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THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
PREAMBLE
WE THE PEOPLE of the United States,
in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic
Tranquility, provide for the common 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.
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 choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the
Representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue
writs of election to fill such vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall
choose 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 of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third
may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or
otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive
thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the
legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
No person shall be a Senator who
shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a
citizen of the United States, 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 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 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 the receipts and expenditures of all public money
shall be published from time to time.
No title of nobility shall be
granted by the United States; and no person holding any office of profit or
trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any
present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king,
prince or foreign State.
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.
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 lie 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.
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
behavior, 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.
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 FOUR
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.
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 it's
equal suffrage in the Senate.
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
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,
GEO. WASHINGTON - President 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
BREARLEY
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 JUN.
JOHN
DICKINSON
RICHARD
BASSETT
JACO. BROOM
Maryland
JAMES
McHENRY
DAN
of ST THO 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
Attest
William
Jackson
Amendments (Note: The first
10 amendments are called “The Bill of Rights”)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Excessive bail shall not lie
required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments
inflicted. -
The enumeration in the Constitution,
of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained
by the people.
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.
January
8, 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.
September
25, 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.
December
18, 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 AMENDMENT by appropriate legislation.
July
28, 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 AMENDMENT.
March
30, 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 AMENDMENT by appropriate legislation.
February
25, 1913
The Congress shall have power to lay
and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without
apportionment among the several States and without regard to any census or
enumeration.
May
31, 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
legislature.
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.
January
29, 1919
Section
1. After one year from the ratification
of this AMENDMENT, 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 AMENDMENT by appropriate
legislation.
Section
3. This AMENDMENT 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 Congress.
August
26, 1920
The right of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any
States on account of sex.
The Congress shall have power by
appropriate legislation to enforce the provisions of this AMENDMENT.
February
6, 1933
Section
1. The terms of the President and
Vice-President shall end at noon on the twentieth day of January, and the terms
of Senators and Representatives at noon on the third day of January, of the
years in which such terms would have ended if this AMENDMENT 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 third 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 AMENDMENT.
Section
6. This AMENDMENT 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.
December
5, 1933
Section
1. The eighteenth AMENDMENT 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. The AMENDMENT 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.
February
26, 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
AMENDMENT shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when
this AMENDMENT 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 AMENDMENT becomes operative from holding the office of
President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section
2. This AMENDMENT 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.
June
16, 1960
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 AMENDMENT of amendment.
Section
2. The Congress shall have power to
enforce this AMENDMENT by appropriate legislation.
February
4, 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 AMENDMENT by appropriate legislation.
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 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 day 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.
July
1, 1971
Section
1. The right of citizens of the United
States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section
2. The Congress shall have power to
enforce this AMENDMENT by appropriate legislation.
No
law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and
Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall
have intervened.