Credits
We the people of the
United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish
justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Section 1. All
legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress
of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House
of Representatives.
Section 2. The House
of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every
second year by the people of the several states, and the
electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite
for elect ors of the most numerous branch of the state
legislature.
No person shall be a Representative who
shall not have attained to the age of twenty five years, and
been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he
shall be chosen.
Representatives
and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states
which may be included within this union, according to their
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
whole number of free perso ns, 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 wit hin 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 ma de, 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 Carolin a five, South Carolina
five, and Georgia th
When vacancies happen in the
Representation from any state, the executive authority thereof
shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall choose
their speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power
of impeachment.
Section 3. The Senate
of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each
state,
chosen by the legislature thereof
, for six years; and each Senator shall
have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled
in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as
equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators
of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the
second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth
year, and the third class at the expiration of the sixth year,
so that one third may be chosen every second year; and if
vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess
o f the legislature of any state, the executive thereof may make
temporary appointments until the next meeting of the
legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
No person shall be a Senator who shall
not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine
years a citizen of the United States and who shall not, when
elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be
chosen.
The Vice President of the United States
shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless
they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other
officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of
the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of
President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole power to
try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall
be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United
States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no person
shall be convicted wit hout 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 subje ct to indictment, trial,
judgment and punishment, according to law.
Section 4. The times,
places and manner of holding elections for Senators and
Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the
legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law
make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of
choosing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once
in every year, and such meeting shall be
on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law
appoint a different day.
Section 5. Each House
shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications
of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a
quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from da
y 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 on e fifth of those present, be entered
on the journal.
Neither House, during the session of
Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for
more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which
the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section 6. The
Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for
their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the
treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except
treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from
arrest during their attendance at the session of their
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same;
and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be
questioned in any oth er 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 ti me: and no person holding any
office under the United States, shall be a member of either
House during his continuance in office.
Section 7. All bills
for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with
amendments as on other Bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the
House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become
a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he
approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with
his objections to t hat 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 o bjections, 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 person s 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 effec t, shall be approved by him, or being
disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the
Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and
limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 8. The
Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties,
imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common
defense and general welfare of the United States; but all
duties, impos ts and excises shall be uniform throughout the
United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the
United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign
nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian
tribes;
To establish a uniform rule of
naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies
throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value
thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights
and measures;
To provide for the punishment of
counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United
States;
To establish post offices and post roads;
To promote the progress of science and
useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and
discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the
Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and
felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the
law of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marque
and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and
water;
To raise and support armies, but no
appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term
than two years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and
regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the militia
to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and
repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and
disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them
as may be employed in the service of the United States,
reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the
officers, and the authority of training the militia according to
the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in all
cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles
square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the
United States, and to exe rcise like authority over all places
purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in
which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines,
arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And
To make all laws which shall be necessary
and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and
all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government
of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 9. The
migration or importation of such persons as any of the states
now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be
prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight
hundred and eig ht, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion
or invasion the public safety may require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law
shall be passed.
No capitation, or
other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the
census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles
exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by any
regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over
those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one
state, be obliged to enter, clear or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the
treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and
a regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of
all public money shall be published from time to time.
No title of nobility shall be granted by
the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or
trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress,
accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind
whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Section 10. No state
shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant
letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of
credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in
payment o f debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto
law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any
title of nobility.
No state shall, without the consent of
the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports,
except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's
inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts,
laid by any state on impo rts or exports, shall be for the use
of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be
subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of
Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war
in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with
another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless
actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit
of delay.
Section 1. The
executive power shall be vested in a President of the United
States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of
four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for
the same term, be elected, as follows:
Each state shall appoint, in such manner
as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors,
equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to
which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator
or Representative, or p erson 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 mo re than one who have such
majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of
Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them
for President; and if no person have a majority, then from the
five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner
choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes
shall be taken by States, the representation from each state
having one vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a
member or members from two thirds of the states, and a majority
of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case,
after the choice of the President, the person having the
greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice
President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal
votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice
President.
The Congress may determine the time of
choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give
their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United
States.
No person except a natural born citizen,
or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption
of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of
President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office
who shall not have attaine d 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 pro vide 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 e lected.
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 fr om 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, preser ve, protect and defend the Constitution of
the United States."
Section 2. The
President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of
the United States, and of the militia of the several states,
when called into the actual service of the United States; he may
require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in
each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to
the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power
to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United
States, ex cept 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 s uch inferior officers, as they
think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or
in the heads of departments.
The President shall have power to fill up
all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate,
by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their
next session.
Section 3. He shall
from time to time give to the Congress information of the state
of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures
as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraor
dinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in
case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of
adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think
proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers
; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and
shall commission all the officers of the United States.
Section 4. The
President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and
conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanors.
Section 1. The
judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one
Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may
from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the
supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during
good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their
services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during
their continuance in office.
Section 2. The
judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity,
arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States,
and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their
authority;--to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public
ministers and consuls;--to all cases of admiralty and maritime
jurisdiction;--to controversies to which the United States shall
be a party;--to controversies between two or more states;--
between a state and citizens of another state;--between
citizens of different states;--between citizens of the same
state claiming lands under grants of different states, and
between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states,
citizens or su bjects.
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 jur isdiction, both as to law and fact, with such
exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall
make.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases
of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held
in the state where the said crimes shall have been committed;
but when not committed within any state, the trial shall be at
such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.
Section 3. Treason
against the United States, shall consist only in levying war
against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on
the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on
confession in open court.
The Congress shall have power to declare
the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall
work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life
of the person attainted.
Section 1. Full
faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.
And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in
which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and
the effect thereof.
Section 2. The
citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and
immunities of citizens in the several states.
A person charged in any state with
treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice,
and be found in another state, shall on demand of the executive
authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to
be removed to the state ha ving jurisdiction of the crime.
No person held
to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof,
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor,
but shall be delivered up on clai m of the party to whom such
service or labor may be due.
Section 3. New
states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no
new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of
any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two
or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the
legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have power to dispose
of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the
territory or other property belonging to the United States; and
nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to
prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular
state.
Section 4. The
United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a
republican form of government, and shall protect each of them
against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of
the execu tive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against
domestic violence.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both
houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this
Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two
thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for
proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to
all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when
ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several
states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one
or the other mode of ratific ation 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.
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 stat e shall be bound thereby, anything in the
Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary
notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before
mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures,
and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United
States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or
affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or
public trust under the United States.
The ratification of the conventions of
nine states, shall be sufficient for the establishment of this
Constitution between the states so ratifying the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous
consent of the states present the seventeenth day of September
in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty
seven and of the independence of the United States of America
the twelfth.
In witness whereof We
have hereunto subscribed our Names,
G. Washington-Presidt. and deputy from
Virginia
New Hampshire: John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts: Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King
Connecticut: Wm: Saml. Johnson, Roger Sherman
New York: Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey: Wil: Livingston, David Brearly, Wm.
Paterson, Jona: Dayton
Pennsylvania: B. Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robt.
Morris, Geo. Clymer, Thos. FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James
Wilson, Gouv Morris
Delaware: Geo: Read, Gunning Bedford jun, John
Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jaco: Broom
Maryland: James McHenry, Dan of St Thos. Jenifer,
Danl Carroll
Virginia: John Blair--, James Madison Jr.
North Carolina: Wm. Blount, Richd. Dobbs Spaight, Hu
Williamson
South Carolina: J. Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler
Georgia: William Few, Abr Baldwin
Amendments to the U.S.
Constitution
Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or
the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the government for a redress of grievances.
A well regulated militia, being necessary
to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep
and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
No soldier shall, in time of peace be
quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in
time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
The right of the people to be secure in
their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants
shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or
affirmation, and particu larly describing the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for a
capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or
indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land
or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in
time of war or publ ic danger; nor shall any person be subject
for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or
limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a
witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor shall private property
be taken for public use, without just compensation.
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, an d to be informed of the nature and cause
of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against
him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his
favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
In suits at common law, where the value
in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial
by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall
be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than
according to the rul es of the common law.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments
inflicted.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of
certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage
others retained by the people.
The powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states,
are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
The judicial power of the United States
shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity,
commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by
citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any
foreign state.
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 Pres ident, 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 si gn
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government
of the United States, directed to the President of the
Senate;--The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of
the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
certificates and the votes shall then be counted;--the person
having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the
President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of
electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then
from the persons havi ng the highest numbers not exceeding three
on the list of those voted for as President, the House of
Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be
taken by states, the representation from each state having one
vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or
members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the
states shall be necessary to a choice.
And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President
whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the
fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President
shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other
constitutional disability of the President. The person
having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be
the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole
number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majority,
then from the two highest numbers on the list, the S enate 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 Pres
ident shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United
States.
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or
any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are
citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they
reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty,
or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among
the several states according to their respective numbers,
counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding
Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election
for t he 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 numb er of such male citizens shall bear to
the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in
such state.
Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or
Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice
President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the
United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken
an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United
States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an
executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the
Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in
insurrection or rebellion aga inst the same, or given aid or
comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of
two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the
United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for
payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing
insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither
the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or
obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against
the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of
any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be
hel d illegal and void.
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce,
by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States
to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or
by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
The Congress shall have power to lay and
collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without
apportionment among the several states, and without regard to
any census of enumeration.
The Senate of the United States shall be
composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people
thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.
The electors in each state shall have the qualifications
requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state
legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the
representation of any state in the Senate, the executive
authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill
such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may
empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments
until the people fill the vacancies by election as the
legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed
as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before
it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
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
subjec t to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is
hereby prohibited.
Section 2. The Congress and the several states shall
have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless
it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution
by the legislatures of the several states, as provided in the
Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submissio
n hereof to the states by the Congress.
The right of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any state on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice
President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the
terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of
January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if
this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their
successors shall then begin.
Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once
in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d
day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different
day.
Section 3. If, at the time
fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the
President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall
become President. If a President shall not have been chosen
before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the
President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice
President elect shall act as President until a President shall
have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case
wherein neithe r 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 hav e qualified.
Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the
case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of
Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of
choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the
deat h of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a
Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved
upon them.
Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the
15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless
it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution
by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states
within seven years from the date of its submission.
Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the
Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2. The transportation or importation into any
state, territory, or possession of the United States for
delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of
the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless
it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution
by conventions in the several states, as provided in the
Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission
her eof to the states by the Congress.
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 Preside
nt 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 offic e of President, or acting as President, during the
term within which this article becomes operative from holding
the office of President or acting as President during the
remainder of such term.
Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless
it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution
by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states
within seven years from the date of its submission to the states
b y the Congress.
Section 1. The District constituting the seat of
government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as
the Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and
Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and
Representatives in Congress to which the District would be
entitled if it were a state, but in no event more than the least
populous state; they shall be i n 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 th e twelfth article of
amendment.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
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 o r
abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure
to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. In case of the removal of the President
from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President
shall become President.
Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office
of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice
President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority
vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the
President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House
of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he t
ransmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such
powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as
Acting President.
Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority
of either the principal officers of the executive departments or
of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to
the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives their written declaration that the
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers
and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits
to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of
the House of Representatives his written declaration that no
inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his
office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the
principal officers of the executive department or of such other
body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days
to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of
the House of Representative s 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-on e 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.
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United
States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account
of age.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
No law, varying the compensation for the
services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect,
until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
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