|
|
The Constitution is where the people authorize
the government to exist, organizes it, empowers it, limits it
and tells it what to do.
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.
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 choose 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
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.
Section 4.
The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators
and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the
legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law
make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing
Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and
such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless
they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 5.
Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall
constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the
attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such
penalties as each House may provide.
Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence
of two thirds, expel a member.
Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in
their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the
members of either House on any question shall, at the desire
of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.
Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days,
nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall
be sitting.
Section 6.
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation
for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of
the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases,
except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged
from arrest during their attendance at the session of their
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same;
and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not
be questioned in any other place.
No Senator or Representative
shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed
to any civil office under the authority of the United States,
which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased during such time: and no person holding
any office under the United States, shall be a member of either
House during his continuance in office.
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
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.
Section 9.
The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states
now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred
and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation,
not exceeding ten dollars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety
may require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed
to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or
revenue to the ports of one state over those of another: nor
shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to enter,
clear or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence
of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account
of 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 anything but gold and silver coin a tender in
payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto
law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant
any title of nobility.
No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be
absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection laws: and
the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state
on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury
of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to
the revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty
of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter
into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a
foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or
in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
Article
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 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."
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 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.
Section 3.
New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union;
but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction
of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction
of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent
of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the
Congress.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property
belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution
shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United
States, or of any particular state.
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 its 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, anything in the Constitution or laws
of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members
of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial
officers, both of the United States and of the several states,
shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution;
but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification
to any office or public trust under the United States.
Article
VII
The ratification
of the conventions of nine states, shall be sufficient for the
establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying
the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present
the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and of the independence
of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof
We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
| G. Washington |
President.
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
Amendment
I (1791)
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 (1791)
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 (1791)
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 (1791)
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 (1791)
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 (1791)
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 (1791)
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 (1791)
Excessive bail shall
not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and
unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment
IX (1791)
The enumeration in the
Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny
or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment
X (1791)
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 (1798)
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 (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 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.
Amendment
XIII (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 (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 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.
Amendment
XV (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
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment
XVI (1913)
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.
Amendment
XVII (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 (1919)
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.
Amendment
XIX (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 (1933)
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.
Amendment
XXI (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 (1951)
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.
Amendment
XXIII (1961)
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.
Amendment
XXIV (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 any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment
XXV (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 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.
Amendment
XXVI (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
the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment
XXVII (1992)
No law varying the compensation
for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take
effect until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
|
|
|
