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The Constitution of the United
States of America
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.
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.
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 chuse three, Massachusetts eight,
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut
five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight,
Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North 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.
The Senate of the United States shall
be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by
the legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator
shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be
assembled in consequence of the first election, they
shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes.
The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be
vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the
second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and
the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so
that one third may be chosen every second year; and if
vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the
recess 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Congress shall have power to lay
and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay
the debts and provide for the common defense and general
welfare of the United States; but all duties, 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 a uniform rule of
naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of
bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value
thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of
weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of
counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the
United States;
To establish post offices and post
roads;
To promote the progress of science and
useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their respective
writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the
Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and
felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against
the law of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marque
and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land
and water;
To raise and support armies, but no
appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer
term than two years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and
regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the
militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress
insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and
disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of
them as may be employed in the service of the United
States, reserving to the states respectively, the
appointment of the officers, and the authority of
training the militia according to the discipline
prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in
all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding
ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular
states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat
of the government of the United States, and to 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.
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 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.
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.
The executive power shall be vested in
a President of the United States of America. He shall
hold his office during the term of four years, and,
together with the Vice President, chosen for the same
term, be elected, as follows:
Each state shall appoint, in such
manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of
electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the
Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person
holding an office of trust or profit under the United
States, shall be appointed an elector.
The electors shall meet in their
respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of
whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same
state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all
the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for
each; which list they shall sign and certify, and
transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the
United States, directed to the President of the Senate.
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The
person having the greatest number of votes shall be the
President, if such number be a majority of the whole
number of electors appointed; and if there be more than
one who have such majority, and have an equal number of
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 its
equal suffrage in the Senate.
All debts contracted and engagements
entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution,
shall be as valid against the United States under this
Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the laws of the
United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof;
and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law
of the land; and the judges in every 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.
The ratification of the conventions of
nine states, shall be sufficient for the establishment of
this Constitution between the states so ratifying the
same.
Done in convention by the unanimous
consent of the states present the seventeenth day of
September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and eighty seven and of the independence of the
United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof
We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
| G. Washington |
- Presidt. and deputy from
Virginia |
| New Hampshire: |
John Langdon, Nicholas
Gilman |
| Massachusetts: |
Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus
King |
| Connecticut: |
Wm. Saml. Johnson, Roger
Sherman |
| New York: |
Alexander Hamilton |
| New Jersey: |
Wil. Livingston, David
Brearly, Wm. Paterson, Jona. Dayton
|
| Pennsylvania: |
B. Franklin, Thomas
Mifflin, Robt. Morris, Geo. Clymer,
Thos. FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James
Wilson, Gouv Morris |
| Delaware: |
Geo. Read, Gunning
Bedford jr, John Dickinson, Richard
Bassett, Jaco. Broom |
| Maryland: |
James McHenry, Dan
of St Thos. Jenifer, Danl Carroll |
| Virginia: |
John Blair, James
Madison Jr. |
| North Carolina: |
Wm. Blount, Richd.
Dobbs Spaight, Hu Williamson |
| South Carolina: |
J. Rutledge, Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney,
Pierce Butler |
| Georgia: |
William Few, Abr
Baldwin |
Amendments to the Constitution of the United States
Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of
grievances.
A well regulated militia, being
necessary to the security of a free state, the right of
the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
No soldier shall, in time of peace be
quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner,
nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by
law.
The right of the people to be secure in
their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or
things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for a
capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a
presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the
militia, when in actual service in time of war or 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.
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.
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.
Excessive bail shall not be required,
nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual
punishments inflicted.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of
certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or
disparage others retained by the people.
The powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to
the people.
The judicial power of the United States
shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or
equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United
States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or
subjects of any foreign state.
The electors shall meet in their
respective states and vote by ballot for President and
Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an
inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall
name in their ballots the person voted for as 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.
Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within
the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction.
Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,
are citizens of the United States and of the state
wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any
law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of
citizens of the United States; nor shall any state
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned
among the several states according to their respective
numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each
state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to
vote at any election for 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 power to
enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of
this article.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any state on account of race, color,
or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
The Congress shall have power to lay
and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source
derived, without apportionment among the several states,
and without regard to any census of enumeration.
The Senate of the United States shall
be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by
the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall
have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most
numerous branch of the state legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the
representation of any state in the Senate, the executive
authority of such state shall issue writs of election to
fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of
any state may empower the executive thereof to make
temporary appointments until the people fill the
vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so
construed as to affect the election or term of any
Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the
Constitution.
Section 1.
After one year from the ratification of
this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of
intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof
into, or the exportation thereof from the United States
and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for
beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2.
The Congress and the several states
shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative
unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by the legislatures of the several states,
as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from
the date of the submission hereof to the states by the
Congress.
The right of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any state on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1.
The terms of the President and Vice
President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January,
and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on
the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms
would have ended if this article had not been ratified;
and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section 2.
The Congress shall assemble at least
once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon
on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law
appoint a different day.
Section 3.
If, at the time fixed for the beginning
of the term of the President, the President elect shall
have died, the Vice President elect shall become
President. If a President shall not have been chosen
before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or
if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then
the Vice President elect shall act as President until a
President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by
law provide for the case wherein 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.
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.
Section 6.
This article shall be inoperative
unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the
several states within seven years from the date of its
submission.
Section 1.
The eighteenth article of amendment to
the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2.
The transportation or importation into
any state, territory, or possession of the United States
for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in
violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative
unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by conventions in the several states, as
provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the
date of the submission hereof to the states by the
Congress.
Section 1.
No person shall be elected to the
office of the President more than twice, and no person
who has held the office of President, or acted as
President, for more than two years of a term to which
some other person was elected 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.
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.
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.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United
States to vote in any primary or other election for
President or Vice President, for electors for President
or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in
Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll
tax or other tax.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1.
In case of the removal of the President
from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice
President shall become President.
Section 2.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the
office of the Vice President, the President shall
nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon
confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of
Congress.
Section 3.
Whenever the President transmits to the
President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of
the House of Representatives his written declaration that
he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, and until he 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, transmit to the President pro tempore
of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives their written declaration that the
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of
his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume
the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President
transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written
declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the
powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President
and a majority of either the principal officers of the
executive department or of such other body as Congress
may by law provide, transmit within four days to the
President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of
the House of Representatives their written declaration
that the President is unable to discharge the powers and
duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the
issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that
purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within
twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written
declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within
twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble,
determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of
his office, the Vice President shall continue to
discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the
President shall resume the powers and duties of his
office.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United
States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or any
state on account of age.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have the power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
No law varying the compensation for the
services of the Senators and Representatives shall take
effect until an election of Representatives shall have
intervened.
Markup by Jon Shemitz - jon@midnightbeach.com - June 30, 1994..June 1, 1997
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