THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
[ source: http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html
]
(See Note 1)
We the People of the
United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the United States of America.
Article. I.
Section 1.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of
a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section. 2.
Clause 1: The House of Representatives shall be
composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the
several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the
Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch
of the State Legislature.
Clause 2: No Person shall be a Representative
who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and
been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall
not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he
shall be chosen.
Clause 3: Representatives and direct Taxes shall
be apportioned among the several States which may be included
within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which
shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons,
including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and
excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
(See Note 2) The actual Enumeration shall be made within three
Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United
States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such
Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives
shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State
shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration
shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to
chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four,
Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten,
North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
Clause 4: When vacancies happen in the
Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof
shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
Clause 5: The House of Representatives shall
chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole
Power of Impeachment.
Section. 3.
Clause 1: The Senate of the United States shall
be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the
Legislature thereof, (See Note 3) for six Years; and each Senator
shall have one Vote.
Clause 2: Immediately after they shall be
assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be
divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the
Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of
the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the
fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth
Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if
Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess
of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make
temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature,
which shall then fill such Vacancies. (See Note 4)
Clause 3: No Person shall be a Senator who shall
not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years
a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected,
be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
Clause 4: The Vice President of the United
States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote,
unless they be equally divided.
Clause 5: The Senate shall chuse their other
Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the
Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President
of the United States.
Clause 6: The Senate shall have the sole Power
to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall
be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States
is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be
convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members
present.
Clause 7: Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall
not extend further than to removal from Office, and
disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or
Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall
nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment
and Punishment, according to Law.
Section. 4.
Clause 1: The Times, Places and Manner of
holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be
prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the
Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations,
except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
Clause 2: The Congress shall assemble at least
once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday
in December, (See Note 5) unless they shall by Law appoint a
different Day.
Section. 5.
Clause 1: Each House shall be the Judge of the
Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a
Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a
smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized
to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and
under such Penalties as each House may provide.
Clause 2: Each House may determine the Rules of
its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and,
with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
Clause 3: Each House shall keep a Journal of its
Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting
such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas
and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at
the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the
Journal.
Clause 4: Neither House, during the Session of
Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for
more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which
the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section. 6.
Clause 1: The Senators and Representatives shall
receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by
Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. (See Note
6) They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of
the Peace, beprivileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the
Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning
from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they
shall not be questioned in any other Place.
Clause 2: No Senator or Representative shall,
during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any
civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall
have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been
encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under
the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his
Continuance in Office.
Section. 7.
Clause 1: All Bills for raising Revenue shall
originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may
propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
Clause 2: Every Bill which shall have passed the
House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a
Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he
approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his
Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who
shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed
to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that
House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together
with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall
likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that
House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of
both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of
the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on
the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be
returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after
it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in
like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their
Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a
Law.
Clause 3: Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to
which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives
may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be
presented to the President of the United States; and before the
Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being
disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate
and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and
Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Section. 8.
Clause 1: The Congress shall have Power To lay
and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts
and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the
United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be
uniform throughout the United States;
Clause 2: To borrow Money on the credit of the
United States;
Clause 3: To regulate Commerce with foreign
Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
Clause 4: To establish an uniform Rule of
Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies
throughout the United States;
Clause 5: To coin Money, regulate the Value
thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and
Measures;
Clause 6: To provide for the Punishment of
counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United
States;
Clause 7: To establish Post Offices and post
Roads;
Clause 8: To promote the Progress of Science and
useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and
Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and
Discoveries;
Clause 9: To constitute Tribunals inferior to
the supreme Court;
Clause 10: To define and punish Piracies and
Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law
of Nations;
Clause 11: To declare War, grant Letters of
Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land
and Water;
Clause 12: To raise and support Armies, but no
Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than
two Years;
Clause 13: To provide and maintain a Navy;
Clause 14: To make Rules for the Government and
Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
Clause 15: To provide for calling forth the
Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections
and repel Invasions;
Clause 16: To provide for organizing, arming,
and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them
as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving
to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and
the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline
prescribed by Congress;
Clause 17: To exercise exclusive Legislation in
all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles
square) as may, 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
Clause 18: To make all Laws which shall be
necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing
Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the
Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer
thereof.
Section. 9.
Clause 1: The Migration or Importation of such
Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to
admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year
one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be
imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each
Person.
Clause 2: The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas
Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion
or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
Clause 3: No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto
Law shall be passed.
Clause 4: No Capitation, or other direct, Tax
shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration
herein before directed to be taken. (See Note 7)
Clause 5: No Tax or Duty shall be laid on
Articles exported from any State.
Clause 6: No Preference shall be given by any
Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over
those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State,
be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
Clause 7: No Money shall be drawn from the
Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a
regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of
all public Money shall be published from time to time.
Clause 8: No Title of Nobility shall be granted
by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit
or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress,
accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind
whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Section. 10.
Clause 1: No State shall enter into any Treaty,
Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal;
coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and
silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of
Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of
Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
Clause 2: No State shall, without the Consent of
the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports,
except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's
inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts,
laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of
the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be
subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.
Clause 3: No State shall, without the Consent of
Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in
time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another
State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually
invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
Article. II.
Section. 1.
Clause 1: The executive Power shall be vested in
a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his
Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice
President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows
Clause 2: Each State shall appoint, in such
Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of
Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the
Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an
Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be
appointed an Elector.
Clause 3: The Electors shall meet in their
respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one
at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with
themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted
for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall
sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the
Government of the United States, directed to the President of the
Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates,
and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the
greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be
a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there
be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number
of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a
Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House
shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the
President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation
from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall
consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and
a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In
every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having
the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice
President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal
Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice
President. (See Note 8)
Clause 4: The Congress may determine the Time of
chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their
Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
Clause 5: No Person except a natural born
Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the
Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of
President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who
shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been
fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
Clause 6: In Case of the Removal of the
President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability
to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, (See Note
9) the Same shall devolve on the VicePresident, and the Congress
may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or
Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring
what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall
act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President
shall be elected.
Clause 7: The President shall, at stated Times,
receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be
encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have
been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any
other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Clause 8: Before he enter on the Execution of
his Office, he shall take the following Oath or
Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will
faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,
and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend
the Constitution of the United States."
Section. 2.
Clause 1: The President shall be Commander in
Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the
Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service
of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of
the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon
any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices,
and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for
Offences against the United States, except in Cases of
Impeachment.
Clause 2: He shall have Power, by and with the
Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two
thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and
by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the
supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose
Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which
shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the
Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in
the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of
Departments.
Clause 3: The President shall have Power to fill
up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate,
by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their
next Session.
Section. 3.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their
Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both
Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between
them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them
to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive
Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that
the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the
Officers of the United States.
Section. 4.
The President, Vice President and all civil
Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on
Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other
high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Article. III.
Section. 1.
The judicial Power of the United States, shall
be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges,
both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices
during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for
their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished
during their Continuance in Office.
Section. 2.
Clause 1: The judicial Power shall extend to all
Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the
Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be
made, under their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors,
other public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and
maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United
States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more
States;--between a State and Citizens of another State; (See Note
10)--between Citizens of different States, --between Citizens of
the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States,
and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States,
Citizens or Subjects.
Clause 2: In all Cases affecting Ambassadors,
other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State
shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original
Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme
Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact,
with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress
shall make.
Clause 3: The Trial of all Crimes, except in
Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be
held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed;
but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at
such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.
Section. 3.
Clause 1: Treason against the United States,
shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to
their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be
convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to
the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
Clause 2: The Congress shall have Power to
declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason
shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the
Life of the Person attainted.
Article. IV.
Section. 1.
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each
State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of
every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe
the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be
proved, and the Effect thereof.
Section. 2.
Clause 1: The Citizens of each State shall be
entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the
several States.
Clause 2: A Person charged in any State with
Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and
be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive
Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be
removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
Clause 3: No Person held to Service or Labour in
one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall,
in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged
from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of
the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due. (See Note 11)
Section. 3.
Clause 1: New States may be admitted by the
Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or
erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State
be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of
States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States
concerned as well as of the Congress.
Clause 2: The Congress shall have Power to
dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting
the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States;
and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to
Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular
State.
Section. 4.
The United States shall guarantee to every State
in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect
each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the
Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be
convened) against domestic Violence.
Article. V.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses
shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments
to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures
of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for
proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all
Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified
by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by
Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode
of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no
Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight
hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth
Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no
State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal
Suffrage in the Senate.
Article. VI.
Clause 1: All Debts contracted and Engagements
entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be
as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as
under the Confederation.
Clause 2: This Constitution, and the Laws of the
United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all
Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the
United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the
Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the
Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
Clause 3: The Senators and Representatives
before mentioned, and the Members of the several State
Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the
United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or
Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test
shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public
Trust under the United States.
Article. VII.
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States,
shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution
between the States so ratifying the Same.
done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of
the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the
Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In
witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
GO WASHINGTON--Presidt. and deputy from Virginia
[Signed also by the deputies of twelve States.]
Delaware
Geo: Read
Gunning Bedford jun
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jaco: Broom
Maryland
James MCHenry
Dan of ST ThoS. Jenifer
DanL Carroll.
Virginia
John Blair--
James Madison Jr.
North Carolina
WM Blount
RichD. Dobbs Spaight.
Hu Williamson
South Carolina
J. Rutledge
Charles 1ACotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler.
Georgia
William Few
Abr Baldwin
New Hampshire
John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts
Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King
Connecticut
WM. SamL. Johnson
Roger Sherman
New York
Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey
Wil: Livingston
David Brearley.
WM. Paterson.
Jona: Dayton
Pennsylvania
B Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
RobT Morris
Geo. Clymer
ThoS. FitzSimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson.
Gouv Morris
Attest William Jackson Secretary
NOTES
Note 1: This text of the Constitution follows
the engrossed copy signed by Gen. Washington and the deputies from
12 States. The small superior figures preceding the paragraphs
designate Clauses, and were not in the original and have no
reference to footnotes.
The Constitution was adopted by a convention of
the States on September 17, 1787, and was subsequently ratified by
the several States, on the following dates: Delaware, December 7,
1787; Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787; New Jersey, December 18,
1787; Georgia, January 2, 1788; Connecticut, January 9, 1788;
Massachusetts, February 6, 1788; Maryland, April 28, 1788; South
Carolina, May 23, 1788; New Hampshire, June 21, 1788.
Ratification was completed on June 21, 1788.
The Constitution was subsequently ratified by
Virginia, June 25, 1788; New York, July 26, 1788; North Carolina,
November 21, 1789; Rhode Island, May 29, 1790; and Vermont,
January 10, 1791.
In May 1785, a committee of Congress made a
report recommending an alteration in the Articles of
Confederation, but no action was taken on it, and it was left to
the State Legislatures to proceed in the matter. In January 1786,
the Legislature of Virginia passed a resolution providing for the
appointment of five commissioners, who, or any three of them,
should meet such commissioners as might be appointed in the other
States of the Union, at a time and place to be agreed upon, to
take into consideration the trade of the United States; to
consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations
may be necessary to their common interest and their permanent
harmony; and to report to the several States such an act, relative
to this great object, as, when ratified by them, will enable the
United States in Congress effectually to provide for the same. The
Virginia commissioners, after some correspondence, fixed the first
Monday in September as the time, and the city of Annapolis as the
place for the meeting, but only four other States were
represented, viz: Delaware, New York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania; the commissioners appointed by Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, North Carolina, and Rhode Island failed to attend.
Under the circumstances of so partial a representation, the
commissioners present agreed upon a report, (drawn by Mr.
Hamilton, of New York,) expressing their unanimous conviction that
it might essentially tend to advance the interests of the Union if
the States by which they were respectively delegated would concur,
and use their endeavors to procure the concurrence of the other
States, in the appointment of commissioners to meet at
Philadelphia on the Second Monday of May following, to take into
consideration the situation of the United States; to devise such
further provisions as should appear to them necessary to render
the Constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the
exigencies of the Union; and to report such an act for that
purpose to the United States in Congress assembled as, when agreed
to by them and afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of every
State, would effectually provide for the same.
Congress, on the 21st of February, 1787, adopted
a resolution in favor of a convention, and the Legislatures of
those States which had not already done so (with the exception of
Rhode Island) promptly appointed delegates. On the 25th of May,
seven States having convened, George Washington, of Virginia, was
unanimously elected President, and the consideration of the
proposed constitution was commenced. On the 17th of September,
1787, the Constitution as engrossed and agreed upon was signed by
all the members present, except Mr. Gerry of Massachusetts, and
Messrs. Mason and Randolph, of Virginia. The president of the
convention transmitted it to Congress, with a resolution stating
how the proposed Federal Government should be put in operation,
and an explanatory letter. Congress, on the 28th of September,
1787, directed the Constitution so framed, with the resolutions
and letter concerning the same, to "be transmitted to the
several Legislatures in order to be submitted to a convention of
delegates chosen in each State by the people thereof, in
conformity to the resolves of the convention."
On the 4th of March, 1789, the day which had
been fixed for commencing the operations of Government under the
new Constitution, it had been ratified by the conventions chosen
in each State to consider it, as follows: Delaware, December 7,
1787; Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787; New Jersey, December 18,
1787; Georgia, January 2, 1788; Connecticut, January 9, 1788;
Massachusetts, February 6, 1788; Maryland, April 28, 1788; South
Carolina, May 23, 1788; New Hampshire, June 21, 1788; Virginia,
June 25, 1788; and New York, July 26, 1788.
The President informed Congress, on the 28th of
January, 1790, that North Carolina had ratified the Constitution
November 21, 1789; and he informed Congress on the 1st of June,
1790, that Rhode Island had ratified the Constitution May 29,
1790. Vermont, in convention, ratified the Constitution January
10, 1791, and was, by an act of Congress approved February 18,
1791, "received and admitted into this Union as a new and
entire member of the United States."
Note 2: The part of this Clause relating to the
mode of apportionment of representatives among the several States
has been affected by Section 2 of amendment XIV, and as to taxes
on incomes without apportionment by amendment XVI.
Note 3: This Clause has been affected by Clause
1 of amendment XVII.
Note 4: This Clause has been affected by Clause
2 of amendment XVIII.
Note 5: This Clause has been affected by
amendment XX.
Note 6: This Clause has been affected by
amendment XXVII.
Note 7: This Clause has been affected by
amendment XVI.
Note 8: This Clause has been superseded by
amendment XII.
Note 9: This Clause has been affected by
amendment XXV.
Note 10: This Clause has been affected by
amendment XI.
Note 11: This Clause has been affected by
amendment XIII.
Related
Links:
CONSTITUTION
OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
Amendments to the Constitution
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