ART. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; Provided always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original states, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor, or service, as aforesaid.

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, that the resolutions of the twentythird of April, seventeen hundred and eighty-four, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be and the same are hereby repealed and declared null and void.

Adopted July 13, 1787.

ACT ESTABLISHING THE MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY.

AN ACT

For the amicable settlement of limits with the State of Georgia, and authorizing the establishment of a government in the Mississippi Territory. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, That the president of the United States be, and he hereby is authorized to appoint three commissioners; any two of whom shall have power to adjust and determine with such commissioners as may be appointed under the legislative authority of the State of Georgia, all interfering claims of the United States and that state, to territory situate west of the river Chattahoochee, north of the thirtyfirst degree of north latitude, and south of the cession made to the United States by South Carolina: And also to receive any proposals for the relinquishment or cession of the whole or any part of the other territory claimed by the State of Georgia, and out of the ordinary jurisdiction thereof.

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That all the lands thus ascertained as the property of the United States, shall be disposed of in such manner as shall be hereafter directed by law; and the net proceeds thereof shall be applied to the sinking and discharging the public debt of the United States, in the same manner as the proceeds of the other public lands in the territory northwest of the river Ohio.

SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That all that tract of country bounded on the west by the Mississippi; on the north by a line to be drawn due east from the mouth of the Yasous to the Chattahoochee river; on the east by the river Chattahoochee; and on the south by the thirty-first degree of north latitude, shall be, and hereby is constituted one district, to be called the Mississippi Territory; and the president of the United States is hereby authorized to establish therein a government in all respects similar to that now exercised in the territory northwest of the river Ohio, excepting and excluding the last article of the ordinance made for the government thereof by the late congress on the thirteenth day of July one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and by and with the advice and consent of the senate to appoint all the necessary officers therein, who shall respectively receive the same compensation for their services, to be paid in the same manner as by law established for similar officers in the territory northwest of the river Ohio; and the powers, duties and emoluments of a superintendent of Indian affairs for the southern department, shall be united with those of governor: Provided always, that if the president of the United States should find it most expe

dient to establish this government in the recess of congress, he shall nevertheless have full power to appoint and commission all officers herein authorized; and their commissions shall continue in force until the end of the session of congress next ensuing the establishment of the government.

SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the territory hereby constituted one district for the purpose of government, may at the discretion of congress be hereafter divided into two districts, with separate territorial governments in each, similar to that established by this act.

SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That the establishment of this government. shall in no respect impair the right of the State of Georgia, or of any person or persons either to the jurisdiction or the soil of the said territory, but the rights and claims of the said state and of all persons interested, are hereby declared to be as firm and available, as if this act had never been made.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That from and after the establishment of the said government, the people of the aforesaid territory, shall be entitled to and enjoy all and singular the rights, privileges and advantages granted to the people of the territory of the United States, northwest of the river Ohio, in and by the aforesaid ordinance of the thirteenth day of July, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, in as full and ample a manner as the same are possessed and enjoyed by the people of the said lastmentioned territory.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That from and after the establishment of the aforesaid government, it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to import or bring into the said Mississippi territory, from any port or place without the limits of the United States, or to cause or procure to be so imported or brought, or knowingly to aid or assist in so importing or bringing any slave or slaves, and that every person so offending, and being thereof convicted before any court within the said territory, having competent jurisdiction, shall forfeit and pay, for each and every slave so imported or brought, the sum of three hundred dollars; one moiety for the use of the United States, and the other moiety for the use of any person or persons who shall sue for the same; and that every slave, so imported or brought, shall thereupon become entitled to, and receive his or her freedom.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the sum of ten thousand dollars be, and hereby is appropriated, for the purpose of enabling the President of the United States to carry into effect the provisions of this act; and that the said sum be paid out of any monies in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Approved April 7, 1798.

(1 U. S. Statutes at Large, 549.)

ACT FOR GOVERNMENT OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY.

AN ACT

Supplemental to the Act entitled "An act for an amicable settlement of limits with the State of Georgia, and authorizing the establishment of a government in the Mississippi territory.'

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, That so much of the ordinance of congress of the thirtieth of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the act of congress of the seventh of August, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, providing for the government of the territory of the

United States northwest of the river Ohio, as relates to the organization of a general assembly therein, and prescribes the powers thereof, shall forthwith operate and be in force in the Mississippi territory; Provided, that until the number of free male inhabitants of full age, in the said territory, shall amount to five thousand, there shall not be returned to the general assembly more than nine representatives.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That until the number of free male inhabitants of full age in the Mississippi territory shall amount to five thousand, the county of Adams shall be entitled to choose four representatives to the general assembly, the county of Pickering four, and the Tensaw and Tombigbee settlements, one.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the first election, for representatives to the general assembly, shall be on the fourth Monday in July next, and that all subsequent elections shall be regulated by the legislature.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the governor of the Mississippi territory, to cause the said election to be holden on the day aforesaid, at the most convenient place in the counties and settlements aforesaid, and to nominate a proper officer or officers to preside at and conduct the same, and to return to him the names of the persons who may have been duly elected.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the representatives shall be convened by the governor at the town of Natchez, on the fourth Monday in September next.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That so soon as the number of free male inhabitants of full age shall amount to, or exceed five thousand, the number of representatives to the general assembly shall be determined, and the apportionment made in the way prescribed in the ordinance.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall in any respect impair the right of the State of Georgia to the jurisdiction, or of the said state, or of any person or persons to the soil of the said territory, but the rights and claims of the said state, and all persons interested, are hereby declared to be as firm and available as if this act had never been made.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the general assembly shall meet at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday of December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day; Provided, that the governor shall have power on extraordinary occasions to convene the general assembly.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That neither house during the session of the general assembly shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the commissioners appointed, or who may hereafter be appointed on the part of the United States, in pursuance of the act, entitled "An act for an amicable settlement of limits with the State of Georgia, and authorizing the establishment of a government in the Mississippi territory," or any two of them, finally to settle by compromise with the commissioners, which have been or may be appointed by the State of Georgia, any claims mentioned in said act, and to receive in behalf of the United States a cession of any lands therein mentioned, or of the jurisdiction thereof, on such terms as to them shall appear reasonable; and also, that the said commissioners on the part of the United States, or any two of them, be authorized to inquire into the claims which are or shall be made by settlers or any other person whatsoever, to any part of the aforesaid lands, and to receive from such settlers and claimants any propositions of compromise which may be made by them, and lay a full statement of the claims and the propositions which may be made to them by the settlers or claimants to any part of the said lands, together with their opinion thereon, before congress, for their decision thereon, as soon as may be; Provided, that the settlement shall be made and com

pleted before the fourth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and three; And provided also, that the said commissioners shall not contract for the payment of any money from the treasury of the United States to the State of Georgia, other than the proceeds of the same lands.

Approved May 10, 1800.

(2 U. S. Stat. at Large, 69.)

CESSION BY GEORGIA TO THE UNITED STATES.

ARTICLES OF CESSION AND AGREEMENT

Entered into on the fourteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and two, between the commissioners appointed on the part of the United States, by virtue of an act entitled, "An act for the amicable settlement of limits with the State of Georgia, and authorizing the establishment of a government in the Mississippi Territory," and of the act supplemental to the last-mentioned; act, on the one part; and the commissioners appointed on the part of the State of Georgia, by virtue of an act entitled, "An act to carry the twenty-third section of the first article of the constitution into effect," and of the act to amend the last-mentioned act, on the other part.

ARTICLE I.

The State of Georgia cedes to the United States all the right, title and claim which the said state has to the jurisdiction and soil of the lands situated within the boundaries of the United States south of the State of Tennessee, and west of a line beginning on the western bank of the Chattahoochee river, where the same crossed the boundary line between the United States and Spain, running thence up the said river Chattahoochee, and along the western bank thereof, next above the place where a certain creek or river called "Uche" (being the first considerable stream on the western side, above the Cusseta and Coweta towns), empties into the said Chattahoochee river; thence in a direct line to Nickajack, on the Tennessee river; then crossing the said last-mentioned river, and thence running up the said Tennessee river, and along the western bank thereof, to the southern boundary line of the State of Tennessee; upon the following express conditions, and subject thereto, that is to say:

1. That out of the first net proceeds of the sale of the lands thus ceded, which net proceeds shall be estimated by deducting from the gross amount of sales the expenses incurred in surveying, and incident to the sale, the United States shall pay out of their treasury one million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the State of Georgia, as a consideration for the expenses incurred by the said state in relation to the said territory; and that for the better securing as prompt a payment of the said sum as practicable, land-office for the disposition of the vacant lands thus ceded, to which the Indian title has been, or may hereafter be extinguished, shall be opened within a twelvemonth after the assent of the State of Georgia to this agreement, as hereafter stated, shall have been declared.

2. That all persons who, on the twenty-seventh day of October, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, were actual settlers within the territory thus ceded, shall be confirmed in all the grants legally and fully executed prior to that day, by the former British government of West Florida, or by the government of Spain, and in the claims which may be derived from

any actual survey or settlement made under the act of the State of Georgia, entitled, "An act for laying out a district of land situate on the river Mississippi, and within the bounds of this state, into a county called Bourbon." passed the seventh day of February, one thousand, seven hundred and eighty-five.

3. That all lands ceded by this agreement to the United States, shall, after satisfying the above-mentioned payment of one million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the State of Georgia, and the grants recognized by the preceding condition be a common fund for the use and benefit of the United States, Georgia included, and shall be faithfully disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatever; Provided, however, that the United States, for the period and until the end of one year after the assent of Georgia to the boundary establishment by this agreement shall have been declared, may in such manner as not to interfere with the above-mentioned payment to the State of Georgia, nor with the grants herein before recognized, dispose of or appropriate a portion of the said lands, not exceeding five millions of acres, or of any part thereof, for the purpose of satisfying, quieting or compensating for any claims other than those hereinbefore recognized, which may be made to the said lands or any part thereof. It being fully understood that if an act of congress making such disposition or appropriation shall not be passed into a law within the above-mentioned period of one year, the United States shall not be at liberty thereafter, to cede any part of the said lands on account of claims which may be laid on the same, other than those recognized by the preceding condition, nor to compensate for the same; and in case of any such cession or compensation, the present cession of the State of Georgia to the right of soil over the lands thus ceded or compensated for, shall be considered as null and void, and the lands thus ceded or compensated for, shall revert to the State of Georgia.

4. That the United States shall, at their own expense, extinguish for the use of Georgia, as early as the same can be peaceably obtained on reasonable terms, the Indian title to the country of Tallassee, to the lands left out by the line drawn with the Creeks in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, which had been previously granted by the State of Georgia, both which tracts had formerly been yielded by the Indians; and to the lands within the forks of Oconee and Oakmulgee rivers; for which several objects, the United States have directed that a treaty should be immediately held with the Creeks; and that the United States shall, in the same manner, also extinguish the Indian title to all the other lands within the State of Georgia.

5. That the territory thus ceded shall form a state, and be admitted as such into the Union, as soon as it shall contain sixty thousand free inhabitants, or at an earlier period if congress shall think it expedient, on the same conditions and restrictions, with the same privileges, and in the same manner as is provided in the ordinance of congress of the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, for the government of the western territory of the United States; which ordinance shall, in all its parts, extend to the territory contained in the present act of cession, that article only excepted which forbids slavery.

ARTICLE II.

The United States accept the cession above mentioned, and on the conditions therein expressed; and they cede to the State of Georgia, whatever claim, right or title they may have to the jurisdiction or soil of any lands lying within the United States, and out of the proper boundaries of any other state, and situated south of the southern boundaries of the states of Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and east of the boundary line herein above described, as the eastern boundary of the territory ceded by Georgia to the United States.