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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 be
law direct. The number of representative 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 hall 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.
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.
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 be 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 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.
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
representative; 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 Representative 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 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 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 requires 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 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 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
Bill of Rights
The Conventions of a number of the States having, at the time of adopting the
Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse
of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added,
and as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government will best
insure the beneficent ends of its institution; Resolved, by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled,
two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following articles be proposed to
the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the
United States; all or any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of
the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the
said Constitution, namely:
1st Amendment (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.
2nd Amendment (1791)
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 (1791)
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 (1791)
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 (1791)
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.
6th Amendment (1791)
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 (1791)
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 (1791)
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and
unusual punishment inflicted.
9th Amendment (1791)
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to
deny or disparage others retained by the people.
10th Amendment (1791)
The powers not delegated to 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.
End Bill of Rights
11th Amendment (1795)
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 (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
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 (1865)
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 (1868)
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 (1870)
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 (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.
17th Amendment (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 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 (1919)
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 (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.
20th Amendment (1933)
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 year, 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 (1933)
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 (1951)
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 his 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 (1961)
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 (1964)
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 (1967)
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 (1971)
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 (1992)
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and
Representatives shall take effect, until election of Representatives shall have
intervened
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