2002 Revised Code of Washington Constitution of the United States of America
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Constitution of the United States of America
DIGEST
Preamble
Article I Legislative
Sections
1. Legislative powers.
2. House of representatives, how constituted, power
of impeachment.
3. The senate, how constituted, impeachment trials.
4. Election of senators and representatives.
5. Quorum, journals, meetings, adjournments.
6. Compensation, privileges, disabilities.
7. Procedure in passing bills and resolutions.
8. Powers of congress.
9. Limitations upon powers of congress.
10. Restrictions upon powers of states.
Article II Executive
Sections
1. Executive power, election, qualifications of the
president.
2. Powers of the president.
3. Powers and duties of the president.
4. Impeachment.
Article III Judicial
Sections
1. Judicial power, tenure of office.
2. Jurisdiction.
3. Treason, proof and punishment.
Article IV
Sections
1. Faith and credit among states.
2. Privileges and immunities, fugitives.
3. Admission of new states.
4. Guarantee of republican government.
Article V Amendment of the Constitution
Article VI Debts, supremacy, oath
Article VII Ratification and establishment
Amendments:
No.
1. Freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press.
2. Right to keep and bear arms.
3. Quartering of soldiers.
4. Security from unwarrantable search and seizure.
5. Rights of accused in criminal proceedings.
6. Right to speedy trial, witnesses, etc.
7. Trial by jury in civil cases.
8. Bails, fines, punishments.
9. Reservation of rights of the people.
10. Powers reserved to states or people.
11. Restriction of judicial powers.
12. Election of president and vice president.
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13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
Sections
1. Abolition of slavery.
2. Power to enforce this article.
Sections
1. Citizenship rights not to be abridged by
states.
2. Apportionment of representatives in
congress.
3. Persons disqualified from holding office.
4. What public debts are valid.
5. Power to enforce this article.
Sections
1. Negro suffrage.
2. Power to enforce this article.
Authorizing income taxes.
Popular election of senators.
Sections
1. National liquor prohibition.
2. Power to enforce this article.
3. Ratification within seven years.
Woman suffrage.
Sections
1. Terms of office.
2. Time of convening congress.
3. Death of president elect.
4. Election of the president.
Sections
1. National liquor prohibition repealed.
2. Transportation of liquor into "dry" states.
Sections
1. Terms of office of president.
2. When operative.
Sections
1. Granting representation in the electoral
college to the District of Columbia.
2. Legislation.
Sections
1. Failure to pay tax shall not deny right to
vote for federal offices.
2. Legislation.
Sections
1. Succession to the presidency.
2. Succession to the vice presidency.
3. President’s declaration of inability to
discharge powers and duties of office.
4. Determination that president is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of office.
Sections
1. Extending the right to vote to citizens
eighteen years of age or older.
2. Legislation.
Compensation of members of Congress.
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Constitution of the United States of America
The 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 defense, promote the
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
Article I
§ 1 LEGISLATIVE POWERS. 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.
§ 2 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, HOW
CONSTITUTED, POWER OF IMPEACHMENT. 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 person.*
The actual enumeration shall be made within three years
after the first meeting of the congress of the United States,
and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such
manner as they shall by law direct. The number of
representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty
thousand, but each state shall have at least one
representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the
state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three,
Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey
four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six,
Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and
Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the representation from any
state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of
election to fill such vacancies.
The house of representatives shall choose their speaker
and other officers; and shall have the sole power of
impeachment.
§ 3 THE SENATE, HOW CONSTITUTED,
IMPEACHMENT TRIALS. The senate of the United
States shall be composed of two senators from each state,
chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each
senator shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in
consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as
equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the
senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration
of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of
the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the
sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second
year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise,
during the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive
thereof may make temporary appointments until the next
meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such
vacancies.*
No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained
to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of
the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an
inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen.
The vice president of the United States shall be
president of the senate, but shall have no vote, unless they
be equally divided.
The senate shall choose their other officers, and also a
president pro tempore, in the absence of the vice president,
or when he shall exercise the office of president of the
United States.
The senate shall have the sole power to try all
impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be
on oath or affirmation. When the president of the United
States is tried the chief justice shall preside: and no person
shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of
the members present.
Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend
further than to removal from office, and disqualification to
hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the
United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be
liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and
punishment, according to law.
*Note: Provisions changed by Amendment XVII.
§ 4
ELECTION OF SENATORS AND
REPRESENTATIVES. 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.*
*Note: Provision changed by Amendment XX, Section 2.
§ 5 QUORUM, JOURNALS, MEETINGS,
ADJOURNMENTS. 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,
*Note: Modified by Amendment XIV, Section 2.
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Constitution of the United States of America
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.
§ 6
COMPENSATION, PRIVILEGES,
DISABILITIES. 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.
§ 7 PROCEDURE IN PASSING BILLS AND
RESOLUTIONS. 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
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Article I § 5
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.
§ 8 POWERS OF CONGRESS. 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 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 of fences 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.
§ 9
LIMITATIONS UPON POWERS OF
CONGRESS. 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.
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Article I § 9
Constitution of the United States of America
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 hereinbefore
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.
§ 10 RESTRICTIONS UPON POWERS OF
STATES. 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 its inspection
laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by
any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the
treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be
subject to the revision and control of the congress.
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
§ 1
EXECUTIVE POWER, ELECTION,
QUALIFICATIONS OF THE PRESIDENT. 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
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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."
*Note: Provisions superseded by Amendment XII.
§ 2 POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT. 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
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Constitution of the United States of America
power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences 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.
§ 3
POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE
PRESIDENT. 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.
§ 4 IMPEACHMENT. 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
§ 1 JUDICIAL POWER, TENURE OF OFFICE.
The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in
one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the
congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The
judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold
their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times,
receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be
diminished during their continuance in office.
§ 2 JURISDICTION. 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
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Article II § 2
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.
*Note: Clause changed by Amendment XI.
§ 3 TREASON, PROOF AND PUNISHMENT.
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
§ 1 FAITH AND CREDIT AMONG STATES. 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.
§ 2
PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES,
FUGITIVES. 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.
§ 3 ADMISSION OF NEW STATES. 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.
§ 4
GUARANTEE OF REPUBLICAN
GOVERNMENT. The United States shall guarantee to
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Article IV § 4
Constitution of the United States of America
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
AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 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
DEBTS, SUPREMACY, OATH. 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
RATIFICATION AND ESTABLISHMENT. 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,
GEO. WASHINGTON, President
and Deputy from Virginia.
New Hampshire
John Langdon
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Delaware
Geo. Read
Nicholas Gilman
Gunning Bedford, Jr.
Massachusetts
John Dickinson
Nathaniel Gorham
Richard Bassett
Rufus King
Jaco. Broom
Connecticut
Maryland
Wm. Saml. Johnson
James McHenry
Roger Sherman
Dan of St. Thos. Jenifer
New York
Danl. Carroll
Alexander Hamilton
Virginia
New Jersey
John Blair
Wil. Livingston
James Madison, Jr.
David Brearley
North Carolina
Wm. Paterson
Wm. Blount
Jona. Dayton
Richd. Dobbs Spaight
Pennsylvania
Hu. Williamson
B. Franklin
South Carolina
Thomas Mifflin
J. Rutledge
Robt. Morris
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Geo. Clymer
Charles Pinckney
Thos. FitzSimons
Pierce Butler
Jared Ingersoll
Georgia
James Wilson
William Few
Gouv. Morris
Abr. Baldwin
*Note: The Constitution was submitted on September 17, 1787, by
the Constitutional Convention, was ratified by the conventions of several
states at various dates up to May 29, 1790, and became effective on March
4, 1789.
Amendments
to the
Constitution
of the
United States
1791-1992
AMENDMENT I
FREEDOM OF RELIGION, OF SPEECH, AND OF
THE PRESS. 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
RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS. 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
QUARTERING OF SOLDIERS. 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
SECURITY FROM UNWARRANTABLE SEARCH
AND SEIZURE. 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
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Constitution of the United States of America
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
RIGHTS OF ACCUSED IN CRIMINAL
PROCEEDINGS. 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
RIGHT TO SPEEDY TRIAL, WITNESSES, ETC.
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
TRIAL BY JURY IN CIVIL CASES. 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
BAILS, FINES, PUNISHMENTS. Excessive bail
shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel
and unusual punishments inflicted.
AMENDMENT IX
RESERVATION OF RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the
people.
AMENDMENT X
POWERS RESERVED TO STATES OR 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.*
AMENDMENT IV
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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on March 4, 1794, and declared ratified
on January 8, 1798.
AMENDMENT XII
ELECTION OF PRESIDENT AND VICE
PRESIDENT. 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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on December 9, 1803; declared ratified
on September 25, 1804; supplemented by Amendment XX.
*Note: The first ten amendments were all proposed by congress on
September 25, 1789, and were ratified and adoption certified on December
15, 1791.
AMENDMENT XIII
§ 1 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. 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.
AMENDMENT XI
RESTRICTION OF JUDICIAL POWERS. The
judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to
§ 2 POWER TO ENFORCE THIS ARTICLE.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.*
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AMENDMENT XIII
Constitution of the United States of America
*Note: Proposed by congress on January 31, 1865; declared ratified
on December 18, 1865.
AMENDMENT XIV
§ 1
CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS NOT TO BE
ABRIDGED BY STATES. 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.
§ 2 APPORTIONMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES
IN CONGRESS. 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
abridges, 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.
§ 3 PERSONS DISQUALIFIED FROM HOLDING
OFFICE. 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.
§ 4 WHAT PUBLIC DEBTS ARE VALID. 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.
AMENDMENT XV
§ 1 NEGRO SUFFRAGE. 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.
§ 2 POWER TO ENFORCE THIS ARTICLE. The
congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on February 26, 1869; declared ratified
on March 30, 1870.
AMENDMENT XVI
AUTHORIZING INCOME TAXES. 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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on July 12, 1909; declared ratified on
February 25, 1913.
AMENDMENT XVII
POPULAR ELECTION OF SENATORS. 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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on May 13, 1912; declared ratified on
May 31, 1913.
AMENDMENT XVIII
§ 1 NATIONAL LIQUOR PROHIBITION. 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.
§ 2 POWER TO ENFORCE THIS ARTICLE. The
congress and the several states shall have concurrent power
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
§ 5 POWER TO ENFORCE THIS ARTICLE. The
congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article.*
§ 3 RATIFICATION WITHIN SEVEN YEARS.
This article shall be inoperative until 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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on June 13, 1866; declared ratified on
July 28, 1868.
*Note: Proposed by congress on December 18, 1917; declared ratified
on January 29, 1919. Repealed by Amendment XXI.
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Constitution of the United States of America
AMENDMENT XIX
WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on June 4, 1919; declared ratified on
August 26, 1920.
AMENDMENT XX
§ 1 TERMS OF OFFICE. 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 3rd day of January, of the years in which
such terms would have ended if this article had not been
ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
§ 2 TIME OF CONVENING CONGRESS. The
congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January,
unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
§ 3 DEATH OF PRESIDENT ELECT. 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.
§ 4 ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT. 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.
§ 5 Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day
of October following the ratification of this article.
§ 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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on March 2, 1932; declared ratified on
February 6, 1933.
AMENDMENT XXI
§ 1 NATIONAL LIQUOR PROHIBITION
REPEALED. The eighteenth article of amendment to the
Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
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AMENDMENT XIX
§ 2 TRANSPORTATION OF LIQUOR INTO
"DRY" STATES. The transportation or importation into
any states, territory, or possession of the United States for
delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of
the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
§ 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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on February 20, 1933; declared ratified
on December 5, 1933.
AMENDMENT XXII
§ 1 TERMS OF OFFICE OF PRESIDENT. No
person shall be elected to the office of the president more
than twice, and no person who 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 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.
§ 2 WHEN OPERATIVE. 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.*
*Note: The certificate of adoption of the 22nd Amendment, dated
March 1, 1951, was published in the Federal Register of March 3, 1951.
AMENDMENT XXIII
§ 1 GRANTING REPRESENTATION IN THE
ELECTORAL COLLEGE TO THE DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA. 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.
§ 2 LEGISLATION. The Congress shall have power
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.*
*Note: The certificate of adoption of the 23rd Amendment, dated
April 3, 1961, is published in Vol. 26 Federal Register, page 2808.
AMENDMENT XXIV
§ 1 FAILURE TO PAY TAX SHALL NOT DENY
RIGHT TO VOTE FOR FEDERAL OFFICES. The right
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AMENDMENT XXIV
Constitution of the United States of America
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.
§ 2 LEGISLATION. The Congress shall have power
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.*
*Note: The certificate of adoption of the 24th Amendment dated
February 4, 1964, is published in Vol. 29 Federal Register, page 1715.
AMENDMENT XXV
§ 1 SUCCESSION TO THE PRESIDENCY. In
case of the removal of the President from office or of his
death or resignation, the Vice President shall become
President.
§ 2 SUCCESSION TO THE VICE PRESIDENCY.
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.
§ 3
PRESIDENT’S DECLARATION OF
INABILITY TO DISCHARGE POWERS AND DUTIES
OF OFFICE. 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.
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.*
*Note: The certificate of adoption of the 25th Amendment dated
February 23, 1967, is published in Vol. 32 Federal Register, page 3287.
AMENDMENT XXVI
§ 1 EXTENDING THE RIGHT TO VOTE TO
CITIZENS EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER.
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.
§ 2 LEGISLATION. The Congress shall have power
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.*
*Note: The certificate of adoption of the 26th Amendment dated July
5, 1971, is published in Vol. 36, No. 130, Federal Register, page 12726.
AMENDMENT XXVII
COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the
Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an
election of Representatives shall have intervened.*
*Note: The certification of adoption of the 27th Amendment dated
May 18, 1992, is published in Vol. 57, No. 97, Federal Register, page
21187.
§ 4 DETERMINATION THAT PRESIDENT IS
UNABLE TO DISCHARGE THE POWERS AND
DUTIES OF OFFICE. 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
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(2002 Ed.)
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