And whereas, it appears from official documents on file in this Department, that the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, proposed as aforesaid, has been ratified by the Legislatures of the States of Illinois, Rhode Island, Michigan, Marylaud, New York, West Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, Nevada, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Tennessee, Arkansas, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia—in all twenty-seven States:
And whereas, the whole number of States in the United States is thirty-six:
And whereas, the before specially named States, whose Legislatures have ratified the said proposed amendment, constitute three-fourths of the whole number of States in the United States:
Now, therefore, be it known, that I, William H. Seward, Secretary of the United States, by virtue and in pursuance of the second section of the act of Congress, approved on the 20th of April, 1818, entitled "An act to provide for the publication of the laws of the United States and for other purposes," do hereby certify that the amendment aforesaid has become valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution of the United States.
