"The amendments, according to one of the methods provided, were proposed by Congress and ratified by the States. The first twelve were submitted under acts passed in 1789, 1790, 1793 and 1803, and the last three after the Civil war, under acts of 1865, 1868 and 1870. The most important of the amendments are the twelfth, which changed the method of electing the President and Vice-President to the existing method; the thirteenth, which abolishes slavery; the fourteenth, which disqualifies any one who has been engaged in rebellion against the government from holding office, unless his disqualification has been removed by Congress, and prevents the assumption and payment of any debt incurred in aid of rebellion; and the fifteenth, which prohibits the denial to any one the right to vote because of race, color or previous condition of servitude. [Illustration: Shiloh Baptist Church, New Site (colored.) (See page 215)] [Illustration: The Church of God and Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ (colored.) (See page 216)] "This is an epitome of the Constitution of the United States, by virtue of which the government has been maintained to the present time; and the principles laid down therein were, to a very large extent, the suggestions of the men we have mentioned from the locality of Fredericksburg. The Republic based upon this Constitution was an experiment, but it has, for more than a century, withstood the most terrific shocks of the most troublous times. It has waged foreign wars successfully; wild party spirit has always been foiled in efforts to undermine it; the bloodiest internecine strife in the world's history, sustained on both sides by unsurpassed valor, has but cemented its strength and prosperity at home and its power and prestige abroad; from thirteen small, feeble colonies, it has become a great nation of nearly eighty millions of people, its domain not only spreading from ocean to ocean, but extending far over the seas, and the protecting ægis of the Constitution, and the laws passed thereunder, guarding every race from every clime. "No more splendid apostrophe to the Constitution could be added than the tribute of Mr. Gladstone, of England, the ablest advocate of human rights the century just closed has produced, when he said, in substance, that it was the grandest and greatest compendium of principles that had ever emanated from the brain, or been written down by the pen, of man." CHAPTER XXI _The First Proclamation for Public Thanksgiving--Pennsylvania Whiskey Rebellion--John Marshall and the Supreme Court--Religious Liberty--The Monroe Doctrine--Seven Presidents--Clarke Saves the Great Northwest--The Northwest Explored--Louisiana Purchase--Texas Acquired--Mexico Adds to Our Territory--The Oceans Measured, Sounded and Mapped--The Ladies' Memorial Association--The Mary Washington Monument, &c._