(See Note 1)
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.
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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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. (See Note 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.
Clause 4: When vacancies happen in the
Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall
issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
Clause 5: The House of Representatives shall
chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole
Power of Impeachment.
Section. 3.
Clause 1: The Senate of the United States shall
be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the
Legislature thereof, (See Note 3) for six Years; and each
Senator shall have one Vote.
Clause 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. (See Note 4)
Clause 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.
Clause 4: The Vice President of the United States
shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless
they be equally divided.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 2: The Congress shall assemble at least
once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in
December, (See Note 5) unless they shall by Law appoint a
different Day.
Section. 5.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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. (See Note 6)
They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the
Peace, beprivileged 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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;
Clause 2: To borrow Money on the credit of the
United States;
Clause 3: To regulate Commerce with foreign
Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
Clause 4: To establish an uniform Rule of
Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies
throughout the United States;
Clause 5: To coin Money, regulate the Value
thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and
Measures;
Clause 6: To provide for the Punishment of
counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
Clause 7: To establish Post Offices and post
Roads;
Clause 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;
Clause 9: To constitute Tribunals inferior to the
supreme Court;
Clause 10: To define and punish Piracies and
Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of
Nations;
Clause 11: To declare War, grant Letters of
Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and
Water;
Clause 12: To raise and support Armies, but no
Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than
two Years;
Clause 13: To provide and maintain a Navy;
Clause 14: To make Rules for the Government and
Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
Clause 15: To provide for calling forth the
Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and
repel Invasions;
Clause 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;
Clause 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
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 3: No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto
Law shall be passed.
Clause 4: No Capitation, or other direct, Tax
shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration
herein before directed to be taken. (See Note 7)
Clause 5: No Tax or Duty shall be laid on
Articles exported from any State.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Section. 1.
Clause 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
Clause 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.
Clause 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. (See Note 8)
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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, (See Note 9) 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
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.
Clause 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; (See Note
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.
Clause 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
appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such
Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
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.
Clause 1: The Citizens of each State shall be
entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several
States.
Clause 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.
Clause 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. (See Note 11)
Section. 3.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine
States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this
Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
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,
GO WASHINGTON--Presidt. and deputy from Virginia
[Signed also by the deputies of twelve States.]
Delaware
Geo: Read
Gunning Bedford jun
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jaco: Broom
Maryland
James MCHenry
Dan of ST ThoS. Jenifer
DanL Carroll.
Virginia
John Blair--
James Madison Jr.
North Carolina
WM Blount
RichD. Dobbs Spaight.
Hu Williamson
South Carolina
J. Rutledge
Charles 1ACotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler.
Georgia
William Few
Abr Baldwin
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
Attest William Jackson Secretary
|