Amendment I.
Ratified 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.
Ratified December 15, 1791
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed.
Amendment III.
Ratified December 15, 1791
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house,
without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a
manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV.
Ratified December 15, 1791
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to
be seized.
Amendment V.
Ratified December 15, 1791
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand
Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in
the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public
danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be
twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in
any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived
of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor
shall private property be taken for public use, without just
compensation.
Amendment VI.
Ratified December 15, 1791
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to
a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and
district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which
district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be
confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the
assistance of counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII.
Ratified December 15, 1791
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and
no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court
of the United States, than according to the rules of the common
law.
Amendment VIII.
Ratified December 15, 1791
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX.
Ratified December 15, 1791
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the
people.
Amendment X.
Ratified 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.
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.
Ratified 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.
Amendment XIII.
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 the power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Amendment XIV.
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 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.
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 power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Amendment XVI.
Ratified 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.
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.
Ratified 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.
Amendment XIX.
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.
Ratified 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.
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.
Ratified February 27, 1951
Section 1.
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than
twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted
as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other
person was elected President shall be elected to the office of 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.
Ratified 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.
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 any poll tax or other
tax.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXV.
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 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.
Ratified 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 by any State on account of age.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXVII.
Ratified May 7, 1992
No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators
and Representatives shall take effect, until an election of
Representatives shall have intervened.