The Constitution of the United States of America
Preamble
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a
more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the
Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the United States of America.
Article I
Section 1. All legislative Powers
herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall
consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of
Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the
Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of
the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have
attained to the Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives
and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be
included within this Union, according to their
respective Numbers, [which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of
free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and
excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.]' The actual Enumeration shall be made within three
Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within
every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.
The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand,
but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such
enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three; Massachusetts eight; Rhode Island and
Providence Plantations one; Connecticut five; New York six; New Jersey four;
Pennsylvania eight; Delaware one; Maryland six; Virginia ten; North Carolina
five; South Carolina five; and Georgia three
When vacancies happen in the Representation from
any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to
fill such Vacancies. The House of
Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and
other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of
Impeachment. Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be
composed of two Senators from each State, [chosen by the Legislature thereof,]# for six Years; and each Senator shall have one
Vote. Immediately after they
shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be
divided as equallyas may be into three Classes.
The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the
Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the
fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so
that one third may be chosen every second Year; [and if Vacancies happen by
Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State,
the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting
of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.]* No Person shall be a
Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine
Years a Citizen of the United States, and who
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be
chosen. The Vice President of
the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote,
unless they be equally divided. The Senate shall chuse
their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore,
in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of
President of the United States. The Senate shall have
the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they
shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is
tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted
without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. Judgment in Cases of
Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and
disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor. Trust or Profit under the United States: but the
Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment,
Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. |
Section 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections
for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the
Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such
Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing
Senators. [The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such
Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law
appoint a different Day.]**
'Bracketed material superseded by Section 2
of the Fourteenth Amendment, #
Bracketed material superseded by Clause 1 of the Seventeenth
Amendment. * Bracketed
material modified by Clause 2 of the Seventeenth Amendment. ** Bracketed
material superseded by Section 2 of the Twentieth Amendment.
Section 5. Each House
shall be theJudge of the Elections, Returns and
Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a
Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and
may be authorized to compel the Attendance of
absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may
provide.
Each House may determine
the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and,
with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.•
Each House shall keep a
Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting
such Parts as may in their Judgment require
Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question
shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.
Neither House, during the
Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more
than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall
be sitting.
Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a
Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the
Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony
and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at
the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the
same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be
questioned in any other Place.
No Senator or
Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to
any civil Office under the Authority of the United
States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have
been encreased during such time; and no Person
holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House
during his Continuance in Office.
Section 7. All Bills for
raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate
may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
Every Bill which shall
have passed the House of Representatives and the
Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented
to the President of the United States; If he
approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return
it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who
shall enter the Objections at large on their Joumal,
and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that
House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the
Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except
on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United
States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or
being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and
House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in
the Case of a Bill.
Section 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect
Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common
Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and
Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow Money on the
credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and
among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws
on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of
foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the
Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by
securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to
their respective Writings and Discoveries; To constitute Tribunals inferior to
the supreme Court; To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the
high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal,
and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of
Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and
maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the
land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the
Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing,
arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as
may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States
respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training
the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases
whatsoever, over-such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by
Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of
the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all
Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the
Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for
carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by
this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department
or Officer thereof.
Section 9. The
Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing
shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to
the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed
on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas
Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion
the public Safety may require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid,
unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be
taken.*
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from
any State. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue
to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or
from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in
Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account
of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from
time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United
States: And no
Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them,
shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument,
Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign
State.
Section 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance,
or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills
of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of
Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto
Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Tide of
Nobility.
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay
any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely
necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties
and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of
the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the
Revision and Controul of the Congress.
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any
Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any
Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in
War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
*Modified by the Sixteenth Amendment.
Article II
Section 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a
President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the
Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same
Term, be elected, as follows.
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the
Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number
of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the
Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of
Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
[The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and
vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant
of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the
Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall
sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the
United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the
Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open
all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having
the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and
if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of
Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by Ballot one of them for President; and if no
Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House
shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing
the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each
State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or
Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall
be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the
Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice
President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the
Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.]*
The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the
Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be
the same throughout the United States.
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United
States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to
the Office of President; neither shall any Person
be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of
thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
[In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or
of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of
the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress
may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability,
both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act
as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed,
or a President shall be elected.]**
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his
Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased
nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he
shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United
States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall
take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm)
that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,
and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States."
Section 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the
Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States,
when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the
Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the
executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the
Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves
and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of
Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent
of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present
concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the
Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges
of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments
are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law:
but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as
they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the
Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies
that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which
shall expire at the End of their next Session.
*Bracketed material
superseded by the Twelfth Amendment, **Bracketed
material modified by the Twenty-fifth Amendment.
Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration
such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on
extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of
Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may
adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive
Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be
faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United
States.
Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil
Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for,
and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Article III
Section 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be
vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may
from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and
inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at
stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be
diminished during their Continuance in Office.
Section 2. The judicial
Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties
made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;— to all Cases affecting
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; —to all Cases of admiralty and
maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to
Controversies between two or more States;—between a State and Citizens of another State;—between Citizens of different States;—between Citizens of the same
State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or
the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.*
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public
Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme
Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the
other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate
Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such
Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment,
shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said
Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the
Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have
directed.
Section 3. 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.
Article IV
Section i. Full Faith
and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and
judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws
prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be
proved, and the Effect thereof.
Section 2. The Citizens
of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in
the several States.
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.
[No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under
the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or
Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but
shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such
Service or Labour may be due.]**
Section 3. New States
may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be
formed or erected within theJurisdiction of any
other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or
Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States
concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all
needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory
or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this
Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United
States, or of any particular State.
Section 4 The United States shall guarantee to every State
in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them
against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive
(when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
*This paragraph modified in part by the Eleventh
Amendment. 'Bracketed material superseded by
the Thirteenth Amendment
Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the
Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call
a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to
all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the
Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three
fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed
by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year
One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and
fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State,
without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
Article VI
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into,
before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United
States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States
which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall
be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of
the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to
the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and
the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial
Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound
by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test
shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under
the United States.
Article VII
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States,
shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the
States so ratifying the Same.
DONE in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the
States present the Seventeenth Dayof September in
the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the
Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth. IN WITNESS whereof We
have hereunto subscribed our Names.
.
george
washington—President and deputy from Virginia
THE AMENDMENTS
ARTICLES in addition to,
and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by
Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to
the fifth Article of the original Constitution.
Article I
(Articles I
through X, now known as the Bill of Rights, were proposed on September 25, 1789,
and declared
in force on December 15,
1791.)
Congress shall make no
law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress
of grievances.
Article II
A well regulated Militia,
being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to
keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Article III
No Soldier shall, in time
of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in
time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Article IV
The right of the people
to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by
Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and
the persons or things to be seized.
Article V
No person shall be held
to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment
or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval
forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public
danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in
jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a
witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without
just compensation.
Article VI
In all criminal
prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial,
by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have
been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law,
and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted
with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining
witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Article VII
In Suits at common law,
where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial
by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise
re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of
the common law.
Article VIII
Excessive bail shall not
be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments
inflicted.
Article IX
The enumeration in the
Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage
others retained by the people.
Article X
The powers not delegated
to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Article XI
[Proposed March 4, 1794; declared ratified January 8, 1798}
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted
against one of the United States by Citizens of
another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any
Foreign State.
[Proposed December 9, 1803; declared ratified September 25, 1804}
The Electors shall meet
in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President,
one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with
themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President,
and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall
make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons
voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;—The President of
the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;—The person
having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if
such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no
person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not
exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of
Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in
choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation
from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a
member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the
states shall be necessary to a choice. [And if the House of Representatives
shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President
shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional
disability of the President.]*—The person having
the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if
such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no
person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the
Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist
of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole
number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally
ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of
Vice-President of the United States.
*Brackeled
material superseded by Section 3 of the Twentieth
Amendment.
{Proposed January
31, 1865; declared ratified December 18, 1865}
Section 1. Neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within
the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress
shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
{Proposed June 13, 1866; declared ratified July 28, 1868]
Section 1. All persons
born or naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of
the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States;
nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.
Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to
their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State,
excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the
choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States,
Representatives in Congress, the Executive and
Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is
denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of
age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for
participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein
shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall
bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such
State.
Section 3. No person
shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and
Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States,
or under any State, who, having previously taken an
oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a
member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any
State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the
enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove
such disability.
Section 4. The validity
of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment
of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion,
shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall
assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion
against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any
slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and
void.
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
{Proposed February 26,
1869; declared ratified March 30, 1870}
Section 1. The right of
citizens of the United States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race,
color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The Congress
shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
{Proposed July 12, 1909; declared ratified February 2, 1913}
The Congress shall have
power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived,
without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any
census or enumeration.
{Proposed May
13, 1912; declared ratified May 31, 1913}
The Senate of the United
States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people
thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in
each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most
numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in
the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such
State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided,
That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make
temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the
legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not
be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before
it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
Article XVIII
{Proposed
December 18, 1917; declared ratified January 29, 1919;
repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment
December 5, 1933}
Section 1. After one
year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or
transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or
the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the
jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2. The Congress
and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Section 3. This article
shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the
Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the
States by the Congress.
Article XIX
{Proposed June
4, 1919; declared ratified August 26, 1920}
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Article XX
{Proposed March 2, 1932; declared
ratified February 6, 1933}
Section 1. The terms of
the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January,
and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would
have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their
successors shall then begin.
Section 2. The Congress
shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at
noon on the 3d day ofJanuary, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3. If, at the
time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect
shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a
President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of
his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice
President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified;
and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President
elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then
act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected,
and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall
have qualified.
Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of
the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may
choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them,
and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may
choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon
them.
Section 5. Sections i and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October
following the ratification of this article.
Section 6. This article
shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within
seven years from the date of its submission.
{Proposed February 20,
1933; declared ratified December 5, 1933}
Section 1. The
eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is
hereby repealed.
Section 2. The
transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the
United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation
of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3. This article
shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the
Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the
States by the Congress.
{Proposed March 24, 1947;
declared ratified March 1,
1951}
Section 1. No person
shall be elected to the office of the President
more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted
as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was
elected President shall be elected to the office of
the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person
holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress,
and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the
term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of
President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 2. This article
shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths
of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the
States by the Congress.
{Proposed June 16, 1960;
declared ratified April 3, 1961}
Section 1. The District
constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such
manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of electors of
President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and
Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were
a State, but in no event more than the least populous state; they shall be in
addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for
the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the
District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of
amendment.
Section 2. The Congress
shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
{Proposed August 27, 1962;
declared ratified February 4, 1964}
Section 1. The right of
citizens of the United States to vote in any
primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for
President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress,
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of
failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2. The Congress
shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
{Proposed July 6, 1965;
declared ratified February 23, 1967}
Section 1. In case of
removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice
President shall become President.
Section 2. Whenever
there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall
nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority
vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3. Whenever the
President transmits to the President pro tempore of
the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written
declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,
and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such
powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting
President.
Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of
either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other
body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall
immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to
the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall
resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a
majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of
such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to
the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide
the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in
session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter
written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days
after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both
Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting
President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his
office.
Article XXVI
{Proposed March 23, 1971; declared ratified July 5, 1971}
Section 1. The right of
citizens of the United States, who are eighteen
years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any State on account of age.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Article XXVII
New Hampshire john langdon nicholas gilman Massachusetts nathaniel gorham rufus king |
New York alexander hamilton New Jersey william livingston david brearley william paterson jonathan dayton |
Pennsylvania
benjamin franklin
thomas mifflin
robert morrisgeorge clymer
jared ingersoll
james wilson
Connecticut
gouverneur morris
william samuel johnson
roger sherman
Delaware
george read
gunning bedford, jr.
john dickinson
richard bassett
jacob broom
Maryland
james mchenry
daniel oF st. thomas jenifer daniel carroll
Virginia john blair james madison, jr. North Carolina william blount richard dobbs spaight
hugh williamson |
South Carolina
john rutledge
charles cotesworth
pinckney
charles pinckney
pierce butler
Georgia
william few
abraham baldwin
Attest: william
jackson, Secretary
PROPOSED EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT {Proposed March 22, 1972}
Section 1. Equality of
rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by
any State on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after
the date of ratification.