|
We
the People of the United
States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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.]*(Changed by section 2 of the Fourteenth
Amendment.) 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 choose 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,]*(Changed by section 1 of the Seventeenth
Amendment.) 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.]* *(Changed
by section 2 of the Seventeenth Amendment)
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,]
*(Changed by section 2 of the Twentieth Amendment) 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 becomes 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
Offenses 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
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.]*(Superseded by the Twelfth Amendment.)
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 the 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.]*(Modified by
the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.)
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. 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 Offenses 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.]*(Superseded by the Thirteenth Amendment.)
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 it's 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. 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, Gų
Washington
Presid.t and deputy from
Virginia
Attest William Jackson
Secretary
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
New
Hampshire
John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts
Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King
Connecticut
Wm Saml. Johnson
Roger Sherman
New
York
Alexander Hamilton
New
Jersey
Wil: Livingston
David Brearley
Wm. Paterson
Jona: Dayton
Pennsylvania
B Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robt Morris
Geo. Clymer
Thos. FitzSimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouv Morris
In Convention Monday September
17th 1787. Present
The States of: New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Mr. Hamilton from New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina and Georgia.
Resolved, That
after such Publication the Electors should be appointed, and the
Senators and Representatives elected: That the Electors should meet on
the Day fixed for the Election of the President, and should transmit
their Votes certified, signed, sealed and directed, as the Constitution
requires, to the Secretary of the United States in Congress assembled,
that the Senators and Representatives should convene at the Time and
Place assigned; that the Senators should appoint a President of the
Senate, for the sole Purpose of receiving, opening and counting the
Votes for President; and, that after he shall be chosen, the Congress,
together with the President, should, without Delay, proceed to execute
this Constitution. By
the unanimous Order of the Convention Gų WASHINGTON--Presid' W. JACKSON
Secretary. |
