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Introduction
to America's Most Sacred Documents
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America is the dream of the
human spirit transformed in to a hope embodied within
Democracy's most sacred documents, yet still aspiring to
become a reality for all.
The
Declaration of Independence is the first breath of Freedom;
the Constitution is the Heart which gives life to that
breath, and the Bill of Rights is the Soul of what it is to
be free.
"We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men [people] are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness."
Declaration of
Independence
"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
"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."
First Amendment To The
Constitution: From The Bill of Rights
In addition,
as those documents represent the breath, heart, and soul of
Democracy, then we can say that The Federalist Papers,
in which our founders explain with extraordinary clarity and
elegance their creation is thus the inner voice
of the mind of Freedom.
"It will be forgotten, on the one
hand, that jealousy is the usual concomitant of love, and
that the noble enthusiasm of liberty is apt to be infected
with a spirit of narrow and illiberal distrust. On the
other hand, it will be equally forgotten that the vigor of
government is essential to the security of liberty; that,
in the contemplation of a sound and well-informed
judgment, their interest can never be separated; and that
a dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious
mask of zeal for the rights of the people than under the
forbidden appearance of zeal for the firmness and
efficiency of government. History will teach us that the
former has been found a much more certain road to the
introduction of despotism than the latter, and that of
those men who have overturned the liberties of republics,
the greatest number have begun their career by paying an
obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and
ending tyrants."
Introduction to the Federalist Papers,
Alexander Hamilton.
The Founders
also saw beyond the moment and recognized the need for
future generations to amend their work, and so we have
nearly thirty Amendments to the Constitution since the
creation of our nation. (the Bill of Rights is actually the
first Ten Amendments).
These
Amendments are truly the chronicle of the pursuit of that
dream that roused the creation of our nation and the
evolution of its heart and soul. And through
them it reveals both shame and triumphs.
In the words of Frederick Douglass,
"When he tarried long in the mountain we saw all
this, and more, we were at times grieved, stunned, and
greatly bewildered; but our hearts believed while they
ached and bled."
For all the
best and worst the Amendments reveal of what we are and
remind us of the imperfections of the present,
above all else they are a history that encourages and
inspires toward the possibilities of a future in which all
humankind can someday share fulfillment of the Dream..
"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."
AMENDMENT XIII Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified
December 6, 1865.
"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."
AMENDMENT XIV Passed by
Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.
"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.
AMENDMENT XIX
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified
August 18, 1920.
The
Declaration of Independence; The Constitution;
The Bill of Rights.
These are
the most sacred of documents of freedom and democracy and
taken together they are the essence of the most fundamental
values of our nation. They embody the very spirit of
what it is to be an American and it is in defense of their
principles, ideals, and the hopes they inspire for a better
future that Men and Women of our Armed Forces have
served our nation throughout its history.
The Dream is
not without its loss, and no words more eloquently expresses
the sacrifice made in defense of our principles then the
Gettysburg Address. We are forever reminded that
those who have sacrificed for our nation now and in
the past and those who will sacrifice in the future when
sent in harms way in defense of our nation are the
embodiment of the dream, the heart, the soul, and the mind
of our freedom and democracy to whom we are all
indebted.
Taken together, I consider these documents: The
Declaration of Independence; The Constitution and its
Amendments; the Federalist Papers; and the Gettysburg
Address to be the most sacred of all documents upon
which our nation is built and our faith in its future is
founded. They are the most holy scriptures of
Democracy and the central beliefs by which we claim the
right to call ourselves true Americans. Every other
belief we may have is our personal belief but these words
represent our shared beliefs as a nation and as True
Americans.
It is often a small thing but noble thing we
may do as individuals, but a great thing we as a nation have
done together.
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TIME
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Declaration
of Independence
July 4, 1776.
Federalist
Papers
October 1787 and May 1788.
Constitution
September 17, 1787 .
Bill of
Rights
Passed March 4, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791
Amendments
to the Constitution
Multiple. Amendments 11 through 28 ratified
between March 4, 1794 and May 7, 1992
Gettysburg
Address
November 19, 1863.
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U.S.
National Archives & Records Administration
700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408 •
1-86-NARA-NARA • 1-866-272-6272 |
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The Declaration of Independence
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IN CONGRESS,
July 4, 1776.
The Unanimous Declaration
of the Thirteen United States of America,
When in the Course of human
events, it becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have connected them
with another, and to assume among the powers of the
earth, the separate and equal station to which the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a
decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires
that they should declare the causes which impel them
to the separation.
We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty
and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these
rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the governed,
--That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them
shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that
Governments long established should not be changed for
light and transient causes; and accordingly all
experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed
to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object
evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to
throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards
for their future security.--Such has been the patient
sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the
necessity which constrains them to alter their former
Systems of Government. The history of the present King
of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and
usurpations, all having in direct object the
establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these
States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a
candid world.
He has refused his Assent
to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the
public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of
immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended
in their operation till his Assent should be
obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly
neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the
accommodation of large districts of people, unless
those people would relinquish the right of
Representation in the Legislature, a right
inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places
unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the
depository of their public Records, for the sole
purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his
measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly,
for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on
the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such
dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby
the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation,
have returned to the People at large for their
exercise; the State remaining in the mean time
exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without,
and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of
these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws
for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass
others to encourage their migrations hither, and
raising the conditions of new Appropriations of
Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by
refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing
Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for
the tenure of their offices, and the amount and
payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent
hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and
eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing
Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent
of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a
jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and
unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to
their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among
us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from
punishment for any Murders which they should commit
on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the
world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of
Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for
pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a
neighbouring Province, establishing therein an
Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries
so as to render it at once an example and fit
instrument for introducing the same absolute rule
into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most
valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms
of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring
themselves invested with power to legislate for us
in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us
out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt
our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of
foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death,
desolation and tyranny, already begun with
circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally
unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive
on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country,
to become the executioners of their friends and
Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us,
and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of
our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose
known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished
destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these
Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most
humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been
answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose
character is thus marked by every act which may define
a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in
attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned
them from time to time of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction
over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of
our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed
to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have
conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to
disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably
interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too
have been deaf to the voice of justice and of
consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the
necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold
them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War,
in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the
Representatives of the united States of America, in
General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme
Judge of the world for the rectitude of our
intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the
good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and
declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right
ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are
Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and
that all political connection between them and the
State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally
dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States,
they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace,
contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all
other Acts and Things which Independent States may of
right do. And for the support of this Declaration,
with a firm reliance on the protection of divine
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
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| The 56
signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions
indicated: |
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Column 2 |
Column 3 |
Column 4 |
Column 5 |
Column 6 |
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton |
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton |
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton |
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean |
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark |
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton |
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Drafted by Thomas
Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration
of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol
of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument. Here, in
exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the
convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people.
The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its
ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by
John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson
did was to summarize this philosophy in "self-evident
truths" and set forth a list of grievances against the
King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties
between the colonies and the mother country. We invite you to read
a transcription of the complete text of the Declaration. |
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The Constitution of the United States
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Note:
The following text is a transcription of the
Constitution in its original form.
Items that are hyperlinked have since been amended
or superseded.
We the People of the
United States, in Order to form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic
Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote
the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain
and establish this Constitution for the United
States of America.
Article. I.
Section.
1.
All
legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist
of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section.
2.
The
House of Representatives shall be composed of
Members chosen every second Year by the People of
the several States, and the Electors in each State
shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors
of the most numerous Branch of the State
Legislature.
No
Person shall be a Representative who shall not have
attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been
seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that
State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives
and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this
Union, according to their respective Numbers, which
shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of
free Persons, including those bound to Service for a
Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed,
three fifths of all other Persons. The actual
Enumeration shall be made within three Years after
the first Meeting of the Congress of the United
States, and within every subsequent Term of ten
Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.
The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one
for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have
at Least one Representative; and until such
enumeration shall be made, the State of New
Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three,
Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New
Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one,
Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five,
South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When
vacancies happen in the Representation from any
State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue
Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The
House of Representatives shall 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 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.
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
Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless
in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein
before directed to be taken.
No Tax
or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any
State.
No
Preference shall be given by any Regulation of
Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over
those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or
from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay
Duties in another.
No
Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in
Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a
regular Statement and Account of 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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 Independence of the United States of America the
Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto
subscribed our Names,
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G°.
Washington
Presidt and deputy from Virginia
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The Constitution
of the United States comprises the primary law of the U.S.
Federal Government. It also describes the three chief branches
of the Federal Government and their jurisdictions. In
addition, it lays out the basic rights of citizens of the
United States. The Constitution of the United States is the
oldest Federal constitution in existence and was framed by a
convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen original
states in Philadelphia in May 1787, Rhode Island failing to
send a delegate. The Constitution is the landmark legal
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| The Bill of Rights |
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The Preamble to The
Bill of Rights
Congress of the United States
begun and held at the City of New-York, on
Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and
eighty nine.
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.
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Following the approval of the
Constitution on a number of Delegates from the various States
"expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction
or abuse of its powers, that further restrictive clauses
should be added."
In accordance
with the rules of Article V of the Constitution the Delegates
thus ratified the first 10 Amendments which have since been
known as the Bill of Rights.
Whereas the
Constitution essentially described the organization of
Government and the separation of powers between the Executive,
Legislature, and the Judiciary, and between the Federal
Government and the State Government, the Bill of Rights
established the individual rights of citizens.
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The Bill of
Rights: A Transcription
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 reexamined 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.
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Note: The capitalization and
punctuation in this version is from the enrolled
original of the Joint Resolution of Congress
proposing the Bill
of Rights, which is on permanent
display in the Rotunda of the National Archives
Building, Washington, D.C.
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U.S. National Archives &
Records Administration
700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408 •
1-86-NARA-NARA • 1-866-272-6272 |
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| The Amendments to the Constitution |
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| The Constitution:
Amendments 11-27
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 XVIPassed
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.
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Article. V. of the Constitution provides
for amendments in the following manner:
"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."
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| The Gettysburg Address |
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Transcript of Gettysburg
Address (1863) Abraham Lincoln
Executive Mansion,
Washington, , 1863 .
Four score and seven
years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this
continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that "all men are
created equal"
Now we are engaged in a
great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any
nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long
endure. We are met on a great battle field of that
war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a
final resting place for those who died here, that the
nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can
not consecrate -- we can not hallow, this ground-- The
brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have
hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or
detract. The world will little note, nor long remember
what we say here; while it can never forget what they did
here.
It is rather for us,
the living, to stand here, we here be
dedica-ted to the great task remaining before us --
that, from these honored dead we take increased
devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the
last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly
resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that
the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and
that government of the people by the people for the
people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham
Lincoln, Draft of the Gettysburg Address: Nicolay
Copy. Transcribed and annotated by the Lincoln
Studies Center, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois.
Available at Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library
of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, D.C.:
American Memory Project, [2000-02]), http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html.
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Gettysburg
Address (1863)
At the
end of the Battle of Gettysburg, more than 51,000
Confederate and Union soldiers were wounded, missing,
or dead. Many of those who died were laid in makeshift
graves along the battlefield. Pennsylvania Governor
Andrew Curtin commissioned David Wills, an attorney,
to purchase land for a proper burial site for the
deceased Union soldiers. Wills acquired 17 acres for
the cemetery, which was planned and designed by
landscape architect William Saunders.
The
cemetery was dedicated on November 19, 1863. The main
speaker for the event was Edward Everett, one of the
nation’s foremost orators. President Lincoln was
also invited to speak “as Chief Executive of the
nation, formally [to] set apart these grounds to their
sacred use by a few appropriate remarks.” At the
ceremony, Everett spoke for more than 2 hours; Lincoln
spoke for 2 minutes.
President
Lincoln had given his brief speech a lot of thought.
He saw meaning in the fact that the Union victory at
Gettysburg coincided with the nation’s birthday; but
rather than focus on the specific battle in his
remarks, he wanted to present a broad statement about
the larger significance of the war. He invoked the
Declaration of Independence, and its principles of
liberty and equality, and he spoke of “a new birth
of freedom” for the nation. In his brief address, he
continued to reshape the aims of the war for the
American people—transforming it from a war for Union
to a war for Union and freedom. Although Lincoln
expressed disappointment in the speech initially, it
has come to be regarded as one of the most elegant and
eloquent speeches in U.S. history.
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| FEDERALIST
PAPERS |
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Federalist No.
1
General Introduction
For the Independent Journal.
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Author: Alexander
Hamilton
To the People
of the State of New York:
AFTER an
unequivocal experience of the inefficiency of the subsisting
federal government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new
Constitution for the United States of America. The subject
speaks its own importance; comprehending in its consequences
nothing less than the existence of the UNION, the safety and
welfare of the parts of which it is composed, the fate of an
empire in many respects the most interesting in the world. It
has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been
reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and
example, to decide the important question, whether societies
of men are really capable or not of establishing good
government from reflection and choice, or whether they are
forever destined to depend for their political constitutions
on accident and force. If there be any truth in the remark,
the crisis at which we are arrived may with propriety be
regarded as the era in which that decision is to be made; and
a wrong election of the part we shall act may, in this view,
deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind.
This idea will
add the inducements of philanthropy to those of patriotism, to
heighten the solicitude which all considerate and good men
must feel for the event. Happy will it be if our choice should
be directed by a judicious estimate of our true interests,
unperplexed and unbiased by considerations not connected with
the public good. But this is a thing more ardently to be
wished than seriously to be expected. The plan offered to our
deliberations affects too many particular interests, innovates
upon too many local institutions, not to involve in its
discussion a variety of objects foreign to its merits, and of
views, passions and prejudices little favorable to the
discovery of truth.
Among the most
formidable of the obstacles which the new Constitution will
have to encounter may readily be distinguished the obvious
interest of a certain class of men in every State to resist
all changes which may hazard a diminution of the power,
emolument, and consequence of the offices they hold under the
State establishments; and the perverted ambition of another
class of men, who will either hope to aggrandize themselves by
the confusions of their country, or will flatter themselves
with fairer prospects of elevation from the subdivision of the
empire into several partial confederacies than from its union
under one government.
It is not,
however, my design to dwell upon observations of this nature.
I am well aware that it would be disingenuous to resolve
indiscriminately the opposition of any set of men (merely
because their situations might subject them to suspicion) into
interested or ambitious views. Candor will oblige us to admit
that even such men may be actuated by upright intentions; and
it cannot be doubted that much of the opposition which has
made its appearance, or may hereafter make its appearance,
will spring from sources, blameless at least, if not
respectable--the honest errors of minds led astray by
preconceived jealousies and fears. So numerous indeed and so
powerful are the causes which serve to give a false bias to
the judgment, that we, upon many occasions, see wise and good
men on the wrong as well as on the right side of questions of
the first magnitude to society. This circumstance, if duly
attended to, would furnish a lesson of moderation to those who
are ever so much persuaded of their being in the right in any
controversy. And a further reason for caution, in this
respect, might be drawn from the reflection that we are not
always sure that those who advocate the truth are influenced
by purer principles than their antagonists. Ambition, avarice,
personal animosity, party opposition, and many other motives
not more laudable than these, are apt to operate as well upon
those who support as those who oppose the right side of a
question. Were there not even these inducements to moderation,
nothing could be more ill-judged than that intolerant spirit
which has, at all times, characterized political parties. For
in politics, as in religion, it is equally absurd to aim at
making proselytes by fire and sword. Heresies in either can
rarely be cured by persecution.
And yet,
however just these sentiments will be allowed to be, we have
already sufficient indications that it will happen in this as
in all former cases of great national discussion. A torrent of
angry and malignant passions will be let loose. To judge from
the conduct of the opposite parties, we shall be led to
conclude that they will mutually hope to evince the justness
of their opinions, and to increase the number of their
converts by the loudness of their declamations and the
bitterness of their invectives. An enlightened zeal for the
energy and efficiency of government will be stigmatized as the
offspring of a temper fond of despotic power and hostile to
the principles of liberty. An over-scrupulous jealousy of
danger to the rights of the people, which is more commonly the
fault of the head than of the heart, will be represented as
mere pretense and artifice, the stale bait for popularity at
the expense of the public good.
It will
be forgotten, on the one hand, that jealousy is the usual
concomitant of love, and that the noble enthusiasm of
liberty is apt to be infected with a spirit of narrow and
illiberal distrust. On the other hand, it will be equally
forgotten that the vigor of government is essential to the
security of liberty; that, in the contemplation of a sound
and well-informed judgment, their interest can never be
separated; and that a dangerous ambition more often lurks
behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the
people than under the forbidden appearance of zeal for the
firmness and efficiency of government. History will teach us
that the former has been found a much more certain road to
the introduction of despotism than the latter, and that of
those men who have overturned the liberties of republics,
the greatest number have begun their career by paying an
obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and
ending tyrants.
In the course
of the preceding observations, I have had an eye, my
fellow-citizens, to putting you upon your guard against all
attempts, from whatever quarter, to influence your decision in
a matter of the utmost moment to your welfare, by any
impressions other than those which may result from the
evidence of truth. You will, no doubt, at the same time, have
collected from the general scope of them, that they proceed
from a source not unfriendly to the new Constitution. Yes, my
countrymen, I own to you that, after having given it an
attentive consideration, I am clearly of opinion it is your
interest to adopt it. I am convinced that this is the safest
course for your liberty, your dignity, and your happiness. I
affect not reserves which I do not feel. I will not amuse you
with an appearance of deliberation when I have decided. I
frankly acknowledge to you my convictions, and I will freely
lay before you the reasons on which they are founded. The
consciousness of good intentions disdains ambiguity. I shall
not, however, multiply professions on this head. My motives
must remain in the depository of my own breast. My arguments
will be open to all, and may be judged of by all. They shall
at least be offered in a spirit which will not disgrace the
cause of truth.
I propose, in
a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting
particulars:
THE UTILITY OF
THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY THE INSUFFICIENCY OF
THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION THE NECESSITY
OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE
PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT THE CONFORMITY OF
THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN
GOVERNMENT ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and
lastly, THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD
TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY,
AND TO PROPERTY.
In the
progress of this discussion I shall endeavor to give a
satisfactory answer to all the objections which shall have
made their appearance, that may seem to have any claim to your
attention.
It may perhaps
be thought superfluous to offer arguments to prove the utility
of the UNION, a point, no doubt, deeply engraved on the hearts
of the great body of the people in every State, and one, which
it may be imagined, has no adversaries. But the fact is, that
we already hear it whispered in the private circles of those
who oppose the new Constitution, that the thirteen States are
of too great extent for any general system, and that we must
of necessity resort to separate confederacies of distinct
portions of the whole. [1] This
doctrine will, in all probability, be gradually propagated,
till it has votaries enough to countenance an open avowal of
it. For nothing can be more evident, to those who are able to
take an enlarged view of the subject, than the alternative of
an adoption of the new Constitution or a dismemberment of the
Union. It will therefore be of use to begin by examining the
advantages of that Union, the certain evils, and the probable
dangers, to which every State will be exposed from its
dissolution. This shall accordingly constitute the subject of
my next address.
PUBLIUS.
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"The latent causes of faction are thus
sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought
into different degrees of activity, according to the different
circumstances of civil society. A zeal for different opinions
concerning religion, concerning government, and many other
points, as well of speculation as of practice; an attachment
to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence
and power; or to persons of other descriptions whose fortunes
have been interesting to the human passions, have, in turn,
divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual
animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and
oppress each other than to co-operate for their common
good."
Federalist
Papers, (1787-1788)
The Federalist
Papers, were a series of 85 essays written by Alexander
Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison between October 1787 and
May 1788. The essays were published anonymously, under the pen
name "Publius," primarily in two New York state
newspapers of the time: The New York Packet and The
Independent Journal.
They were written
to urge citizens of New York to support ratification of the
proposed United States Constitution. Significantly, the essays
explain particular provisions of the Constitution in detail.
It is for this reason, and because Hamilton and Madison were
members of the Constitutional Convention, that the Federalist
Papers are often used today to help understand the intentions
of those drafting the Constitution.
A bound edition
of the essays, with revisions and corrections by Hamilton, was
published in 1788 by printers J. and A. McLean. A later
edition, published by printer Jacob Gideon in 1818, with
revisions and corrections by Madison, was the first to
identify each essay by its author's name. Because of the
essays’ publishing history, the assignment of authorship,
numbering, and exact wording may vary with different editions
of The Federalist.
The essays
featured here are Federalist No. 10 and Federalist No. 51. The
former, written by James Madison, refuted the belief that it
was impossible to extend a republican government over a large
territory. It also discussed special interest groups. The
later emphasized the importance of checks and balances within
a government.
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to the all 85 Separate Articles that Make up the Federalist
Papers |
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