[The Constitution of the United States The Declaration of Independence]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 
                        The CONSTITUTION 
                      of the United States 
                The Declaration of Independence 


                  109th CONGRESS, 2d SESSION / 
                     SENATE DOCUMENT 109-17 


               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 

                          -------

         SENATE                      HOUSE 

TRENT LOTT, Mississippi     VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan
   Chairman                    Vice Chairman 
THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi   JOHN DOOLITTLE, California
SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia    THOMAS REYNOLDS, New York 
DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii    JUANITAMILLENDER-MCDONALD,
MARK DAYTON, Minnesota         California 
                                Ranking Minority Member 
                            ROBERT BRADY, Pennsylvania



              SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 108 

                 (Submitted by Senator Lott) 

                    UNITED STATES SENATE 

                 109th Congress, 2d Session 

                        July 18, 2006 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives Concurring), 

SEC. 1. POCKET VERSION OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION 
     (a) IN GENERAL.--The 22nd edition of the pocket version 
of the United States Constitution shall be printed as a Senate 
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 440,000 
copies 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 not 
exceed a total production and printing cost of $198,000 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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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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 

         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 
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. 

*Changed by section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment. 

     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. 

*Changed by the Seventeenth Amendment. 

     Immediately after they shall be assembled in 
Consequence of the first Election, they shall be 
divided as equally as may be into three Classes. 
The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall 
be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of 
the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth 
Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the 
sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every 
second Year; [and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, 
or otherwise, during the Recess of the 
Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may 
make temporary Appointments until the next 
Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill 
such Vacancies.]* 
     No Person shall be a Senator who shall not 
have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been 
nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who 
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that 
State for which he shall be chosen. 
     The Vice President of the United States shall be 
President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, 
unless they be equally divided. 
     The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, 
and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence 
of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the 
Office of President of the United States. 
     The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all 
Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they 
shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President 
of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice 
shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted 
without the Concurrence of two thirds of the 
Members present. 
     Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not 
extend further than to removal from Office, and 
disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of 
honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but 
the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and 
subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and 
Punishment, according to Law. 

     Section. 4. The Times, Places and Manner of 
holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, 
shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature 
thereof; but the Congress may at any time by 
Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to 
the Places of chusing Senators. 
     The Congress shall assemble at least once in 
every Year, and such Meeting shall be [on the first 
Monday in December,]* unless they shall by Law 
appoint a different Day. 

*Changed by the Seventeenth Amendment. 

     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. 

*Changed by section 2 of the Twentieth Amendment. 

     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 
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. 

*See Sixteenth Amendment. 

     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; Aquorum 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.]* 

*Changed by the Twelfth Amendment. 

     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.]* 

*Changed by the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. 

     The President shall, at stated Times, receive for 
his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither 
be increased nor diminished during the Period for 
which he shall have been elected, and he shall not 
receive within that Period any other Emolument 
from the United States, or any of them. 
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, 
he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--``I 
do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
execute the Office of President of the United States, 
and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect 
and defend the Constitution of the United 
States.'' 
     Section. 2. The President shall be Commander 
in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, 
and of the Militia of the several States, when 
called into the actual Service of the United States; 
he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal 
Officer in each of the executive Departments, 
upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their 
respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant 
Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the 
United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. 
     He shall have Power, by and with the Advice 
and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, 
provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; 
and he shall nominate, and by and with the 
Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint 
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, 
Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers 
of the United States, whose Appointments are not 
herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be 
established by Law: but the Congress may by Law 
vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as 
they think proper, in the President alone, in the 
Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 
     The President shall have Power to fill up all 
Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of 
the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall 
expire at the End of their next Session. 
     Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to 
the Congress Information of the State of the 
Union, and recommend to their Consideration 
such Measures as he shall judge necessary and 
expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, 
convene both Houses, or either of them, and in 
Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect 
to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them 
to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall 
receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; 
he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully 
executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of 
the United States. 
     Section. 4. The President, Vice President and 
all civil Officers of the United States, shall be 
removed from Office on Impeachment for, and 
Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high 
Crimes and Misdemeanors. 

                  Article. III. 

     Section. 1. The judicial Power of the United 
States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and 
in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from 
time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both 
of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold 
their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at 
stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, 
which shall not be diminished during their 
Continuance in Office. 
     Section. 2. The judicial Power shall extend to 
all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this 
Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and 
Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their 
Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, 
other public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases 
of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies 
to which the United States shall be a 
Party;--to Controversies between two or more 
States;--[between a State and Citizens of another 
State;--]* between Citizens of different States,-- 
between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands 
under Grants of different States, [and between a 
State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, 
Citizens or Subjects.]* 

*Changed by the Eleventh Amendment. 

     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.]* 

*Changed by the Thirteenth Amendment. 

     Section. 3. New States may be admitted by the 
Congress into this Union; but no new State shall 
be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any 
other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction 
of two or more States, or Parts of States, 
without the Consent of the Legislatures of the 
States concerned as well as of the Congress. 
     The Congress shall have Power to dispose of 
and make all needful Rules and Regulations 
respecting the Territory or other Property belonging 
to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution 
shall be so construed as to Prejudice any 
Claims of the United States, or of any particular 
State.
     Section. 4. The United States shall guarantee 
to every State in this Union a Republican Form of 
Government, and shall protect each of them against 
Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or 
of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be 
convened) against domestic Violence. 

                    Article. V. 

     The Congress, whenever two thirds of both 
Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose 
Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the 
Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the 
several States, shall call a Convention for proposing 
Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid 
to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this 
Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of 
three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions 
in three fourths thereof, as the one or the 
other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the 
Congress; Provided that no Amendment which 
may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight 
hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the 
first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the 
first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, 
shall be deprived of 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, 

G. Washington--Presid. 
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 
                               G. WASHINGTON--Presid. 

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 

* 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. 

     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. 


                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. 

*The first ten Amendments (Bill of Rights) were ratified 
effective December 15, 1791. 

                 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. 
 
                   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 United States by Citizens of another State, or 
by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. 

*The Eleventh Amendment was ratified February 7, 1795. 

                     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 
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. 

*The Twelfth Amendment was ratified June 15, 1804. 
* Superseded by section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment. 

                 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. 

** The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified December 6, 
1865. 

     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 
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. 

*** The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified July 9, 1868. 

     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. 

* The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified February 3, 1870. 

                 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. 

** The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified February 3, 1913. 

                 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 
of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

*** The Seventeenth Amendment was ratified April 8, 1913. 

     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. 

*The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified August 18, 
1920. 

                 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 
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 threefourths 
of the several States within seven years 
from the date of its submission. 

**The Twentieth Amendment was ratified January 23, 
1933. 

                  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 threefourths 
of the several States within seven years 
from the date of its submission to the States by the 
Congress. 

*The Twenty-Second Amendment was ratified February 
27, 1951. 

                  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 
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. 

** The Twenty-Third Amendment was ratified March 29, 
1961. 

              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. 

*The Twenty-Fourth Amendment was ratified January 
23, 1964. 

               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- 
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. 

**The Twenty-Fifth Amendment was ratified February 
10, 1967. 

               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. 

*The Twenty-Sixth Amendment was ratified July 1, 1971. 

               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. 

**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: 
     FOR transporting 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. 
     HE has 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 
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 

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 
     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 
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) 

``. . . a constitution, intended to 
endure for ages to come, and 
consequently, to be adapted to the 
various crises of human affairs.'''' 
                                   John Marshall 


At the conclusion of the 
Constitutional Convention, 
Benjamin Franklin was asked, 
``What have you wrought?'' 
He answered, 
``. . . a Republic, if you can keep it.'' 

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