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VENEZUELAN BOUNDARY.

417

Republican strength, and McKinley and Hobart were elected by a large majority of the electoral vote, and by a plurality of over 600,000 of the popular vote.

449. Venezuelan Boundary. (1895-1896.) There had been for many years a dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela regarding the boundary dividing the latter from British Guiana. Venezuela wished to submit the boundary question to arbitration, but Great Britain refused to do so. In July, 1895, Mr. Olney, the United States Secretary of State, addressed a note to the British Government stating that the United States was opposed to a forcible increase of the British possessions in America, referring to the Monroe Doctrine (Sect. 208) in support of his position, and urging the British government to submit the matter to arbitration. A reply was received late in November declining to do this. On receipt of this note President Cleveland promptly sent to Congress a special message on the subject. The apparently warlike tone he used at once threw the whole country into a state of great excitement. The President having suggested in his message the appointment of a commission to determine what is the true divisional line between Venezuela and British Guiana," Congress authorized such action, and the President appointed five commissioners, who entered at once upon their duties. The agitation calmed down, and negotiations with Great Britain went on.

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WILLIAM MCKINLEY.

In

November, 1896, the British government consented to arbitrate upon a basis honorable to all parties.

The excitement which accompanied the Venezuelan discussion so aroused the two countries to the danger of sudden quarrels, and to the inexpediency of resorting to war, that a treaty was drafted for the creation of a tribunal of arbitration to settle disputes which may arise in future between Great Britain and the United States.

APPENDIX I.

MAYFLOWER COMPACT.

"In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are vnderwritten, the loyall Subiects of our dread soveraigne Lord King IAMES, by the grace of God of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith &c. 66 Having vndertaken for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian Faith, and honour of our King and Countrey, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the Northerne parts of VIRGINIA doe by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant, and combine our selues together into a civill body politike, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by vertue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such iust and equall Lawes, Ordinances, acts, constitutions, offices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the generall good of the Colony: vnto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witnesse whereof we haue here-vnder subscribed our names, Cape Cod 11. of November, in the yeare of the raigne of our soveraigne Lord King IAMES, of England, France, and Ireland 18. and of Scotland 54. Anno Domini 1620."

Taken from Mourt's Relation, edited by Henry M. Dexter, Boston, 1865.

APPENDIX II.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE."

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WHEN in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object

1 The original copy of the Declaration of Independence, which was signed at Philadelphia, is kept at the Department of State, Washington, District of Columbia. The writing is much faded, and some of the signatures have nearly disappeared.

The arrangement of paragraphs here adopted follows the copy in the Journals of Congress, printed by John Dunlap, which agrees with Jefferson's original draft. No names of states appear in the original, though the names from each state are together, except that the signature of Matthew Thornton, New Hampshire, follows that of Oliver Wolcott, Massachusetts.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

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