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The Constitution of the United States
Proposed by Convention September 17, 1787. Effective
March 4, 1789.
Index
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 blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
ARTICLE I
Section 1. Legislative powers; in whom vested
All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of
the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives.
Section 2. House of Representatives, how and
by whom chosen Qualifications of a Representative. Representatives and
direct taxes, how apportioned. Enumeration. Vacancies to be filled.
Power of choosing officers, and of impeachment.
- 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every
second year by the people of the several States, and the elector in each
State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most
numerous branch of the State Legislature.
- 2. No person shall be a
Representative who shall not have attained 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.
- 3. Representatives [and direct taxes] Altered by 16th
Amendment 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 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.] Altered by
14th Amendment 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.
- 4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the
Executive Authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies.
- 5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other
officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
Section 3. Senators, how and by whom chosen. How classified.
State Executive, when to make temporary appointments, in case,
etc. Qualifications of a Senator. President of the Senate, his
right to vote. President pro tem., and other officers of the Senate,
how chosen. Power to try impeachments. When President is
tried, Chief Justice to preside. Sentence.
- 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from
each State, [chosen by the Legislature thereof,] Altered
by 17th Amendment for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.
- 2. 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.]
Altered by 17th Amendment
- 3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age
of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who
shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall
be chosen.
- 4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President
of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
- 5. 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 the President of the United States.
- 6. 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.
- 7. 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, judgement and
punishment, according to law.
Section 4. Times, etc., of holding elections, how prescribed.
One session in each year.
- 1. 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.
- 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be [on the first Monday in December,] Altered
by 20th Amendment unless they by law appoint a different day.
Section 5. Membership, Quorum, Adjournments, Rules, Power to
punish or expel. Journal. Time of adjournments, how limited, etc.
- 1. 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.
- 2. 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.
- 3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgement require
secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question
shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.
- 4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place
than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section 6. Compensation, Privileges, Disqualification in certain
cases.
- 1. 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.
- 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 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.
Section 7. House to originate all revenue bills. Veto. Bill may
be passed by two-thirds of each House, notwithstanding, etc.
Bill, not returned in ten days to become a law. Provisions as to
orders, concurrent resolutions, etc.
- 1. 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.
- 2. 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 it shall likewise be reconsidered,
and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in
all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and
nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be
entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be
returned by the president within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall
have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he
had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return,
in which case it shall not be a law.
- 3. 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 re-passed by two-thirds of the Senate and
House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed
in the case of a bill.
Section 8. Powers of Congress
The Congress shall have the power
- 1. 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:
- 2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States:
- 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
states, and with the Indian tribes:
- 4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States:
- 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and
fix the standard of weights and measures:
- 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities
and current coin of the United States:
- 7. To establish post-offices and post-roads:
- 8. 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:
- 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court:
- 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies
committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations:
- 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make
rules concerning captures on land and water:
- 12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that
use shall be for a longer term than two years:
- 13. To provide and maintain a navy:
- 14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and
naval forces:
- 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the
union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions:
- 16. 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:
- 17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such
district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular
states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of
the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by
the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for
the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful
buildings: And,
- 18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers
vested by this constitution in the government of the United States, or in
any department or officer thereof.
Section 9. Provision as to migration or importation of certain
persons. Habeas Corpus, Bills of attainder, etc. Taxes, how
apportioned. No export duty. No commercial preference. Money,
how drawn from Treasury, etc. No titular nobility. Officers not
top receive presents, etc.
- 1. 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 1808, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such
importations, not exceeding 10 dollars for each person.
- 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be
suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety
may require it.
- 3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
- 4. [No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.]
Altered by 16th Amendment
- 5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
- 6. 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.
- 7. 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.
- 8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no
person holding any office or profit or trust under them, shall, without the
consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title,
of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Section 10. States prohibited from the exercise of certain
powers.
- 1. 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.
- 2. No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts
or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for
executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts,
laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury
of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and
control of the Congress.
- 3. 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 a war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not
admit of delay.
ARTICLE II
Section 1. President: his term of office. Electors of President;
number and how appointed. Electors to vote on same day. Qualification
of President. On whom his duties devolve in case of his
removal, death, etc. President's compensation. His oath of
office.
- 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States
of America. He shall hold office during the term of four years, and together
with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows
- 2. [Each State] Altered by 23rd Amendment shall
appoint, in such manner as the Legislature 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 each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the
seat of Government of the United States, directed to the President of the
Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and
House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall
then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the
President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors
appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an
equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a majority,
then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like
manner 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.]
Altered by 12th Amendment
- 3. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the
day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be
the same throughout the United States.
- 4. 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.
- 5. [In case of the removal of the President from office, or
of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties
of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the
Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or
inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer
shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until
the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.] Altered by 25th Amendment
- 6. 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.
- 7. 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 the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section 2. President to be Commander-in-Chief. He may require
opinions of cabinet officers, etc., may pardon. Treaty-making
power. Nomination of certain officers. When President may fill
vacancies.
- 1. 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 against the
United States, except in cases of impeachment.
- 2. 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.
- 3. The President shall have the power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions, which shall
expire at the end of their next session.
Section 3. President shall communicate to Congress. He may
convene and adjourn Congress, in case of disagreement, etc. Shall
receive ambassadors, execute laws, and commission officers.
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 may receive ambassadors, and other public ministers;
he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall
commission all the officers of the United States.
Section 4. All civil offices forfeited for certain crimes.
The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of,
treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE III
Section 1. Judicial powers. Tenure. Compensation.
The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme
court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time,
ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts,
shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times,
receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished
during their continuance in office.
Section 2. Judicial power; to what cases it extends. Original
jurisdiction of Supreme Court Appellate. Trial by Jury, etc.
Trial, where
- 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.] Altered by 11th Amendment
- 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.
Section 3. Treason defined. Proof of. Punishment
- 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 attainted.
ARTICLE IV
Section 1. Each State to give credit to the public acts, etc. of
every other State.
Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts,
records and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress may
by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and
proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
Section 2. Privileges of citizens of each State. Fugitives from
Justice to be delivered up. Persons held to service having
escaped, to be delivered up.
- 1. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and
immunities of citizens in the several states. See the 14th
Amendment
- 2. A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who
shall flee 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 labour in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into
another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be
discharged from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on claim
of the party to whom such service or labour may be due.]
Altered by 13th Amendment
Section 3. Admission of new States. Power of Congress over
territory and other property.
- 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, 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.
Section 4. Republican form of government guaranteed. Each State
to be protected.
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
Amendments
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary,
shall propose amendments to this constitution, or on the application of the
legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a convention
for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all
intents and purposes, as part of this constitution, when ratified by the
legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions in
three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be
proposed by the Congress: Provided, that no amendment which may be made
prior to the year 1808, 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
- 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.
- 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, any thing in the constitution or laws of any state
to the contrary notwithstanding.
- 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.
AMENDMENTS
The Ten Original Amendments: The Bill of Rights. Proposed by
Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791.
Bill of Rights
AMENDMENT I
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.
AMENDMENT II
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be
infringed.
AMENDMENT III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the
consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed
by law.
AMENDMENT IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched,
and the persons or things to be seized.
AMENDMENT V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual
service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for
the same 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.
AMENDMENT VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been
previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of
the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the
assistance of counsel for his defense.
AMENDMENT VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact
tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United
States, than according to the rules of the common law.
AMENDMENT VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
AMENDMENT IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
AMENDMENT X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or
to the people.
End of the Bill of Rights
AMENDMENT XI
(Proposed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified February 7, 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.
AMENDMENT XII
(Proposed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified July 27, 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 of the number of votes for each, which lists they
shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Government of
the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President of
the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; The
person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the
President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors
appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having
the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as
President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot,
the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by
States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for
this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the
States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice.
And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever
the right of choice shall devolve upon them, [before the fourth day of March
next following,] Altered by 20th Amendment then the
Vice-President shall
act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability
of the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as
Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such numbers be a majority of
the
whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then
from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the
Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the
whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be
necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the
office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the
United States.
AMENDMENT XIII
(Proposed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.)
Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for
crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within
the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
AMENDMENT XIV
(Proposed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868)
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State
wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor
shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the
equal protection of the laws.
Section 2
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according
to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each
State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any
election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice-President of the
United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial
officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to
any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,
and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for
participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation
therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male
citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of
age in such State.
Section 3.
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or Elector of
President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under
the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath,
as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a
member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of
any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have
engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort
to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of
each House, remove such disability.
Section 4.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law,
including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services
in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But
neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or
obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United
States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such
debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation,
the provisions of this article.
AMENDMENT XV
(Proposed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.)
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
AMENDMENT XVI
(Proposed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.)
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from
whatever sources derived, without apportionment among the several States,
and without regard to any census or enumeration.
AMENDMENT XVII
(Proposed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.)
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from
each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator
shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications
requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate,
the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill
such vacancies: Provided, That the Legislature of any State may empower the
Executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the
vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or
term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
AMENDMENT XVIII
(Proposed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified January 16, 1919.
Altered by Amendment 21)
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.
The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as
an amendment to the Constitution by the Legislatures of the several States,
as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the
submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XIX
(Proposed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 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.
AMENDMENT XX
Section 1.
The terms of the President and the Vice-President shall end at noon on
the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at
noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have
ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors
shall then begin.
Section 2.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting
shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless they shall by law
appoint a different day.
Section 3.
If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the
President elect shall have died, the Vice-President elect shall become
President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed
for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed
to qualify, then the Vice-President elect shall act as President until a
President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the
case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice-President shall have
qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which
one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly
until a President or Vice-President shall have qualified.
Section 4.
The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the
persons from whom the House of representatives may choose a President whenever
the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of
the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a
Vice-President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section 5.
Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following
the ratification of this article (October 1933).
Section 6.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as
an amendment to the Constitution by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the
several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
AMENDMENT XXI
(Proposed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.)
Section 1.
The Eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United
States is hereby repealed.
Section 2.
The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession
of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating
liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as
an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as
provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the
submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XXII
(Proposed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified February 27, 1951.)
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 that two years of a term to which some other person was
elected President shall be elected to the office of President more that
once.
But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of
President when this Article was proposed by Congress, and shall not prevent
any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as
President, during the term the term within which this Article becomes
operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during
the remainder of such term.
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.
AMENDMENT XXIII
(Proposed by Congress June 16, 1960. Ratified March 29, 1961.)
Section 1.
The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States
shall appoint in such manner as Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole
number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District
would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least
populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States,
but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President
and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet
in the District and preform such duties as provided by the twelfth article
of amendment.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
AMENDMENT XXIV
(Proposed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.)
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or
other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President
or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure
to pay poll tax or any other tax.
Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
AMENDMENT XXV
(Proposed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified February 10, 1967.)
Section 1.
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or
resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the
President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take the office upon
confirmation by a majority vote of both houses of Congress.
Section 3.
Whenever the President transmits to the President Pro tempore of the Senate
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration
that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and
until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such
powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting
President.
Section 4.
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal
officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by
law provide, transmits 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 departments or of such other body as Congress
may by law provide, transmits within four days to the President Pro tempore
of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written
declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties
of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within
forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress,
within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or,
if Congress is not in session within twenty-one days after Congress is
required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both houses that the
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the
Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President;
otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
AMENDMENT XXVI
(Proposed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified June 30, 1971.)
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or
older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any
state on account of age.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
AMENDMENT XXVII
(Proposed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified May 8, 1992)
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and
Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives
shall have intervened.
Webbed by Dale Harris
<rodmur@ecst.csuchico.edu>
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