[House Document 110-51]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
The Constitution of the United States
and
The Declaration of Independence
110th Congress, 1st Session / House Document 110-51
The Declaration of Independence
was the promise; the
Constitution was the fulfillment.
``The sacred rights of mankind
are not to be rummaged for,
among old parchments, or musty
records. They are written, as
with a sun beam in the whole
volume of human nature, by the
hand of the divinity itself; and
can never be erased or obscured
by mortal power.''
Alexander Hamilton, 1775
PRINTED UNDER THE DIRECTION
OF THE
JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING
------
HOUSE SENATE
ROBERT BRADY, Pennsylvania DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California
Chairman Vice Chairman
MICHAEL CAPUANO, Massachusetts DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii
SUSAN DAVIS, California PATTY MURRAY, Washington
VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah
KEVIN MCCARTHY, California SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 190
(Submitted by Representative Brady)
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
110th Congress, 1st Session
July 25, 2007
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
SEC. 1. POCKET VERSION OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
(a)
IN GENERAL.--The 23rd edition of the pocket version of the United
States Constitution shall be printed as a House document under the
direction of the Joint Committee on Printing.
(b)
ADDITIONAL COPIES.--In addition to the usual number there shall be
printed the lesser of--
(1)
550,000 copies of the document, of which 440,000copies shall be for
the use of the House of Representatives, 100,000 copies shall be for
the use of the Senate, and 10,000 copies shall be for the use of the
Joint Committee on Printing; or
(2)
such number of copies of the document as does notexceed a total
production and printing cost of $188,462 with distribution to be
allocated in the same proportion as described in paragraph (1), except
that in no case shall the number of copies be less than 1 per Member
of Congress.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800;
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DC 20402-0001
THE CONSTITUTION
of the United States
with Index and
The Declaration of Independence
First Edition, 1986
Second Edition, 1987
Third Edition (with index), 1987
Fourth Edition, 1988
Fifth Edition, 1988
Sixth Edition, 1988
Seventh (Special Limited Inaugural) Edition, 1989
Eighth (Special Military) Edition, 1989
Ninth (Limited Eastern European) Edition, 1990
Tenth (Special Boy Scout) Edition, 1990
Eleventh (Special Girl Scout) Edition, 1990
Twelfth Edition (with Declaration of Independence), 1990
Thirteenth Edition, 1991
Fourteenth (HMS Rose/Bill of Rights Tour) Edition, 1991
Fifteenth Edition, 1991
Sixteenth (Seville Expo '92) Edition, 1992
Seventeenth (Seville Expo '92, Spanish) Edition, 1992
Eighteenth (with Twenty-Seventh Amendment)
Edition, 1992
Nineteenth (Reprint) 1997
Twentieth (Reprint) 2000
Twenty-First (Reprint) 2003
Twenty-Second (Reprint) 2006
Twenty-Third (Reprint) 2007
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED
STATES
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
*Changed by section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
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
*Changed by the Seventeenth Amendment.
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
*Changed by the Seventeenth Amendment.
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
*Changed by section 2 of the Twentieth Amendment.
any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall
have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased
during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United
States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in
Office.
Section. 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House
of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments
as on other Bills.
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it becomes a Law, be presented to the
President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if
not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it
shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on
their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such
Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill,
it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by
which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds
of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes
of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of
the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the
Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned
by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall
have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as
if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent
its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a
question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the
United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be
approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by
two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to
the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes,
Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the
common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all
Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United
States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several
States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on
the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and
fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and
current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for
limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their
respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas,
and Offenses against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules
concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use
shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval
Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the
Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and
for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of
the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the
Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the
Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such
District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of
particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of
the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority
over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the
State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines,
Arsenals, dock-Yards and other needful Buildings;--And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into
Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this
Constitution in the Government of the United States or in any
Department or Officer thereof.
Section. 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the
States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight,
but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten
dollars for each Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may
require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion
to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.*
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue
to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels
bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay
Duties in another.
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of
Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of
the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published
from time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no
Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall,
without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument,
Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or
foreign State.
Section. 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or
Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit
Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in
Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or
Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of
Nobility.
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or
Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary
for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties
and Imposts, laid by any State
*See Sixteenth Amendment.
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
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
*Changed by the Twelfth Amendment.
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
*Changed by the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.
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.
*Changed by the Eleventh Amendment.
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
*Changed by the Thirteenth Amendment.
Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
Section. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this
Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them
against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the
Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic
Violence.
Article. V.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the
Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States,
shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either
Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this
Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of
the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as
the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the
Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the
Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect
the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first
Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of
it's equal Suffrage in the Senate.
Article. VI.
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption
of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States
under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be
made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme
Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary
notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of
the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers,
both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by
Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious
Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public
Trust under the United States.
Article. VII.
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient
for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so
ratifying the Same.
done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the
Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United
States of America the Twelfth In Witness whereof We have hereunto
subscribed our Names,
Go. Washington--Presidt.
and deputy from Virginia
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
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
Attest William Jackson Secretary
In Convention Monday
September 17th 1787.
Present
The States of
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Mr. Hamilton from New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina and Georgia.
Resolved,
That the preceeding Constitution be laid before the United States in
Congress assembled, and that it is the Opinion of this Convention,
that it should afterwards be submitted to a Convention of Delegates,
chosen in each State by the People thereof, under the Recommendation
of its Legislature, for their Assent and Ratification; and that each
Convention assenting to, and ratifying the Same, should give Notice
thereof to the United States in Congress assembled. Resolved, That it
is the Opinion of this Convention, that as soon as the Conventions of
nine States shall have ratified this Constitution, the United States
in Congress assembled should fix a Day on which Electors should be
appointed by the States which shall have ratified the same, and a Day
on which the Electors should assemble to vote for the President, and
the Time and Place for commencing Proceedings under this Constitution.
That after such Publication the Electors should be appointed, and the
Senators and Representatives elected: That the Electors should meet on
the Day fixed for the Election of the President, and should transmit
their Votes certified, signed, sealed and directed, as the Constitution
requires, to the Secretary of the United States in Congress assembled,
that the Senators and Representatives should convene at the Time and
Place assigned; that the Senators should appoint a President of the
Senate, for the sole Purpose of receiving, opening and counting the
Votes for President; and, that after he shall be chosen, the Congress,
together with the President, should, without Delay, proceed to execute
this Constitution.
By the unanimous Order of the Convention
Go. WASHINGTON--Presidt.
W. JACKSON Secretary.
*Congress OF THE United States
begun and held at the City of New-York, on Wednesday the fourth of
March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine
THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their
adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent
misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and
restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of
public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent
ends of its institution:
RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses
concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the
Legislatures of the several States, as Amendments to the Constitution
of the United States, all or any of which Articles, when ratified by
three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents
and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.t.
ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the
United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the
Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article
of the original Constitution.. . .
FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
JOHN ADAMS, Vice-President of the United States,
and President of the Senate.
ATTEST,
JOHN BECKLEY, Clerk of the House of Representatives.
SAM. A. OTIS, Secretary of the Senate.
* On September 25, 1789, Congress transmitted to the state
legislatures twelve proposed amendments, two of which, having to
do with Congressional representation and Congressional pay, were
not adopted. The remaining ten amendments became the Bill of Rights.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Amendment I.*
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed.
Amendment III.
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without
the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be
prescribed by law.
*The first ten Amendments (Bill of Rights) were ratified effective
December 15, 1791.
Amendment IV.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place
to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except
in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when
in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any
person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of
life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a
witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for
public use without just compensation.
Amendment VI.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and
district wherein the crime shall have been committed; which district
shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of
the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the
witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining
witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for
his defence.
Amendment VII.
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no
fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of
the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX.
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people.
Amendment XI.*
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to
extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against
one of
*The Eleventh Amendment was ratified February 7, 1795.
the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or
Subjects of any Foreign State.
Amendment XII.*
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by
ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall
not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall
name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in
distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and
of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of
votes for each, which lists 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 for President, shall be the
President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of
Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from
the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the
list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives
shall choose immediately, by ballot, 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. [And if the
House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the
right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth
*The Twelfth Amendment was ratified June 15, 1804.
day of March next following, then the Vice President shall act as
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional
disability of the President---]* The person having the greatest number
of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number
be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no
person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list,
the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose
shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a
majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no
person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall
be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
Amendment XIII.**
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Amendment XIV.***
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States
and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce
any law which shall abridge the privileges
* Superseded by section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment.
** The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified December 6, 1865.
*** The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified July 9, 1868.
or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process
of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.
Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several
States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole
number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But
when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors
for President and Vice President of the United States,
Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers
of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to
any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of
age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except
for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the
number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male
citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress,
or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil
or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having
previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer
of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as
an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the
Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection
or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies
thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House,
remove such disability.
Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States,
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions
and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion,
shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State
shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of
insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for
the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations
and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article.
Amendment XV.*
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account
of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Amendment XVI.**
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes,
from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several
States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
Amendment XVII.***
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from
each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each
Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors
* The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified February 3, 1870.
** The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified February 3, 1913.
*** The Seventeenth Amendment was ratified April 8, 1913.
of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate,
the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to
fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may
empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the
people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or
term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the
Constitution.
Amendment XVIII.*
[Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the
manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within,
the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the
United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof
for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures
of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven
years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the
Congress.]
*The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified January 16,
1919. It was repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment,
December 5, 1933.
Amendment XIX.*
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
Amendment XX.**
Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at
noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and
Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which
such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and
the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and
such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they
shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the
President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President
elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been
chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the
President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President
elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified;
and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a
President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified,
declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one
who is to act shall be selected, and such
*The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified August 18, 1920. **The
Twentieth Amendment was ratified January 23, 1933.
person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President
shall have qualified.
Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death
of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may
choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved
upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from
whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of
choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of
October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures
of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the
date of its submission.
Amendment XXI.*
Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution
of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State,
Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use
therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is
hereby prohibited.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in
the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven
years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the
Congress.
*The Twenty-First Amendment was ratified December 5, 1933.
Amendment XXII.*
Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President
more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President,
or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which
some other person was elected President shall be elected to the
office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not
apply to any person holding the office of President when this
Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any
person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as
President, during the term within which this Article becomes
operative from holding the office of President or acting as President
during the remainder of such term.
Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures
of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the
date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
Amendment XXIII.**
Section 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the
United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the
whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which
the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event
more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to
those appointed by the
* The Twenty-Second Amendment was ratified February 27, 1951.
** The Twenty-Third Amendment was ratified March 29, 1961.
States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election
of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State;
and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided
by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXIV.*
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any
primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors
for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in
Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any
State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXV.**
Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of
his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice
President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall
take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of
Congress.
Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro
tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
his writ-
*The Twenty-Fourth Amendment was ratified January 23, 1964. **The
Twenty-Fifth Amendment was ratified February 10, 1967.
ten declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties
of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration
to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the
Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the
principal officers of the executive departments or of such other
body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro
tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge
the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall
immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting
President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore
of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his
written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the
powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a
majority of either the principal officers of the executive department
or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within
four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.
Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within
forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress,
within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration,
or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress
is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses
that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting
President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of
his office.
Amendment XXVI.*
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are
eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXVII.**
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators
and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of
Representatives shall have intervened.
*The Twenty-Sixth Amendment was ratified July 1, 1971.
**Congress submitted the text of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment to
the States as part of the proposed Bill of Rights on
September 25, 1789. The Amendment was not ratified together with
the first ten Amendments, which became effective on
December 15, 1791. The Twenty-Seventh Amendment was ratified on
May 7, 1992, by the vote of Michigan.
Appendix
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Action of Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776 The unanimous
Declaration of the thirteen United States of America
WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one
People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them
with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the
separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of
Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of
Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the Separation.
WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the
Pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent
of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter
or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its
Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such
Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long
established should not be changed for light and transient Causes;
and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right
themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under
absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw
off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies;
and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their
former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of
Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations,
all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute
Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted
to a candid World.
HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary
for the public Good.
HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and
pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his
Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly
neglected to attend to them.
HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large
Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right
of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them,
and formidable to Tyrants only.
HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public
Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance
with his Measures.
HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing
with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause
others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable
of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their
exercise; the State remaining in the mean time ex posed to all the
Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.
HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for
that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners;
refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and
raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his
Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of
their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms
of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace Standing Armies, without
the consent of our Legislatures.
HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior
to the Civil Power.
HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign
to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his
Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:
FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders
which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
FORtransporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring
Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging
its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit
Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:
FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and
altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested
with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
HEhas abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection
and waging War against us.
HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and
destroyed the Lives of our People.
HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries
to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun
with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the
most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized
Nation.
HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas
to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their
Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured
to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian
Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished
Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
IN every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in
the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only
by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every
act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free
People.
NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We
have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature
to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded
them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We
have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have
conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these
Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and
Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and
of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity,
which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of
Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.
WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in
GENERAL CONGRESS, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the
World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by
Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and
Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be,
FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance
to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them
and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved;
and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy
War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do
all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the
Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
DATES TO REMEMBER
May 25, 1787: The Constitutional Convention opens with a quorum of
seven states in Philadelphia to discuss revising the Articles of
Confederation. Eventually all states but Rhode Island are represented.
Sept. 17, 1787: All 12 state delegations approve the Constitution,
39 delegates sign it of the 42 present, and the Convention formally
adjourns.
June 21, 1788: The Constitution becomes effective for the ratifying
states when New Hampshire is the ninth state to ratify it.
March 4, 1789: The first Congress under the Constitution convenes in
New York City.
April 30, 1789: George Washington is inaugurated as the first President
of the United States.
June 8, 1789: James Madison introduces proposed Bill of Rights in the
House of Representatives.
Sept. 24, 1789: Congress establishes a Supreme Court, 13 district
courts, three ad hoc circuit courts, and the position of Attorney
General.
Sept. 25, 1789: Congress approves 12 amendments and sends them to the
states for ratification.
Feb. 2, 1790: Supreme Court convenes for the first time after an
unsuccessful attempt February 1.
Dec. 15, 1791: Virginia ratifies the Bill of Rights, and 10 of the
12 proposed amendments become part of the U.S. Constitution.
INDEX TO CONSTITUTION AND
AMENDMENTS
Article, Section Page
Admiralty & maritime cases III,2 13
Advice and consent II,2 11
Age, as qualification for public
office
president II,1 10
representatives I,2 1
senators I,3 3
voting A26 34
Ambassadors
Case controversies III,2 13
President's power II,2-3 11-12
Amendment procedure V 15
Appellate jurisdiction III,2 13
Appointment power II,2 11-12
Appointments, temporary A17 28
Apportionment of
representatives I,2;A14,2 1-2,26
Appropriations(s) I,8,9 7,8
Arms, right to bear A2 21
Army II,2 11
Assembly, right of A1 21
Authors I,8 6
Bail, excessive A8 23
Bankruptcy, Congress' power I,8 6
Bill of Rights (Amends. 1-10) A1-A10 21-23
Bills I,7 5-6
Bills of attainder I,9-10 8
Borrowing, Congress' power I,8 6
Cabinet officers' reports II,2 11
Census I,2 1-2
Chief Justice, role in
impeachment trials I,3 3
Commander in Chief II,2 11
Commerce, Congress' power I,8 6
Commission of officers II,3 12
Compact I,10 9
Congress
annual meetings I,4;A20,2 3-4,29
declaring war I,8 6
legislative proceedings I,5 4
members' compensation and
privileges I,6;A27 4-5,34
organization I,1 1
powers I,8;A12 6-7,24-25
special sessions II,3 12
Congressional Record (Journal) I,5 4
Constitution, purpose Preamble 1
Article, Section Page
Contracts, interference by states I,10 8
Controversies, court cases III,2 13
Conventions V;VII;A21 15,16,30
Copyrights & patents,
Congress' power I,8 6
Counsel, right to A6 22
Counterfeiting, Congress'
power to punish I,8 6
Courts (see Judiciary)
Criminal proceedings, rights of
accused A5;A6 22
Currency, Congress' power I,8 6
Defense, Congress' power I,8 6
District of Columbia I,8;A23 7,31
Double jeopardy A5 22
Due process of law A5;A14,1 22,25-16
Electoral College II,1;A12;A23 9-11,24-25
31-32
Equal protection of laws A14,1 25-26
Equity III,2;A11 13,23
Ex post facto laws I,9-10 8
Extradition of fugitives by states IV,2 14
Fines, excessive A8 23
Foreign affairs, President's
power II,2 11-12
Foreign commerce, Congress'
power I,8 6
�Full faith and credit� clause IV,1 14
General welfare, Congress'
power I,8 6
Grand jury indictments A5 22
Grievances, redress of A1 21
Habeas corpus I,9 8
House of Representatives
election to & eligibility for I,2 1
members' terms of office I,2;I,6 1,4
Speaker of I,2;A24;A25,3-4 2,32-33
special powers
impeachment I,2 2
Presidential elections II,1;A12 9-10,24-25
revenue bills I,7 5
states' representation in I,2 1-2
vacancles I,2 2
Immunities (see Privileges and
immunities)
Impeachment
officials subject to II,4 12
penalties I,3 3
power of, lodged in House I,2 2
reasons II,4 12
trials, Senate I,3 3
42
Article, Section Page
Indians, commerce with,
Congress' power I,8 6
Inhabitant (see Resident) I,2;I,3 1,3
International law, Congress'
power I,8 6
Inventors I,8 6
Judiciary
inferior courts I,8;III,1 6,12
judicial review III,2 13
jurisdiction III,2 13
nomination & confirmation of
judges II,2 11-12
Supreme Court III,1 12
terms of office &
compensation III,1 12
Jury trials III,2;A6;A7 13,22,23
�Lame duck� amendment A20 29
Liquor A18;A21 28,30
Marque and reprisal, letters of I,8,10 6,8
Men (see Persons)
Militia (Military) A2;A5 21,22
congressional powers I,8 7
presidential powers II,2 11-12
Money I,8 6
National debt VI 15-16
Native Americans (see Indians)
Naturalization I,8 6
Navy I,8;II,2 7,11
�Necessary and proper� clause I,8 7
Nominate II,2;A25 11,32
Oath of office, federal and state II,1;VI 11,16
Original Jurisdiction III,2 13
Pardons and reprieves,
President's power II,2 11
People, powers reserved to A10 23
Persons A14 25-26
Petition the government,
right to A1 21
�Pocket veto� I,7 5
Poll tax, prohibition A24,1 32
Post offices & roads, Congress'
power I,8 6
Presidency, succession to II,1;A20;A25 10-11,29-30
President 32-33
disability A25,3 32-33
election II,1;A12;A22 9-10,24-25,
A23 31,31-32
eligibility for office II,1 10
legislation, role in I,7 5
43
Article, Section Page
President--Continued
oath of office II,1 11
powers & duties II,2-3 11-12
term of office & compensation II,1 9-11
Press, freedom of A1 21
Privileges and immunities (of
citizens) IV,2;A14,1 14,25-26
Prohibition A18;A21 28,30
Property, taking for public use A5 22
Punishments, cruel and
unusual A8 23
Race A15 27
Ratification of Constitution V;VII 15,16
Religion, freedom of A1 21
Religious oaths VI 16
Resident (see Inhabitant) II,1 10
Search and seizure A4 22
Seas, Congress' power I,8 6
Secrecy I,5 4
Self-incrimination A5 22
Senate
election to & eligibility for I,3 3
equal representation of states V 15
officers I,3 3
President of I,3;A12 3,24-25
President of, pro tempore I,3;A25,3-4 3,32-33
special powers
impeachment trials I,3 3
Presidential appointments II,2 11-12
treaties II,2 11-12
terms of office I,3;I,6 2,4
vacancies A17 27-28
Slavery, prohibition A13;A14,4 25,26-27
Soldiers, quartering of A3 21
Speech, freedom of A1 21
Spending, Congress' power I,8 6
State of Union message II,3 12
States
and federal elections I,4 3
formation & admission to
Union IV,3 14
powers requiring consent of
Congress I,10 8-9
powers reserved to A10 23
protection against invasion,
violence IV,4 15
republican form of
government guaranteed IV,4 15
suits against III,2;A11 13,23-24
44
Articles, Section Page
Sundays I,7 5
Supreme law of the land
(Constitution) VI 15-16
Taxing power, in general I,7-8 5-6
direct taxes prohibited I,9 8
income taxes permitted A16 27
Territories IV,3 14-15
Titles of nobility I,9 8
Treason III,3 13
Treaty(ies) I,10;II,2; 8,11,13
III,2;VI 15-16
Trial I,3;III,2; 3,13,22,23
A6;A7
Veto, President's power I,7 5
Vice-Presidency, succession to A20;A25 29-30,32-33
Vice-President
conditions for assuming
Presidency II,1;A20;A25 10,29-30
32-33
declaring President disabled,
role in A25,4 33
Senate, role in I,3;A12 3,24-25
term of office II,1 9
Voting rights A14;A24 25-27,32
blacks, former slaves A15,1 27
eighteen-years-old A26 34
women A19 29
War powers (see Congress,
declaring, war powers;
President, powers & duties;
States, protection against
invasion)
Warrants A4 22
Weights and measures
standards of I,8 6
Women (see Persons)