Preamble

We the People of the United States, in order to form a more

perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,

provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and

secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do

ordain and establish the Constitution of the United States of

America.

Article I.

Sect. 1. 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.

Sect. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of

members chosen every second year by the people of the several

states, and the electors in each state shall have the

qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch

of the state legislature.

No person shall be a representative who shall not have

attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a

citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be

an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.

Representative 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 be law direct. The

number of representative shall not exceed one for every thirty

thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative;

and until such enumeration shall be made, the state of New

Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight,

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five,

New-York six, New-Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one,

Maryland six, Virginia ten, North-Carolina five, South-Carolina

five, and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the representation from any

state, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of

election to fill such vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall choose the Speaker and

other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

Sect. 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 hall 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, who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of

that state for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice-President of the United States shall be

President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be

equally divided.

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a

President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or

when he shall exercise the office of President of the United

States.

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all

impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on

oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is

tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no person shall be

convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members

present.

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further

than to removal from office and disqualification to hold and

enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United

States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and

subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according

to law.

Sect. 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 be law appoint a different day.

Sect. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns

and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each

shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number

may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the

attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such

penalties as each house may provide.

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings,

punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and with the

concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and

from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may

in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the

members 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.

Sect. 6. The senators and representatives shall receive a

compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and

paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all

cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be

privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of

their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the

same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall

not be questioned in any other place.

No senator or representative shall, during the time for

which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the

authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or

the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time;

and no person holding any office under the United States, shall

be a member of either house during his continuance in office.

Sect. 7. All bill for raising revenue shall originate in the

house of representative; but the senate may propose or concur

with amendments as on other bills.

Every bill which shall have passed the house of

representatives and the senate, shall, before it become a law, be

presented to the president of the United States; if he approve he

shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections

to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter

the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to

reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that

house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together

with the objections, to the other house, by which 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 (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 Representative 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.

Sect. 8. The Congress shall have power

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,

to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general

welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and

excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the

several states, and with the Indian tribes;

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and

uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United

States;

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign

coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the

securities and current coin of the United States;

To establish post offices and post roads;

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by

securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive

right to their respective writings and discoveries;

To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court;

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on

the high seas, and offences against the law of nations;

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and

make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of

money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the

land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the

laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the

militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed

in the service of the United States, reserving to the States

respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority

of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by

Congress;

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases

whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square)

as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of

Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States,

and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the

consent of the legislature of the states 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 the Constitution in the government of the United

States, or in any department or officer thereof.

Sect. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of

the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be

prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight

hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such

importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be

suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the

public safety require it.

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be

passed.

No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid,

unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before

directed to be taken.

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from

any state. No preference shall be given by any regulation of

commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of

another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be

obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in

consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular

statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all

public money shall be published from time to time.

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United

States:--And no person holding any office of profit or trust

under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept

of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind

whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

Sect. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or

confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money;

emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a

tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post

facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or

grant any title of nobility.

No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay

any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be

absolutely necessary for executing 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; 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.

Article II.

Sect. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a president of

the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the

term of four years, and, together with the vice-president, chosen

for the same term, be elected as follows.

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the

legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to

the whole number of senators and representatives to which the

state may be entitled in the Congress: but no senator or

representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit

under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

The electors shall meet in their respective states, and

vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not

be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they

shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number

of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and

transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United

States, directed to the president of the senate. The president

of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and house of

representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall

then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes

shall be the president, if such number be a majority of the whole

number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who

have such majority, and have an equal number of electors

appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority,

and have an equal number of votes, then the house of

representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them

for president; and if no person have a majority, then from the

five highest on the list the said house shall in like manner

choose the president. But in choosing the president, the votes

shall be taken by states, the representation from each state

having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a

member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority

of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case,

after the choice of the president, the person having the greatest

number of votes of the electors shall be the vice-president. But

if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the

senate shall choose from them by ballot the vice-president.

The Congress may determine the time of the choosing the

electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which

day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of

the United States, at the time of the adoption of this

constitution, shall be eligible to the office of president;

neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not

have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen

years a resident within the United States.

In case of the removal of the president from office, or

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 be elected.

The president shall, at stated times, receive for his

services, a compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor

diminished during the period for which he shall have been

elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other

emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall

take the following oath or affirmation:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully

execute the office of president of the United States, and will to

the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the

constitution of the United States."

Sect. 2. The president shall be commander in chief of the army

and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several

States, when called into the actual service of the United States;

he may require the opinion, in writing of the principal officer

in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating

to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have

power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the

United States, except in cases of impeachment.

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent

of the senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the

senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with

the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint ambassadors,

other public ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court,

and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments

are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be

established by law. But the Congress may by law vest the

appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in

the president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of

departments.

The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies

that may happen during the recess of the senate, by granting

commissions which shall expire at the end of their session.

Sect. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress

information of the state of the union, and recommend to their

consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and

expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both

houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between

them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn

them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive

ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that

the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the

officers of the United States.

Sect. 4. The president, vice-president and all civil officers of

the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment

for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes

and misdemeanors.

Article III.

Sect. 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested

in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress

may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of

the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during

good behavior, and shall, at stated time, receive for their

services a compensation which shall not be diminished during

their continuance in office.

Sect. 2.

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.

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.

Sect. 3.

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 attained.

Article IV

Sect. 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to

the public act, 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.

Sect. 2.

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 labor in one State, under

the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of

any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or

labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom

such service or labor may be due.

Sect. 3.

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.

Sect. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in

this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect

each of them against invasion; and on application of the

legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot

be convened), against domestic violence.

Article V.

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both House 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.

Sect. 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.

Sect. 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, anything in the constitution

or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

Sect. 3. 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.

Attest: William Jackson, Secretary

George Washington

PRESIDENT AND DEPUTY FROM VIRGINIA

NEW HAMPSHIRE

John Langdon

Nicholas Gilman

MASSACHUSETTS

Nathaniel Gorham

Rufus King

NEW YORK

Alexander Hamilton

NEW JERSEY

William Livingston

David Brearley

William Paterson

Jonathan Dayton

PENNSYLVANIA

Benjamin Franklin

Thomas Mifflin

Robert Morris

George Clymer

Thomas Fitzsimons

Jared Ingersoll

James Wilson

Gouverneur Morris

DELAWARE

George Read

Gunning Bedford, Jr.

John Dickinson

Richard Bassett

Jacob Broom

MARYLAND

James McHenry

Dan of St. Thomas Jennifer

Daniel Carroll

VIRGINIA

John Blair

James Madison, Jr.

NORTH CAROLINA

William Blount

Richard Dobbs Spaight

Hugh Williamson

SOUTH CAROLINA

John Rutledge

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney

Charles Pinckney

Pierce Butler

GEORGIA

William Few

Abraham Baldwin

AMENDMENTS

1st Amendment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 shall not be required, nor excessive fines

imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.

9th Amendment

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights

shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by

the people.

10th Amendment

The powers not delegated to 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.

11th Amendment

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.

12th Amendment

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 a 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] the Vice President shall act as President,

as in case of 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, form 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; 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

Sect. 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.

Sect. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this

article by appropriate legislation.

14th Amendment

Sect. 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 any person within its jurisdiction

the equal protection of the laws.

Sect. 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.

Sect. 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.

Sect. 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.

Sect. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by

appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

15th Amendment

Sect. 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.

Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this

article by appropriate legislation.

16th Amendment

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

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 appointment 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.

18th Amendment

Sect. 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.

Sect. 2. The Congress and the several States shall have

concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate

legislation.

Sect. 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 Congress.

19th Amendment

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.

20th Amendment

Sect. 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.

Sect. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every

years, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of

January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

Sect. 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.

Sect. 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.

Sect. 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th

day of October following the ratification of this article.

Sect. 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it

shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by

three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the

date of its submission.

21st Amendment

Sect. 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the

Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Sect. 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.

Sect. 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

Sect. 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.

Sect. 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

Sect. 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 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.

Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this

article by appropriate legislation.

24th Amendment

Sect. 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.

Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this

article by appropriate legislation.

25th Amendment

Sect. 1. In case of the removal of the President from

office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall

become President.

Sect. 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.

Sect. 3. Whenever the President transmits to the

President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speakers 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.

Sect. 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 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

Sect. 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.

Sect. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce

this article by appropriate legislation.