Article I
Sections:
1. Legislative powers
2. House of Representatives; how constituted;
power of impeachment
3. The Senate; how constituted; impeachment trials
4. Election of Senators and Representatives
5. Quorum; journals: meetings; adjournments
6. Compensation; privileges; disabilities
7. Procedure in passing bills and resolutions
8. Powers of Congress
9. Limitations upon powers of Congress
10. Restrictions upon powers of states
1. President and Vice President
2. Powers of the President
3. Messages to Congress: additional powers and duties
4. Impeachment
Article III
1. Judicial power; tenure of office
2. Jurisdiction
3. Treason; proof and punishment
Article IV
1. Full faith and credit among states
2. Privileges and immunities; fugitives
3. Admission of new states: power over territory
and other property
4. Guarantee of republican form of government
Article V
Amendment of the Constitution
Article VI
Debts; supremacy; oath
Article VII
Ratification and establishment
Footnotes to the US. Constitution are numbered throughout the text and
are located at the end of the
Constitution.
Amendments
Sections;
1. Freedom of religion, speech and press:
peaceful assemblage; petition of grievances
2. Right to bear arms
3. Soldiers denied quarters in homes
4. Searches and seizures
5. Capital crimes; double jeopardy;
self-incrimination; due process: just compensation for property
6. Jury trial for crimes, and procedural rights
7. Civil trials
8. Excessive bail, fines, punishments
9. Construction of enumerated rights
10. Reserved powers to states
11. Suits against states
12. Presidential electors
13.
§ 1. Slavery abolished
§ 2.
Enforcement
14. § 1. Citizenship rights not to be abridged by
states
§ 2. Apportionment
of Representatives in Congress
§ 3. Persons disqualified from holding office
§ 4. What public debts are void
§ 5.
Power to enforce article
15. § 1. Right to vote not to be abridged §
2. Power to enforce article
16. Income tax
17. Popular election of Senators
18. Liquor prohibition
19. Woman suffrage
20. § 1. Terms of office
§ 2. Time of convening Congress
§ 3.
Death of President elect
§ 4. Election of the President
§ 5. Effective date of sections 1 and 2
§ 6. Ratification within seven years
21. § 1. National liquor prohibition repealed § 2.
Transportation of liquor into “dry” state
§ 3. Ratification within seven years
22. § 1. Limitation on presidential terms § 2. Ratification within seven
years
Sections:
23. § 1. Electors for District of Columbia § 2.
Enforcement of article
24. § 1. No franchise denied by nonpayment of poll
tax
§ 2. Enforcement of article
25. § 1. Succession of Vice President
§ 2.
Nomination of Vice President; confirmation
§ 3.
Determination by President of inability to act; Vice President as Acting
President
§ 4.
Determination by Vice President and others as to President’s ability to act;
Vice President as Acting President
26. § 1. Extension of right to vote
to citizens eighteen years of age or older
§ 2. Enforcement of article
Publisher's
Note: Headings for the articles, sections and amendments of
the Constitution have been provided by the publisher and are of no legal effect.
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.
§
1. Legislative powers.
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.
§ 2. House of
Representatives; how constituted; power of impeachment.
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.
¹Representatives 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 chose three Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island
and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey
four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North
Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the
Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue
Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives
shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of
Impeachment.
§ 3. The
Senate; how constituted; impeachment trials.
2The
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 chuse their
other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice
President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United
States.
The Senate shall have the sole
Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on
Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the
Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the
Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of
Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and
disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under
the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and
subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment according to Law.
§
4. Election of Senators and Representatives.
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.
3The
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.
§
5. Quorum; journals; meetings: adjournments.
Each House shall be the Judge
of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a
Majority of each shall constitute a Quroum 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.
§
6. Compensation; privileges; disabilities.
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.
§
7. Procedure in passing bills and resolutions.
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 approves 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.
§ 8. Powers of Congress.
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 a uniform
Rule of Naturalization. and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies
throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate
the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and
Measures;
To provide for the Punishment
of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States:
To establish Post
Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress
of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and
Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries:
To constitute Tribunals
inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies
and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Laws of
Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters
of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies,
but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two
Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make rules for the
Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth
the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union. suppress Insurrections and
repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing,
arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as
may be employed in the Service of the United States. reserving to the States
respectively, the Appointment of the Officers and the Authority of training the
Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive
Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten
Miles square) as may. by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of
Congress become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to
exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the
Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts,
Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; — And
To make all Laws which shall
be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers and
all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the
United-States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
§ 9
Limitations upon powers of Congress.
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 here in
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.
§
10. Restrictions upon powers of states.
No State shall enter into any
Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin
Money: emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender
in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law
impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
No State shall. without the
Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports,
except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and
the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or
Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all
such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Control of the Congress.
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.
§
1. President and Vice President.
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.
5The Electors shall meet in
their respective States and vote by Ballot for two Persons of whom one at least
shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall
make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each;
which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the
Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The
President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives, open all the Certificates and the Votes shall then be counted.
The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole
Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such
Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives
shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President: and if no Person
have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in
like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President. the Votes shall
be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A
quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of
the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In
every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest
Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there
should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from
them by Ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the
Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes:
which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
No Person except a natural
born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States at the time of the Adoption of
this Constitution shall be eligible to the Office of President: neither shall
any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of
thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
In Case of the Removal of the
President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge
the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice
President and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death,
Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring
what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act
accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated
Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be
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.”
§ 2. Powers of the
President.
The President shall be
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the
Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the
United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal
Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the
Duties of their respective Offices and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves
and Pardons for Offences against the United States except in Cases of
Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and
with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties provided two thirds
of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the
Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public
Ministers and Consuls. Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of
the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for,
and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the
Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President
alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power
to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate by
granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
§ 3. Messages
to Congress; additional powers and duties.
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.
§
4. Impeachment.
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.
§
1. Judicial power: tenure of office.
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.
§
2. Jurisdiction.
6The
judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this
Constitution. the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall
be made, under their Authority; — to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other
public Ministers and Consuls; — to all Cases of admiralty and maritime
Jurisdiction: —to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; —
to Controversies between two or more States; — between a State and Citizens of
another State: — between Citizens of different States; — between Citizens of
the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States. and between a
State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
In all Cases affecting
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State
shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the
other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate
Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such
Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The Trial of all Crimes,
except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held
in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not
committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the
Congress may by Law have directed.
§
3. Treason; proof and punishment.
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.
§
1. Full faith and credit among states.
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.
§
2. Privileges and immunities: fugitives.
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 on
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.
§ 3. Admission
of new states; power over territory and other property.
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.
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.
§ 4. Guarantee
of republican form of government.
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.
Amendment of the Constitution
The Congress whenever two thirds of both Houses shall
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or on the
Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call
a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case shall be valid to
all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the
Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in
three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be
proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to
the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the
first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article: and that no
State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the
Senate.
Article VI
All Debts contracted and
Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution. shall be as
valid against the United States under this Constitution as under the
Confederation.
This Constitution, and the
laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof: and all
Treaties made, or which shall be made. under the Authority of the United
States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State
shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to
the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and
Representatives before mentioned and the Members of the several State
Legislatures and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States
and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation. to support
this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a
Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
Article VII
The Ratification of the
Conventions of nine States. shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this
Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
Done in Convention by the
Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the
Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and of the
Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth. In witness whereof we
have hereunto subscribed our Names,
G.o
WASHINGTON — Presid.t
and
deputy from Virginia.
Attest
William Jackson Secretary
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 Wm. Paterson
David Brearley Jona.
Dayton
Pennsylvania
B. Franklin Thos.
FitzSimons
Thomas Mifflin Jared
Ingersoll
Robt. Morris James
Wilson