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 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
, 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 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 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.
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 choosing 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
behavior, 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 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. 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
defense 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 a 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, dockyards, and other needful
buildings;--And
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 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 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.
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 control 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:
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.
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 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 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.
Section 3. New states may be admitted by the
Congress into this union; but no new states 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.
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.
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.
