Article. I.
Section. 1.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the united states of America, 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 of America, 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 of America, 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 of America,
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 of America, 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 of
America 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 of America.
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 of America 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 of America: 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 of America.
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 of America,
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 of America,
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 of America: 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 of
America; 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 of America; but all Duties, Imposts
and Excises shall be uniform throughout the united states of America;
To borrow Money on the credit of the united
states of America;
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 of America;
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 of America;
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 of America,
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 of
America, 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 of America, 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 of America: 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 of America;
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 of America, 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 of America, 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 of America.
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a
Citizen of the united states of America, 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 of America.
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 of America, 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 of America, and will to the best of my Ability,
preserve, protect and defend the Constitution
of the united states of America."
Section. 2.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of
the Army and Navy of the united states of
America, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the united states of America; 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 of America, 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 of America, 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 of America.
Section. 4.
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the united states of America, 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 of America 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 of America, 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 of
America 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 of America, 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 of America; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the united states of America, or of any particular State.
Section. 4.
The united states of America 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 of America under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. This Constitution, and the Laws of the united states of America which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the united states of America, 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 of America 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 of America.
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
President 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
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