Note:
The following text is a transcription of the
Constitution in its original form.
Items that are hyperlinked have since been amended
or superseded.
We the People of the
United States, in Order to form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic
Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote
the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain
and establish this Constitution for the United
States of America.
Article. I.
Section.
1.
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 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.
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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G°.
Washington
Presidt and deputy from Virginia
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