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 CONSTITUTION
The Constitution
of the United States
Preamble Note
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 - The Legislative Branch Note
Section 1 - The Legislature
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
The House of Representatives shall be composed of
Members chosen every second Year by the People of
the several States, and the Electors in each State
shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors
of the most numerous Branch of the State
Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not
have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and
been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and
who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of
that State in which he shall be chosen.
(Representatives and direct Taxes shall be
apportioned among the several States which may be
included within this Union, according to their
respective Numbers, which shall be determined by
adding to the whole Number of free Persons,
including those bound to Service for a Term of
Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths
of all other Persons.) (The previous sentence in
parentheses was modified by the 14th Amendment,
section 2.) 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 chose 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 chose their
Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole
Power of Impeachment.
Section 3 - The Senate
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of
two Senators from each State, (chosen by the
Legislature thereof,) (The preceding words in
parentheses superseded by 17th Amendment, section
1.) 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.) (The preceding words in parentheses were
superseded by the 17th Amendment, section 2.)
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 chose 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 - Elections, Meetings
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 Place of
Choosing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every
Year, and such Meeting shall (be on the first Monday
in December,) (The preceding words in parentheses
were superseded by the 20th Amendment, section 2.)
unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.
Section 5 - Membership, Rules, Journals, Adjournment
Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections,
Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a
Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do
Business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day
to day, and may be authorized to compel the
Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and
under such Penalties as each House may provide.
Each House may determine the Rules of its
Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly
Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds,
expel a Member.
Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings,
and from time to time publish the same, excepting
such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy;
and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House
on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of
those Present, be entered on the Journal.
Neither House, during the Session of Congress,
shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for
more than three days, nor to any other Place than
that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section 6 - Compensation
(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.) (The preceding words in parentheses were
modified by the 27th Amendment.) 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 - Revenue Bills, Legislative Process,
Presidential Veto
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 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 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 Offenses against the Law of
Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and
Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land
and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of
Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than
two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of
the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute
the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and
repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining,
the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as
may be employed in the Service of the United States,
reserving to the States respectively, the
Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of
training the Militia according to the discipline
prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases
whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten
Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular
States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the
Seat of the Government of the United States, and to
exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by
the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which
the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts,
Magazines, Arsenals, 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 - Limits on Congress
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.) (Section in
parentheses clarified by the 16th Amendment.)
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported
from any State.
No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of
Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over
those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or
from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay
Duties in another.
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in
Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a
regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and
Expenditures of all public Money shall be published
from time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United
States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit
or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of
the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument,
Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any
King, Prince or foreign State.
Section 10 - Powers prohibited of States
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 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.
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Article II - The Executive Branch Note
Section 1 - The President Note1 Note2
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 lie 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 chose
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
chose 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 chose from them by
Ballot the Vice-President.) (This clause in
parentheses was superseded by the 12th Amendment.)
The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the
Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their
Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the
United States.
No person except a natural born Citizen, or a
Citizen of the United States, at the time of the
Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to
the Office of President; neither shall any Person be
eligible to that Office who shall not have attained
to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen
Years a Resident within the United States.
(In Case of the Removal of the President from
Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability
to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said
Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice
President, and the Congress may by Law provide for
the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or
Inability, both of the President and Vice President,
declaring what Officer shall then act as President,
and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the
Disability be removed, or a President shall be
elected.) (This clause in parentheses has been
modified by the 20th and 25th Amendments.)
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 - Civilian Power over Military, Cabinet,
Pardon Power, Appointments
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the
Army and Navy of the United States, and of the
Militia of the several States, when called into the
actual Service of the United States; he may require
the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in
each of the executive Departments, upon any subject
relating to the Duties of their respective Offices,
and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and
Pardons for Offenses against the United States,
except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and
Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided
two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he
shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and
Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors,
other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the
supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United
States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise
provided for, and which shall be established by Law:
but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of
such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the
President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the
Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all
Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the
Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire
at the End of their next Session.
Section 3 - State of the Union, Convening Congress
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 - Disqualification
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.
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Article III - The Judicial Branch Note
Section 1 - Judicial powers
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 Times, receive
for their Services a Compensation which shall not be
diminished during their Continuance in Office.
Section 2 - Trial by Jury, Original Jurisdiction,
Jury Trials
(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.) (This section in parentheses
is modified by the 11th Amendment.)
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 Note
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.
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Article IV - The States
Section 1 - Each State to Honor all others
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 - State citizens, Extradition
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.) (This clause
in parentheses is superseded by the 13th Amendment.)
Section 3 - New States
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this
Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected
within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any
State be formed by the Junction of two or more
States, or parts of States, without the Consent of
the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as
of the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make
all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the
Territory or other Property belonging to the United
States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so
construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United
States, or of any particular State.
Section 4 - Republican government
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.
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Article V - Amendment Note1 - Note2 - Note3
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.
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Article VI - Debts, Supremacy, Oaths
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.
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Article VII - Ratification Documents
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States,
shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this
Constitution between the States so ratifying the
Same.
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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. Note
Go Washington - President and deputy from Virginia
New Hampshire - John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts - Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King
Connecticut - Wm Saml Johnson, Roger Sherman
New York - Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey - Wil Livingston, David Brearley, Wm
Paterson, Jona. Dayton
Pennsylvania - B Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robt
Morris, Geo. Clymer, Thos FitzSimons, Jared
Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouv Morris
Delaware - Geo. Read, Gunning Bedford jun, John
Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jaco. Broom
Maryland - James McHenry, Dan of St Tho Jenifer,
Danl Carroll
Virginia - John Blair, James Madison Jr.
North Carolina - Wm Blount, Richd Dobbs Spaight, Hu
Williamson
South Carolina - J. Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler
Georgia - William Few, Abr Baldwin
Attest: William Jackson, Secretary
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