The Constitution of the United States
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 defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish the Constitution of the United States of America.
Article I.
Sect. 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate
and a House of Representatives.
Sect. 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.
Representative 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 choose 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 choose the Speaker and other
officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
Sect. 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 equally as 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, 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 choose 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.
Judgement 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.
Sect. 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 choosing
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.
Sect. 5. Each house shall be the judge 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 behavior, 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 in 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.
Sect. 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 increased 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.
Sect. 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 journal, 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 is 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.
Sect. 8. The Congress shall have power
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the
debts and provide for the common defense 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 a 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 offenses 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 states in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts,
magazines, arsenals, dockyards, 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 the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in
any department or officer thereof.
Sect. 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
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.
Sect. 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 title 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; all such laws shall
be subject to the revision and control 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.
Article II.
Sect. 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 am equal 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 choose 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. 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 choose from them by ballot the
vice-president.
The Congress may determine the time of the 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 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
be elected.
The president shall, at stated times, receive for his services,
a compensation, which shall neither be increased 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."
Sect. 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 offenses 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 session.
Sect. 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.
Sect. 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.
Sect. 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 behavior, and shall, at stated time, receive for their services
a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance
in office.
Sect. 2.
1. 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.
2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a 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.
3. 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.
Sect. 3.
1. 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.
2. 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 attained.
Article IV.
Sect. 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the
public act, 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.
Sect. 2.
1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges
and immunities of citizens in the several States.
2. 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.
3. No person held to service or labor 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 labor,
but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service
or labor may be due.
Sect. 3.
1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but
no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction
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.
2. 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.
Sect. 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.
Article V.
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both House 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.
Sect. 1. 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.
Sect. 2. 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, anything in the constitution or laws of any State
to the contrary notwithstanding.
Sect. 3. 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 day of 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.
Attest: William Jackson, Secretary
George Washington
PRESIDENT AND DEPUTY FROM VIRGINIA
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 Morris
George Clymer
Thomas Fitzsimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouverneur Morris
DELAWARE
George Read
Gunning Bedford, Jr.
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jacob Broom
MARYLAND
James McHenry
Dan of St. Thomas Jennifer
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
AMENDMENTS
1st Amendment
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.
2nd Amendment
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.
3rd Amendment
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.
4th Amendment
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.
5th Amendment
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 offense, 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.
6th Amendment
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 defense.
7th Amendment
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.
8th Amendment
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.
9th Amendment
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
10th Amendment
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.
11th Amendment
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.
12th Amendment
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 the 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 a majority, then,
from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three,
on the list of those voted for a President, the House of Representative
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] the Vice President shall act as President,
as in case of 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, form 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; 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.
13th Amendment
Sect. 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.
Sect. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
14th Amendment
Sect. 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 any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection
of the laws.
Sect. 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.
Sect. 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.
Sect. 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.
Sect. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article.
15th Amendment
Sect. 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.
Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
16th Amendment
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.
17th Amendment
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 appointment 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.
18th Amendment
Sect. 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. Sect. 2. The Congress
and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Sect. 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 of the date of the
submission hereof to the States by Congress.
19th Amendment
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.
20th Amendment
Sect. 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.
Sect. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every years,
and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless
they shall by law appoint a different day.
Sect. 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.
Sect. 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.
Sect. 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of
October
following the ratification of this article.
Sect. 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by three-fourths
of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
21st Amendment
Sect. 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution
of the United States is hereby repealed.
Sect. 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.
Sect. 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.
22d Amendment
Sect. 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.
Sect. 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.
23rd Amendment
Sect. 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 Representative 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 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.
Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
24th Amendment
Sect. 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.
Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
25th Amendment
Sect. 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or
of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Sect. 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.
Sect. 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro
tempore of the Senate and the Speakers 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.
Sect. 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 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.
26th Amendment
Sect. 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.
Sect. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
27th Amendment
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators
and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives
shall have intervened.
Original Publication of U.S. Constitution
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