Note: The following text is a transcription of the
Constitution in its original form. Items in hypertext have since been amended
or superseded. The Signature Area of this
transcription features hyperlinks to biographies of the delegates to the
Constitutional Convention.
-
We the People of the
United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United
States of America.
Article. I.
Section. 1.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a
Senate and House of Representatives.
Section. 2.
The House of Representatives shall be composed of
Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States,
and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite
for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a
Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five
Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he
shall be chosen.
Representatives
and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may
be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers,
which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons,
including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding
Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual
Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of
the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of
ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of
Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each
State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration
shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse
three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one,
Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight,
Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South
Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation
from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of
Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of
Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall
have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section. 3.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of
two Senators from each State, chosen
by the Legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall
have one Vote.
Immediately after they
shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be
divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the
Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the
second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year,
and 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.
Section. 5.
Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections,
Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each
shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance
of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each
House may provide.
Each House may determine
the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly
Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
Each House shall keep a
Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same,
excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the
Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at
the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.
Neither House, during the
Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn
for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the
two Houses shall be sitting.
Section. 6.
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a
Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out
of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except
Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest
during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and
in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in
either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
No Senator or
Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be
appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States,
which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been
encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the
United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance
in Office.
Section. 7.
All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with
Amendments as on other Bills.
Every Bill which shall have
passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it
become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he
approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his
Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall
enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to
reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House
shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the
Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be
reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall
become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be
determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and
against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House
respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within
ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him,
the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless
the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it
shall not be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or
Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives
may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be
presented to the President of the United States; and
before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being
disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and
House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations
prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Section. 8.
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect
Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the
common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties,
Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow Money on the
credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with
foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian
Tribes;
To establish an uniform
Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies
throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the
Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and
Measures;
To provide for the
Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the
United States;
To establish Post Offices
and post Roads;
l, 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
To promote the Progress of
Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and
Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and
Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals
inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish
Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against
the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant
Letters of Marque and Reprisa
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.
No State shall, without
the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships
of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with
another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless
actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
Article. II.
Section. 1.
The executive Power shall be vested in a President
of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the
Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for
the same Term, be elected, as follows:
Each State shall appoint,
in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of
Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to
which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or
Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the
United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The
Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote
by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an
Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List
of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which
List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the
Government of the United States, directed to the President of the
Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate
and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes
shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes
shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number
of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such
Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of
Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for
President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest
on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But
in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the
Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this
purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the
States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice.
In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the
greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President.
But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate
shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine
the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give
their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
No Person except a natural
born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the
Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of
President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall
not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen
Years a Resident within the United States.
In
Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death,
Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said
Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress
may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or
Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what
Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act
accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be
elected.
The President shall, at
stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall
neither be 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 Offences against the United States, except in Cases of
Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and
with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided
two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by
and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme
Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments
are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by
Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior
Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of
Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have
Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the
Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their
next Session.
Section. 3.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their
Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;
he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of
them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time
of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think
proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he
shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall
Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Section. 4.
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers
of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for,
and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and
Misdemeanors.
Article III.
Section. 1.
The judicial Power of the United States shall be
vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress
may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the
supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good
Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a
Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in
Office.
Section. 2.
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law
and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United
States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their
Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers
and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to
Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;--to
Controversies between two or more States;-- between
a State and Citizens of another State;--between Citizens of
different States;--between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands
under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens
thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
In all Cases affecting
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a
State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original
Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court
shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such
Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The Trial of all Crimes,
except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall
be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed;
but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such
Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.
Section. 3.
Treason against the United States, shall consist
only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies,
giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason
unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on
Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have
Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason
shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of
the Person attainted.
Article. IV.
Section. 1.
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State
to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other
State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in
which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect
thereof.
Section. 2.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all
Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
A Person charged in any
State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice,
and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive
Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be
removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
No
Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof,
escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation
therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be
delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be
due.
Section. 3.
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this
Union; but no new 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 its equal
Suffrage in the Senate.
Article. VI.
All Debts
contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this
Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this
Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the
Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and
all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the
United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in
every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or
Laws of any State to the Contrary 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.
The Word, "the," being interlined
between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, the Word
"Thirty" being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth
Line of the first Page, The Words "is tried" being interlined
between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page and
the Word "the" being interlined between the forty third and
forty fourth Lines of the second Page.
Attest William Jackson Secretary
Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of
the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence
of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have
hereunto subscribed our Names,
G°.
Washington
President and deputy from Virginia
- Delaware
- Geo:
Read
- Gunning
Bedford jun
- John
Dickinson
- Richard
Bassett
- Jaco:
Broom
- Maryland
- James
McHenry
- Dan
of St Thos. Jenifer
- Danl.
Carroll
- Virginia
- John
Blair
- James
Madison Jr.
- North
Carolina
- Wm.
Blount
- Richd.
Dobbs Spaight
- Hu
Williamson
- South
Carolina
- J.
Rutledge
- Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney
- Charles
Pinckney
- Pierce
Butler
- Georgia
- William
Few
- Abr
Baldwin
- New
Hampshire
- John
Langdon
- Nicholas
Gilman
- Massachusetts
- Nathaniel
Gorham
- Rufus
King
- Connecticut
- Wm.
Saml. Johnson
- Roger
Sherman
- New
York
- Alexander
Hamilton
- New
Jersey
- Wil:
Livingston
- David
Brearley
- Wm.
Paterson
- Jona:
Dayton
- Pennsylvania
- B
Franklin
- Thomas
Mifflin
- Robt.
Morris
- Geo.
Clymer
- Thos.
FitzSimons
- Jared
Ingersoll
- James
Wilson
- Gouv
Morris
-
