THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of
their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to
prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further
declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as
extending the ground of public confidence in the Government,
will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.
RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of
both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed
to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the
Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which
Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said
Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part
of the said Constitution; viz.
ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the 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.
Note: The following text is a transcription of the first ten
amendments to the Constitution in their original form. These
amendments were ratified December 15, 1791, and form what is
known as the "Bill of Rights."
AMENDMENT I
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
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
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
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
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 offence 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
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 defence.
AMENDMENT VII
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
re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to
the rules of the common law.
AMENDMENT VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
AMENDMENT IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the
people.
AMENDMENT X
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 - Passed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified
February 7, 1795.
Note: Article III, section 2, of the Constitution was modified
by amendment 11.
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 - Passed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified
June 15, 1804.
Note: A portion of Article II, section 1 of the Constitution was
superseded by the 12th amendment.
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 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.
*Superseded by section 3 of the 20th amendment.
AMENDMENT XIII - Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified
December 6, 1865.
Note: A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution
was superseded by the 13th amendment.
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 - Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July
9, 1868.
Note: Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by
section 2 of the 14th amendment.
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 the power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article.
*Changed by section 1 of the 26th amendment.
AMENDMENT XV - Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified
February 3, 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 the power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XVI - Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified
February 3, 1913.
Note: Article I, section 9, of the Constitution was modified by
amendment 16.
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.
AMENDMENT XVII - Passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April
8, 1913.
Note: Article I, section 3, of the Constitution was modified by
the 17th amendment.
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 - Passed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified
January 16, 1919. Repealed by amendment 21.
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 - Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August
18, 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 - Passed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified
January 23, 1933.
Note: Article I, section 4, of the Constitution was modified by
section 2 of this amendment. In addition, a portion of the 12th
amendment was superseded by section 3.
Section 1.
The terms of the President and the 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 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 - Passed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified
December 5, 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 - Passed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified
February 27, 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 President more than once. But this Article
shall not apply to any person holding the office of President
when this Article was proposed by 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 - Passed by Congress June 16, 1960. Ratified
March 29, 1961.
Section 1.
The District constituting the seat of Government of the United
States shall appoint in such manner as 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 - Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified
January 23, 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 poll
tax or other tax.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXV - Passed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified
February 10, 1967.
Note: Article II, section 1, of the Constitution was affected by
the 25th amendment.
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 - Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified
July 1, 1971.
Note: Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified
by section 1 of the 26th amendment.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen
years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXVII - Originally proposed Sept. 25, 1789. Ratified
May 7, 1992.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the
Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an
election of representatives shall have intervened. |
