The Constitution of the United States
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 defense, promote the
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
ARTICLE I
Section 1. Legislative powers; in whom vested
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. House of Representatives, how and by whom
chosen Qualifications of a Representative. Representatives
and direct taxes, how apportioned. Enumeration. Vacancies to
be filled. Power of choosing officers, and of
impeachment.
1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of
members chosen every second year by the people of the
several States, and the elector in each State shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous
branch of the State Legislature.
2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have
attained 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.
3. Representatives [and direct taxes] {Altered by
16th Amendment} 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 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.] {Altered
by 14th Amendment} 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.
4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any
State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue writs of
election to fill such vacancies.
5. The House of Representatives shall choose their
Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of
impeachment.
Section 3. Senators, how and by whom chosen. How
classified. State Executive, when to make temporary
appointments, in case, etc. Qualifications of a Senator.
President of the Senate, his right to vote. President pro
tem., and other officers of the Senate, how chosen. Power to
try impeachments. When President is tried, Chief Justice to
preside. Sentence.
1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of
two Senators from each State, [chosen by the Legislature
thereof,] {Altered by 17th Amendment} for six years; and
each Senator shall have one vote.
2. 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.]
{Altered by 17th Amendment}
3. 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.
4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be
President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they
be equally divided.
5. 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 the
President of the United States.
6. 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.
7. 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,
judgement and punishment, according to law.
Section 4. Times, etc., of holding elections, how
prescribed. One session in each year.
1. 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.
2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every
year, and such meeting shall be [on the first Monday in
December,] {Altered by 20th Amendment} unless they by
law appoint a different day.
Section 5. Membership, Quorum, Adjournments, Rules,
Power to punish or expel. Journal. Time of adjournments, how
limited, etc.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings,
and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts
as may in their judgement 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.
4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall,
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than
three days, nor to any other place than that in which the
two Houses shall be sitting.
Section 6. Compensation, Privileges, Disqualification
in certain cases.
1. 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.
2. 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
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.
Section 7. House to originate all revenue bills. Veto.
Bill may be passed by two-thirds of each House,
notwithstanding, etc. Bill, not returned in ten days to
become a law. Provisions as to orders, concurrent
resolutions, etc.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 re-passed by two-thirds
of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the
rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 8. Powers of Congress
The Congress shall have the power 1. 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:
2. To borrow money on the credit of the United
States:
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among
the several states, and with the Indian tribes:
4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the
United States:
5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and
measures:
6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the
securities and current coin of the United States:
7. To establish post-offices and post roads:
8. 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:
9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme
court:
10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed
on the high seas, and offences against the law of
nations:
11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal,
and make rules concerning captures on land and water:
12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of
money to that use shall be for a longer term than two
years:
13. To provide and maintain a navy:
14. To make rules for the government and regulation of
the land and naval forces:
15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute
the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel
invasions:
16. 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:
17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases
whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles
square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of
the United States, and to exercise like authority over all
places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the
state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts,
magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful
buildings:
And, 18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and
all other powers vested by this constitution in the
government of the United States, or in any department or
officer thereof.
Section 9. Provision as to migration or importation of
certain persons. Habeas Corpus, Bills of attainder, etc.
Taxes, how apportioned. No export duty. No commercial
preference. Money, how drawn from Treasury, etc. No titular
nobility. Officers not to receive presents, etc.
1. 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 1808,
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importations, not
exceeding 10 dollars for each person.
2. 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.
3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be
passed.
4. [No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid
unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein
before directed to be taken.] {Altered by 16th
Amendment}
5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from
any state.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United
States: And no person holding any office or profit or trust
under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress,
accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any
kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Section 10. States prohibited from the exercise of
certain powers.
1. 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.
2. No state shall, without the consent of the Congress,
lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what
may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection
laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by
any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the
treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be
subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
3. 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 a war, unless
actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not
admit of delay.
ARTICLE II
Section 1. President: his term of office. Electors of
President; number and how appointed. Electors to vote on
same day. Qualification of President. On whom his duties
devolve in case of his removal, death, etc. President's
compensation. His oath of office.
1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of
the United States of America. He shall hold office during
the term of four years, and together with the Vice
President, chosen for the same term, be elected as
follows
2. [Each State] {Altered by 23rd Amendment} shall
appoint, in such manner as the Legislature 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 each; which list
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat
of 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.] {Altered by 12th Amendment}
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. [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.] {Altered by
25th Amendment}
6. 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.
7. 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 the President of the United States, and will to the best
of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution
of the United States."
Section 2. President to be Commander-in-Chief. He may
require opinions of cabinet officers, etc., may pardon.
Treaty-making power. Nomination of certain officers. When
President may fill vacancies.
1. 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 against the United States,
except in cases of impeachment.
2. 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.
3. The President shall have the power to fill up all
vacancies that may may happen during the recess of the
Senate, by granting commissions, which shall expire at the
end of their next session.
Section 3. President shall communicate to Congress. He
may convene and adjourn Congress, in case of disagreement,
etc. Shall receive ambassadors, execute laws, and commission
officers.
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 may receive ambassadors, and other public
ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully
executed, and shall commission all the officers of the
United States.
Section 4. All civil offices forfeited for certain
crimes.
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
Section 1. Judicial powers. Tenure. Compensation.
The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested
in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the
Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The
judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold
their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated
times, receive for their services a compensation, which
shall not be diminished during their continuance in
office.
Section 2. Judicial power; to what cases it extends.
Original jurisdiction of Supreme Court Appellate. Trial by
Jury, etc. Trial, where
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.] {Altered by 11th Amendment}
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.
Section 3. Treason defined. Proof of.
Punishment
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 attainted.
ARTICLE IV
Section 1. Each State to give credit to the public
acts, etc. of every other State.
Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the
public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other
state. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the
manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be
proved, and the effect thereof.
Section 2. Privileges of citizens of each State.
Fugitives from Justice to be delivered up. Persons held to
service having escaped, to be delivered up.
1. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.
{See the 14th Amendment}
2. A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or
other crime, who shall flee 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 labour in one state,
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in
consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged
from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on
claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be
due.] {Altered by 13th Amendment}
Section 3. Admission of new States. Power of Congress
over territory and other property.
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, 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.
Section 4. Republican form of government guaranteed.
Each State to be protected.
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
Amendments
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 1808, 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
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.
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, any thing in
the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary
notwithstanding.
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.
The Ten Original Amendments:
The Bill of Rights.
Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15,
1791.
AMENDMENT I
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.
AMENDMENT II
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.
AMENDMENT III
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.
AMENDMENT IV
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.
AMENDMENT V
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 offense to be twice put in
jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any
criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process
of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use
without just compensation.
AMENDMENT VI
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 defense.
AMENDMENT VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury
shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be
otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than
according to the rules of the common law.
AMENDMENT VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
AMENDMENT IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights,
shall not be con- strued to deny or disparage others
retained by the people.
AMENDMENT X
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.
AMENDMENT XI
Passed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified February 7,
1795.
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.
AMENDMENT XII
Passed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified July 27,
1804.
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 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,] {Altered by 20th Amendment} then the
Vice-President shall act as President, as in 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 numbers
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.
AMENDMENT XIII
Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6,
1865.
Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any
place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XIV
Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9,
1868
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 to deny to any
person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws.
Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several
States according to their respective numbers, counting the
whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not
taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for 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.
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.
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.
Section 5.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
AMENDMENT XV
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February
3, 1870.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any
State on account of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XVI
Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3,
1913.
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on
incomes, from whatever sources derived, without
apportionment among the several States, and without regard
to any census or enumeration.
AMENDMENT XVII
Passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8,
1913.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for
six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The
electors in each State shall have the qualifications
requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the
State Legislatures. When vacancies happen in the
representation of any State in the Senate, the executive
authority of such State shall issue writs of election to
fill such vacancies: Provided, That the Legislature of any
State may empower the Executive thereof to make temporary
appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election
as the Legislature may direct. This amendment shall not be
so construed as to affect the election or term of any
Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the
Constitution.
AMENDMENT XVIII
Passed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified January
16, 1919.{Altered by Amendment 21}
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. The Congress and the several States shall have
concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation. 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 the Congress.
AMENDMENT XIX
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18,
1920.
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.
AMENDMENT XX
Section 1.
The terms of the President and the Vice-President shall
end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of
Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of
January, of the years in which such terms would have ended
if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of
their successors shall then begin.
Section 2.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year,
and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of
January, unless they shall by law appoint a different
day.
Section 3.
If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of
the President, the President elect shall have died, the
Vice-President elect shall become President. If a President
shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the
beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have
failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act
as President until a President shall have qualified; and the
Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a
President elect nor a Vice President 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.
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.
Section 5.
Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of
October following the ratification of this article (October
1933).
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.
AMENDMENT XXI
Passed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December
5, 1933.
Section 1.
The Eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution
of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2.
The transportation or importation into any State,
Territory, or Possession of the United States for delivery
or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the
laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by
conventions in the several States, as provided in the
Constitution, within seven years from the date of the
submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XXII
Passed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified February 27,
1951.
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 that two years of
a term to which some other person was elected President
shall be elected to the office of President more that once.
But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the
office of President when this Article was proposed by
Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be
holding the office of President, or acting as President,
during the term the term within which this Article becomes
operative from holding the office of President or acting as
President during the remainder of such term. 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.
AMENDMENT XXIII
Passed by Congress June 16, 1960. Ratified March 29,
1961.
Section 1.
The District constituting the seat of Government of the
United States shall appoint in such manner as 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 preform such duties as provided by the twelfth article
of amendment.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXIV
Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23,
1964.
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 poll tax or any other tax.
Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXV
Passed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified February 10,
1967.
Section 1.
In case of the removal of the President from office or of
his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become
President.
Section 2.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice
President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who
shall take the office upon confirmation by a majority vote
of both houses of Congress.
Section 3.
Whenever the President transmits to the President Pro
tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he
transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary,
such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice
President as Acting President.
Section 4.
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the
principal officers of the executive departments or of such
other body as Congress may by law provide, transmits 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 departments or of such
other body as Congress may by law provide, transmits 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 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.
AMENDMENT XXVI
Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified June 30,
1971.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18
years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or any state on account of
age.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
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