Constitution of the United States [title added at printing. Original begins with "We The People." the text clearly indicates that the constitution is "for," not "of" the United States of America. This distinction becomes more important as the tail tries, more and more, to wag the dog.]
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the 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
chuse 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 chuse 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 chusing 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 Behaviour, 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 encreased 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 Defence and general Welfare of the
United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout
the United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States,
and with the Indian Tribes;
To
establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of
Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the
Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current
Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for
limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective
Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme
Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high
Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant
Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and
Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to
that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain
a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land
and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute
the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To
provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing
such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving
to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority
of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District
(not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and
the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States,
and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the
Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts,
Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, 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 any Thing but gold
and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post
facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of
Nobility.
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any
Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary
for executing 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 Controul
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
chuse 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 chuse the
President. But in chusing 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 chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing 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 encreased 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 Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate,
to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall
nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court,
and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress
may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper,
in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen
during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at
the End of their 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 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.
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, any Thing
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,
Go. WASHINGTON
Presidt and deputy from Virginia
Attest: William Jackson, Secretary
Delaware. New Hampshire:
GEO: READ JOHN LANGDON
GUNNING BEDFORD jun NICHOLAS GILMAN
JOHN DICKINSON Massachusetts:
RICHARD BASSETT NATHANIEL GORHAM
JACO: BROOM RUFUS KING
Maryland: Connecticut:
JAMES MCHENRY WILLIAM SAMUEL JOHNSON
DANIEL of ST THOS JENIFER ROGER SHERMAN
DANIEL CARROLL
Virginia:
New York:
JOHN BLAIR-- ALEXANDER HAMILTON
JAMES MADISON Jr. New Jersey:
North Carolina: WIL: LIVINGSTON
WM BLOUNT DAVID BREARLY.
RICHD DOBBS SPAIGHT, WM PATTERSON
HU WILLIAMSON JONA: DAYTON
South Carolina: Pennsylvania:
JOHN RUTLEDGE B. FRANKLIN
CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY
CHARLES PINCKNEY THOMAS MIFFLIN
PIERCE BUTLER ROBT. MORRIS
GEO. CLYMER
THOS. FITZSIMONS
Georgia: JARED INGERSOLL
WILLIAM FEW JAMES WILSON
ABRAHAM BALDWIN GOUV MORRIS
[The First Ten Amendments, known as the 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 offence
to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal
case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use,
without just compensation.
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 defence.
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 re-examined 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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 the
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXVII
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.
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