Amendments to the Constitution
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA, PROPOSED BY CONGRESS, AND RATIFIED BY THE
LEGISLATURES OF THE SEVERAL STATES, PURSUANT TO THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE
ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION (See Note 12) The First 10 amendments
can be found on the Bill of Rights page
[Article XI.]
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or
prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another
State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.
[Article XII.]
The Electors shall meet in their respective states,
and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at
least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves;
they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and
in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of
all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for
each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to
the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the
President of the Senate;--The President of the Senate shall, in the
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
certificates and the votes shall then be counted;--The person having the
greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such
number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if
no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest
numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President,
the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by
states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for
this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the
states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.
And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President
whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth
day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional
disability of the President. (See Note 14)--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.
Article XIII.
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to
their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Article XIV.
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of
the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities
of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person
of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to
any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
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,(See Note 15) 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.
Article XV.
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States
to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any
State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
Article XVI.
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes
on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among
the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
[Article XVII.]
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of
two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six
years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State
shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most
numerous branch of the State legislatures.
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.
Article [XVIII].(See Note
16)
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.
Article [XIX].
The right of citizens of the United States to vote
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on
account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Article [XX.]
Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice
President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of
Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the
years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been
ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once
in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of
January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section. 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of
the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice
President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have
been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if
the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice
President elect shall act as President until a President shall have
qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein
neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have
qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in
which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act
accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section. 4. The Congress may by law provide for the
case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of
Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice
shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of
the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever
the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section. 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the
15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section. 6. This article shall be inoperative unless
it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the
legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years
from the date of its submission.
Article [XXI.]
Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the
Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2. The transportation or importation into any
State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use
therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is
hereby prohibited.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it
shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by
conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution,
within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States
by the Congress.
Amendment XXII
Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of
the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of
President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to
which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the
office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply
to any person holding the office of President when this article was
proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be
holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term
within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of
President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it
shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the
legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years
from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress.
Amendment XXIII
Section 1. The District constituting the seat of
government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the
Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President
equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to
which the District would be entitled if it were a state, but in no event
more than the least populous state; they shall be in addition to those
appointed by the states, but they shall be considered, for the purposes
of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors
appointed by a state; and they shall meet in the District and perform
such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXIV
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States
to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice
President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator
or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or
other tax.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXV
Section 1. In case of the removal of the President
from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall
become President.
Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office
of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who
shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of
Congress.
Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the
President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives his 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
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.
Amendment XXVII
No law varying the compensation for the services of
the Senators and Representatives shall take effect until an election of
Representatives shall have intervened.
NOTES
Note 1: This text of the Constitution follows the
engrossed copy signed by Gen. Washington and the deputies from 12
States. The small superior figures preceding the paragraphs designate
Clauses, and were not in the original and have no reference to
footnotes.
The Constitution was adopted by a convention of the
States on September 17, 1787, and was subsequently ratified by the
several States, on the following dates: Delaware, December 7, 1787;
Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787; New Jersey, December 18, 1787; Georgia,
January 2, 1788; Connecticut, January 9, 1788; Massachusetts, February
6, 1788; Maryland, April 28, 1788; South Carolina, May 23, 1788; New
Hampshire, June 21, 1788.
Ratification was completed on June 21, 1788. The
Constitution was subsequently ratified by Virginia, June 25, 1788; New
York, July 26, 1788; North Carolina, November 21, 1789; Rhode Island,
May 29, 1790; and Vermont, January 10, 1791.
In May 1785, a committee of Congress made a report
recommending an alteration in the Articles of Confederation, but no
action was taken on it, and it was left to the State Legislatures to
proceed in the matter. In January 1786, the Legislature of Virginia
passed a resolution providing for the appointment of five commissioners,
who, or any three of them, should meet such commissioners as might be
appointed in the other States of the Union, at a time and place to be
agreed upon, to take into consideration the trade of the United States;
to consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations may
be necessary to their common interest and their permanent harmony; and
to report to the several States such an act, relative to this great
object, as, when ratified by them, will enable the United States in
Congress effectually to provide for the same. The Virginia
commissioners, after some correspondence, fixed the first Monday in
September as the time, and the city of Annapolis as the place for the
meeting, but only four other States were represented, viz: Delaware, New
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; the commissioners appointed by
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Rhode Island failed to
attend. Under the circumstances of so partial a representation, the
commissioners present agreed upon a report, (drawn by Mr. Hamilton, of
New York,) expressing their unanimous conviction that it might
essentially tend to advance the interests of the Union if the States by
which they were respectively delegated would concur, and use their
endeavors to procure the concurrence of the other States, in the
appointment of commissioners to meet at Philadelphia on the Second
Monday of May following, to take into consideration the situation of the
United States; to devise such further provisions as should appear to
them necessary to render the Constitution of the Federal Government
adequate to the exigencies of the Union; and to report such an act for
that purpose to the United States in Congress assembled as, when agreed
to by them and afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of every State,
would effectually provide for the same.
Congress, on the 21st of February, 1787, adopted a
resolution in favor of a convention, and the Legislatures of those
States which had not already done so (with the exception of Rhode
Island) promptly appointed delegates. On the 25th of May, seven States
having convened, George Washington, of Virginia, was unanimously elected
President, and the consideration of the proposed constitution was
commenced. On the 17th of September, 1787, the Constitution as engrossed
and agreed upon was signed by all the members present, except Mr. Gerry
of Massachusetts, and Messrs. Mason and Randolph, of Virginia. The
president of the convention transmitted it to Congress, with a
resolution stating how the proposed Federal Government should be put in
operation, and an explanatory letter. Congress, on the 28th of
September, 1787, directed the Constitution so framed, with the
resolutions and letter concerning the same, to "be transmitted to the
several Legislatures in order to be submitted to a convention of
delegates chosen in each State by the people thereof, in conformity to
the resolves of the convention."
On the 4th of March, 1789, the day which had been
fixed for commencing the operations of Government under the new
Constitution, it had been ratified by the conventions chosen in each
State to consider it, as follows: Delaware, December 7, 1787;
Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787; New Jersey, December 18, 1787; Georgia,
January 2, 1788; Connecticut, January 9, 1788; Massachusetts, February
6, 1788; Maryland, April 28, 1788; South Carolina, May 23, 1788; New
Hampshire, June 21, 1788; Virginia, June 25, 1788; and New York, July
26, 1788.
The President
informed Congress, on the 28th of January, 1790, that North Carolina had
ratified the Constitution November 21, 1789; and he informed Congress on
the 1st of June, 1790, that Rhode Island had ratified the Constitution
May 29, 1790. Vermont, in convention, ratified the Constitution January
10, 1791, and was, by an act of Congress approved February 18, 1791,
"received and admitted into this Union as a new and entire member of the
United States."
Note 2: The
part of this Clause relating to the mode of apportionment of
representatives among the several States has been affected by Section 2
of amendment XIV, and as to taxes on incomes without apportionment by
amendment XVI.
Note 3: This
Clause has been affected by Clause 1 of amendment XVII.
Note 4: This
Clause has been affected by Clause 2 of amendment XVIII.
Note 5: This
Clause has been affected by amendment XX.
Note 6: This
Clause has been affected by amendment XXVII.
Note 7: This
Clause has been affected by amendment XVI.
Note 8: This
Clause has been superseded by amendment XII.
Note 9: This
Clause has been affected by amendment XXV.
Note 10: This
Clause has been affected by amendment XI.
Note 11: This
Clause has been affected by amendment XIII.
Note 12: The
first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States (and two
others, one of which failed of ratification and the other which later
became the 27th amendment) were proposed to the legislatures of the
several States by the First Congress on September 25, 1789. The first
ten amendments were ratified by the following States, and the
notifications of ratification by the Governors thereof were successively
communicated by the President to Congress: New Jersey, November 20,
1789; Maryland, December 19, 1789; North Carolina, December 22, 1789;
South Carolina, January 19, 1790; New Hampshire, January 25, 1790;
Delaware, January 28, 1790; New York, February 24, 1790; Pennsylvania,
March 10, 1790; Rhode Island, June 7, 1790; Vermont, November 3, 1791;
and Virginia, December 15, 1791.
Ratification
was completed on December 15, 1791.
The amendments
were subsequently ratified by the legislatures of Massachusetts, March
2, 1939; Georgia, March 18, 1939; and Connecticut, April 19, 1939.
Note 13: Only
the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th articles of amendment had numbers
assigned to them at the time of ratification.
Note 14: This
sentence has been superseded by section 3 of amendment XX.
Note 15: See
amendment XIX and section 1 of amendment XXVI.
Note 16:
Repealed by section 1 of amendment XXI.
