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We The People
of the United States, in Order to form
a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic
Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
Article. I.
Section. 1.
All legislative Powers herein granted
shall be vested in a Congress of the
United States, which shall
consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section. 2.
The House of Representatives shall be
composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People
of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall
have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most
numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative
who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years,
and been seven Years a Citizen of the
United States,
and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that
State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among
the several States which may be included within this Union,
according to their respective Numbers, which shall be
determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons,
including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and
excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other
Persons (Altered by the 14th amendment.)
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years
after the first Meeting of the Congress of the
United States, and within
every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they
shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not
exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall
have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration
shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled
to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and
Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six,
New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland
six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five,
and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the
Representation from any State, the Executive Authority
thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such
Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall
chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the
sole Power of Impeachment.
Section. 3.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of
two Senators from each State,
chosen by the Legislature
(Altered by the 17th amendment) 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. (Changed in the 17th amendment)
No Person shall be a Senator who
shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been
nine Years a Citizen of the United States,
and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that
State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of
the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally
divided.
The Senate shall chuse their other
Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence
of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office
of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole Power
to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they
shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief
Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted
without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members
present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment
shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and
disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor,
Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party
convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to
Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to
Law.
Section. 4.
The Times, Places and Manner of
holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be
prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the
Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such
Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least
once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on
the first Monday in December
(Altered by the 20th amendment), unless
they shall by Law appoint a different Day.
Section. 5.
Each House shall be the Judge of the
Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members,
and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do
Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day,
and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent
Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each
House may provide.
Each House may determine the Rules of
its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour,
and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
Each House shall keep a Journal of
its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same,
excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require
Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either
House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of
those Present, be entered on the Journal.
Neither House, during the Session of
Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn
for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that
in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section. 6.
The Senators and Representatives
shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be
ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the
United States. They shall
in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the
Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at
the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and
returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in
either House, they shall not be questioned in any other
Place.
No Senator or Representative shall,
during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to
any civil Office under the Authority of the United States,
which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof
shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person
holding any Office under the United States, shall be a
Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
Section. 7.
All Bills for raising Revenue shall
originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate
may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
Every Bill which shall have passed
the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before
it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United
States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall
return it, with his Objections to that House in which it
shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at
large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If
after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall
agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the
Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise
be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that
House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the
Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays,
and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill
shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively.
If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within
ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been
presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as
if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their
Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not
be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to
which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of
Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of
Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the
United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall
be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be
repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of
Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations
prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Section. 8.
The Congress shall have Power To lay
and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the
Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare
of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises
shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign
Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian
Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of
Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of
Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value
thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of
Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of
counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post
Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science
and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors
and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective
Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to
the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and
Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against
the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of
Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on
Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no
Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer
Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and
Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the
Militia to execute the Laws of the
Union, suppress Insurrections and repel
Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming,
and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part
of them as may be employed in the Service of the United
States, reserving to the States respectively, the
Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training
the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by
Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in
all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten
Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and
the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the
Government of the United States, and to exercise like
Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the
Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the
Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and
other needful Buildings;--And
To make all Laws which shall be
necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the
foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this
Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in
any Department or Officer thereof.
Section. 9.
The Migration or Importation of such
Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper
to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to
the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or
duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten
dollars for each Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas
Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of
Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto
Law shall be passed.
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax
shall be laid, unless in
Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before
directed to be taken. (Altered by the 16th
Amendment)
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on
Articles exported from any State.
No Preference shall be given by any
Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State
over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from,
one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in
another.
No Money shall be drawn from the
Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law;
and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and
Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from
time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted
by the United States:
And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under
them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of
any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind
whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Section. 10.
No State shall enter into any
Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque
and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any
Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts;
pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law
impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of
Nobility.
No State shall, without the Consent
of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or
Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for
executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all
Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports,
shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States;
and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and
Controul of the Congress.
No State shall, without the Consent
of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships
of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact
with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in
War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as
will not admit of delay.
Article. II.
Section. 1.
The executive Power shall be vested
in a President of the United States of America.
He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and,
together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term,
be elected, as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such
Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of
Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the
Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person
holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the
United States, shall be
appointed an Elector.
The
Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by
Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an
Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall
make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number
of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify,
and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the
United States, directed to
the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate
shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes
shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number
of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a
Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if
there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an
equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives
shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President;
and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest
on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the
President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be
taken by States, the Representation from each State having
one Vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a
Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a
Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice.
In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person
having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be
the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more
who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by
Ballot the Vice President. (Altered by the 12th
Amendment)
The Congress may determine the Time
of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall
give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the
United States.
No Person except a natural born
Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of
the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the
Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to
that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty
five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the
United States.
In Case of
the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death,
Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties
of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice
President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case
of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the
President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall
then act as President, and such Officer shall act
accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President
shall be elected. (Altered by the 25th Amendment)
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 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.
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; (Altered by the 11th
Amendment) --between Citizens of different
States;--between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands
under Grants of different States, and between a State, or
the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or
Subjects.
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors,
other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a
State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original
Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the
supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to
Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such
Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The Trial of all Crimes, except in
Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall
be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been
committed; but when not committed within any State, the
Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may
by Law have directed.
Section. 3.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in
levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies,
giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of
Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same
overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to
declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of
Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except
during the Life of the Person attainted.
Article. IV.
Section. 1.
Full Faith and Credit shall be given
in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial
Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by
general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts,
Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect
thereof.
Section. 2.
The Citizens of each State shall be
entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the
several States.
A Person charged in any State with
Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from
Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of
the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be
delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction
of the Crime.
No Person
held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any
Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service
or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party
to whom such Service or Labour may be due. (Altered by the
13th Amendment)
Section. 3.
New States may be admitted by the
Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed
or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor
any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States,
or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures
of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to
dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations
respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the
United States; and nothing in this
Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any
Claims of the
United States, or of any
particular State.
Section. 4.
The United States shall guarantee to
every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,
and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on
Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when
the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic
Violence.
Article. V.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of
both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose
Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of
the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall
call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either
Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of
this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of
three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in
three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of
Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that
no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect
the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the
first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall
be deprived of 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, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State
to the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives
before mentioned, and the Members of the several State
Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both
of the United States and of the several States, shall be
bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution;
but no religious Test shall ever be required as a
Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United
States.
Article. VII.
The Ratification of
the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the
Establishment of this Constitution between the States so
ratifying the Same.
The Word, "the," being interlined between the seventh and
eighth Lines of the first Page, the Word "Thirty" being
partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the
first Page, The Words "is tried" being interlined between
the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page
and the Word "the" being interlined between the forty third
and forty fourth Lines of the second Page.
Attest William Jackson Secretary
Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States
present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the
Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In
witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
G°.
Washington
Presidt and deputy from
Virginia
Signatures
Delaware
George Read
Gunning Bedford jun
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jacob Broom
Maryland
James McHenry
Dan of St Thomas Jenifer
Daniel Carroll
Virginia
John Blair
James Madison Jr.
North Carolina
William. Blount
Richard Dobbs Spaight
Hugh Williamson
South Carolina
J. Rutledge
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler
Georgia
William Few
Abraham Baldwin
New Hampshire
John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts
Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King
Connecticut
Wm. Samuel Johnson
Roger Sherman
New York
Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey
William Livingston
David Brearley
William. Paterson
Jonathan Dayton
Pennsylvania
B Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robt. Morris
Geo. Clymer
Thos. FitzSimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouv Morris |
