treason

Examples of treason in the following topics:

• Article III

  • Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
  • No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
  • The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.

• The Burr Conspiracy

  • The Burr Conspiracy was a suspected act of treason led by former U.S.
  • The Burr Conspiracy of 1807 was a suspected act of treason among planters, politicians, and army officers led by former U.S.
  • President Thomas Jefferson and others had Burr arrested and indicted for treason despite having no firm evidence.
  • Burr was acquitted of treason, but the trial destroyed his already faltering political career.
  • Burr was charged with treason due to the alleged conspiracy and stood trial in Richmond, Virginia.

• Crime and Punishment

  • Torture was also used during this time period as a means of reform, spectacle, to induce fear into the public, and most popularly as a punishment for treason.
  • To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a statutory penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III (1216–1272) and his successor, Edward I (1272–1307).
  • For reasons of public decency, women convicted of high treason were instead burned at the stake.

• Interstate Relations

  • Under the Extradition Clause, a state must extradite people located there who have fled charges of treason, felony, or other crimes in another state if the other state requests extradition.

• Colonies in Crisis

  • Leisler was arrested by these forces, who tried him for treason.

• Article IV

  • A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, shall on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.

• Investigation

  • The legislature is authorized to appropriate funds; raise and support armies; provide for and maintain a navy; declare war; provide for organizing and calling forth the national guard; regulate interstate and foreign commerce; establish post offices and post roads; advise and consent on treaties and presidential nominations (Senate); and impeach (House) and try (Senate) the President, Vice President, and civil officers for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
  • The legislature is authorized to appropriate funds; raise and support armies; provide for and maintain a navy; declare war; provide for organizing and calling forth the national guard; regulate interstate and foreign commerce; establish post offices and post roads; advise and consent on treaties and presidential nominations (Senate); and impeach (House) and try (Senate) the President, Vice President, and civil officers for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

• Restoration of the Stuarts

  • The Indemnity and Oblivion Act, which became law in August 1660, pardoned all past treason against the crown, but specifically excluded those involved in the trial and execution of Charles I. 31 of the 59 commissioners (judges) who had signed the death warrant in 1649 were living.
  • Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, Judge Thomas Pride, and Judge John Bradshaw were posthumously attained for high treason.

• Domestic Turmoil During the Adams Presidency

  • Thirty men went on trial in Federal court: Fries and two others were tried for treason and sentenced to be hanged.
  • President John Adams, however, pardoned Fries and the others, prompted by the narrower constitutional definition of treason.

• The Revolution and Churches

  • Furthermore, loyalty to the church and to its head could be construed as treason to the American cause.