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. 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 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
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 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.
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 States 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 notwith-standing.
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,
George Washington--President and deputy from
Virginia
New Hampshire: John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts: Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King
Connecticut: William Samuel Johnson, Roger
Sherman
New York: Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey: William Livingston, David
Brearly, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton
Pennsylvania: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas
Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer,
Thomas FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James
Wilson, Gouverneur Morris
Delaware: George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr.,
John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom
Maryland: James McHenry, Daniel of Saint
Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll
Virginia: John Blair, James Madison, Jr.
North Carolina: William Blount, Richard
Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson
South Carolina: John Rutledge, Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney,
Pierce Butler
Georgia: William Few, Abraham Baldwin
