Listen To A Grade School Class Recite The Constitution Preamble
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more
perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our
Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.
Article I
Section 1
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested
in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of
a Senate and House of
Representatives.
Section 2
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.
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.
[Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned
among the several States which may be included within this
Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall
be determined by adding to the whole Number of free
Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of
Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of
all other Persons.]
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years
after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United
States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in
such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of
Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty
Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one
Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made,
the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to 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.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any
State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs
of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker
and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of
Impeachment.
Section 3
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.
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].
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.
The Vice President of the United States shall be
President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless
they be equally divided.
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.
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.
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
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.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every
Year, and such Meeting shall [be on the first Monday in
December,] unless they shall by Law appoint a different
Day.
Section 5
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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;
To borrow
Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate
Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several
States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an
uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the
subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United
States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and
of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and
Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of
counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the
United States;
To establish Post Offices and post
Roads;
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;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to
the supreme Court;
{sup 10} To define and punish
Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and
Offences against the Law of Nations;
{sup 11} To
declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and
make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
{sup
12} To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of
Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two
Years;
{sup 13} To provide and maintain a Navy;
{sup
14} To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the
land and naval Forces;
{sup 15} To provide for calling
forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union,
suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
{sup 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;
{sup 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
{sup 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
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.
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.
No Bill
of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No
Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in
Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before
directed to be taken.
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on
Articles exported from any State.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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Article II
Section I
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:
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.
[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.]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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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
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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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
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all
Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several
States.
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.
[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
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.
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.
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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
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.
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.
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--Presid . and deputy from Virginia, New
Hampshire
John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts
Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King
Connecticut
Wm. Saml. Johnson
Roger Sherman
New York
Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey
Wil: Livingston
David Brearley
Wm.
Paterson
Jona: Dayton
Pennsylvania
B Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Rob Morris
Geo.
Clymer
Thos. FitzSimons
Jared Ingersoll
James
Wilson
Gouv Morris
Delaware
Geo: Read
Gunning Bedford jun
John
Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jaco: Broom
Maryland
James McHenry
Dan of S Thos. Jenifer
Dan
Carroll
Virginia
John Blair—
James Madison Jr.
North Carolina
Wm. Blount
Rich'd Dobbs Spaight
Hu
Williamson
South Carolina
J. Rutledge
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles
Pinckney
Pierce Butler
Georgia
William Few
Abr Baldwin
Attest:
William Jackson,
Secretary
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