specifically aimed at Virginia, the broader issues covered by the website can easily be oriented to fit discussions about their specific application on the state and local level.

public_agenda.jpg

Liz Moore

George Mason University

http://www.vadrs.org/

Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services

2009-04-08

How does the government help individuals who might have trouble making it on their own? The Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services aims to help people with disabilities gain independence, so that they can live, work, or go to school. This website offers a window into the way government helps individuals, with an extensive index of articles that show concrete examples of government actions. These include downloadable press releases relating to gubernatorial initiatives, charts, meeting minutes, and much more.

VADRS.jpg

Liz Moore

George Mason University

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/121brown/index.htm

National Park Service

2009-03-05

the National Park Service. has created a Brown vs. Board of Education lesson plan that places the landmark civil rights case within the context of five communities affected by school segregation, including Farmville, Virginia. Background reading on the website can help place school desegregation in a national context. Four photographs of a segregated African American school in Farmville give a stark visual representation of inequality in education during the 1950s. The website also offers ways these resources can be used in the classroom, and supplementary resources useful for further research.

brownvboard.jpg

Liz Moore

George Mason University