PREAMBLE
WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, in
order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure the domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and
secure the blessing 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 a
House of Representatives.
Section 2
[1] The House of Representatives shall be
composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several
States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite
for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.
[2] No person shall be a Representative who
shall not have attained 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.
[3] Representatives and direct taxes shall
be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union,
according to their respective numbers, which shall be
determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound
to service for a term of years 14, and
excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons 14.
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 choose 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 Caroline, five; South Carolina, five; and
Georgia, three.
[4] When vacancies happen in the
representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs
of election to fill such vacancies.
[5] The House of Representatives shall
choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power of
impeachment.
Section 3
[1] The Senate of the United States shall
be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof 17
for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.
[2] Immediately after they shall be
assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally
as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall
be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the
expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the
sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise during the recess of
the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary
appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill
such vacancies. 17
[3] No person shall be a Senator who shall
not have attained 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.
[4] The Vice-President of the United States
shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally
divided.
[5] The Senate shall choose 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.
[6] The Senate shall have the sole power to
try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or
affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice
shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of
two-thirds of the members present.
[7] Judgement 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,
judgement, and punishment, according to law.
Section 4
[1] The times, places, and manner of
holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each
State by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make
or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators 17.
[2] The Congress shall assemble at least
once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the
first Monday in December 20, unless they
shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 5
[1] Each House shall be the judge of
elections, returns, and qualification 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.
[2] Each House may determine the rules of
its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the
concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.
[3] Each House shall keep a journal of its
proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excerpting such parts as
may in their judgement 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.
[4] Neither House, during the session of
Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three
days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be
sitting.
Section 6
[1] The Senators and Representatives shall
receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law and paid out
of the Treasury of the United States. 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.
[2] No Senator or Representative shall,
during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under
the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the
emoluments whereof shall have been increased 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
[1] All bills for raising revenue shall
originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur
with amendments as on other bills.
[2] Every bill which shall have passed the
House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes a law, be
presented to the President of the United States; if he approves 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 vote 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.
[3] Every order, resolution or vote to
which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be
necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the
President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect shall be
approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of
the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations
prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 8
[1] The Congress shall have power to lay
and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for
the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties,
imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
[2] To borrow money on the credit of the
United States;
[3] To regulate commerce with foreign
nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes;
[4] To establish an uniform rule of
naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the
United States;
[5] To coin money, regulate the value
thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
[6] To provide for the punishment of
counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States,
[7] To establish post offices and postal
roads;
[8] To promote the progress of science and
useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive
right to their respective writings and discoveries;
[9] To constitute tribunals inferior to the
Supreme Court;
[10] To define and punish piracies and
felonies committed on the high seas and offenses against the law of nations;
[11] To declare war, grant letters of
marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
[12] To raise and support armies, but no
appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two
years;
[13] To provide and maintain a navy;
[14] To make rules for the government and
regulation of the land and naval forces;
[15] To provide for calling forth the
militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel
invasions;
[16] To provide for organizing, arming and
disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed
in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the
appointment of officers, and the authority of training the militia according to
the discipline prescribed by Congress;
[17] To exercise exclusive legislation in
all cases whatsoever over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may,
by cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat
of 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, dockyards, and
other needful buildings;
[18] To make all laws which shall be
necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all
other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States,
or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 9
[1] The migration or importation of such
persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not
be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and
eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten
dollars for each person. 13
[2] The privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the
public safety may require it.
[3] No bill of attainder or ex post facto
law shall be passed.
[4] No capitation
or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or
enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 16
[5] No tax or duty shall be laid on
articles exported from any State.
[6] No preference shall be given by any
regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of
another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear
or pay duties in another.
[7] No money shall be drawn from the
Treasury but in consequence of appropriation 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.
[8] No title of nobility shall be granted
by the United States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under
them shall, without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument,
office, or title of any kind whatever from any king, prince, or foreign
state.
Section 10
[1] No State shall enter into any treaty,
alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money,
emit bills of credit, make anything 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.
[2] No State shall, without the consent of
Congress, lay any duties or imposts on imports or exports, except what may be
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of
all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports and exports, shall be for
the use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject
to the revision and control of the Congress.
[3] No State shall, without the consent of
Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops and 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
[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:
[2] Each State shall appoint, in such
manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the
whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled
in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office
of trust or profit under the United States shall be appointed an elector.
[3] The Electors shall meet in their
respective States and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall
not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a
list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which
list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 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 President, if such number be a
majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than
one who have such a majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House
of Representatives shall immediately choose 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 choose the President. But in choosing 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 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 choose
from them by ballot the Vice-President. 12
[4] The Congress may determine the time of
choosing the Electors and the day on which they shall give their votes, which
day shall be the same throughout the United States.
[5] No person except a natural-born
citizen, or 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 the age of
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United
States.
[6] In case of the removal of the President
from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers
and duties of the said office, 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.
[7] 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 United States or any
of them.
[8] Before he enters 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
[1] The President shall be
Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia
of the several States when called into the actual service of the United States;
he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principle 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
offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
[2] He shall have power, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the
Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United
States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall
be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such
inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts
of law, or in the heads of departments.
[3] The President shall have power to fill
up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting
commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.
Section 3
He shall from time to time
give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to
their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he
may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and in
case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, he
may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive
ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be
faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United
States.
Section 4
The President, Vice-President
and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on
impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanors.
ARTICLE
III
Section 1
The judicial power of the United States
shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the
Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and
shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation which shall
not be diminished during their continuance in office.
Section 2
[1] The judicial power shall extend to all
cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the
United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority;
to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all
cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the
United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States;
between a State and citizens of another State; 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.
[2] In all cases affecting ambassadors,
other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party,
the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all 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.
[3] The trial of all crimes, except in
cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the
State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed
within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may
by law have directed.
Section 3
[1] Treason against the United States shall
consist only of 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.
[2] The Congress shall have the 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
attained.
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
[1] The citizens of each State shall be
entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.
[2] A person charged in any State with
treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in
another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from
which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction
of the crime.
[3] No person held to service or labor 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 labor, but
shall be delivered up on claim to the party to whom such service or labor may be
due. 13
Section 3
[1] New States may be admitted by the
Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the
jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two
or more States or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of
the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
[2] The Congress shall have the 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
[1] All debts contracted and engagements
entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid
against the United States under this Constitution as under the
Confederation.
[2] This Constitution, and the laws of the
United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made,
or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the
supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary
notwithstanding.
[3] The Senators and Representatives before
mentioned and the members of the several State legislatures, and all executive
and judicial officers both of the United States and of the several States, shall
be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious
test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust
under the United States.
ARTICLE
VII
The ratification of the conventions of nine
States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between
the States so ratifying same.
Done in Convention by the unanimous consent
of the States present the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord
one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the
United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto
subscribed our names,
|
|
Go. Washington
Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia |
New
Hampshire
John Langdon Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts
Nathaniel Gorham Rufus King
Connecticut
Wm. Samuel Johnson Roger Sherman
New York
Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey
Wil: Livingston David Brearley Wm. Patterson Jona: Dayton |
Pennsylvania
B. Franklin Thomas
Mifflin Robt. Morris Geo. Clymer Thos. Fitzsimons Jared Ingersoll James
Wilson Gouv. Morris
Delaware
Geo. Read Gunning
Bedford, Jun John Dickinson Richard Bassett Jaco: Broom
Maryland
James McHenry Dan of
St. Thos. Jenifer Danl. Carroll |
Virginia
John Blair James
Madison, Jr
North Carolina
Wm. Blount Richd
Dobbs Spaight Hu. Williamson
South Carolina
J. Rutledge Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney. Charles Pinckney Pierce Butler
Georgia
William Few Abr.
Baldwin |
Attest William Jackson Secretary |