THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
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 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.
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 the 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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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.
The Word, "the," being
interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, The
Word "Thirty" being partly written on an Erazure
in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words "is tried" being
interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page
and the Word "the" being interlined between the forty third and forty
fourth Lines of the second Page.
Attest William Jackson Secretary
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
Independance of the United States of America the
Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
G°. Washington
Presidt and deputy from Virginia
Geo: Read
Gunning Bedford jun
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jaco: Broom
James McHenry
Dan of St Thos.
Jenifer
Danl. Carroll
Wm. Blount
Richd. Dobbs
Spaight
Hu Williamson
J. Rutledge
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler
Wm. Saml. Johnson
Roger Sherman
Wil: Livingston
David Brearley
Wm. Paterson
Jona: Dayton
B Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robt. Morris
Geo. Clymer
Thos. FitzSimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouv Morris
For biographies of the non-signing delegates
to the Constitutional Convention, see the Founding Fathers page.
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