美利坚合众国宪法（英文：Constitution
of the United States）简称美国宪法，是美国的根本大法，奠定美国政治制度的法律基础。该宪法于1787年9月17日在费城召开的制宪会议上获得代表的批准，并在此后不久为当时美国拥有的13个州的特别会议所批准。根据这部宪法，美国成为一个由各个拥有主权的州所组成的联邦国家，同时也有个联邦政府来为联邦的运作而服务。从此联邦体制取代了基于邦联条例而存在较为松散的邦联体制。1789年，美国宪法正式生效。美国宪法是世界上首部成文宪法，该宪法为日后许多国家成文宪法的制定提供了成功的典范。
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.
The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription
Note: The
following text is a transcription of the Constitution as it was
inscribed by Jacob Shallus on parchment (the document on display in
the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.) Items that are
hyperlinked have since been amended or superseded.
The authenticated
text of the Constitution can be found on the
website of the Government Printing Office.
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.
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 Legislaturethereof, for six Years; and each Senator
shall have one Vote.
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, 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 encreased 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 Offences 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 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 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.
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his
Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased 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 Offences 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.
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 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, 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.
The Word, "the,"
being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first
Page, The Word "Thirty" being partly written on an Erazure in the
fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words "is tried" being
interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the
first Page and the Word "the" being interlined between the forty
third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page.
Attest William
Jackson Secretary
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 Independance of the United States of
America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed
our Names,
Constitutional
Amendments 1-10 make up what is known as The
Bill of Rights.
Amendments 11-27 are listed below.
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.
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 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
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 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
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 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
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 any 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.
