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Preamble
We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the 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.
Page 1
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 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.
Page 2
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 bill 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 defence and general welfare of the United
States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout
the United States.
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
states, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and
fix the standard of weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the United States;
To establish post offices and post roads;
Page 3
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.
Page 4
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
Page 5
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 gi e 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.
Page 6
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.
Page 7
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
Page 8
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
Page 9
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.
Page 10
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 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
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law; and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to
have the assistance of counsel for his defence.
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 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.
Page 11
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
Page 12
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 sex 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.
Page 13
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.
Page 14
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 aG an amendment to the Constitutin 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 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
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.
Page 15
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.
Page 16
Sect. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
7574 words total
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