The Constitution of the United States: A
Transcription
Note: The following text is a transcription of
the Constitution in its original form.
Items
that are hyperlinked have since been amended or
superseded.
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
Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by
Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an
Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall
make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of
Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and
transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United
States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President
of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House
of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes
shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number
of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority
of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be
more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number
of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person
have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the
said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in
chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the
Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for
this purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two
thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall
be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of
the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes
of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there
should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate
shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the Time of
chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give
their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United
States.
No Person except a natural born Citizen,
or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption
of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of
President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office
who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years,
and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United
States.
In
Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his
Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and
Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice
President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of
Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the
President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall
then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly,
until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be
elected.
The President shall, at stated Times,
receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither
be 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 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
Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In
witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
G°.
Washington
Presidt and deputy from Virginia
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
For biographies of the non-signing delegates to the
Constitutional Convention,
see the Founding
Fathers page. |
