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1791
AMERICAN HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
PREAMBLE
The Constitution of the United States
1787
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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
Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
ARTICLE ONE
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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
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.
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this Union, according to
their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a
term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all
other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three
years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States,
and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as
they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not
exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at
least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made,
the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to 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 their Speaker and other
officers; and shall have the sole power of Impeachment.
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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 of the third class at the
expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every
second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise,
during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive
thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of
the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the
age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that
State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall 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.
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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.
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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 day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of
absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each house
may provide.
Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of
two-thirds, expel a member.
Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment
require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either
house on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those
present, be entered on the journal.
Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any
other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
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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 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.
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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 that house in which
it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on
their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such
reconsideration two thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill,
it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by
which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds
of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the
votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the
names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be
entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill
shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be
a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by
their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be
a law.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a
question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the
United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be
approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two
thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the
rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
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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 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 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 exercise like authority
over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the
State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts,
magazines, arsenals, 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.
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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 eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may
require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration 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.
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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 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 it's inspection laws: and the net produce of
all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall
be for the use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such laws
shall be subject to the revision and 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 TWO
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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 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 lie an
inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a
list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for
each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to
the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the
President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having
the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be
a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there
be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of
votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately 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 attained to the age of
thirty five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the
United States.
In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of
the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the
Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death,
resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice-President,
declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer
shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President
shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a
compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during
the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not
receive within that period any other emolument from the United States,
or any of them.
Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the
following oath or affirmation:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute
the office of President of the United States, and will to the best
of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the
United States."
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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, except
in cases of impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators
present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public
ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other
officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the
Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as
they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in
the heads of departments.
The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions
which shall expire at the end of their next session.
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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 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.
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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.
ARTICLE THREE
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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 behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their
services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their
continuance in office.
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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 subjects.
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme
Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before
mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both
as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations
as the Congress shall make.
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.
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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.
ARTICLE FOUR
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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.
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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 having
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 claim of the party to whom such service or
labor may be due.
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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.
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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 executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against
domestic violence.
ARTICLE FIVE
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The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the
application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States,
shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either
case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this
Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of
the several States, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the
one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress;
provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the Year One
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the
first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article;
and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of it's
equal suffrage in the Senate.
ARTICLE SIX
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All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the
adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United
States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall
be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme
law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
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
ARTICLE SEVEN
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The ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the
States so ratifying the same.
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Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present
the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven and of the Independence of the
United States of America the twelfth, in witness whereof we have
hereunto subscribed our Names,
GO. WASHINGTON - President
and deputy from Virginia
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New Hampshire JOHN LANGDON NICHOLAS GILMAN
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Massachusetts NATHANIEL GORHAM RUFUS KING
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Connecticut WM SAML JOHNSON ROGER SHERMAN
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New York ALEXANDER HAMILTON
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New Jersey WIL. LIVINGSTON DAVID BREARLEY
WM PATERSON JONA. DAYTON
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Pennsylvania B FRANKLIN THOMAS MIFFLIN
ROBT MORRIS GEO. CLYMER
THOS FITZSIMONS JARED INGERSOLL
JAMES WILSON GOUV MORRIS
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Delaware GEO. READ GUNNING BEDFORD JUN
JOHN DICKINSON RICHARD BASSETT
JACO. BROOM
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Maryland JAMES McHENRY DAN of ST THO JENIFER
DANL CARROLL
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Virginia JOHN BLAIR JAMES MADISON JR.
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North Carolina WM BLOUNT RICHD DOBBS SPAIGHT
HU WILLIAMSON
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South Carolina J. RUTLEDGE CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY
CHARLES PINCKNEY PIERCE BUTLER
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Georgia WILLIAM FEW ABR BALDWIN
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Attest
William Jackson
Secretary
BILL_OF_RIGHTS
ARTICLE ONE
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.
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ARTICLE TWO
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.
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ARTICLE THREE
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.
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ARTICLE FOUR
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.
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ARTICLE FIVE
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.
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ARTICLE SIX
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.
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ARTICLE SEVEN
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.
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ARTICLE EIGHT
Excessive bail shall not lie required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
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ARTICLE NINE
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
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ARTICLE TEN
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.
ARTICLE ELEVEN
January 8, 1798
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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.
ARTICLE TWELVE
September 25, 1804
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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 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 having 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 Senate shall choose
the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of
two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the
whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person
constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be
eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
ARTICLE THIRTEEN
December 18, 1865
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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.
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Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
ARTICLE FOURTEEN
July 28, 1868
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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.
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Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several
States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole
number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when
the right to vote at any election for the choice of Electors for
President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives
in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the
members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male
inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens
of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation
in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein
shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male
citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one
years of age in such State.
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Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in
Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any
office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any
State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of
Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any
State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any
State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have
engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or
comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of
two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
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Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States,
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions
and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion,
shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State
shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of
insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim
for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts,
obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
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Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
ARTICLE FIFTEEN
March 30, 1870
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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.
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Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
ARTICLE SIXTEEN
February 25, 1913
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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.
ARTICLE SEVENTEEN
May 31, 1913
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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 legislature.
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.
ARTICLE EIGHTEEN
January 29, 1919
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Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article, the
manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within,
the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the
United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof
for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
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Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
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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 submission hereof to the
States by Congress.
ARTICLE NINETEEN
August 26, 1920
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The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any States on account of
sex.
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The Congress shall have power by appropriate legislation to
enforce the provisions of this article.
ARTICLE TWENTY
February 6, 1933
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Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice-President shall end
at noon on the twentieth day of January, and the terms of Senators and
Representatives at noon on the third 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.
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Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every
year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the third day of
January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
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Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of
the President, the President-elect shall have died, the
Vice-President-elect shall become President. If a President shall
not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his
term, or if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then the
Vice-President-elect shall act as President until a President shall
have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case
wherein neither a President-elect nor a Vice-President-elect shall
have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the
manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person
shall act accordingly until a President or Vice-President shall have
qualified.
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Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death
of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may
choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved
upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from
whom the Senate may choose a Vice-President whenever the right of
choice shall have devolved upon them.
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Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of
October following the ratification of this article.
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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.
ARTICLE TWENTY-ONE
December 5, 1933
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Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution
of the United States is hereby repealed.
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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.
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Section 3. The 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.
ARTICLE TWENTY-TWO
February 26, 1951
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Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President
more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President,
or acted as President for more than two years of a term to which
some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office
of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to
any person holding the office of President when this Article was
proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who May
be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the
term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the
office of President or acting as President during the remainder of
such term.
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Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the
legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years
from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
ARTICLE TWENTY-THREE
June 16, 1960
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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 in addition to those
appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the
purposes of the election of President and Vice-President, to be
electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the district and
perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
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Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
ARTICLE TWENTY-FOUR
February 4, 1964
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Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any
primary or other election for President or Vice-President, for
electors for President or Vice-President, or for Senator or
Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or
other tax.
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Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
ARTICLE TWENTY-FIVE
February 10, 1967
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Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of
his death or resignation, the Vice-President shall become President.
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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.
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Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro
tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge
the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them
a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be
discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.
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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 day to the President pro tempore
of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their
written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the
powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the
issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not
in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of
the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session,
within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble,
determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is
unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the
Vice-President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting
President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties
of his office.
ARTICLE TWENTY-SIX
July 1, 1971
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Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are
eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
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Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.