Here is the complete text of the U.S. Constitution. The original spelling
and capitalization has been
retained.
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
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 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
encreased 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 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.
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 notwith-standing.
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,
George Washington--President and deputy from Virginia
New Hampshire: John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts: Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King
Connecticut: William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman
New York: Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey: William Livingston, David Brearly, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton
Pennsylvania: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin,
Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas
FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris
Delaware: George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom
Maryland: James McHenry, Daniel of Saint Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll
Virginia: John Blair, James Madison, Jr.
North Carolina: William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson
South Carolina: John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler
Georgia: William Few, Abraham Baldwin