Bill of Rights in the United
States of America [1791]
Articles in addition to, and amendment of, The Constitution of the United
States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the legislatures
of the several states pursuant to the fifth article of the original Constitution.
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution were proposed by the Congress
on Sept. 25, 1789. They were ratified by the following states, and the notifications
of the ratification by the governors thereof were successively communicated
by the President to the Congress: New Jersey, Nov. 20, 1789; Maryland, Dec.
19, 1789; North Carolina, Dec. 22, 1789; South Carolina, Jan. 19, 1790; New
Hampshire, Jan. 25, 1790; Delaware, Jan. 28, 1790; New York, Feb. 4, 1790;
Pennsylvania, March 10, 1790; Rhode Island, June 7, 1790; Vermont, Nov. 3,
1791; and Virginia, Dec. 15, 1791. Ratification was completed on Dec. 15,
1791.
The amendments were subsequently ratified by Massachusetts, March 2, 1939;
Georgia, March 18, 1939; and Connecticut, April 19, 1939.
Two other amendments were concurrently proposed in 1789. One failed of
ratification. The other (Amendment XXVII) was not ratified
until May 7, 1992, when the  Michigan
legislature gave it the required number of state approvals.
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
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 ]
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 ]
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 ] [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 ] [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 [1865]
Section 1
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as 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 [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 [1870]
Amendment XVI [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] [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] [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 theConstitution,
within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States
by the Congress.
Amendment [XIX] [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] [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] [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] [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] [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] [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 power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment [XXV] [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] [1971]
Amendment [XXVII] [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.
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