1.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 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.
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, and excluding Indians not taxed,
three-fifths of all other persons.) (The previous sentence was superseded by Amendment
XIV, section 2.) 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 Carolina 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-Senators, how and by whom chosen. How classified.
Qualifications of a Senator. President of the Senate, his right to vote. President pro
tem., and other officers of the Senate, how chosen. Power to try impeachments. When
President is tried, Chief Justice to preside. Sentence.
1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators
from each State, (chosen by the Legislature thereof), (The preceding five words were
superseded by Amendment XVII, section 1.) 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.) (The words in parentheses were
superseded by Amendment XVII, section 2.)
3. 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.
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. 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-Times, etc., of holding elections, how prescribed. One
session each year.
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.
2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall (be on the first Monday in December,) (The words in parentheses were
superseded by Amendment XX, section 2). unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 5-Membership, quorum, adjournments, rules. Power to
punish or expel. Journal. Time of adjournments, how limited, etc.
1. 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.
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, 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.
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-Compensation, privileges, disqualifications in certain
cases.
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-House to originate all revenue bills. Veto. Bill may be
passed by two-thirds of each House, notwithstanding, etc. Bill, not returned in ten days,
to become a law. Provisions as to orders, concurrent resolutions, etc.
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
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.
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-Powers of Congress.
The Congress shall have power
1. 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 a 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 post-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 captureson 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 the 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 the Government of the United States, and to
exercise like authority overall 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; -And
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-Provision as to migration or importation of certain
persons. Habeas corpus, bills of attainder, etc. Taxes, how apportioned. No export duty.
No commercial preference. Money, how drawn from Treasury, etc. No titular nobility.
Officers not to receive presents, etc.
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.
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 herein before directed to be taken. (Modified by
Amendment XVI.)
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
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.
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 the
Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from
any king, prince, or foreign state.
Section 10-States prohibited from the exercise of certain powers.
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 the Congress, lay any imposts
or duties 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 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 control of the Congress.
3. 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-President: his term of office. Electors of President;
number and how appointed. Electors to vote on same day. Qualification of President. On
whom his duties devolve in case of his removal, death, etc. President's compensation. His
oath of office.
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. (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 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 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 choose from them by
ballot the Vice President.) (This clause was superseded by Amendment XII.)
3. The Congress may detemine 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.
4. 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. (For qualification of the Vice President, see Amendment XII.)
5. 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. (This
clause has been modified by Amendments XX and XXV.)
6. 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.
7. 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-President to be Commander-in-Chief. He may require
opinions of cabinet officers, etc., may pardon. Treaty-making power. Nomination of certain
officers. When President may fill vacancies.
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 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
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-President shall communicate to Congress. He may convene
and adjourn Congress, in case of disagreement, etc. Shall receive ambassadors, execute
laws, and commission officers.
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 occassions, 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-All civil offices forfeited for certain crimes.
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-Judicial powers, Tenure. Compensation.
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-Judicial power; to what cases it extends. Original
jurisdiction of Supreme Court; appellate jurisdiction. Trial by jury, etc. Trial, where.
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. (This section is modified by Amendment XI.)
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 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.
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-Treason Defined, Proof of, Punishment of.
1. 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.
2. 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-Each State to give credit to the public acts, etc., of
every other State.
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-Privileges of citizens of each State. Fugitives from
justice to be delivered up. Persons held to service having escaped, to be delivered up.
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 of the party to
whom such service or labor may be due.) (This clause was superseded by Amendment XIII.)
Section 3-Admission of new States. Power of Congress over
territory and other property.
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 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-Republican form of government guaranteed. Each state to
be protected.
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
Constitution: how amended; proviso.
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
Certain debts, etc., declared valid. Supremacy of Constitution,
treaties, and laws of the United States. Oath to support Constitution, by whom taken. No
religious test.
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, any thing 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
What ratification shall establish Constitution.
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.
