The Constitution--a Remarkable Document
In 1987 on the
200th anniversary of the United States Constitution, former chief justice Warren
Burger wrote:
In the last quarter of the 18th century no nation in the world
was governed with separated and divided powers providing checks and balances on
the exercise of authority by those who governed. A first step toward such a
result was taken with the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which was
followed by the Constitution drafted in Philadelphia in 1787; in 1791 the Bill
of Rights was added. Each had antecedents back to Magna Carta and
beyond.
The
work of 55 men at Philadelphia in 1787 was another step toward ending the
concept of the divine right of kings. In place of the absolutism of the monarchy
the freedoms flowing from this document created a land of opportunities. Ever
since then discouraged and oppressed people from every part of the world have
made their way to our shores; there were others too--educated, affluent, seeking
a new land."
The lessons of the nation’s heritage cannot be learned
without first reading and grasping the meaning of this remarkable document--the
first of its kind in all human history.
The Constitution is reproduced
here with its original spellings, capitalizations, and punctuations.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1787
We the People of
the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general
Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of
America.
Article. I.
Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and
House of Representatives.
Section. 2. The House of Representatives shall
be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several
States, and the electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite
for Electors of the most numerous branch of
the State Legislature.
No
Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of
twenty five Years, and been seven Years a citizen of the United States, and who
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be
chosen.
[Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this Union, according to their
respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of
free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and
excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.]¹ 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]² ,
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].³
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,]4; 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
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 Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts
and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow
Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with
foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian
Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws
on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin
Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of
Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the
Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post
Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful
Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right
to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals
inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies
committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;
To
declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning
Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no
Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two
Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the
Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for
calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress
Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and
disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be
employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States
respectively, the appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the
Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise
exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding
ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of
Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to
exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the
Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts,
Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;--And To make all
Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the
foregoing Powers, and all other Powers
vested by this Constitution in the
Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer
thereof.
Section. 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a
Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for
each Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be
suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may
require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be
passed.
[No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in
Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.]5;
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.]6;
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.]7;
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
behavior, 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;]8;
--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]9;. 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.]10;
Section. 3. New States may be admitted by the
Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the
Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two
or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of
the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have
Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the
Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this
Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United
States, or of any particular State.
Section. 4. The United States shall
guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and
shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the
Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened)
against domestic Violence.
Article. V.
The Congress,
whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose
Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of
two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing
Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes,
as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths
of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or
the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no
Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and
eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth
Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be
deprived of it's equal Suffrage in the Senate.
Article. VI.
All Debts
contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this
Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this
Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws
of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties
made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be
the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound
thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary
notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and
the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial
Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by
Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall
ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the
United States.
Article.
VII.
The Ratification of the
Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this
Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
done in Convention
by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September
in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and of the
Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In Witness whereof We
have hereunto subscribed our Names,
Go. WASHINGTON-- Presidt.
and
deputy from Virginia
New Hampshire
John Langdon
Nicholas
Gilman
Massachusetts
Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King
Connecticut
Wm.
Saml. Johnson
Roger Sherman
New York
Alexander Hamilton
New
Jersey
Wil: Livingston
David Brearley
Wm. Paterson
Jona:
Dayton
Pennsylvania
B Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robt Morris
Geo.
Clymer
Thos FitzSimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouv
Morris
Delaware
Geo: Read
Gunning Bedford jun
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jaco: Broom
Maryland
James Mchenry
Dan of St
Thos. Jenifer
Danl Carroll
Virginia
John BlairŸ
James Madison Jr.
North Carolina
Wm. Blount
Richd. Dobbs Spaight
Hu
Williamson
South Carolina
J. Rutledge Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles
Pinckney Pierce Butler
Georgia
William Few
Abr
Baldwin
Attest William Jackson, Secretary
PRESS SEAL TO RETURN