Preamble
Articles: I II III IV V VI VII
Amendments: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26
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 blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish the Constitution of the United States of America.
Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a 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.
Representative
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 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 the Speaker and other officers; and
shall have the sole power of impeachment.
Section 3. The Senate of the
United States shall be composed of two senators from each state chosen by
the legislature thereof, for six years and each senator shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes.
The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration
of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year,
and 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, 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.
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, judgment and punishment, according to law.
Section 4. The times, places
and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be
prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof: but the Congress may
at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places
of choosing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble
at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday
in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 5. Each house shall
be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members,
and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller
number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the
attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as
each house may provide.
Each house may determine the
rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and
with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.
Each
house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish
the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy;
and the yeas and nays of the members of either house on any question shall,
at the desire of one-fifth of those present be entered in the
journal.
Neither house, during the session of Congress
shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days,
nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.
Section 6. The senators and
representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be
ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They
shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged
from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses,
and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate
in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.
No senator or representative shall, during the time for which
he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the
United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased during such time; and no person holding any office under
the United States, shall be a member of either house during his continuance
in office.
Section 7. All bills for raising
revenue shall originate in the house of representatives; but the senate may
propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the house of representatives and
the senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the president
of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall
return it, with his objections to that house in which it shall have originated,
who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to
reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that house shall
agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to
the other house, by which is shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved
by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases
the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names
of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal
of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President
within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to
him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless
the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall
not be a law.
Every order, resolution, or vote to
which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary
(except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President
of the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved
by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the
Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations
prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 8. The Congress shall
have power
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts
and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general
welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be
uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money
on the credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce
with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian
tribes;
To establish a uniform rule of naturalization,
and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United
States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof,
and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities
and current coin of the United States;
To establish
post offices and post roads;
To promote the progress
of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and
discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the
supreme court;
To define and punish piracies and felonies
committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make
rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise
and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for
a longer term than two years;
To provide and maintain
a navy;
To make rules for the government and regulation
of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling
forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections
and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming,
and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may
be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States
respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training
the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over
such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular
States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government
of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased
by the consent of the legislature of the states 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 the Constitution in the government of the United States,
or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 9. The migration or
importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think
proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year
one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on
such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require
it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall
be passed.
No capitation, or other direct, tax shall
be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before
directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid
on articles exported from any state. No preference shall be given by
any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those
of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to
enter, clear, or pay duties in another.
No money shall
be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by
law; and a regular statement and account of 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 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; 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.
Section 1. The executive
power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America. He
shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the
vice-president, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows.
Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature
thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators
and representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress: but
no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit
under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.
The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot
for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same
state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted
for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and
certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United
States, directed to the president of the senate. The president of the senate
shall, in the presence of the senate and house of representatives, open all
the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having
the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a
majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more
than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then
the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them
for president; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest
on the list the said house shall in like manner choose the president. But
in choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation
from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist
of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all
the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice
of the president, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors
shall be the vice-president. But if there should remain two or more who have
equal votes, the senate shall choose from them by ballot the
vice-president.
The Congress may determine the time
of the 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 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 be elected.
The president
shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall
neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall
have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other
emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Before
he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath
or affirmation:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that
I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and
will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution
of the United States."
Section 2. The president shall
be commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the
militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the
United States; he may require the opinion, in writing of the principal officer
in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties
of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and
pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of
impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with the
advice and consent of the senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of
the senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice
and consent of the senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers
and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the United
States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which
shall be established by law. But the Congress may by law vest the appointment
of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the president alone,
in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
The
president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during
the recess of the senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the
end of their 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.
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 behavior, and shall, at stated time, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
Section 2. The judicial power
shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution,
the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made,
under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public
ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;
to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies
between two or more States, between a State and citizens of another State,
between citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State
claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State or the
citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects.
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls,
and those in which a State shall be 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.
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 attained.
Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public act, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
Section 2. The citizens of
each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens
in the several States.
A person charged in any State
with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be
found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the
State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having
jurisdiction of the crime.
No person held to service
or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall,
in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such
service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom
such service or labor may be due.
Section 3. New States may
be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new 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.
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both House 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.
Section 1. 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.
Section 2. 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.
Section 3. 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.
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.
George Washington
President and Deputy from Virginia New Hampshire
John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman Massachusetts
Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King Connecticut
William Samuel Johnson
Roger Sherman New York
Alexander Hamilton New Jersey
William Livingston
David Brearley
William Paterson
Jonathan Dayton Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robert Morris
George Clymer
Thomas Fitzsimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouverneur Morris Delaware
George Read
Gunning Bedford, Jr.
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jacob Broom Maryland
James McHenry
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
Daniel Carroll Virginia
John Blair
James Madison, Jr. North Carolina
William Blount
Richard Dobbs Spaight
Hugh Williamson South Carolina
John Rutledge
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler Georgia
William Few
Abraham Baldwin
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.
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.
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.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
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.
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.
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 re-examined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 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.
The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.
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 the 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 a majority,
then, from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on
the list of those voted for a President, the House of Representative 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] the Vice President shall act as
President, as in case of 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, form 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.
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
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.
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 appointment 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.
Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years of the date of the submission hereof to the States by Congress.
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.
Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every years, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President-elect shall have died, the Vice President-elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President-elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
Section 1. The District
constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in
such manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of
electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators
and Representative in Congress to which the District would be entitled if
it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous state; they
shall be in addition to those appointed by the states, but they shall be
considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President,
to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District
and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speakers of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4. Whenever the Vice
President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive
departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit
to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall
immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting
President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits
to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall
resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and
a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or
of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days
to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall
decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if
not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of
the latter written declation, or, if Congress is not in session, within
twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds
vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers
and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge
the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers
and duties of his office.
Section 1. 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.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
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