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THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES

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.

Legislative powers; in whom vested. 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.

House of Representatives, how and by whom chosen Qualifications of a
Representative. Representatives and direct taxes, how apportioned.
Enumeration. Vacancies to be filled. Power of choosing officers, and
of impeachment.

1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen
every second year by the people of the several States, and the elector
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
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 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, Pennsylvania 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.

Senators, how and by whom chosen. How classified. State Executive,
when to make temporary appointments, in case, etc. Qualifications of a
Senator. President of the Senate, his right to vote. President pro
tem., and other officers of the Senate, how chosen. Power to try
impeachments. When President is tried, Chief Justice to preside.
Sentence.

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 the 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. Judgement 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, judgement and punishment, according to law.

SECTION 4

Times, etc., of holding elections, how prescribed. One session in
each year.

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 by law
appoint a different day.

SECTION 5.

Membership, Quorum, Adjournments, Rules, Power to punish or expel.
Journal. Time of adjournments, how limited, etc.

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 behavior, 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
judgement 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.

Compensation, Privileges, Disqualification in certain cases.

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 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.

House to originate all revenue bills. Veto. Bill may be passed by
two-thirds of each House, notwithstanding, etc. Bill, not returned in
ten days to become a law. Provisions as to orders, concurrent
resolutions, etc.

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 re-passed 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.

Powers of Congress

The Congress shall have the power

1. 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:

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 an 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 offences 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.

Provision as to migration or importation of certain persons. Habeas
Corpus, Bills of attainder, etc. Taxes, how apportioned. No export
duty. No commercial preference. Money, how drawn from Treasury, etc.
No titular nobility. Officers not top receive presents, etc.

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 1808, but a tax or duty may be imposed
on such importations, not exceeding 10 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 or 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.

States prohibited from the exercise of certain powers.

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 its 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 a war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger
as will not admit of delay.

ARTICLE II

SECTION 1.

President: his term of office. Electors of President; number and how
appointed. Electors to vote on same day. Qualification of President.
On whom his duties devolve in case of his removal, death, etc.
President's compensation. His oath of office.

1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United
States of America. He shall hold 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 may
direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators
and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the
Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an
office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed
an elector [The electors shall meet in their respective States, and
vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an
inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a
list of all the persons voted for each; which list they shall sign
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 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.]

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. [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.]

6. 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.

7. 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 the 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.

President to be Commander-in-Chief. He may require opinions of
cabinet officers, etc., may pardon. Treaty-making power. Nomination of
certain officers. When President may fill vacancies.

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 the 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.

President shall communicate to Congress. He may convene and adjourn
Congress, in case of disagreement, etc. Shall receive ambassadors,
execute laws, and commission officers.

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 may 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.

All civil offices forfeited for certain crimes.

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.

Judicial powers. Tenure. Compensation.

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.

Judicial power; to what cases it extends. Original jurisdiction of
Supreme Court Appellate. Trial by Jury, etc. Trial, where

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 a 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. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be
by jury; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said
crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any
state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may
by law have directed.

SECTION 3.

Treason defined. Proof of. Punishment

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.

Each State to give credit to the public acts, etc. of every other
State.

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.

Privileges of citizens of each State. Fugitives from Justice to be
delivered up. Persons held to service having escaped, to be delivered
up.

1. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and
immunities of citizens in the several states. (see 14th Amendment)

2. A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other
crime, who shall flee 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.

Admission of new States. Power of Congress over territory and other
property.

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, 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.

Republican form of government guaranteed. Each State to be protected.

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

AMENDMENTS

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 1808,
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.

AMENDMENTS

The Ten Original Amendments: The Bill of Rights. Passed by Congres
September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791.

AMENDMENT I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

AMENDMENT II

A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be
infringed.

AMENDMENT III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without
the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be
prescribed by law.

AMENDMENT IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall
not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the
place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

AMENDMENT V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury,
except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the
militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor
shall any person be subject for the same offense 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
defense.

AMENDMENT VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no
fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the
United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

AMENDMENT VIII

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

AMENDMENT IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

AMENDMENT X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people.

AMENDMENT XI

Passed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified 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

Passed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified July 27, 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 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 numbers 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.

AMENDMENT XIII

Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified 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

Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified 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 to 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.

AMENDMENT XV

Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.

AMENDMENT XVI

Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes,
from whatever sources derived, without apportionment among the several
States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

AMENDMENT XVII

Passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators
from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and
each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall
have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous
branch of the State Legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the
Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of
election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the Legislature of any
State may empower the Executive thereof to make temporary appointments
until the people fill the vacancies by election as the Legislature may
direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or
term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the
Constitution.

AMENDMENT XVIII

Passed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified January 16, 1919.
(Altered by Amendment 21)

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.

The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by the Legislatures of the several
States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the
date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

AMENDMENT XIX

Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of
sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

AMENDMENT XX

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 3rd 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 3rd day of January, unless they
shall by law appoint a different day.

Section 3.

If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President,
the President elect shall have died, the Vice-President elect shall
become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the
time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect
shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice-President elect shall act
as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress
may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor
a Vice-President shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as
President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected,
and such person shall act accordingly until a President or
Vice-President shall have qualified.

Section 4.

The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of
the persons from whom the House of representatives may choose a
President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them,
and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the
Senate may choose a Vice- President whenever the right of choice shall
have devolved upon them.

Section 5.

Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October
following the ratification of this article (October 1933).

Section 6.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by the Legislatures of
three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date
of its submission.

AMENDMENT XXI

Passed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.

Section 1.

The Eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United
States is hereby repealed.

Section 2.

The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or
Possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of
intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby
prohibited.

Section 3.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several
States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the
date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

AMENDMENT XXII

Passed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified February 27, 1951.

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 that two years of a term to which some other
person was elected President shall be elected to the office of
President more that once.

But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of
President when this Article was proposed by Congress, and shall not
prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or
acting as President, during the term the term within which this
Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or
acting as President during the remainder of such term.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by the Legislatures of
three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date
of its submission to the States by the Congress.

AMENDMENT XXIII

Passed by Congress June 16, 1960. Ratified March 29, 1961.

Section 1.

The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States
shall appoint in such manner as Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the
whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the
District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more
than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those
appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the
purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be
electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and
preform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

AMENDMENT XXIV

Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or
other election for President or Vice President, for electors for
President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in
Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any
State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or any other tax.

Section 2.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

AMENDMENT XXV

Passed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified 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 the 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, transmits 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 departments
or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmits within
four days to the President Pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.
Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within
forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress,
within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written
declaration, or, if Congress is not in session within twenty-one days
after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote
of both houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers
and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to
discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall
resume the powers and duties of his office.

AMENDMENT XXVI

Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified June 30, 1971.

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 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 power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

In the colonial past when the right to vote was linked to property, some women enjoyed the franchise. The right, as applied to women, had been revoked in New
York in 1777. The spread of Jacksonian democracy beginning in the 1820s had meant universal white male suffrage, without regard to property or other
qualification, but sensitive, intelligent, and publicly concerned women were still deprived of it.

The Ten Original Amendments: The Bill of Rights, was passed by Congress September 25, 1789.

***Thus the US Constitution and the original ammendments presumed that a man was the head of the family, was the sole voter and decision maker, and was solely
responsible for all family matters. There would be no thought for the next century and a half that the language of this historic document would be applied to women.

The suffrage amendment was reintroduced by Jeannette Rankin of Montana on January 20, 1918. She herself was from the first region to grant the vote to women
and was the first woman to be elected to Congress. The amendment passed amidst the cheers of women who sat knitting in the galleries. Other women gathered on
the steps of Capitol were described by the New York Times as "cheering like collegians after a football victory." The vote was indeed close, only one more than the
required two-thirds. One congressman left the deathbed of his suffragist wife to cast his vote and then returned to her funeral. Two congressmen came from hospitals
to cast affirmative votes. Tennessee was the thirty-sixth state to ratify the amendment. On August 26, 1920, final passage was achieved. Times had changed.

AMENDMENT XIX Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

***No attempt, however, was made to correct the language of the Constitution to take into account the mental, physical, moral, and emotional differences between
the genders. Consider for example that the amendment referring to "equal proection" of the laws was written more than half a century before women had the right to
vote or were even considered for "equal protection".

AMENDMENT XIV Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868 nor to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

***The 143 years during which women did not have the right to vote marked a stable period of American History during which social pathology was absent,
divorce was rare, illegitimacy was almost non-existent, economic growth was unprecedented, and innovation ruled. In the 75 years since women were given the right
to vote, chronic declining family stability, increasing divorce rates, increasing illegitimacy, increasing crime, and increasing incarceration rates, which accelerated at an
unrecedented rate beginning in the 1950s, have been the byword. But this gradually increasing social pathology did not seriously impact the momentum of the
previous 2 centuries of rapid economic growth for almost half a century, in the mid-1960s, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its all-time after-inflation
high. At that point the US was the undisputed world leader in standard of living and per capita income. So why the feminist complaints that American women were
"discriminated against"? In a reckless and vigorous attempt to accomodate that complaint we ignored and abridged the clear language of the Constitution.

***This mistake shall be corrected. The original language of the US Constitution shall be adhered to. The protections, immunities, privileges, and rights of those to
whom the Constitution originally applied shall hereby be asserted without further prevarication.

AMENDMENT XIII Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified 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.

***What IS "involuntary servitude" if it is not forcing someone to work against their will for someone else? Removing children from fathers as a matter of government
policy; doling them back to fathers in exchange for tremendous psychological, time consuming, financial, legal costs; ignoring the state of fatherlessness this creates;
forcing fathers to pay "child support" to an ex-wife who provides no physical or emotional or other support and who often provides exactly the opposite; tracking
them across state lines; removing their drivers' licenses, their business licenses, and often their credit rating and their ability to conduct business or hold a job; is
involunatry servitude, is unconstitutional, and shall end.

AMENDMENT XIV Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified 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;

***Taking a man's children, home, current and future income, savings, car, self respect, drivers' license, business licenses, and ability to earn a living is an
abridgement of his privileges or immunities. This is particularly true if he has not committed a crime, which the vast mojority of fathers have not. This language
provides a responsibility to the Supreme Court to assure that neither the states nor the federal government violates these privileges or immunities. Volumes of laws
and regulations, millions of lawsuits, hundreds of billions of dollars in legal fees from the filing of millions of individual law suits have failed time and time again, across
the entire face of the nation, to assert basic, clearcut Constitutional rights, and this shall end.

nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,

***A man's family is precisely the "life, liberty, or property" referred to here. A man who does not commit a crime, has as his highest priority in his life the welfare of
his children, is capable of raising them, has the financial resources prior to the state removing them in the name of divorce to provide shelter, food, care, and love for
them, as well as his children, shall be assured that the State will not deprive "any person" of this basic Constitutional right to his life, liberty, or property.

***Children of divorce shall also be provided their Constitutional right to life, liberty, or property by assuring that they remain in the household with the optimum
psychological, moral, spiritual, financial, and educational environment.

without due process of law;

***"Due process of law" prohibits this destruction of a father's family and life, and it is for good reason in the face of the overwhelming evidence that the State itself
is the catalyst which created the problems of divorce and illegitimacy, which led to our 40% rate of fatherlessness, which created our social pathology?

nor to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.