BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-ninth day of January, in the
forty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, A.
D. 1825, WILLIAM RAWLE, Esquire, of the said district, has deposited in
this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author in
the words following, to wit:
"A View of the Constitution of the United States of America By
William Rawle"
In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled "An
act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps,
charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the
times therein mentioned." — And also to the act entitled "An
act supplementary to an act entitled 'An act for the encouragement of
learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors
and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned,' and
extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and
etching historical and other prints."
D. CALDWELL,
Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
PREFACE.
IF the following work shall prove useful, as an elementary treatise to
the American student, the author will be gratified.
If foreigners be enabled, by the perusal of it, to obtain a
general idea of the merits of the Constitution, his satisfaction will be
increased.
To the American public in general, its value may chiefly consist
in the exhibition of those judicial decisions, which have settled the
construction of some points that have been the subjects of controversy.
In this edition, the principles laid down in the first, remain
unaltered. The author has seen no reason for any change of them. A small
variation in the arrangement, and the correction of some typographical
errors, will principally distinguish it from the first.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
Of Political Constitutions in General: of the Nature of Colonial
Governments: and of the British Colonies in North America
CHAPTER I.
The Constitution of the United States
CHAPTER II.
Of the Legislative Power
CHAPTER III.
Of the Senate
CHAPTER IV.
Of the House of Representatives
CHAPTER V.
Of the President's Participation in the Legislative Power
CHAPTER VI.
Of the Manner of Exercising the Legislative Power
CHAPTER VII.
Of the Treaty making Power
CHAPTER VIII.
Of Laws enacted by Congress
CHAPTER IX.
Of the Enumerated Powers of Congress
CHAPTER X.
Of the Restrictions on the Powers of Congress — and on the
Executive and Judicial Authorities — Restrictions on the Powers of
States, and Security to the Rights of Individuals
CHAPTER XI.
Of the Crime of Treason
CHAPTER XII.
On the Executive Power
CHAPTER XIII.
Of the Means provided for the Performance of the Executive Duties
CHAPTER XIV.
Of the Appointment to Offices
CHAPTER XV.
On the Liability of Executive Officers
CHAPTER XVI.
On Communications to be made by the President to Congress
CHAPTER XVII.
Of the Power to grant Pardons
CHAPTER XVIII.
Of Compensations to Public Officers
CHAPTER XIX.
Of Incompatible Offices
CHAPTER XX.
Of some arduous Parts of the President's Duties
CHAPTER XXI.
Of the Judicial Power
CHAPTER XXII.
Of Impeachments
CHAPTER XXIII.
Of another Special Jurisdiction
CHAPTER XXIV.
Of General Tribunals, and first of the Supreme Court
CHAPTER XXV.
Of Tribunals Inferior to the Supreme Court
CHAPTER XXVI.
Removal from State Courts
CHAPTER XXVII.
Of the Places in which the Jurisdiction is to be exercised
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Of the Appellate Jurisdiction
CHAPTER XXIX.
Of the Rules of Decision
CHAPTER XXX.
Of Checks and Restraints on the Judicial Branch
CHAPTER XXXI.
Of Checks and Controls on other Branches of the Government
CHAPTER XXXII.
Of the Permanence of the Union
APPENDIX I.
[Elections of President and Vice-President]
APPENDIX II.
[Letter from Congress to the Several States, by Jay]
E1. Editor's note: We have substituted the current
Constitution with all amendments to date. The version published in the
original only included the first twelve amendmends adopted as of 1829.
Scanned into text by Bill Boyle. Rendered into HTML by Jon Roland.
Edited by Bill Boyle and Jon Roland.
INTRODUCTION.