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.
