CONSTITUTION OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(Preamble)
We the People of the United States, in Order to
form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings
of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain
and establish this Constitution for the United States
of America.
Article. I.
Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted
shall be vested in a Congress of the United States,
which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives.
Section. 2. The House of Representatives shall be
composed of Members chosen every second Year by the
People of the several States, and the Electors in each
State shall have the Qualifications requisite for
Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State
Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not
have attained to the age of twenty five Years, and
been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and
who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that
State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be
apportioned among the several States which may be
included within this Union, according to their
respective Numbers, which shall be determined by
adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including
those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and
excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other
Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within
three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of
the United States, and within every subsequent Term of
ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.
The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for
every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at
Least one Representative; and until such enumeration
shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be
entitled to 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 chuse their
Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole
Power of Impeachment.
Section. 3. The Senate of the United States shall
be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by
the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each
Senator shall have one Vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in
Consequence of the first Election, they shall be
divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The
Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be
vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the
second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and
of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth
Year, so that one third may be chosen every second
Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or
otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any
State, the Executive thereof may make temporary
Appointments until the next Meeting of the
Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have
attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine
Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall
not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for
which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be
President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote,
unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall chuse 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.
Section. 4. The Times, Places and Manner of
holding Elections for Senators and Representatives,
shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature
thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make
or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of
chusing 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.
Section. 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the
Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own
Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a
Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to
compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such
Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may
provide.
Each House may determine the Rules of its
Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly
Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds,
expel a Member.
Each House shall keep a Journal of its
Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same,
excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require
Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members 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.
Section. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall
receive a Compensation for their Services, to be
ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of
the United States. They shall in all Cases, except
Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged
from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of
their respective Houses, and in going to and returning
from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either
House, they shall not be questioned in any other
Place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the
Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any
civil Office under the Authority of the United States,
which shall have been created, or the Emoluments
whereof shall have been encreased 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. 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.
Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay
and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay
the Debts and provide for the common Defence and
general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties,
Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the
United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United
States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and
among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization,
and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies
throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of
foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and
Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting
the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful
Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and
Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective
Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme
Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies
committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the
Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and
Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land
and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation
of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than
two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of
the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to
execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections
and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and
disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part
of them as may be employed in the Service of the
United States, reserving to the States respectively,
the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of
training the Militia according to the discipline
prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases
whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten
Miles square) as may, by Cession of Particular States,
and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the
Government of the United States, and to exercise like
Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of
the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall
be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals,
dock-Yards, 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.
Section. 9. The Migration or Importation of such
Persons as any of the States now existing shall think
proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the
Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred
and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such
Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each
Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall
not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or
Invasion the public Safety may require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be
passed.
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid,
unless in Proportion to the Census of Enumeration
herein before directed to be taken.
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported
from any State.
No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of
Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over
those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from,
one State, be obliged to enter, clear or pay Duties in
another.
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in
Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a
regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and
Expenditures of all public Money shall be published
from time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the
United States: And no Person holding any Office of
Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent
of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument,
Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King,
Prince or foreign State.
Section. 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty,
Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque
and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make
any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment
of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto
Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or
grant any Title of Nobility.
No State shall, without the Consent of the
Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or
Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for
executing 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 Controul of the Congress.
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress,
lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War
in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact
with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage
in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent
Danger as will not admit of delay.
Article. II.
Section. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in
a President of the United States of America. He shall
hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and,
together with the Vice President, chosen for the same
Term, be elected, as follows
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the
Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors,
equal to the whole Number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in
the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or
Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the
United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Electors shall meet in their respective
States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom
one at least shall not 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 chuse 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 chuse the President.
But in chusing 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 chuse from them by Ballot the
Vice President.
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing 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
encreased nor diminished during the Period for which
he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive
within that Period any other Emolument from the United
States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he
shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully
execute the Office of President of the United States,
and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect
and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section. 2. The President shall be Commander in
Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and
of the Militia of the several States, when called into
the actual Service of the United States; he may
require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal
Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any
Subject relating to the Duties of their respective
Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves
and Pardons for Offenses against the United States,
except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and
Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two
thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall
nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of
the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public
Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court,
and all other Officers of the United States, whose
Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for,
and which shall be established by Law: but the
Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such
inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the
President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads
of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all
Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the
Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at
the End of their next Session.
Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to the
Congress Information of the State of the Union, and
recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he
shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on
extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or
either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between
them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may
adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he
shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers;
he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully
executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the
United States.
Section. 4. The President, Vice President and all
Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed
from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of,
Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and
Misdemeanors.
Article. III.
Section. 1. The judicial Power of the United
States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in
such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to
time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the
supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices
during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times,
receive for their Services, a Compensation, which
shall not be diminished during their Continuance in
Office.
Section. 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all
Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this
Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and
Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their
Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other
public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of
admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies
to which the United States shall be a Party;--to
Controversies between two or more States;-- between a
State and Citizens of another State;--between Citizens
of different States;--between Citizens of the same
State claiming Lands under Grants of different States,
and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and
foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public
Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State
shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original
Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned,
the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction,
both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and
under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
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 against the United States,
shall consist only in levying War against them, or in
adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and
Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason
unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same
overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the
Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason
shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except
during the Life of the Person attainted.
Article. IV.
Section. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given
in each State to the public Acts, Records, and
judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the
Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in
which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be
proved, and the Effect thereof.
Section. 2. The Citizens of each State shall be
entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens
in the several States.
A Person charged in any State with Treason,
Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice,
and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the
executive Authority of the State from which he fled,
be delivered up, to be removed to the State having
Jurisdiction of the Crime.
No Person held to Service or 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.
Section. 3. New States may be admitted by the
Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be
formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other
State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two
or more States, or Parts of States, without the
Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as
well as of the Congress.
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. The United States shall guarantee to
every State in this Union a Republican Form of
Government, and shall protect each of them against
Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of
the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be
convened) against domestic Violence.
Article. V.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses
shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to
this Constitution, or, on the Application of the
Legislatures of two thirds of the several States,
shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments,
which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents
and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when
ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the
several States, or by Conventions in three fourths
thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification
may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no
Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner
affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth
Section of the first Article; and that no State,
without its Consent, shall be deprived of it's equal
Suffrage in the Senate.
Article. VI.
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, any Thing in the Constitution or
Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned,
and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and
all executive and judicial Officers, both of the
United States and of the several States, shall be
bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this
Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be
required as a Qualification to any Office or public
Trust under the United States.
Article. 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.
(Signatures omitted)
ARTICLES IN ADDITION TO, AND AMENDMENT OF, THE CONSTITUTION
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PROPOSED BY CONGRESS, AND RATIFIED
BY THE LEGISLATURES OF THE SEVERAL STATES PURSUANT TO THE FIFTH
ARTICLE OF THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION
(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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1791.)
(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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1791.)
(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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1791.)
(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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1791.)
(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 offence to be
twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be
compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against
himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor shall
private property be taken for public use, without just
compensation.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1791.)
(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
defence.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1791.)
(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 re-examined in any Court of
the United States, than according to the rules of the
common law.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1791.)
(Amendment VIII.)
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual
punishments inflicted.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1791.)
(Amendment IX.)
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain
rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage
others retained by the people.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1791.)
(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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1791.)
(Amendment XI.)
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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1798.)
(Amendment XII.)
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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1804.)
(Amendment XIII.)
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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1865.)
(Amendment XIV.)
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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1868.)
(Amendment XV.)
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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1870.)
(Amendment XVI.)
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect
taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived,
without apportionment among the several States, and
without regard to any census or enumeration. (Source:
Amendment adopted 1913.)
(Amendment XVII.)
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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1913.)
(Amendment XVIII.)
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.
Sec. 2. The Congress and the several States shall
have concurrent power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Sec. 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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1919.)
(Amendment XIX.)
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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1920.)
(Amendment XX.)
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.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the
15th day of October following the ratification of this
article.
Sec. 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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1933.)
(Amendment XXI.)
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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1933.)
(Amendment XXII.)
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.
Sec. 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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1951.)
(Amendment XXIII.)
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.
Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1961.)
(Amendment XXIV.)
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.
Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1964.)
(Amendment XXV.)
Section 1. In case of the removal of the President
from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice
President shall become President.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 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.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1967.)
(Amendment XXVI.)
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United
States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to
vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any State on account of age.
Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1971.)
(Amendment XXVII.)
No law, varying the compensation for the services
of the Senators and Representatives, shall take
effect, until an election of Representatives shall
have intervened.
(Source: Amendment adopted 1992.)
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