Admendments to the Constitution of the United States of America
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.t.
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...
Frederick Augustus Muhlenburg Speaker of the House of Representatives.
John Adams, Vice-President of the United States, and President of the
Senate.
Attest, John Beckley, Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Sam. A. Otis Secretary of the Senate.
Amendment I (December 15, 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
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of
a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,
shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house,
without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a
manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a
Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces,
or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or
public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same
offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against
himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for
public use without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which
district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to
be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be
confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the
Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be
preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise
re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according
to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X (December 15, 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 (February 7, 1795)
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 (June 15, 1804)
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by
ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least,
shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves;
they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as
President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as
Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons
voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-
President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they
shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the
government of the United States, directed to the President of
the Senate;_The President of the Senate shall, in the presence
of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
certificates and the votes shall then be counted;_The person
having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the
President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of
Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then
from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three
on the list of those voted for as President, the House of
Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be
taken by states, the representation from each state having one
vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or
members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the
states shall be necessary to a choice. *(And if the House of
Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right
of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March
next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President,
as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of
the President)._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.
*(see section 3 of 20th Amendment)
Amendment XIII (December 6, 1865)
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 (July 9, 1868)
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 power to enforce, by
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Amendment XV (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 power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XVI (February 3, 1913)
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 (April 8, 1913)
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* (January 16, 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.
*(see 21st Amendment)
Amendment XIX (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 (January 23, 1933)
Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall
end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators
and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years
in which such terms would have ended if this article had not
been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every
year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of
January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term
of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice
President elect shall become President. If a President shall
not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning
of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to
qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President
until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may
by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect
nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who
shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is
to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly
until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of
the death of any of the persons from whom the House of
Representatives may choose a President whenever the right
of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case
of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may
choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall
have devolved upon them.
Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of
October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall
have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the
legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within
seven years from the date of its submission.
Amendment XXI (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 (February 27, 1951)
Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the
President more than twice, and no person who has held the
office of President, or acted as President, for more than
two years of a term to which some other person was elected
President shall be elected to the office of the President
more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person
holding the office of President when this article was proposed
by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be
holding the office of President, or acting as President, during
the term within which this Article becomes operative from
holding the office of President or acting as President during
the remainder of such term.
Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall
have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the
legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven
years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
Amendment XXIII (March 29, 1961)
Section 1. The District constituting the seat of government of
the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress
may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to
the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to
which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in
no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in
addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be
considered, for the purposes of the election of President and
Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they
shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided
by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXIV (January 23, 1964)
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote
in any primary or other election for President or Vice President,
for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or
Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by
the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any
poll tax or other tax.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXV (February 10, 1967)
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 (July 1, 1971)
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 any State on account of age.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXVII (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.