THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
(See
Note 1)
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the
Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution
for the United States of America.
Article.
I.
Section
1.
All
legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a
Congress
of the United
States,
which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section.
2.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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. (See
Note 2) 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.
Clause
4: When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive
Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
Clause
5: The House of Representatives shall chuse their
Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section.
3.
Clause
1: The Senate of the United
States
shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature
thereof, (See Note 3) for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Clause
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. (See Note 4)
Clause
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.
Clause
4: The Vice President
of the United
States
shall be President
of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be
equally divided.
Clause
5: 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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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 chusing Senators.
Clause
2: The Congress
shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the
first Monday in December, (See Note 5) unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.
Section.
5.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
(See Note 6) They shall in all Cases,
except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, beprivileged 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.
Clause
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 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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
1: 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;
Clause
2: To borrow Money on the credit of the
United
States;
Clause
3: To regulate Commerce
with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
Clause
4: To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and
uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the
United
States;
Clause
5: To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign
Coin,
and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
Clause
6: To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current
Coin
of the United
States;
Clause
7: To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
Clause
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;
Clause
9: To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme
Court;
Clause
10: To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and
Offences against the Law of Nations;
Clause
11: To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and
Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures
on Land and Water;
Clause
12: To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall
be for a longer Term than two Years;
Clause
13: To provide and maintain a Navy;
Clause
14: To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval
Forces;
Clause
15: To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the
Union,
suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
Clause
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;
Clause
17: To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases
whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, byCession
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
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
3: No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
Clause
4: No Capitation,
or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the
Census
or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken. (See Note 7)
Clause
5: No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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 Controul
of the Congress.
Clause
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.
Clause
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
Clause
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.
Clause
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 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.
(See Note 8)
Clause
4: 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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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, (See Note 9) the Same shall devolve on the VicePresident,
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.
Clause
7: The President
shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation,
which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during
the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within
that Period any other Emolument from the
United
States,
or any of them.
Clause
8: 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.
Clause
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 Offences
against the United States, except in Cases
of Impeachment.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
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.
Clause
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; (See Note 10)--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.
Clause
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.
Clause
3: 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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
1: The Citizens
of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of
Citizens
in the several States.
Clause
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.
Clause
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. (See Note 11)
Section.
3.
Clause
1: 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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
Clause
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.
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,
GO
WASHINGTON--Presidt. and
deputy from Virginia
[Signed
also by the deputies of twelve States.]
Delaware
Geo:
Read
Gunning
Bedford
jun
John
Dickinson
Richard
Bassett
Jaco:
Broom
Maryland
James
MCHenry
Dan
of ST ThoS.
Jenifer
DanL
Carroll.
Virginia
John
Blair--
James
Madison Jr.
North
Carolina
WM
Blount
RichD.
Dobbs Spaight.
Hu
Williamson
South
Carolina
J.
Rutledge
Charles
1ACotesworth
Pinckney
Charles
Pinckney
Pierce
Butler.
Georgia
William
Few
Abr
Baldwin
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
Pennsylvania
B
Franklin
Thomas
Mifflin
RobT
Morris
Geo.
Clymer
ThoS.
FitzSimons
Jared
Ingersoll
James
Wilson.
Gouv
Morris
Attest
William Jackson Secretary
NOTES
Note
1: This text of the Constitution
follows the engrossed copy signed by Gen. Washington and the deputies from 12
States. The small superior figures preceding the paragraphs designate
Clauses,
and were not in the original and have no reference to footnotes.
The
Constitution
was adopted by a convention of the States on September 17, 1787, and was
subsequently ratified by the several States, on the following dates: Delaware,
December 7, 1787; Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787; New Jersey, December 18,
1787; Georgia, January 2, 1788; Connecticut,
January 9, 1788; Massachusetts, February 6, 1788; Maryland, April 28, 1788;
South Carolina,
May 23, 1788; New Hampshire, June 21, 1788.
Ratification
was completed on June
21, 1788.
The
Constitution
was subsequently ratified by Virginia,
June
25, 1788;
New
York,
July
26, 1788;
North
Carolina,
November
21, 1789;
Rhode
Island,
May
29, 1790;
and Vermont,
January
10, 1791.
In
May 1785, a committee of Congress
made a report recommending an alteration in the Articles of
Confederation,
but no action was taken on it, and it was left to the State Legislatures to
proceed in the matter. In January 1786, the Legislature of Virginia passed a
resolution providing for the appointment of five commissioners, who, or any
three of them, should meet such commissioners as might be appointed in the other
States of the Union, at a time and place to be agreed upon, to take into
consideration the trade of the United States; to consider how far a uniform
system in their commercial regulations may be necessary to their common interest
and their permanent harmony; and to report to the several States such an act,
relative to this great object, as, when ratified by them, will enable the United
States in Congress
effectually to provide for the same. The Virginia commissioners, after some
correspondence, fixed the first Monday in September as the time, and the city of
Annapolis as the place for the meeting, but only four other States were
represented, viz: Delaware, New York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania; the commissioners appointed by Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North
Carolina,
and Rhode Island failed to attend. Under the circumstances of so partial a
representation, the commissioners present agreed upon a report, (drawn by Mr.
Hamilton, of New York,) expressing their unanimous conviction that it might
essentially tend to advance the interests of the Union if the States by which
they were respectively delegated would concur, and use their endeavors to
procure the concurrence of the other States, in the appointment of commissioners
to meet at Philadelphia on the Second Monday of May following, to take into
consideration the situation of the United States; to devise such further
provisions as should appear to them necessary to render the
Constitution
of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union; and to report
such an act for that purpose to the United States in
Congress
assembled as, when agreed to by them and afterwards confirmed by the
Legislatures of every State, would effectually provide for the same.
Congress,
on the
21st of February, 1787,
adopted a resolution in favor of a convention, and the Legislatures of those
States which had not already done so (with the exception of
Rhode
Island)
promptly appointed delegates. On the 25th of May, seven States having convened,
George Washington, of Virginia,
was unanimously elected President,
and the consideration of the proposed constitution was commenced. On
the
17th of September, 1787,
the Constitution
as engrossed and agreed upon was signed by all the members present, except Mr.
Gerry of Massachusetts,
and Messrs. Mason and Randolph, of Virginia.
The president of the convention transmitted it to Congress,
with a resolution stating how the proposed Federal Government should be put in
operation, and an explanatory letter. Congress,
on the
28th of September, 1787,
directed the Constitution
so framed, with the resolutions and letter concerning the same, to "be
transmitted to the several Legislatures in order to be submitted to a convention
of delegates chosen in each State by the people thereof, in conformity to the
resolves of the convention."
On
the 4th of March, 1789, the day which had been fixed for commencing the
operations of Government under the new Constitution,
it had been ratified by the conventions chosen in each State to consider it, as
follows: Delaware, December 7, 1787; Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787; New
Jersey, December 18, 1787; Georgia, January 2, 1788;
Connecticut,
January 9, 1788; Massachusetts, February 6, 1788; Maryland, April 28, 1788;
South Carolina,
May 23, 1788; New Hampshire, June 21, 1788; Virginia, June 25, 1788; and New
York, July 26, 1788.
The
President
informed Congress,
on the
28th of January, 1790,
that North
Carolina
had ratified the Constitution
November
21, 1789;
and he informed Congress
on the
1st of June, 1790,
that Rhode
Island
had ratified the Constitution
May
29, 1790.
Vermont,
in convention, ratified the Constitution
January
10, 1791,
and was, by an act of Congress
approved February
18, 1791,
"received and admitted into this Union
as a new and entire member of the United
States."
Note
2: The part of this Clause
relating to the mode of apportionment of representatives among the several
States has been affected by Section 2 of amendment XIV, and as to taxes on
incomes without apportionment by amendment XVI.
Note
3: This Clause
has been affected by Clause
1 of amendment XVII.
Note
4: This Clause
has been affected by Clause
2 of amendment XVIII.
Note
5: This Clause
has been affected by amendment XX.
Note
6: This Clause
has been affected by amendment XXVII.
Note
7: This Clause
has been affected by amendment XVI.
Note
8: This Clause
has been superseded by amendment XII.
Note
9: This Clause
has been affected by amendment XXV.
Note
10: This Clause
has been affected by amendment XI.
Note
11: This Clause
has been affected by amendment XIII.
Note
12: The first ten amendments to the Constitution
of the United
States
(and two others, one of which failed of ratification and the other which later
became the 27th amendment) were proposed to the legislatures of the several
States by the First Congress
on September
25, 1789.
The first ten amendments were ratified by the following States, and the
notifications of ratification by the Governors thereof were successively
communicated by the President
to Congress:
New Jersey, November 20, 1789; Maryland, December 19, 1789; North
Carolina,
December 22, 1789; South Carolina,
January 19, 1790; New Hampshire, January 25, 1790; Delaware, January 28, 1790;
New York, February 24, 1790; Pennsylvania, March 10, 1790; Rhode Island, June 7,
1790; Vermont, November 3, 1791; and Virginia, December 15, 1791.
Ratification
was completed on December
15, 1791.
The
amendments were subsequently ratified by the legislatures of
Massachusetts,
March
2, 1939;
Georgia,
March
18, 1939;
and Connecticut,
April
19, 1939.
Note
13: Only the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th articles of amendment had numbers
assigned to them at the time of ratification.
Note
14: This sentence has been superseded by section 3 of amendment XX.
Note
15: See amendment XIX and section 1 of amendment XXVI.
Note
16: Repealed by section 1 of amendment XXI.