THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

    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

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION IF THE UNITED STATES

Amendment I                                           (1791)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or 
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the 
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II                                          (1791)

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                                         (1791)

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                                          (1791)

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                                           (1791)

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 offense 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                                          (1791)

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 defense.

Amendment VII                                         (1791)

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 
reexamined in any court of the United States, than according 
to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII                                        (1791)

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX                                          (1791)

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X                                           (1791)

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                                          (1798)

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.

Amendment XII                                         (1804)

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.

Amendment XIII                                       (1865)

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except 
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been 
duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any 
place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XIV                                         (1868)

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.

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                                           (1870)

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any 
state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XVI                                          (1913)

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 
of enumeration.

Amendment XVII                                         (1913)

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.

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                                         (1919)

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.

Amendment XIX                                          (1920)

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not 
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on 
account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation.

Amendment XX                                           (1933)

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 three-fourths of the several states within 
seven years from the date of its submission.

Amendment XXI                                          (1933)

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.

Amendment XXII                                         (1951)

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the 
President more than twice, and no person who has held the 
office of President, or acted as President, for more than two 
years of a term to which some other person was elected President 
shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. 
But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office 
of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, 
and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office 
of President, or acting as President, during the term within 
which this article becomes operative from holding the office of 
President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall 
have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the 
legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven 
years from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress.

Amendment XXIII                                        (1961)

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.

Amendment XXIV                                          (1964)

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, 
for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or 
Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by 
the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any 
poll tax or other tax.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XXV                                          (1967)

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 written declaration that he is unable to 
discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he 
transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, 
such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice 
President as Acting President.

Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of 
either the principal officers of the executive departments 
or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, 
transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives their written 
declaration that the President is unable to discharge the 
powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall 
immediately assume the powers and duties of the office 
as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro 
tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives his written declaration that no inability 
exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office 
unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal 
officers of the executive department or of such other body as 
Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the 
President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives their written declaration that the 
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his 
office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling 
within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. 
If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the 
latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, 
within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, 
determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President 
is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, 
the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as 
Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the 
powers and duties of his office.

Amendment XXVI                                         (1971)

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who 
are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or 
abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation.