U.S.
Constitution The Constitution of the United States
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.
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.
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.
Representatives and direct taxes
shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within
this union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be
determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those
bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed,
three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made
within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United
States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as
they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed
one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one
Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the state of New
Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse 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 their speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of
impeachment.
Section 3.
The Senate of the United States
shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the
legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be
assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as
equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the
first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the
second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and the third class at
the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every
second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during
the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive thereof may make
temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which
shall then fill such vacancies.
No person shall be a Senator who
shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a
citizen of the United States and who shall not, when elected, be an
inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United
States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless
they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their
other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the
Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the
United States.
The Senate shall have the sole
power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall
be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is
tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no person shall be convicted
without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.
Judgment in cases of impeachment
shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification
to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United
States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject
to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.
Section 4.
The times, places and manner of
holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in
each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by
law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing
Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at
least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in
December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 5.
Each House shall be the judge of
the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a
majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller
number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the
attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as
each House may provide.
Each House may determine the rules
of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with
the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.
Each House shall keep a journal of
its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such
parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of
the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one
fifth of those present, be entered 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.
Section 6.
The Senators and Representatives
shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law,
and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all
cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from
arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses,
and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate
in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.
No Senator or Representative
shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil
office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been
created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such
time: and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a
member of either House during his continuance in office.
Section 7.
All bills for raising revenue
shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may
propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.
Every bill which shall have passed
the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a
law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he
shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that
House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at
large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such
reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it
shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which
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.
Every order, resolution, or vote
to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be
necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the
President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect,
shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed
by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the
rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 8.
The Congress shall have power to
lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and
provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States;
but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United
States;
To borrow money on the credit of
the United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign
nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish a uniform rule of
naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout
the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value
thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and
measures;
To provide for the punishment of
counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
To establish post offices and post
roads;
To promote the progress of science
and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors
the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior
to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and
felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of
nations;
To declare war, grant letters of
marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armies, but
no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two
years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government
and regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the
militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel
invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming,
and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may
be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states
respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of
training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation
in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles
square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of
Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to
exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the
legislature of the state 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 this Constitution in the government of the
United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 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 may require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post
facto Law shall be passed.
No capitation, or other direct,
tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration
herein before directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on
articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by
any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those
of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to
enter, clear or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the
treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular
statement and account of 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.
Section 10.
No state shall enter into any
treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal;
coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything 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 it's 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.
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
Section 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 an equal number of votes, then
the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of
them for President; and if no person have a majority, then from the five
highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by
States, the representation from each state having one vote; A quorum for
this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the
states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.
In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the
greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice President. But
if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall
choose from them by ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the
time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their
votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.
No person except a natural born
citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of
this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither
shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to
the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within
the United States.
In case of the removal of the
President from office, or 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.
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."
Section 2.
The President shall be commander
in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of
the several states, when called into the actual service of the United
States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer
in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the
duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant
reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in
cases of impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two
thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors,
other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all
other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the
Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as
they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the
heads of departments.
The President shall have power to
fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by
granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.
Section 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.
Section 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
Section 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 behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a
compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in
office.
Section 2.
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.
In all cases affecting
ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a
state shall be 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
The citizens of each state shall
be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several
states.
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.
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.
Section 3.
New states may be admitted by the
Congress into this union; but no new states 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.
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.
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 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 one
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and
fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no
state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the
Senate.
Article VI
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.
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.
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,
|
G. Washington
|
- Presidt. and deputy from
Virginia
|
|
New Hampshire:
|
John Langdon, Nicholas
Gilman
|
|
Massachusetts:
|
Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus
King
|
|
Connecticut:
|
Wm. Saml. Johnson, Roger
Sherman
|
|
New York:
|
Alexander Hamilton
|
|
New Jersey:
|
Wil. Livingston, David
Brearly, Wm. Paterson, Jona. Dayton
|
|
Pennsylvania:
|
B. Franklin, Thomas
Mifflin, Robt. Morris, Geo. Clymer, Thos.
FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouv
Morris
|
|
Delaware:
|
Geo. Read, Gunning
Bedford jr, John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jaco.
Broom
|
|
Maryland:
|
James McHenry, Dan
of St Thos. Jenifer, Danl Carroll
|
|
Virginia:
|
John Blair, James
Madison Jr.
|
|
North Carolina:
|
Wm. Blount, Richd.
Dobbs Spaight, Hu Williamson
|
|
South Carolina:
|
J. Rutledge, Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler
|
|
Georgia:
|
William Few, Abr
Baldwin
|
Amendments to the Constitution of
the United States
Amendment I (1791)
Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a
redress of grievances.
Amendment II (1791)
A well regulated militia, being
necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep
and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III (1791)
No soldier shall, in time of
peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in
time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV (1791)
The right of the people to be
secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue,
but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or
things to be seized.
Amendment V (1791)
No person shall be held to answer
for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or
indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval
forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public
danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same 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 (1791)
In all criminal prosecutions, the
accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an
impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been
committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law,
and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be
confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for
obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel
for his defense.
Amendment VII (1791)
In suits at common law, where the
value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by
jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise
reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules
of the common law.
Amendment VIII (1791)
Excessive bail shall not be
required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments
inflicted.
Amendment IX (1791)
The enumeration in the
Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or
disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X (1791)
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.
Amendment XI (1798)
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 (1804)
The electors shall meet in their
respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one
of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with
themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as
President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President,
and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President,
and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes
for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to
the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President
of the Senate;--The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the
Senate and 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, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the 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 number 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 (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 (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 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 power to
enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Amendment XV (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 power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XVI (1913)
The Congress shall have power to
lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without
apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census
of enumeration.
Amendment XVII (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 (1919)
Section 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.
Section 2.
The Congress and the several states
shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
Section 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 from the date of the submission hereof to the states by
the Congress.
Amendment XIX (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 (1933)
Section 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.
Section 2.
The Congress shall assemble at least
once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of
January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
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 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.
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.
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 (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 (1951)
Section 1.
No person shall be elected to the
office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the
office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a
term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to
the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not
apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was
proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be
holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term
within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of
President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 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.
Amendment XXIII (1961)
Section 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
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 perform 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 (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 any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXV (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 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, 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
