of the parallel of 36 deg. 30' of north latitude,
involuntary servitude, except in punishment of crime, is
prohibited. In all the present territory south of that line,
the _status_ of persons held to involuntary service or
labor, as it now exists, shall not be changed; nor shall any
law be passed by Congress or the Territorial Legislature to
hinder or prevent the taking of such persons from any of the
States of this Union to said territory, nor to impair the
rights arising from said relation; but the same shall be
subject to judicial cognizance in the Federal courts,
according to the course of the common law. When any
Territory north or south of said line, within such boundary
as Congress may prescribe, shall contain a population equal
to that required for a member of Congress, it shall, if its
form of government be republican, be admitted into the Union
on an equal footing with the original States, with or
without involuntary servitude, as the constitution of such
State may provide.

SEC. 2. No territory shall be acquired by the United States,
except by discovery and for naval and commercial stations,
depots, and transit routes, without the concurrence of a
majority of all the Senators from States which allow
involuntary servitude, and a majority of all the Senators
from States which prohibit that relation; nor shall
territory be acquired by treaty, unless the votes of a
majority of the Senators from each class of States
hereinbefore mentioned be cast as a part of the two thirds
majority necessary to the ratification of such treaty.

SEC. 3. Neither the constitution, nor any amendment thereof,
shall be construed to give Congress power to regulate,
abolish, or control, within any State, the relation
established or recognized by the laws thereof touching
persons held to labor or involuntary service therein, nor to
interfere with or abolish involuntary service in the
District of Columbia without the consent of Maryland and
without the consent of the owners, or making the owners who
do not consent just compensation; nor the power to interfere
with or prohibit Representatives and others from bringing
with them to the District of Columbia, retaining, and
taking away, persons so held to labor or service; nor the
power to int