US Constitution
September 17, 1787
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.
Article I
(Article 1 - Legislative)
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
1: 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.
2: 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.
3:
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.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 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.
4: When
vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority
thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
5: The House
of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have
the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section 3
1: The Senate
of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen
by the Legislature thereof,3 for six Years; and each Senator shall have one
Vote.
2:
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.4
3: 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.
4: The Vice
President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have
no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
5: 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.
6: 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.
7: 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
1: 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.
2: The
Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be
on the first Monday in December,5 unless they shall by Law appoint a different
Day.
Section 5
1: 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.
2: 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.
3: 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.
4: 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
1: 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.6
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.
2: 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
1: 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.
2: 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.
3: 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
1: 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;
2: To borrow
Money on the credit of the United States;
3: To
regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with
the Indian Tribes;
4: To
establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of
Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
5: To coin
Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of
Weights and Measures;
6: To provide
for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the
United States;
7: To
establish Post Offices and post Roads;
8: 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;
9: To
constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
10: To define
and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences
against the Law of Nations;
11: To
declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning
Captures on Land and Water;
12: To raise
and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a
longer Term than two Years;
13: To
provide and maintain a Navy;
14: To make
Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
15: To
provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union,
suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
16: 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;
17: 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
18: 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
1: 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.
2: 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.
3: No Bill of
Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
4: No
Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the
Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.7
5: No Tax or
Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
6: 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.
7: 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.
8: 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
1: 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.
2: 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.
3: 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
(Article 2 - Executive)
Section 1
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
2: 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.
3: 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.8
4: 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.
5: 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.
6: 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,9 the Same
shall devolve on the VicePresident, 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.
7: The
President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation,
which shall neither be encreased 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.
8: 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
1: 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.
2: 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.
3: 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
(Article 3 - Judicial)
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
1: 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;10 —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.
2: 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 appellateJurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and
under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
3: 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
1: 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.
2: 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
(Article 4 - States' Relations)
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
1: The
Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of
Citizens in the several States.
2: 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.
3: 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.11
Section 3
1: 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.
2: 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
(Article 5 - Mode of Amendment)
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
(Article 6 - Prior Debts, National Supremacy, Oaths of Office)
1: All Debts
contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this
Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this
Constitution, as under the Confederation.
2: This
Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in
Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the
Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the
Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or
Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
3: The
Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several
State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United
States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to
support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a
Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
Article VII
(Article 7 - Ratification)
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 eight 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.
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,
