Back to the constitution

In times of trou­ble we have always returned to the val­ues of the past, because they work.

Will the Repub­li­cans do as they have vowed to do, Read the Con­sti­tu­tion of the Unit­ed States of Amer­i­ca?

It is appro­pri­ate that we find our way back to what made this nation the strongest nation on the face of the earth.

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

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.

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.

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.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.

4: When vacan­cies hap­pen in the Rep­re­sen­ta­tion from any State, the Exec­u­tive Author­i­ty there­of shall issue Writs of Elec­tion to fill such Vacan­cies.

5: The House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives shall chuse their Speak­er and oth­er Offi­cers; and shall have the sole Pow­er of Impeach­ment.
Sec­tion 3

1: The Sen­ate of the Unit­ed States shall be com­posed of two Sen­a­tors from each State, cho­sen by the Leg­is­la­ture thereof,3 for six Years; and each Sen­a­tor shall have one Vote.

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.4

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.

4: The Vice Pres­i­dent of the Unit­ed States shall be Pres­i­dent of the Sen­ate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equal­ly divid­ed.

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.

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.

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

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.

2: The Con­gress shall assem­ble at least once in every Year, and such Meet­ing shall be on the first Mon­day in December,5 unless they shall by Law appoint a dif­fer­ent Day.
Sec­tion 5

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.

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.

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.

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

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.6 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.

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

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.

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.

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

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;

2: To bor­row Mon­ey on the cred­it of the Unit­ed States;

3: To reg­u­late Com­merce with for­eign Nations, and among the sev­er­al States, and with the Indi­an Tribes;

4: To estab­lish an uni­form Rule of Nat­u­ral­iza­tion, and uni­form Laws on the sub­ject of Bank­rupt­cies through­out the Unit­ed States;

5: To coin Mon­ey, reg­u­late the Val­ue there­of, and of for­eign Coin, and fix the Stan­dard of Weights and Mea­sures;

6: To pro­vide for the Pun­ish­ment of coun­ter­feit­ing the Secu­ri­ties and cur­rent Coin of the Unit­ed States;

7: To estab­lish Post Offices and post Roads;

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;

9: To con­sti­tute Tri­bunals infe­ri­or to the supreme Court;

10: To define and pun­ish Pira­cies and Felonies com­mit­ted on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

11: To declare War, grant Let­ters of Mar­que and Reprisal, and make Rules con­cern­ing Cap­tures on Land and Water;

12: To raise and sup­port Armies, but no Appro­pri­a­tion of Mon­ey to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

13: To pro­vide and main­tain a Navy;

14: To make Rules for the Gov­ern­ment and Reg­u­la­tion of the land and naval Forces;

15: To pro­vide for call­ing forth the Mili­tia to exe­cute the Laws of the Union, sup­press Insur­rec­tions and repel Inva­sions;

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;

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

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

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.

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.

3: No Bill of Attain­der or ex post fac­to Law shall be passed.

4: No Cap­i­ta­tion, or oth­er direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Pro­por­tion to the Cen­sus or Enu­mer­a­tion here­in before direct­ed to be taken.7

5: No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Arti­cles export­ed from any State.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.8

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.

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.

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,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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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;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.

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 appel­late­Juris­dic­tion, both as to Law and Fact, with such Excep­tions, and under such Reg­u­la­tions as the Con­gress shall make.

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

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.

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

1: The Cit­i­zens of each State shall be enti­tled to all Priv­i­leges and Immu­ni­ties of Cit­i­zens in the sev­er­al States.

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.

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.11
Sec­tion 3

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.

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

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.

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.

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.