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