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1995-05-02
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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 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, 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.
Judgement 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 am 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 quarters 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 his 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.