The executive department is vested in the President, chosen every four years by electors, who are voted for by the people. The President is commander-in-chief of the army and navy and appoints the majority of officers, it being necessary that most of the appointments shall be confirmed by the Senate. In case of misconduct, the President is to be impeached (charged with misconduct) by the House of Representatives and tried by the Senate. If convicted and removed, or if he should die or resign or be unable to perform the duties of his office, the Vice-President takes his place and becomes President. With this exception, the Vice-President presides over the Senate, with no power to vote except in case of a tie. No provision was made for a successor in the event of the death of the Vice-President, but in 1886 the Presidential Succession Law was passed, which provides that, in case of the death or disability of the President and Vice-President, the order of succession shall be the secretaries of State, of the treasury, of war, the attorney-general, the postmaster-general, and the secretaries of the navy and of the interior. The judiciary department, or power to decide upon the constitutionality of laws, was given to one supreme court and such inferior courts as Congress should establish. The judges are appointed by the President and Senate and hold office during life or good behavior. The State courts have the power of appeal to the supreme court of the United States, whose decision is final, the questions being necessarily based upon offenses against any law of Congress, or upon the doubtful meaning of a law, or the doubt of the constitutional power of Congress to pass a law. At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, three-fifths of the slaves were to be counted in calculating the population for the Representatives. Fugitive slaves were to be arrested in the States to which they had fled. New Territories were to be governed by Congress, which body admits the new States as they are formed. Each State is guaranteed a republican form of government, and the vote of three-fourths of the States can change the Constitution through the means of amendments. The provisions regarding slavery, as a matter of course, lost their effect upon the abolishment of the institution at the close of the Civil War. THE ORDINANCE OF 1787.