This is the text of the US Constitution, Americans should read this. Bet you didn't guess this one!
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, byCession 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.
This information has been compiled from the U.S. Code. The
U.S. Code is published by the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Updated September 20, 2004