more reading material,
The Constitution of the United States
Index
Preamble
Article I
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8
Section 9
Section 10
Article II
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Article III
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Article IV
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Article V
Article VI
Article VII
Bill of Rights
Amendment I
Amendment II
Amendment III
Amendment IV
Amendment V
Amendment VI
Amendment VII
Amendment VIII
Amendment IX
Amendment X
Amendment XI
Amendment XII
Amendment XIII
Amendment XIV
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Amendment XV
Amendment XVI
Amendment XVII
Amendment XVIII
Amendment XIX
Amendment XX
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6
Amendment XXI
Amendment XXII
Amendment XXIII
Amendment XXIV
Amendment XXV
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Amendment XXVI
Amendment XXVII
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. Legislative powers; in whom vested
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. House of Representatives, how and by whom chosen Qualifications of a Representative. Representatives
and direct taxes, how apportioned. Enumeration. Vacancies to be filled. Power of choosing officers, and of
impeachment.
1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several
States, and the elector in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the
State Legislature.
2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained 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.
3. Representatives [and direct taxes] Altered by 16th Amendment 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 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 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 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.
4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue writs of
election to fill such vacancies.
5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of
impeachment.
Section 3. Senators, how and by whom chosen. How classified. State Executive, when to make temporary
appointments, in case, etc. Qualifications of a Senator. President of the Senate, his right to vote. President pro tem.,
and other officers of the Senate, how chosen. Power to try impeachments. When President is tried, Chief Justice to
preside. Sentence.
1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, [chosen by the Legislature
thereof,] Altered by 17th Amendment for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.
2. 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.] Altered by 17th Amendment
3. 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.
4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally
divided.
5. 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 the President of the United States.
6. 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.
7. Judgement 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, judgement and punishment, according to law.
Section 4. Times, etc., of holding elections, how prescribed. One session in each year.
1. 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.
2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be [on the first Monday in December,]
Altered by 20th Amendment unless they by law appoint a different day.
Section 5. Membership, Quorum, Adjournments, Rules, Power to punish or expel. Journal. Time of adjournments,
how limited, etc.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may
in their judgement 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.
4. 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. Compensation, Privileges, Disqualification in certain cases.
1. 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.
2. 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 increased during such time; and no person holding any office under the
United States, shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.
Section 7. House to originate all revenue bills. Veto. Bill may be passed by two-thirds of each House,
notwithstanding, etc. Bill, not returned in ten days to become a law. Provisions as to orders, concurrent resolutions,
etc.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 re-passed 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. Powers of Congress
The Congress shall have the power
1. 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:
2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States:
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes:
4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United
States:
5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures:
6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States:
7. To establish post-offices and post-roads:
8. 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:
9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court:
10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations:
11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water:
12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years:
13. To provide and maintain a navy:
14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces:
15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions:
16. 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:
17. 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,
18. 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. Provision as to migration or importation of certain persons. Habeas Corpus, Bills of attainder, etc.
Taxes, how apportioned. No export duty. No commercial preference. Money, how drawn from Treasury, etc. No
titular nobility. Officers not top receive presents, etc.
1. 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 1808, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importations, not exceeding 10
dollars for each person.
2. 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.
3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
4. [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 16th Amendment
5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no person holding any office or 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. States prohibited from the exercise of certain powers.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 a war, unless actually
invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
ARTICLE II
Section 1. President: his term of office. Electors of President; number and how appointed. Electors to vote on same
day. Qualification of President. On whom his duties devolve in case of his removal, death, etc. President's
compensation. His oath of office.
1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold office during the term
of four years, and together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows
2. [Each State] Altered by 23rd Amendment shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature 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 each; which list
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 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.] Altered by 12th Amendment
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. [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
25th Amendment
6. 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.
7. 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 the 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. President to be Commander-in-Chief. He may require opinions of cabinet officers, etc., may pardon.
Treaty-making power. Nomination of certain officers. When President may fill vacancies.
1. 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 against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
2. 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.
3. The President shall have the 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. President shall communicate to Congress. He may convene and adjourn Congress, in case of
disagreement, etc. Shall receive ambassadors, execute laws, and commission officers.
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 may 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. All civil offices forfeited for certain crimes.
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. Judicial powers. Tenure. Compensation.
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. Judicial power; to what cases it extends. Original jurisdiction of Supreme Court Appellate. Trial by Jury,
etc. Trial, where
1. 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.] Altered by 11th Amendment
2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be a 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.
3. 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 defined. Proof of. Punishment
1. 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.
2. 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. Each State to give credit to the public acts, etc. of every other State.
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. Privileges of citizens of each State. Fugitives from Justice to be delivered up. Persons held to service
having escaped, to be delivered up.
1. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.
See the 14th Amendment
2. A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee 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.
3. [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 13th Amendment
Section 3. Admission of new States. Power of Congress over territory and other property.
1. 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,
without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned, as well as of the Congress.
2. 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. Republican form of government guaranteed. Each State to be protected.
The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union, a republican form of government, and shall
protect each of them against inva |
