美国宪法全文及参考译文

美国宪法全文及参考译文

The Constitution of the United States of America

美国宪法

编辑：

宗亚平

ypzong@

/national-archives- experience/charters/

:

The Constitution of the United States of America

Preamble

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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. [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 choose three, Massachusetts eight,

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey

four, Pensylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South

Carolina five, and Georgia three.

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the Executive Authority

thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers; and shall

have the sole power of impeachment.

Section 3

1. 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.

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they

shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first

class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the

expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that

one third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or

otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make

temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such

vacancies.

3. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years,

and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an

inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall

have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

5. The Senate shall choose 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

1. 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 choosing Senators.

2. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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

1. 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.

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be

appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States which shall have been

created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no

person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either House during

his continuance in office.

Section 7

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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

1. The Congress shall have power: To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,

to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United

States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with

the Indian tribes;

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of

bankruptcies throughout the United States;

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of

weights and measures;

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the

United States;

7. To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;

8. 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;

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses

against the law of nations;

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning

captures on land and water;

12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a

longer term than two years;

13. To provide and maintain a navy;

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress

insurrections and repel invasions;

16. 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;

17. 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

18. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.

4. No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or

enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

1. 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.

2. 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 control of the Congress.

3. 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

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:

2. 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.

3. 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 choose 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 choose 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. 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 choose from them by

ballot the Vice-President.

4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and the day on which

they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

5. 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.

6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or

inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the

Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death,

resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall

then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed,

or a President shall be elected.

7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which

shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been

elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United

States, or any of them.

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or

affirmation:---

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

1. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United

States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the

United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the

Executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and

he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States,

except in cases of impeachment.

2. 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.

3. 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

1. The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be

removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high

crimes and misdemeanors.

Article III

Section 1

The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such

inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both

of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at

stated times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during

their continuance in office.

Section 2

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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

1. 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.

2. 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

1. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens

in the several States.

2. 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.

3. 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

1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States 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.

2. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

Signatures

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 (sic) of the United States of America the Twelfth. In Witness whereof

We have hereunto subscribed our Names.

George Washington - President and deputy from Virginia

New Hampshire - John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman

Massachusetts - Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King

Connecticut - Wm Saml Johnson, Roger Sherman

New York - Alexander Hamilton

New Jersey - Wil Livingston, David Brearley, Wm Paterson, Jona. Dayton

Pensylvania[1] - B Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robt Morris, Geo. Clymer, Thos FitzSimons,

Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouv Morris

Delaware - Geo. Read, Gunning Bedford jun, John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jaco. Broom

Maryland - James McHenry, Dan of St Tho Jenifer, Danl Carroll

Virginia - John Blair, James Madison Jr.

North Carolina - Wm Blount, Richd Dobbs Spaight, Hu Williamson

South Carolina - J. Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler

Georgia - William Few, Abr Baldwin

Attest: William Jackson, Secretary

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:

Amendment I [Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition (1791)]

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 [Right to Bear Arms (1791)]

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 [Quartering of Troops (1791)]

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 [Search and Seizure (1791)]

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 [Grand Jury, Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination, Due Process (1791)]

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 [Criminal Prosecutions - Jury Trial, Right to Confront and to Counsel (1791)]

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 defense.

Amendment VII [Common Law Suits - Jury Trial (1791)]

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the

right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise

re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common

law.

Amendment VIII [Excess Bail or Fines, Cruel and Unusual Punishment (1791)]

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual

punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX [Non-Enumerated Rights (1791)]

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or

disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X [Rights Reserved to States (1791)]

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to

the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Amendment XI [Suits Against a State (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 [Election of President and Vice-President (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 [Abolition of Slavery (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 [Privileges and Immunities, Due Process, Equal Protection, Apportionment

of Representatives, Civil War Disqualification and Debt (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 [Rights Not to Be Denied on Account of Race (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 [Income Tax (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 [Election of Senators (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 [Prohibition (1919)]

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 [Women's Right to Vote (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 [Presidential Term and Succession (1933)]

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