Copyright: ® 1993 Arbor Verde Press


Help Contents
Contents

Introduction To This Edition

Conventions and Shareware Registration

Quick Reference Guide

Notes and hypertext jumps

The Constitution

Preamble

Article I

Article II

Article III

Article IV

Article V

Article VI

Article VII

(Resolution to Present)

Original Amendments -- Bill of Rights

1st Amendment

2nd Amendment

3rd Amendment

4th Amendment

5th Amendment

6th Amendment

7th Amendment

8th Amendment

9th Amendment

10th Amendment

Amendments -- Other Amendments

(Notes On The Amendments)

11th Amendment

12th Amendment

13th Amendment

14th Amendment

15th Amendment

16th Amendment

17th Amendment

18th Amendment

19th Amendment

20th Amendment

21st Amendment

22d Amendment

23rd Amendment

24th Amendment

25th Amendment

26th Amendment

27th Amendment

Proposed Amendments - Amendments Not Ratified

Bill of Rights Article I

Bill of Rights Article II

Proposed Amendment [Titles of Nobility]

Proposed Amendment [Slavery Amendment]

Proposed Amendment [Child-Labor Amendment]

Proposed Amendment [Equal Rights Amendment]

Bonus Documents

Declaration of Independence

Lincoln's Address at Gettysburg, 1863

The Mayflower Compact


Conventions and Shareware Registration

Document Conventions

Disclaimer

Registration and Ordering Information

Order Form


Document Conventions

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Notes and hypertext jumps

Preamble

Article I

Section 1 (Legislative Powers in whom vested)

Section 2 (House of Representatives, How and by whom chosen. Qualifications of a Representative. Representatives and direct taxes how apportioned. Enumeration Vacancies to be filled. Power of choosing officers and of impeachment)

Section 3 (Senators how and by whom chosen. How classified. Qualifications of a Senator. President of the Senate his right to vote. President pro tempore and other officers of the Senate, how chosen. Power to try impeachments. When President is tried, Chief Justice to preside. Sentence)

Section 4 (Times, etc., of holding elections how prescribed. One session each year)

Section 5 (Membership quorum adjournments rules. Power to punish or expel Journal Time of adjournments, how limited, etc.)

Section 6 (Compensation privileges, disqualifications in certain cases)

Section 7 (House to originate all revenue bills. Veto Bill may be passed by two-thirds of each House, notwithstanding, etc. Bill, not returned in ten days, to become a law Provisions as to orders, concurrent resolutions, etc.)

Section 8 (Powers of Congress)

Section 9 (Provision as to migration or importation of certain persons. Habeas corpus bills of attainder etc. Taxes, how apportioned. No export duty No commercial preference. Money how drawn from Treasury etc. No titular nobility Officers not to receive presents, etc.)

Section 10 (States prohibited from the exercise of certain powers)

Article II.

Section 1 (President: his term of office. Electors of President; number and how appointed. Electors to vote on same day. Qualifications of President. On whom his duties devolve in case of his removal, death etc. President's compensation. His oath of office)

Section 2 (President to be Commander-in-Chief He may require opinions of cabinet officers, etc., may pardon Treaty-making power. Nomination of certain officers. When President may fill vacancies)

Section 3 (President shall communicate to Congress. He may convene and adjourn Congress, in case of disagreement, etc. Shall receive ambassadors execute laws, and commission officers)

Section 4 (All civil offices forfeited for certain crimes)

Article III

Section 1 (Judicial powers, Tenure Compensation)

Section 2 (Judicial power; to what cases it extends. Original jurisdiction of Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction. Trial by jury, etc. Trial, where)

Section 3 (Treason Defined, proof of, Punishment of)

Article IV

Section 1 (Each State to give credit to the public acts, etc., of every other State)

Section 2 (Privileges of citizens of each State. Fugitives from justice to be delivered up. Persons held to service having escaped, to be delivered up)

Section 3 (Admission of new States Power of Congress over territory and other property)

Section 4 (Republican form of government guaranteed. Each state to be protected)

Article V

(Constitution: how amended; proviso)

Article VI

(Certain debts etc., declared valid. Supremacy of Constitution, treaties and laws of the United States. Oath to support Constitution, by whom taken. No religious test)

Article VII

(What ratification shall establish Constitution)

Resolution to present

Original Amendments -- Bill of Rights

Amendment 1 (Religious establishment prohibited. Freedom of speech of the press and right to petition)

Amendment 2 (Right to keep and bear arms)

Amendment 3 (Conditions for quarters for soldiers)

Amendment 4 (Right of search and seizure regulated)

Amendment 5 (Provisions concerning prosecution Trial and punishment -- private property not to be taken for public use without compensation)

Amendment 6 (Right to speedy trial witness, etc.)

Amendment 7 (Right of trial by jury)

Amendment 8 (Excessive bail or fines and cruel punishment prohibited)

Amendment 9 (Rule of construction of Constitution)

Amendment 10 (Rights of States under Constitution)

Amendments -- Other Amendments

Notes On The Amendments

11th Amendment (Judicial powers construed)

12th Amendment (Manner of choosing President and Vice-President)

13th Amendment (Slavery Abolished)

14th Amendment (Citizenship rights not to be abridged)

15th Amendment (Race no bar to voting rights)

16th Amendment (Income taxes authorized)

17th Amendment (United States Senators to be elected by direct popular vote)

18th Amendment (Liquor prohibition amendment)

19th Amendment (Giving nationwide suffrage to women)

20th Amendment (Terms of President and Vice-President to begin on January 20; Those of Senators, Representatives, January 3)

21st Amendment (Repeal of the 18th Amendment)

22d Amendment (Limiting Presidential terms of office)

23rd Amendment (Presidential vote for District of Columbia)

24th Amendment (Barring poll tax in federal elections)

25th Amendment (Presidential disability and succession)

26th Amendment (Lowering voting age to 18 years)

27th Amendment (Congressional Pay Congress may not accept a change in its compensation until a new election has occurred)

Proposed Amendments - Amendments Not Ratified

Bill of Rights Article I (Specifying the number of Representatitives)

Bill of Rights Article II (Congressional Pay; Congress may not accept a change in its compensation until a new election has occurred)

Proposed Amendment [Titles of Nobility] (Titles of Nobility; Persons accepting titles, presents, pensions, offices or emoluments from foreign powers without consent to lose citizenship)

Proposed Amendment [Slavery Amendment] (Congress not to abolish or interfere with domestic institutions of the States, including slavery)

Proposed Amendment [Child-Labor Amendment] (Giving Congress power to regulate labor of persons under 18 years of age)

Proposed Amendment [Equal Rights Amendment] (Equal Rights Amendment, Rights not to be abridged on account of sex)

Bonus Documents

Declaration of Independence

Lincoln's Address at Gettysburg

The Mayflower Compact


Preamble

(Adopted by a convention of the States on September 17, 1787. Ratified by the several States on the following dates: Delaware, December 7, 1787; Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787; New Jersey, December 18, 1787; Georgia, January 2, 1788; Connecticut, January 9, 1788; Massachusetts, February 6, 1788; Maryland, April 28, 1788; South Carolina, May 23, 1788; New Hampshire, June 21, 1788. Ratification was completed on June 21, 1788. Subsequently ratified by: Virginia, June 25, 1788; New York, July 26, 1788; North Carolina, November 21, 1789, Rhode Island, May 29, 1790; and Vermont, January 10, 1791.)

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, 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

Article 1, Section 1

Article 1, Section 2

Article 1, Section 3

Article 1, Section 4

Article 1, Section 5

Article 1, Section 6

Article 1, Section 7

Article 1, Section 8

Article 1, Section 9

Article 1, Section 10


Article 1, Section 1

(Legislative Powers; in whom vested)

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.


Article 1, Section 2

(House of Representatives, How and by whom chosen. Qualifications of a Representative. Representatives and direct taxes, how apportioned. Enumeration. Vacancies to be filled. Power of choosing officers, and of impeachment)

(1.) The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State legislature.

(2.) No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained 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.

(3.) (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.)(Superseded by Amendment 14, section 2). 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.

(4.) When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

(5.) The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.


Article 1, Section 3

(Senators, how and by whom chosen. How classified. Qualifications of a Senator. President of the Senate, his right to vote. President pro tem., and other officers of the Senate, how chosen. Power to try impeachments. When President is tried, Chief Justice to preside. Sentence)

(1.) The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State (chosen by the Legislature thereof)(superseded by Amendment 17, section 1), for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

(2.) Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; (and if vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies)(Superseded by Amendment 17, section 2).

(3.) No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

(4.) The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

(5.) The Senate shall 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.

(6.) The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

(7.) 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.


Article 1, Section 4

(Times, etc., of holding elections, how prescribed. One session each year)

( 1.) The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

(2.) The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall (be on the first Monday in December) (superseded by Amendment 20, section 2), unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.


Article 1, Section 5

(Membership, quorum, adjournments, rules. Power to punish or expel. Journal. Time of adjournments, how limited, etc.)

(1.) Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

(2.) Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

(3.) Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their 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.

(4.) Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.


Article 1, Section 6

(Compensation, privileges, disqualifications in certain cases)

(1.) The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

(2.) No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have 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.


Article 1, Section 7

(House to originate all revenue bills. Veto. Bill may be passed by two-thirds of each House, notwithstanding, etc. Bill, not returned in ten days, to become a law. Provisions as to orders, concurrent resolutions, etc.)

(1.) All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.

(2.) Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the United States: if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which is shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law

(3.) Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.


Article 1, Section 8

(Powers of Congress)

The Congress shall have power  (1.) To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

(2.) To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

(3.) To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

(4.) To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

(5.) To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

(6.) To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

(7.) To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

(8.) To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective writings and Discoveries;

(9.) To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

(10.) To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

(11.) To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

(12.) To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

(13.) To provide and maintain a Navy;

(14.) To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

(15.) To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.;

(16.) To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

(17.) To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of Particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; --And

(18.) To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.


Article 1, Section 9

(Provision as to migration or importation of certain persons. Habeas corpus, bills of attainder, etc. Taxes, how apportioned. No export duty. No commercial preference. Money, how drawn from Treasury, etc. No titular nobility. Officers not to receive presents, etc.)

(1.) The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

(2.) The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety require it.

(3.) No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

(4.) No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census of Enumeration herein before directed to be taken (modified by Amendment 16).

(5.) No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

(6.) No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear or pay Duties in another.

(7.) No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

(8.) No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office 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.


Article 1, Section 10

(States prohibited from the exercise of certain powers)

(1.) No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

(2.) No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing 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.

(3.) No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.


Article II

Article 2, Section 1

Article 2, Section 2

Article 2, Section 3

Article 2, Section 4


Article 2, Section 1

(President: his term of office. Electors of President; number and how appointed. electors to vote on same day. Qualifications of President. On whom his duties devolve in case of his removal, death, etc. President's compensation. His oath of office)

(1.) The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected as follows:

(2.) Each State 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 Representatives 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) (Superseded by Amendment12).

(3.) 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.

(4.) No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. (For Vice-President qualifications, see Amendment 12)

(5.) In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

(6.) The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

(7.) Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."


Article 2, Section 2

(President to be Commander-in-Chief. He may require opinions of cabinet officers, etc., may pardon. Treaty-making power. Nomination of certain officers. When President may fill vacancies)

(1.) The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

(2.) He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

(3.) The President shall have 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.


Article 2, Section 3

(President shall communicate to Congress. He may convene and adjourn Congress, in case of disagreement, etc. Shall receive ambassadors, execute laws, and commission officers)

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on 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.


Article 2, Section 4

(All civil offices forfeited for certain crimes)

The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.


Article III

Article 3, Section 1

Article 3, Section 2

Article 3, Section 3


Article 3, Section 1

(Judicial powers, Tenure. Compensation)

The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.


Article 3, Section 2

(Judicial power; to what cases it extends. Original jurisdiction of Supreme Court; appellate jurisdiction. Trial by jury, etc. Trial, where)

(1.) The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;-- to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public ministers, and Consuls;-- to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;-- to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;-- to Controversies between two or more States;--  between a State and Citizens of another State;-- between Citizens of different States;-- between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens, or Subjects. (Modified by Amendment 11)

(2.) In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be a Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

(3.) The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.


Article 3, Section 3

(Treason Defined, proof of, Punishment of)

(1.) Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

(2.) The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.


Article IV

Article 4, Section 1

Article 4, Section 2

Article 4, Section 3

Article 4, Section 4


Article 4, Section 1

(Each State to give credit to the public acts, etc., of every other State)

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records, and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.


Article 4, Section 2

(Privileges of citizens of each State. Fugitives from justice to be delivered up. Persons held to service having escaped, to be delivered up)

(1.) The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

(2.) A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

((3.) No Person held to Service or 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). (Superseded by Amendment 13)


Article 4, Section 3

(Admission of new States. Power of Congress over territory and other property)

(1.) New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

(2.) The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.


Article 4, Section 4

(Republican form of government guaranteed. Each State to be protected)

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.


Article V

(Constitution: how amended; proviso)

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

(Certain debts, etc., declared valid. Supremacy of Constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States. Oath to support Constitution, by whom taken. No religious test)

(1.) All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

(2.) This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

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

(What ratification shall establish Constitution)

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

New Hampshire

John Langdon

Nicholas Gilman

Massachusetts

Nathaniel Gorham

Rufus King

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

Danl Of St Thos. Jenifer

Danl Carroll

Virginia

John Blair--

James Madison Jr.

North Carolina

Wm. Blount

Richd. Dobbs Spraight

Hugh Williamson

J. Rutledge

South Carolina

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney

Charles Pinckney

Pierce Butler

Georgia

William Few

Abr Baldwin

(referring to line and page numbers on the original document) The Word, "the" being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, The Word "Thirty" being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words "is tried" being interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page and the Word "the" being interlined between the forty third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page.

Attest: William Jackson

Secretary


(Resolution to Present)

In Convention Monday, September 17th 1787.

Present

The States of

New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Mr. Hamilton from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Resolved,

That the preceeding Constitution be laid before the United States in Congress assembled, and that it is the Opinion of this Convention, that it should afterwards be submitted to a Convention of Delegates, chosen in each State by the People thereof, under the Recommendation of its Legislature, for their Assent and Ratification; and that each Convention assenting to, and ratifying the Same, should give Notice thereof to the United States in Congress assembled. Resolved, That it is the Opinion of this Convention, that as soon as the Conventions of nine States shall have ratified this Constitution, the United States in Congress assembled should fix a Day on which Electors should be appointed by the States which shall have ratified the same, and a Day on which the Electors should assemble to vote for the President, and the Time and Place for commencing Proceedings under this Constitution. That after such Publication the Electors should be appointed, and the Senators and Representatives elected: That the Electors should meet on the Day fixed for the Election of the President, and should transmit their Votes certified, signed, sealed and directed, as the Constitution requires, to the Secretary of the United States in Congress assembled, that the Senators and Representatives should convene at the Time and Place assigned; that the Senators should appoint a President of the Senate, for the sole Purpose of receiving, opening and counting the Votes for President; and, that after he shall be chosen, the Congress, together with the President, should, without Delay, proceed to execute this Constitution.

By the Unanimous Order of the Convention

Go. Washington -- Presidt.

W. Jackson Secretary.


1st Amendment

(The first ten amendments, excluding two that failed {see Bill of Rights Article I and Bill of Rights Article II in the section Proposed Amendments - Amendments Not Ratified}, were passed by the House on September 24, 1789 and the Senate on September 25, 1789. Ratification was complete on December 15, 1791.)

(Religious establishment prohibited. Freedom of speech, of the press, and right to petition.)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


2nd Amendment

(Right to keep and bear arms.)

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.


3rd Amendment

(Conditions for quarters for soldiers.)

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.


4th Amendment

(Right of search and seizure regulated.)

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.


5th Amendment

(Provisions concerning prosecution. Trial and punishment -- private property not to be taken for public use without compensation.)

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.


6th Amendment

(Right to speedy trial, witnesses, etc.)

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.


7th Amendment

(Right of trial by jury.)

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.


8th Amendment

(Excessive bail or fines and cruel punishment prohibited.)

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.


9th Amendment

(Rule of construction of Constitution.)

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.


10th Amendment

(Rights of States under Constitution.)

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.


(Notes On The Amendments)

(Only amendments 13, 14, 15, and 16 were ratifed by number, in other cases the number not being part of the text of the resolution proposing the amendment.)

(Ratification of an amendment technically occurs as soon as the last of the requisite number of states votes for ratification. It does not appear necessary for the Secretary of State to declare an amendment to be ratified; nevertheless, these dates are often given and in the italicized explanations that follow, ratification dates are given as of the date of declaration of ratification when so stated, or otherwise as explained in the notes.)


11th Amendment

(Judicial powers construed)

(Proposed Mar 4, 1794; Ratified February 7, 1795; Declared ratified Jan 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 on the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.


12th Amendment

(Manner of choosing President and Vice-President)

(Proposed December 9, 1803; Probably ratified June 15, 1804. There is some disagreement as to the official date of ratification because the Governor of New Hampshire vetoed his legislature's ratification act on June 20, 1804 and the act then failed a two-thirds veto override vote. However there is no provision in the Constitution that requires approval or provides for a veto by a governor, and this act probably therefore is without significance. Notwithstanding, ratification would have been complete in any case on July 27, 1804 when Tennessee ratified the amendment. It was declared ratified on September 25, 1804 by Secretary of State Madison.)

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;-- The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;--The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such a majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representative shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. (And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, [before the fourth day of March next following,] then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death, or other constitutional disability of the President--) (Superseded by Amendment 20, Section 3) 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.


13th Amendment

(Slavery Abolished)

(Proposed January 31, 1865; Ratified December 6, 1865; Declared ratified December 18, 1865)

Related Topics:

Amendment 13, Section 1

Amendment 13, Section 2


Amendment 13, 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.


Amendment 13, Section 2

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


14th Amendment

(Citizenship rights not to be abridged)

(Proposed June 13, 1866; Probably ratified July 8, 1868; Declared ratified July 28, 1868 by joint resolution directing the Secretary of State to do so. Ohio and New Jersey had withdrawn their prior ratification votes. Notwithstanding the validity of those withdrawals, Alabama, on July 13 and Georgia, on July 21, 1868, added their ratifications providing at least the minimum number of ratification votes.)

Related Topics:

Amendment 14, Section 1

Amendment 14, Section 2

Amendment 14, Section 3

Amendment 14, Section 4

Amendment 14, Section 5


Amendment 14, 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; or 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.


Amendment 14, 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.


Amendment 14, 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.


Amendment 14, 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.


Amendment 14, Section 5

The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.


15th Amendment

(Race no bar to voting rights)

(Proposed February 26, 1869; Probably ratified on February 3, 1870; Declared ratified March 30, 1870 after a controversy surrounding New York's withdrawal of their prior ratification.)

Related Topics:

Amendment 15, Section 1

Amendment 15, Section 2


Amendment 15, 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.


Amendment 15, Section 2

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


16th Amendment

(Income taxes authorized)

(Proposed July 12, 1909; Ratified February 3, 1913; Declared ratified 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.


17th Amendment

(United States Senators to be elected by direct popular vote)

(Proposed May 13, 1912; Ratified April 8, 1913; Declared ratified May 31, 1913)

Related Topics:

Amendment 17, Section 1

Amendment 17, Section 2

Amendment 17, Section 3


Amendment 17, Section 1

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.


Amendment 17, Section 2

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.


Amendment 17, Section 3

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.


18th Amendment

(Liquor prohibition amendment)

(Proposed Dec 19, 1917; Ratified January 16, 1919; Declared ratified January 29, 1919 and by the terms of the amendment took effect one year later)

(The 18th amendment has been repealed. See 21st Amendment)

Related Topics:

Amendment 18, Section 1

Amendment 18, Section 2

Amendment 18, Section 3


Amendment 18, 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.


Amendment 18, Section 2

The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


Amendment 18, 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 of the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.


19th Amendment

(Giving nationwide suffrage to women)

(Proposed June 4, 1919; Ratified August 18, 1920; Declared ratified August 26, 1920)

Related Topics:

Amendment 19, Section 1

Amendment 19, Section 2


Amendment 19, 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 sex.


Amendment 19, Section 2

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


20th Amendment

(Terms of President and Vice-President to begin on January 20; Those of Senators, Representatives, January 3)

(Proposed March 2, 1932; Ratified January 23, 1933; Declared ratified February 6, 1933)

Related Topics:

Amendment 20, Section 1

Amendment 20, Section 2

Amendment 20, Section 3

Amendment 20, Section 4

Amendment 20, Section 5

Amendment 20, Section 6


Amendment 20, 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.


Amendment 20, 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.


Amendment 20, 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.


Amendment 20, 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.


Amendment 20, Section 5

Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article [October 1933].


Amendment 20, 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.


21st Amendment

(Repeal of the 18th Amendment)

(Proposed February 20, 1933; Ratified December 5, 1933; Declared ratified December 5, 1933)

Related Topics:

Amendment 21, Section 1

Amendment 21, Section 2

Amendment 21, Section 3


Amendment 21, Section 1

The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.


Amendment 21, 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.


Amendment 21, 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.


22d Amendment

(Limiting Presidential terms of office)

(Proposed March 24, 1947; Ratified February 27, 1951; Declared ratified March 1, 1951)

Related Topics:

Amendment 22, Section 1

Amendment 22, Section 2


Amendment 22, 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.


Amendment 22, 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.


23rd Amendment

(Presidential vote for District of Columbia)

(Proposed June 16, 1960; Ratifed March 29, 1961; Declared ratified April 3, 1961)

Related Topics:

Amendment 23, Section 1

Amendment 23, Section 2


Amendment 23, 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 Representative in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be 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.


Amendment 23, Section 2

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


24th Amendment

(Barring poll tax in federal elections)

(Proposed August 27, 1962; Ratified January 23, 1964, Declared ratified February 4, 1964)

Related Topics:

Amendment 24, Section 1

Amendment 24, Section 2


Amendment 24, 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.


Amendment 24, Section 2

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


25th Amendment

(Presidential disability and succession)

(Proposed July 6, 1965 after both houses agreed to a conference report to resolve differences; Ratified February 10, 1967; Declared ratified February 23, 1967)

Related Topics:

Amendment 25, Section 1

Amendment 25, Section 2

Amendment 25, Section 3

Amendment 25, Section 4


Amendment 25, Section 1

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.


Amendment 25, 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.


Amendment 25, 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.


Amendment 25, 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.


26th Amendment

(Lowering voting age to 18 years)

(Proposed March 23, 1971; Ratified July 1, 1971; Declared ratified on July 5, 1971)

Related Topics:

Amendment 26, Section 1

Amendment 26, Section 2


Amendment 26, 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.


Amendment 26, Section 2

The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


27th Amendment

(Congressional Pay; Congress may not accept a change in its compensation until a new election has occurred)

(Proposed September 25, 1789 as one of the original amendments of the Bill of Rights; Ratified May 7, 1992)

No law, varying the compensation for the service of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.


Bill of Rights Article I

(Specifying the number of Representatitives)

(Proposed in 1789 as part of the original Bill of Rights; not ratified)

After the first enumeration required by the first article of the Constitution, there shall be one Representative for every thirty thousand, until the number shall amount to one hundred, after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every forty thousand persons, until the number of Representative shall amount to two hundred; after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor more than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons.


Bill of Rights Article II

(Congressional Pay; Congress may not accept a change in its compensation until a new election has occurred)

(Proposed in 1789 as part of the original Bill of Rights; ratified May 7, 1992 as the 27th Amendment)

No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.


Proposed Amendment [Titles of Nobility]

(Titles of Nobility; Persons accepting titles, presents, pensions, offices or emoluments from foreign powers without consent to lose citizenship)

(Proposed in the 2d session of the 11th Congress; not ratified)

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of both Houses concurring), That the following section be submitted to the legislatures of the several states, which when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the states shall be valid and binding, as part of the constitution of the United States.

If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain any title of nobility or honour, or shall, without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them.


Proposed Amendment [Slavery Amendment]

(Congress not to abolish or interfere with domestic institutions of the States, including slavery)

(Proposed March 2, 1861; not ratified)

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution, viz:

"Article Thirteen

"No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State."


Proposed Amendment [Child-Labor Amendment]

(Giving Congress power to regulate labor of persons under 18 years of age)

(Proposed June 1924; not ratified)

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, shall be valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the Constitution:

"Article--

Section 1. The Congress shall have power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under 18 years of age.

Section 2. The power of the several States is unimpaired by this article except that the operation of State laws shall be suspended to the extent necessary to give effect to legislation enacted by the Congress."


Proposed Amendment [Equal Rights Amendment]

(Equal Rights Amendment, Rights not to be abridged on account of sex)

(Proposed March 22, 1972; not ratified)

House Joint Resolution 208

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to equal rights for men and women.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That

The following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission by the Congress:

"Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

"Section 2. The congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

"Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification."


Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

A DECLARATION

By the REPRESENTATIVES of the

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

In GENERAL CONGRESS assembled

When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty,  and the Pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.  Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes;  and accordingly all Experience hath shown, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed.  But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient  Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.  The History of the present King of Great Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.  To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to Tyrants only.

He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their Public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions,  to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers,  incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws of Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refus- ing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and payment of their Salaries.

He has erected a Multitude of New Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance.

He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our Legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of Death, Desolation and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury.  A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

Nor have We been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren.  We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us.  We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and  Settlement here.  We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations,  which would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity.  We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions,  do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances,  establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.  And for the support of this declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives,  our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

JOHN HANCOCK, President

attest. Charles Thomson, Secretary

New Hampshire

JOSIAH BARTLETT

WM. WHIPPLE

MATTHEW THORNTON

Massachusetts-Bay

SAML. ADAMS

JOHN ADAMS

ROBT. TREAT PAINE

ELBRIDGE GERRY

Rhode Island

STEP. HOPKINS

WILLIAM ELLERY

Connecticut

ROGER SHERMAN

SAM'EL HUNTINGTON

WM. WILLIAMS

OLIVER WOLCOTT

Georgia

BUTTON GWINNETT

LYMAN HALL

GEO. WALTON

Maryland

SAMUEL CHASE

WM.PACA

THOS. STONE

CHARLES CARROLL

OF CARROLLTON

Virginia

GEORGE WHYTE

RICHARD HENRY LEE

TH. JEFFERSON

BENJA. HARRISON

THS. NELSON, JR.

FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE

CARTER BRAXTON

New York

WM. FLOYD

PHIL. LIVINGSTON

FRANS. LEWIS

LEWIS MORRIS

FRANS. LEWIS

Pennsylvania

ROBT. MORRIS

BENJAMIN RUSH

BENJA. FRANKLIN

JOHN MORTON

GEO. CLYMER

JAS. SMITH

GEO. TAYLOR

JAMES WILSON

GEO. ROSS

Delaware

CAESAR RODNEY

GEO. READ

THO. M'KEAN

North Carolina

WM. HOOPER

JOSEPH HEWES

JOHN PENN

South Carolina

EDWARD RUTHLEDGE

THOS. HEYWARD

JUNR.

THOMAS LYNCH

JUNR.

ARTHUR MIDDLETON

New Jersey

RICHD. STOCKTON

JNO. WITHERSPOON

FRAS. HOPKINSON

JOHN HART

ABRA. CLARK


Lincoln's Address at Gettysburg, 1863

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.


The Mayflower Compact

[Sometimes referred to as America's first written constitution.]

In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken for the Glory of God and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience.

In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty fourth. Anno Domini, 1620.