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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
Section 1.1
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 1.2
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 1.3
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 1.4
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 1.5
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 1.6
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 1.7
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 1.8
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 1.9
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 1.10
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 2.1
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 2.2
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 2.3
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 2.4
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 3.1
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 3.2
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 3.3
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 4.1
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 4.2
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 4.3
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 4.4
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.
Signatures
In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
G. Washington-Presidt. and deputy from Virginia
New Hampshire: John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts: Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King
Connecticut: Wm: Saml. Johnson, Roger Sherman
New York: Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey: Wil: Livingston, David Brearly, Wm. Paterson, Jona: Dayton
Pennsylvania: B. Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robt. Morris, Geo. Clymer, Thos. FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouv Morris
Delaware: Geo: Read, Gunning Bedford jun, 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
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