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The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation,
The Ordinance for the Government of the Northwest Territory,
The Text of the Constitution with an Analytical Index,

A Monograph by William M. Meigs, on the Growth

of the Constitution in the Federal Convention

of 1787, and an article on Constitutional
Construction and Interpretation

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PREFACE

As a fitting preliminary to the text of the Constitution, and for the convenience of readers, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Ordinance for the Government of the Northwest Territory are set forth at the beginning of this volume. The text of the Constitution as here given corresponds exactly with the original in the Department of State. Following this text is the well-known and valuable Analytical Index of the Constitution and Amendments, prepared for and printed in the Revised Statutes of the United States.

By special arrangement the preliminary matter is enriched by a reprint of a treatise on "The Growth of the Constitution in the Federal Convention of 1787," by William M. Meigs, Esq., of the Philadelphia bar (published by the J. B. Lippincott Company of Philadelphia). In an able manner the author has traced the origin and development of each separate clause from its first suggestion in the Convention to the form finally approved. To the student of the Constitution and in the investigation of close constitutional questions, this work will, it is believed, prove of great value and convenience.

Following this treatise, and immediately preceding the notes to the Constitution, is a monograph on "Constitutional Construction and Interpretation," by the author of the annotations, written entirely from a review of cases construing and applying the Federal Constitution.

In the arrangement of the annotations, the text of the Constitution has been followed clause by clause, and, where the amount of material appended to a clause would justify, a close analysis is provided to aid the investigator in his search for precedents. The reports of the Supreme Court of the United States were searched page by page for authorities, and from other jurisdictions, state and federal, cases have been gathered with the greatest care. It is believed that the collection is practically, if not completely, exhaustive.

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