Apollonian
Guest Columnist
THE UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF
THE 14th AMENDMENT
THE 14th AMENDMENT
Link: http://www.barefootsworld.net/14uncon.html
INTRODUCTION
The following is a treatise on the unconstitutionality of the Fourteenth Amendment, based upon the most comprehensive research and documentation of every angle in the unlawful procedures involved in its purported adoption.
This work was done, and is offered with a realization that the federal courts are not ready to give consideration to the subject, because the U. S. Supreme Court and inferior courts have used the the 14th Amendment to enlarge upon their ungranted powers without limit or reserve.
Socialist organized and directed violent mass demonstrations and armed rebellion in the nation's capital and in many American cities are extorting from Congress more and more radical legislation. These "laws" threaten basic personal freedom, private property rights and encroach upon and destroy more and more the constitutional right of self-government by the people on state and local levels. Executive orders extend toward further federal control of every aspect of life in the Nation, either by shutting off federal funds to those who will not subscribe to their forced dictums or by court injunctive orders to the same effect.
There lies the greatest danger to our country's future: so that the end result in the next or succeeding generation can only be a deteriorated industrial empire and a weakened national defense, which must result in abject surrender to our mortal enemy,-- world-wide Socialism and Totalitarianism. That is the ultimate end of the subversive use of the unconstitutional 14th Amendment.
It is hoped that this treatise, exposing the absolute unconstitutionality of the l4th amendment, will be given sufficient general circulation and publicity to awaken a "consensus" of public sentiment to reach the seats of power in Washington, D. C., so that ultimately the stamp of unconstitutionality may be placed upon the 14th amendment, and constitutional government and national sanity once more may prevail.
Cites and References:
Congressional Record.
Senate, 84th Con. 1st Session., Vol. 101, pp. 7119 to 7124;
Senate, 86th Con., 2nd Session., Vol. 106, pp. 4036 to 4038;
Senate, 89th Con., 1st Session., Vol. III, pp. 10669 to 10671.
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THE 14th AMENDMENT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
The purported 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is and should be held to be ineffective, invalid, null, void and unconstitutional for the following reasons:
1. The Joint Resolution proposing said amendment was not submitted to or adopted by a Constitutional Congress per Article I, Section 3, and Article V of the U. S. Constitution.
2. The Joint Resolution was not submitted to the President for his approval as required by Article I, Section 7 of the U. S. Constitution.
3. The proposed 14th Amendment was rejected by more than one-fourth of all the States then in the Union, and it was never ratified by three-fourths of all the States in the Union as required by Article V of the U. S. Constitution.
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CHAPTER I
THE UNCONSTlTUTIONAL CONGRESS
The U. S. Constitution provides:
Article I, Section 3. "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State"
Article V provides: "No State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate."
The fact that 28 Senators had been unlawfully excluded from the U. S. Senate, in order to secure a two-thirds vote for adoption of the Joint Resolution proposing the 14th Amendment is shown by Resolutions of protest adopted by the following State Legislatures:
The New Jersey Legislature by Resolution of March 27, 1868, protested as follows:
"The said proposed amendment not having yet received the assent the three-fourths of the states, which is necessary to make it valid, the natural and constitutional right of this state to withdraw its assent is undeniable ".
"That it being necessary by the constitution that every amendment to the same should be proposed by two-thirds of both houses of congress, the authors of said proposition, for the purpose of securing the assent of the requisite majority, determined to, and did, exclude from the said two houses eighty representatives from eleven states of the union, upon the pretence that there were no such states in the Union: but, finding that two-thirds of the remainder of the said houses could not be brought to assent to the said proposition, they deliberately formed and carried out the design of mutilating the integrity of the United States senate, and without any pretext or justification, other than the possession of the power, without the right, and in palpable violation of the constitution, ejected a member of their own body, representing this state, and thus practically denied to New Jersey its equal suffrage in the senate, and thereby nominally secured the vote of two-thirds of the said houses." [Cite 1]
The Alabama Legislature protested against being deprived of representation in the Senate of the U. S. Congress. [Cite 2]
The Texas Legislature by Resolution on October 15, 1866, protested as follows:
"The amendment to the Constitution proposed by this joint resolution as article XIV is presented to the Legislature of Texas for its action thereon, under Article V of that Constitution. This article V, providing the mode of making amendments to that instrument, contemplates the participation by all the States through their representatives in Congress, in proposing amendments. As representatives from nearly one-third of the States were excluded from the Congress proposing the amendments, the constitutional requirement was not complied with; it was violated in letter and in spirit; and the proposing of these amendments to States which were excluded from all participation in their initiation in Congress, is a nullity." [Cite 3]
The Arkansas Legislature, by Resolution on December 17, 1866, protested as follows:
"The Constitution authorized two-thirds of both houses of Congress to propose amendments; and, as eleven States mere excluded from deliberation and decision upon the one now submitted, the conclusion is inevitable that it is not proposed by legal authority, but in palpable violation of the Constitution." [Cite 4]
The Georgia Legislature, by Resolution on November 9, 1866, protested as follows:
"Since the reorganization of the State government, Georgia has elected Senators and Representatives. So has every other State. They have been arbitrarily refused admission to their seats, not on the ground that the qualifications of the members elected did not conform to the fourth paragraph, second section, first article of the Constitution, but because their right of representation was denied by a portion of the States having equal but not greater rights than themselves. They have in fact been forcibly excluded; and, inasmuch as all legislative power granted by the States to the Congress is defined, and this power of exclusion is not among the powers expressly or by implication, the assemblage, at the capitol, of representatives from a portion of the States, to the exclusion of the representatives of another portion, cannot be a constitutional Congress, when the representation of each State forms an integral part of the whole.
This amendment is tendered to Georgia for ratification, under that power in the Constitution which authorizes two-thirds of the Congress to propose amendments. We have endeavored to establish that Georgia had a right, in the first place, as a part of the Congress, to act upon the question, 'Shall these amendments be proposed?' Every other excluded State had the same right.
The first constitutional privilege has been arbitrarily denied.
Had these amendments been submitted to a constitutional Congress, they never would have been proposed to the States. Two-thirds of the whole Congress never would have proposed to eleven States voluntarily to reduce their political power in the Union, and at the same time, disfranchise the larger portion of the intellect, integrity and patriotism of eleven co-equal States." [Cite 5]
The Florida Legislature, by Resolution of December 5, 1866, protested as follows:
"Let this alteration be made in the organic system and some new and more startling demands may or may not be required by the predominant party previous to allotting the ten States now unlawfully and unconstitutionally deprived of their right of representation to enter the Halls of the National Legislature. Their right to representation is guaranteed by the Constitution of this country and there is no act, not even that of rebellion, can deprive them of its exercise." [Cite 6]
The South Carolina Legislature by Resolution of November 27, 1866, protested as follows:
"Eleven of the Southern States, including South Carolina, are deprived of their representation in Congress. Although their Senators and Representatives have been duly elected and have presented themselves for the purpose of taking their seats, their credentials have, in most instances, been laid upon the table without being read, or have been referred to a committee, who have failed to make any report on the subject. In short, Congress has refused to exercise its Constitutional functions, and decide either upon the election, the return, or the qualification of these selected by the States and people to represent us. Some of the Senators and Representatives from the Southern States were prepared to take the test oath, but even these have been persistently ignored, and kept out of the seats to which they were entitled under the Constitution and laws.
Hence this amendment has not been proposed by 'two-thirds of both Houses' of a legally constituted Congress, and is not, Constitutionally or legitimately, before a single Legislature for ratification." [Cite 7]
The North Carolina Legislature protested by Resolution of December 6, 1866 as follows:
"The Federal Constitution declares, in substance, that Congress shall consist of a House of Representatives, composed of members apportioned among the respective States in the ratio of their population, and of a Senate, composed of two members from each State. And in the Article which concerns Amendments, it is expressly provided that 'no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.' The contemplated Amendment was not proposed to the States by a Congress thus constituted. At the time of its adoption, the eleven seceding States were deprived of representation both in the Senate and House, although they all, except the State of Texas, had Senators and Representatives duly elected and claiming their privileges under the Constitution. In consequence of this, these States had no voice on the important question of proposing the Amendment. Had they been allowed to give their votes, the proposition would doubtless have failed to command the required two-thirds majority.
If the votes of these States are necessary to a valid ratification of the Amendment, they were equally necessary on the question of proposing it to the States; for it would be difficult, in the opinion of the Committee, to show by what process in logic, men of intelligence could arrive at a different conclusion." [Cite 8]
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CHAPTER II
JOlNT RESOLUTlON INEFFECTIVE
Article I, Section 7 of the United States Constitution provides that not only every bill which shall have been passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States Congress, but that:
"Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill." [Art I, Sect. 7]
The Joint Resolution proposing the 14th Amendment [Cite 9] was never presented to the President of the United States for his approval, as President Andrew Johnson stated in his message on June 22, 1866. [Cite 10]
Therefore, the Joint Resolution did not take effect.
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CHAPTER III
PROPOSED AMENDMENT NEVER RATlFIED BY THREE-FOURTHS OF THE STATES
1. Pretermitting the ineffectiveness of said resolution, as above, fifteen (15) States out of the then thirty-seven (37) States of the Union rejected the proposed 14th Amendment between the date of its submission to the States by the Secretary of State on June 16, 1866 and March 24, 1868, thereby further nullifying said resolution and making it impossible for its ratification by the constitutionally required three-fourths of such States, as shown by the rejections thereof by the Legislatures of the following states:
Texas rejected the 14th Amendment on Oct. 27, 1866. [Cite 11]
Georgia rejected the 14th Amendment on Nov. 9, 1866. [Cite 12]
Florida rejected the 14th Amendment on Dec. 6, 1866. [Cite 13]
Alabama rejected the 14th Amendment on Dec. 7, 1866. [Cite 14]
North Carolina rejected the 14th Amendment on Dec. 14, 1866. [Cite 15]
Arkansas rejected the 14th Amendment on Dec. 17, 1866. [Cite 16]
South Carolina rejected the 14th Amendment on Dec. 20, 1866. [Cite 17]
Kentucky rejected the 14th Amendment on Jan. 8, 1867. [Cite 18]
Virginia rejected the 14th Amendment on Jan. 9, 1867. [Cite 19]
Louisiana rejected the 14th Amendment on Feb. 6, 1867. [Cite 20]
Delaware rejected the 14th Amendment on Feb. 7, 1867. [Cite 21]
Maryland rejected the l4th amendment on Mar. 23, 1867. [Cite 22]
Mississippi rejected the 14th Amendment on Jan. 31, 1867. [Cite 23]
Ohio rejected the 14th amendment on Jan. 16, 1868. [Cite 24]
New Jersey rejected the 14th Amendment on Mar. 24, 1868. [Cite 25]
There was no question that all of the Southern states which rejected the 14th Amendment had legally constituted governments, were fully recognized by the federal government, and were functioning as member states of the Union at the time of their rejection.
President Andrew Johnson, in his Veto message of March 2, 1867, [Cite 26] pointed out that:
"It is not denied that the States in question have each of them an actual government with all the powers, executive, judicial and legislative, which properly belong to a free State. They are organized like the other States of the Union, and, like them they make, administer, and execute the laws which concern their domestic affairs."
If further proof were needed that these States were operating under legally constituted governments as member States in the Union. the ratification of the 13th Amendment by December 8, 1865 undoubtedly supplies this official proof. If the Southern States were not member States of the Union, the 13th amendment would not have been submitted to their Legislatures for ratification.
2. The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution was proposed by Joint Resolution of Congress [Cite 27] and was approved February 1, 1865 by President Abraham Lincoln, as required by Article I, Section 7 of the United States Constitution. The President's signature is affixed to the Resolution.
The 13th Amendment was ratified by 27 states of the then 36 states of the Union, including the Southern States of Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia. This is shown by the Proclamation of the Secretary of State December 18, 1865. [Cite 28] Without the votes of these 7 Southern State Legislatures the 13th Amendment would have failed. There can be no doubt but that the ratification by these 7 Southern States of the 13th Amendment again established the fact that their Legislatures and State governments were duly and lawfully constituted and functioning as such under their State Constitutions.
3. Furthermore, on April 2, 1866, President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation that,
"the insurrection which heretofore existed in the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Florida is at an end, and is henceforth to be so regarded." [Cite 29]
On August 20, 1866, President Andrew Johnson issued another proclamation [Cite 30] pointing out the fact that the House of Representatives and Senate had adopted identical Resolutions on July 22nd [Cite 31] and July 26th, 1861, [Cite 32] that the Civil War forced by disunionists of the Southern States, was not waged for the purpose of conquest or to overthrow the rights and established institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and to preserve the Union with all equality and rights of the several states unimpaired, and that as soon as these objects ere accomplished, the war ought to cease. The President's proclamation on June 13, 1866, declared the insurrection in the State of Tennessee had been suppressed. [Cite 33] The President's proclamation on April 2, 1866, [Cite 34] declared the insurrection in the other Southern States, except Texas, no longer existed. On August 20, 1866, [Cite 35] the President proclaimed that the insurrection in the State of Texas had been completely ended; and his proclamation continued:
"the insurrection which heretofore existed in the State of Texas is at an end, and is to be henceforth so regarded in that State, as in the other States before named in which the said insurrection was proclaimed to be at an end by the aforesaid proclamation of the second day of April, one thousand, eight hundred and sixty-six.
And I do further proclaim that the said insurrection is at an end, and that peace, order, tranquillity, and civil authority now exist, in and throughout the whole of the United States of America."
4. When the State of Louisiana rejected the 14th Amendment on February 6, 1867, making the 10th state to have rejected the same, or more than one-fourth of the total number of 36 states of the Union as of that date, thus leaving less than three-fourths of the states possibly to ratify the same, the Amendment failed of ratification in fact and in law, and it could not have been revived except by a new Joint Resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives in accordance with Constitutional requirement.
5. Faced with the positive failure of ratification of the 14th Amendment, both Houses of Congress passed over the veto of the President three Acts known as Reconstruction Acts, between the dates of March 2 and July 19, 1867, especially the third of said Acts, 15 Stat. p. 14 etc., designed illegally to remove with "Military force" the lawfully constituted State Legislatures of the 10 Southern States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. In President Andrew Johnson's Veto message on the Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867, [Cite 36] he pointed out these unconstitutionalities:
"If ever the American citizen should be left to the free exercise of his own judgment, it is when he is engaged in the work of forming the fundamental law under which he is to live. That work is his work, and it cannot properly be taken out of his hands. All this legislation proceeds upon the contrary Assumption that the people of each of these States shall have no constitution, except such as may be arbitrarily dictated by Congress, and formed under the restraint of military rule. A plain statement of facts makes this evident.
In all these States there are existing constitutions, framed in the accustomed way by the people. Congress, however, declares that these constitutions are not 'loyal and republican,' and requires the people to form them anew. What, then, in the opinion of Congress, is necessary to make the constitution of a State 'loyal and republican?' The original act answers the question: 'It is universal negro suffrage, a question which the federal Constitution leaves exclusively to the States themselves. All this legislative machinery of martial law, military coercion, and political disfranchisement is avowedly for that purpose and none other. The existing constitutions of the ten States conform to the acknowledged standards of loyalty and republicanism. Indeed, if there are degrees in republican forms of government, their constitutions are more republican now, than when these States - four of which were members of the original thirteen - first became members of the Union."
In President Andrew Johnson's Veto message on the Reconstruction Act on July 19, 1867, he pointed out various unconstitutionalities as follows:
"The veto of the original bill of the 2d of March was based on two distinct grounds, the interference of Congress in matters strictly appertaining to the reserved powers of the States, and the establishment of military tribunals for the trial of citizens in time of peace.
A singular contradiction is apparent here. Congress declares these local State governments to be illegal governments, and then provides that these illegal governments shall be carried on by federal officers, who are to perform the very duties on its own officers by this illegal State authority. It certainly would be a novel spectacle if Congress should attempt to carry on a legal State government by the agency of its own officers. It is yet more strange that Congress attempts to sustain and carry on an illegal State government by the same federal agency.
It is now too late to say that these ten political communities are not States of this Union. Declarations to the contrary made in these three acts are contradicted again and again by repeated acts of legislation enacted by Congress from the year 1861 to the year 1867.
During that period, while these States were in actual rebellion, and after that rebellion was brought to a close, they have been again and again recognized as States of the Union. Representation has been apportioned to them as States. They have peen divided into judicial districts for the holding of district and circuit courts of the United States, as States of the Union only can be districted. The last act on this subject was passed July 28, 1866, by which every one of these ten States was arranged into districts and circuits.
They have been called upon by Congress to act through their legislatures upon at least two amendments to the Constitution of the United States. As States they have ratified one amendment, which required the vote of twenty-seven States of the thirty-six then composing the Union. When the requisite twenty-seven votes were given in favor of that amendment - seven of which votes were given by seven of these ten States - it was proclaimed to be apart of the Constitution of the United States, and slavery was declared no longer to exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction. If these seven States were not legal States of the Union, it follows as an inevitable consequence that in some of the States slavery yet exists. It does not exist in these seven States, for they have abolished it also in their State constitutions; but Kentucky not having done so, it would still remain in that State. But, in truth, if this assumption that these States have no legal State governments be true, then the abolition of slavery by these illegal governments binds no one, for Congress now denies to these States the power to abolish slavery by denying to them the power to elect a legal State legislature, or to frame a constitution for any purpose, even for such a purpose as the abolition of slavery.
As to the other constitutional amendment having reference to suffrage, it happens that these States have not accepted it. The consequence is, that it has never been proclaimed or understood, even by Congress, to be a part of the Constitution of the United States. The Senate of the United States has repeatedly given its sanction to the appointment of judges, district attorneys, and marshals for every one of these States; yet, if they are not legal States, not one of these judges is authorized to hold a court. So, too, both houses of Congress have passed appropriation bills to pay all these judges, attorneys, and officers of the United States for exercising their functions in these States.
Again, in the machinery of the internal revenue laws, all these States are districted, not as 'Territories,' but as 'States.'
So much for continuous legislative recognition. The instances cited, however, fall far short of all that might be enumerated. Executive recognition, as is well known, has been frequent and unwavering. The same may be said as to judicial recognition through the Supreme Court of the United States.
To me these considerations are conclusive of the unconstitutionality of this part of the bill now before me, and I earnestly commend their consideration to the deliberate judgment of Congress.
Within a period less than a year the legislation of Congress has attempted to strip the executive department of the government of some of its essential powers. The Constitution, and the oath provided in it, devolve upon the President the power and duty to see that the laws are faithfully executed. The Constitution, in order to carry out this power, gives him the choice of the agents, and makes them subject to his control and supervision. But in the execution of these laws the constitutional obligation upon the President remains, but the powers to exercise that constitutional duty is effectually taken away. The military commander is, as to the power of appointment, made to take the place of its President, and the General of the Army the place of the Senate; and any attempt on the part of the President to assert his own constitutional power may, under pretence of law, be met by official insubordination. It is to be feared that these military officers, looking to the authority given by these laws rather than to the letter of the Constitution, will recognize no authority but the commander of the district and the General of the army.
If there were no other objection than this to this proposed legislation, it would be sufficient."
No one can contend that the Reconstruction Acts were ever upheld as being valid and constitutional.
They were brought into question, but the Courts either avoided decision or were prevented by Congress from finally adjudicating upon their constitutionality.
In Mississippi v. President Andrew Johnson, (4 Wall. 475-502), where the suit sought to enjoin the President of the United States from enforcing provisions of the Reconstruction Acts, the U. S. Supreme Court held that the President cannot be enjoined because for the Judicial Department of the government to attempt to enforce the performance of the duties by the President might be justly characterized, in the language of Chief Justice Marshall, as "an absurd and excessive extravagance." The Court further said that if the Court granted the injunction against enforcement of the Reconstruction Acts, and if the President refused obedience, it is needless to observe that the Court is without power to enforce its process.
AND NOW TO THE COURT.
In a joint action, the states of Georgia and Mississippi brought suit against the President and the Secretary of War, (6 Wall. 50-78, 154 U.S. 554).
The Court said that:
"The bill then sets forth that the intent and design of the acts of Congress, as apparent on their face and by their terms, are to overthrow and annul this existing state government, and to erect another and different government in its place, unauthorized by the Constitution and in defiance of its guaranties; and that, in furtherance of this intent and design, the defendants, the Secretary of War, the General of the Army, and Major-General Pope, acting under orders of the President, are about setting in motion a portion of the army to take military possession of the state, and threaten to subvert her government and subject her people to military rule; that the state is holding inadequate means to resist the power and force of the Executive Department of the United States; and she therefore insists that such protection can, and ought to be afforded by a decree or order of his court in the premises."
The applications for injunction by these two states to prohibit the Executive Department from carrying out the provisions of the Reconstruction Acts directed to the overthrow of their government, including the dissolution of their state legislatures, were denied on the grounds that the organization of the government into three great departments, the executive, legislative and judicial, carried limitations of the powers of each by the Constitution. This case went the same way as the previous case of Mississippi against President Johnson and was dismissed without adjudication upon the constitutionality of the Reconstruction Acts.
In another case, ex parte William H. McCardle (7 Wall. 506-515), a petition for the writ of habeas corpus for unlawful restraint by military force of a citizen not in the military service of the United States was before the United States Supreme Court. After the case was argued and taken under advisement, and before conference in regard to the decision to be made, Congress passed an emergency Act, (Act March 27, 1868, 15 Stat. at L. 44), vetoed by the President and re-passed over his veto, repealing the jurisdiction of the U. S. Supreme Court in such case. Accordingly, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal without passing upon the constitutionality of the ReconstructionActs, under which the non-military citizen was held by the military without benefit of writ of habeas corpus, in violation of Section 9, Article I of the U. S. Constitution which prohibits the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.
That Act of Congress placed the Reconstruction acts beyond judicial recourse and avoided tests of constitutionality.
It is recorded that one of the Supreme Court Justices, Grier, protested against the action of the Court as follows:
"This case was fully argued in the beginning of this month. It is a case which involves the liberty and rights, not only of the appellant, but of millions of our fellow citizens. The country and the parties had a right to expect that it would receive the immediate and solemn attention of the court. By the postponement of this case we shall subject ourselves, whether justly or unjustly, to the imputation that we have evaded the performance of a duty imposed on us by the Constitution, and waited for legislative interposition to supersede our action, and relieve us from responsibility. I am not willing to be a partaker of the eulogy or opprobrium that may follow. I can only say... I am ashamed that such opprobrium should be cast upon the court and that it cannot be refuted."
The ten States were organized into Military Districts under the unconstitutional "Reconstruction Acts," their lawfully constituted Legislatures illegally were removed by "military force," and they were replaced by rump, so-called Legislatures, seven of which carried out military orders and pretended to ratify the 14th Amendment, as follows:
Arkansas on April 6, 1868; [Cite 38]
North Carolina on July 2, 1868; [Cite 39]
Florida on June 9, 1868; [Cite 40]
Louisiana on July 9, 1868; [Cite 41]
South Carolina on July 9, 1868; [Cite 42]
Alabama on July 13, 1868; [Cite 43]
Georgia on July 21, 1868. [Cite 44]
6. Of the above 7 States whose Legislatures were removed and replaced by rump, so-called Legislatures, six (6) Legislatures of the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia had ratified the 13th amendment, as shown by the Secretary of State's Proclamation of December 18, 1865, without which 6 States' ratifications, the 13th Amendment could not and would not have been ratified because said 6 States made a total of 27 out of 36 States or exactly three-fourths of the number required by Article V of the Constitution for ratification.
Furthermore, governments of the States of Louisiana and Arkansas had been re-established under a Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln December 8, 1863. [Cite 45]
The government of North Carolina had been re-established under a Proclamation issued by President Andrew Johnson dated May 29, 1865. [Cite 46]
The government of Georgia had been re-established under a proclamation issued by President Andrew Johnson dated June 17, 1865. [Cite 47]
The government of Alabama had been re-established under a Proclamation issued by President Andrew Johnson dated June 21, 1865. [Cite 48]
The government of South Carolina had been re-established under a Proclamation issued by President Andrew Johnson dated June 30, 1865. [Cite 49]
These three "Reconstruction Acts" [Cite 50] under which the above State legislatures were illegally removed and unlawful rump or puppet so-called Legislatures were substituted in a mock effort to ratify the 14th amendment, were unconstitutional, null and void, ab initio, and all acts done thereunder were also null and void, including the purported ratification of the l4th Amendment by said 6 Southern puppet State Legislatures of Arkansas, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia.
Those Reconstruction Acts of Congress and all acts and thing unlawfully done thereunder were in violation of Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution, which required the United States to guarantee every State in the Union a republican form of government. They violated article I, Section 3, and article V of the Constitution, which entitled every State in the Union to two Senators, because under provisions of these unlawful acts of Congress, 10 States were deprived of having two Senators, or equal suffrage in the Senate.
7. The Secretary of State expressed doubt as to whether three-fourths of the required states had ratified the 14th Amendment, as shown by his Proclamation of July 20, 1868. [Cite 51] Promptly on July 21, 1868, a Joint Resolution [Cite 52] was adopted by the Senate and House of Representatives declaring that three-fourths of the several States of the Union had ratified the 14th Amendment. That resolution, however, included purported ratifications by the unlawful puppet Legislatures of 5 States, Arkansas, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina and Alabama, which had previously rejected the 14th Amendment by action of their )awful)y constituted Legislatures, as above shown. This Joint Resolution assumed to perform the function of the Secretary of State in whom Congress, by Act of April 20, 1818, had vested the function of issuing such proclamation declaring the ratification of Constitutional Amendments.
The Secretary of State bowed to the action of Congress and issued his Proclamation of July 28, 1868, [Cite 53] in which he stated that he was as acting under authority of the Act of April 20, 1818, but pursuant to said Resolution of July 21, 1868. He listed three-fourths or so of the then 37 states as having ratified the 14th Amendment, including the purported ratification of the unlawful puppet Legislatures of the States of Arkansas, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina and Alabama. Without said 6 unlawful purported ratifications there would have been only 26 states left to ratify out of 37 when a minimum of 28 states was required for ratification by three-fourths of the States of the Union.
The Joint Resolution of Congress and the resulting Proclamation of the Secretary of State also included purported ratifications by the States of Ohio and New Jersey, although the Proclamation recognized the fact that the Legislatures of said states, several months previously, had withdrawn their ratifications and effectively rejected the 14th Amendment in January, 1868, and April, 1868.
Therefore, deducting these two states from the purported ratifications of the 14th amendment, only 23 State ratifications at most could be claimed; whereas the ratification of 28 States, or three-fourths of 37 States in the Union, were required to ratify the 14th Amendment.
From all of the above documented historic facts, it is inescapable that the 14th Amendment never was validly adopted as an article of the Constitution, that it has no legal effect, and it should be declared by the Courts to be unconstitutional, and therefore null, void and of no effect.
[END of Part one. See below post for part two to above entry.]