| Preamble
| Article I | Article
II | Article III |
Article IV | Article
V |
| Article VI | Article
VII | Signatures |
Version for Print | Images
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We
the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide
for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure
the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain
and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Section.
1
All legislative Powers herein granted shall
be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist
of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section.
2
The House of Representatives shall be composed
of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several
States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications
requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State
Legislature.
No
Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained
to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen
of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an
Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives
and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States
which may be included within this Union, according to their
respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service
for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three
fifths of all other Persons (see Amendment
XIV). The actual Enumeration shall be made within
three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United
States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such
Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives
shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State
shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration
shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled
to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey
four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia
ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When
vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive
Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such
Vacancies.
The
House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other
Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section.
3
The Senate of the United States shall be
composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature
thereof (see Amendment
XVII) 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 (see Amendment
XVII).
No
Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the
Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of
that State for which he shall be chosen.
The
Vice President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
The
Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President
pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he
shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
The
Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When
sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation.
When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief
Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without
the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment
in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal
from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office
of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party
convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment,
Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
Section.
4
The Times, Places and Manner of
holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be
prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the
Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations,
except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
The
Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such
Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December (see Amendment
XX), unless they shall by Law appoint a different
Day.
Section.
5
Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections,
Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority
of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller
Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to
compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and
under such Penalties as each House may provide.
Each
House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its
Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence
of two thirds, expel a Member.
Each
House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time
to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their
Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members
of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one
fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.
Neither
House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent
of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other
Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section.
6
The Senators and Representatives shall receive
a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law,
and paid out of the Treasury of the United States (see Amendment
XXVII). They shall in all Cases, except Treason,
Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during
their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses,
and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech
or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any
other Place.
No
Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he
was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority
of the United States, which shall have been created, or the
Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time;
and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall
be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
Section.
7
All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate
in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose
or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
Every
Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the
President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign
it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that
House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the
Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider
it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall
agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the
Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be
reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it
shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both
Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of
the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered
on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall
not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted)
after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be
a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress
by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall
not be a Law.
Every
Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate
and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question
of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United
States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved
by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two
thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according
to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Section.
8
The Congress shall have Power To lay and
collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts
and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the
United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be
uniform throughout the United States;
To
borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To
regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several
States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To
establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws
on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To
coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin,
and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To
provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities
and current Coin of the United States;
To
establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To
promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing
for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right
to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
To
constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
To
define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high
Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To
declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make
Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To
raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that
Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To
provide and maintain a Navy;
To
make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and
naval Forces;
To
provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of
the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To
provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia,
and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the
Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively,
the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training
the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To
exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over
such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession
of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become
the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise
like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the
Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the
Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other
needful Buildings;—And
To
make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested
by this Constitution in the Government of the United States,
or in any Department or Officer thereof.
Section.
9
The Migration or Importation of such Persons
as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit,
shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one
thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed
on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
The
Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety
may require it.
No
Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No
Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion
to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken
(see Amendment
XVI).
No
Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
No
Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue
to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels
bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or
pay Duties in another.
No
Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of
Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account
of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be
published from time to time.
No
Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And
no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them,
shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present,
Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any
King, Prince, or foreign State.
Section.
10
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance,
or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin
Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver
Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder,
ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts,
or grant any Title of Nobility.
No
State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts
or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely
necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce
of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports,
shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and
all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul
of the Congress.
No
State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of
Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter
into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a
foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or
in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
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 (see Amendment
XII), then the House of Representatives shall immediately
chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person
have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the
said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in
chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the
Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for
this purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds
of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary
to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President,
the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors
shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two
or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them
by Ballot the Vice President.
The
Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and
the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall
be the same throughout the United States.
No
Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United
States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall
be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person
be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the
Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident
within the United States.
In
Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his
Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and
Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice
President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case
of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President
and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as
President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the
Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected (see
Amendment
XXV).
The
President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services,
a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished
during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and
he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument
from the United States, or any of them.
Before
he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following
Oath or Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm)
that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the
United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve,
protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section.
2
The President shall be Commander in Chief
of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia
of the several States, when called into the actual Service of
the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of
the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments,
upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective
Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons
for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He
shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the
Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators
present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice
and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other
public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and
all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments
are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established
by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of
such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President
alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The
President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may
happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions
which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section.
3
He shall from time to time give to the Congress
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their
Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both
Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between
them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn
them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive
Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that
the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the
Officers of the United States.
Section.
4
The President, Vice President and all civil
Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office
on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or
other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Section.
1
The judicial Power of the United
States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior
Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold
their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times,
receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not be
diminished during their Continuance in Office.
Section.
2
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases,
in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws
of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made,
under their Authority;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors,
other public Ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty
and maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the
United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between
two or more States;—between a State and Citizens of another
State (see Amendment
XI);—between Citizens of different States;—between
Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different
States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign
States, Citizens or Subjects.
In
all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and
Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme
Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases
before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction,
both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such
Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The
Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be
by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the
said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed
within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places
as the Congress may by Law have directed.
Section.
3
Treason against the United States, shall
consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to
their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall
be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses
to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The
Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason,
but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood,
or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
Section.
1
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in
each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings
of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe
the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall
be proved, and the Effect thereof.
Section.
2
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled
to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several
States.
A
Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime,
who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State,
shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from
which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having
Jurisdiction of the Crime.
No
Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any
Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or
Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom
such Service or Labour may be due (see Amendment
XIII).
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 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.
All
Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption
of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States
under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This
Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall
be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which
shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall
be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State
shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws
of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
The
Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members
of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial
Officers, both of the United States and of the several States,
shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution;
but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification
to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
The
Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient
for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States
so ratifying the Same.
The
Word, "the," being interlined between the seventh
and eighth Lines of the first Page, the Word "Thirty"
being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of
the first Page, The Words "is tried" being interlined
between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first
Page and the Word "the" being interlined between the
forty third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page.
Attest
William Jackson Secretary
Done
in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present
the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence
of the United States of America the Twelfth
In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
G.
Washington
Presidt and deputy from Virginia
