Article. I.
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. 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 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, 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, 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.
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.
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; 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.
Article. II.
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 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.
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.
Article III.
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;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.
Article. IV.
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.
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.
Article. V.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this
Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures
of two thirds of the several States, shall call a
Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either
Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as
Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the
Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or
by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or
the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the
Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made
prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight
shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses
in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no
State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its
equal Suffrage in the Senate.
Article. VI.
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into,
before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as
valid against the United States under this Constitution,
as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States
which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all
Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the
Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law
of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be
bound thereby, 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.
Article. VII.
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States,
shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this
Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
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,
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