Constitution for the
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.
Section.
1. All legislative Powers herein
granted shall be vested in a Congress of the
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
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 [Modified by Amendment
XIV]. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the
first Meeting of the Congress of the
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
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 [Modified by Amendment
XVII].
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
The Vice President of the
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
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
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
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 [Modified by Amendment
XX], 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
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;[2] 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
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
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
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
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
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.
Section.
1. The
executive Power shall be vested in a President of the
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
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 [Modified by Amendment
XII].
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
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 [Modified by Amendment
XXV].
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
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
Section.
1. The judicial Power of the
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 [Modified by Amendment
XI]; — 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
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.
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 [Modified by Amendment
XIII].
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
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.
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 [Possibly abrogated by
Amendment XVII].
All
Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this
Constitution, shall be as valid against the
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.
The
Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the
Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the
Same.
