The Bill of Rights
U.S. Constitution - Preamble
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 choose their speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole
power of impeachment.
Section 3.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state,
chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be
divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be
vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth
year, and the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every
second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the
legislature of any state, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next
meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine
years a citizen of the United States and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state
for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote,
unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose 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 choosing 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
behavior, 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 increased 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 defense 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 a 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, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing
powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States,
or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 9.
The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall
think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand
eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding
ten dollars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion
or invasion the public safety may require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration
herein before directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state
over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to enter, clear or
pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law;
and a regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be
published from time to time.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of
profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present,
emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Section 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque
and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything 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 control of
the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of
war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign
power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of
delay.
Article II
Section 1.
The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He
shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen
for the same term, be elected, as follows:
Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of
electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be
entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.
The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one
at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of
all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and
certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the
President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House
of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person
having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the
whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and
have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose 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 choose 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. 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 choose
from them by ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the time of choosing 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 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.
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 labor 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 labor,
but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.
Section 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be
formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the
junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the
states concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting
the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution
shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular state.
Section 4.
The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of
government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature,
or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.
Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose
amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the
several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be
valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of
three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the
other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which
may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect
the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its
consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
Article VI
All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall
be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and
all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the
supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything 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-Presidt. and deputy from Virginia
New Hampshire: John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts: Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King
Connecticut: Wm: Saml. Johnson, Roger Sherman
New York: Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey: Wil: Livingston, David Brearly, 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
NOTE: This is a transcription of the original constitution. Many parts of it have been altered by
amendments. I STRONGLY recommend utilizing the University of California at Riverside search
facility if you want to do an in-depth study. The UCR site has the entire constitution and notes all
amendments (including 6 UNratified amendments) as well as how they have affected the constitution.
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